A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert

ISBN: 9781601425904
Waterbrook Press

About the book:  Fashion is a fickle industry, a frightening fact for twenty-four-year-old model Ivy Clark. Ten years in and she's learned a sacred truth -- appearance is everything. Nobody cares about her broken past as long as she looks beautiful for the camera. This is the only life Ivy knows -- so when it starts to unravel, she'll do anything to hold on. Even if that means moving to the quaint island town of Greenbrier, South Carolina, to be the new face of her stepmother's bridal wear line -- an irony too rich for words, since Ivy is far from the pure bride in white.

My thoughts:  Expecting to delve into a sweet, contemporary Christian fiction read, I was soon awakened to the realization that this was not going to go down that road most traveled. I was catapulted into the world of a young, but “aged” New York and World acclaimed model who is strikingly beautiful and yet so consumed with a feeling of being unloved. Ivy Clark grew up in a single parent home raised by her addicted mother. Her mother died when Ivy was but a preteen and Ivy went to live with her real father and his wife, Marilyn. Her ignored her and her step-mother loved her.

Ivy’s uncle is her modeling agent. He saw her beauty and potential when she was a very young teen and took her into the high fashion world of modeling. But now, there are younger girls on the scene and Ivy is not so much in demand. Yet her uncle has secured a modeling shoot with Marilyn’s bridal boutique for a spread in a large Southern magazine. This will help Ivy and it will help Marilyn’s bridal boutique. 

The photographer is a local man.  Davis Knight is a broken man who had previously become a successful fashion photographer in New York landing shoots for Vogue and others. But he eventually realized that he did not like the man he had become and left the New York scene behind returning to his small home town.

The story A Broken Kind of Beautiful covers some deep emotional and social issues. It deals with brokenness and healing in a beautiful and tender way. The characters are beautifully drawn and they are woven throughout the story in believable interactions. There is gentle romance and a bit of suspense and danger. But the main thrust of the story is how the healing takes place in a broken kind of beautiful heart and soul. I recommend this excellent read.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy of A Broken Kind of Beautiful from Blogging for Books on behalf of the Waterbrook Press and the author, Katie Ganshert in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed are solely my own and no compensation was received for this review.