Leaving Oxford: Christian Fiction~Faith, Humor, Romance, Southern StyleEscaping home to Oxford, Mississippi, seemed like a good idea. Until it wasn’t.A year after a tragic accident in Los Angeles flipped her world upside down, advertising guru Sarah Beth LeClair is still hiding away in her charming hometown of Oxford, Mississippi. And she may well be stuck there forever. Suffering from panic … Suffering from panic attacks, she prays for healing. Instead, her answer comes in the form of an arrogant football coach and an ugly puppy.
Former celebrity college quarterback Jess McCoy dreamed of playing pro football. One freak hit destroyed his chances. Although he enjoys his work as the university’s offensive coordinator, his aspirations have shifted to coaching at the highest level. His plans of moving up are finally coming together—until he falls for a woman who won’t leave town.
As the deadline for Jess’s decision on his dream career looms, the bars around Sarah Beth’s heart only grow stronger. But it’s time to make a decision about leaving Oxford.
Praise for Leaving Oxford
“Southern humor and charm shine through in Leaving Oxford, with characters you’ll feel like you’ve always known and a theme eternally relevant.” – Misty M. Beller, Christian historical romance author.
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The story line is played out very well and it highlights the true struggle of people who deal with anxiety.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Some of it unexpected, but hoped . Well written!
Loved the story line and characters.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I enjoyed this book. Different but a very good read.
Good book with a different storyline. The weaving of gospel through the story was really nice.
Three cheers for finding a new author who already has several books released, yay! I took a chance on a new-to-me author because a friend recommended the book to me. I already had a copy of it on Kindle, so I decided to give it a go. To my delight, the story was engaging, and I flew right through it. Leaving Oxford is uplifting, realistic, and full of messy and wonderful people.
I related to main characters Sarah Beth and Jess almost immediately. Though successful in her career and loved by many, Sarah Beth struggles with debilitating anxiety. I really love how Ferguson portrayed her struggles. It was refreshing that it wasn’t a prayer, then miraculous healing. I believe in that, of course, but as someone who struggles with similar things and has prayed about it many times, I think that line of thinking can be more damaging than uplifting. Her struggle was just very genuine and realistic, and I applaud the author for handling that so well.
The plot focuses more on the characters and the curve balls that life throw you. There are some very sweet relationships throughout the book that compelled me to care about the outcome of everything for everyone. There is no villain necessarily, just regular people in all their shapes and forms, which means good, bad, and indifferent. The secondary characters are wonderful! I adored Jess’s best friend, Nick, and his daughter, so much so that I hoped the next book would be about him and a certain other character, but that story is wrapped up in this one as well. Sometimes the dialogue comes across as super “church-y,” but despite that, I never really felt that it was preachy, since much of the discussion like that happens before/after/during church or at some sort of function like that. Readers that prefer a light faith thread may not enjoy that aspect of the story quite as much. Personally, I found Sarah Beth’s inner struggle, as well as Jess’s personal story, to carry the faith aspect, but was not bothered by what I mentioned earlier.
Leaving Oxford is a well-written, uplifting and faith-filled story. I found myself encouraged as I read, which for me, counts as a good read indeed. I’m looking forward to reading more of this series, as well as her latest release, which looks to be the start of another series.
I loved the sincerity and the vulnerability that was portrayed throughout this book. The raw emotions and circumstances led to inspiration and thought provoking awareness. This is a book anyone can identify with and feel uplifted and hopeful upon completion. It is very well written and is hard to put down once started.
I loved it! I bought the audio & have listen to it 2 times already! A great book w/ realistic characters & situations. I will read more imof this author.
The plot was a bit too predictable.
This kind of book is great for helping me to relax in my busy stressful world.
Deals with the aftermath of a stressful experience. The heroin has a difficult time leaving her present living environs. Thought that the story dragged a little bit.
Boring