Waking Up Joy

This would have been a better story if the ending hadn't been so obvious at the very beginning.. And it took way too long to reach it, due to the dithering and over thinking of the main character, Joy. I ended up skimming through a lot of "filler" pages that had little to do with the story. However, the author's biggest problem is the misuse and misspelling of words. Some examples are: exercising instead of exorcising, tool and dye instead of tool and die, donned instead of dawned, and wreaked instead of reeked. Also, the many misplaced commas made it difficult to read smoothly. I would hope this author will consider hiring a proof reader before she publishes any more of her literary efforts.

I thoroughly enjoyed Waking Up Joy! The characters were engaging and the storyline was intriguing. It reminds us all that there are times we need to be awakened and live life to its fullest. Well done!

Wow. I must have missed something in this book, considering all the 5 star review. I thought it just dragged on and on. The only reason I kept reading was to find out what she hid many years ago and finally decided it wasn't worth it. The family dynamic was o.k. but while "waking up Joy" it put me to sleep.

Waking Up Joy is an interesting story. Joy has never gotten over her teenage love, so she has refused all offers of dates and is now in her forties with no children. She has a quirky, loving family and still lives in her childhood house with her mom who believes strongly in the power of charms. Right after her mother passes away, Joy climbs onto the roof to retrieve a charm she hid in the chimney (one among many). She has an unfortunate accident which puts her into a coma and causes her family to believe she tried to commit suicide. Joy can hear everything that is being said around her while in this coma, including her long-lost love whose wife passed several years before. After she comes out of the coma, Joy feels as if she has been reborn and is ready to make changes in her life.

I really liked Joy's quirky family, especially the glimpses we got to see of her deceased mother, and how much the family loved each other. I thought the twist was interesting because that was not the story I expected to be behind the charm Joy hid in the chimney. I also liked how this story was set in Northeast Oklahoma and there was a mention of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, because I don't read many books that choose this as the setting. (On a side note, I will say that if there is a JC Penney in Siloam Springs, I've never seen it. But of course, this doesn't detract from the story.) On the other hand, there was something about this book that made it a little hard to read, although I can't really figure out why, and it did seem to drag through the middle. However, I still enjoyed this story and especially the ending, and I would recommend this to anyone who likes women's fiction.

(Copy was provided for an honest review.)

"Waking Up Joy" by Tina Forkner has easily become one of my personal favorites. Of course, everyone has different opinions on what they like reading, but I devoured this book in an entire day! I will try my hardest not to give away any spoilers.

This novel was an easy read for me. Within the first couple of paragraphs, you're drawn in by a serious "accident" that happens to the Joy, the main character. Tine Forkner, has a way with her words. The character descriptions and dialogue between characters makes it so easy to envision this story coming to life. That in itself takes serious talent! Although, you can tell right off the bat that there is more to Joy's backstory. This was what made it such a page turner for me. I wanted to know what it was, i NEEDED to know! The little hints that were dropped through each chapter kept pulling me in to find out more about Joy and her teenage love.

You are introduced to all of Joy's family in the first several chapters. Each of her siblings are very different in their own ways. They reminded my of my own sisters which was a nice surprise. Joy lives in her childhood home in Oklahoma. Her mother and ancestors were big into keeping charms which fills the entire home and chimney. This plays a strong role in what is bothering Joy through the entire book. It finally came to be full circle at the end. Being able to relate to a story, creates a stronger bond to the book. I was able to do this.

I admire how Tina Forkner didn't just write a cheesy romance novel. This book has serious depth to it and sends a strong message to readers. There comes a point in life, when you have to be able to heal and try and move on from your past. This is what Joy was faced with when waking from her coma. Anyone can relate to this!

I love the twist at the end when Joy's past horrors finally come to an end. Even with all the hints that were being dropped about her and Jimmy (teenage love), I did not expect that.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to others. This one will not disappoint.

*Disclosure- I received this product at a discounted rate in exchange for my honest unbiased review.

Whoever said you can't hear people talking while you are in coma, Joy proved them wrong. While in coma, Joy would listen to her siblings plan her funeral. Once she awakens her family thinks she is off her rocker. Now Joy wants to settle her past of a traumatic event that happened years ago, that left her a spinster. She is now torn between her past love of her life and the new young doc in town. Many past secrets come out with healing. I really enjoyed the quirkiness of her family.
An enjoyable read. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

One of the most subtle and entertaining books I have read in a long time: its subtlety hidden in the secretive openness of its heroine, Joy Talley, a fortyish woman beloved of just about everyone, and yet who may or may not have tried to hang herself from the chimney of her house in the opening chapter. After a long time in a coma, where we are privileged to hear along with Joy all the non-appropriate words of her family waiting around her while she is on life support, she tells people she had not been trying to commit suicide. When she'd been very young, she'd hidden a "magic" charm in the chimney top years before (as with so many of her family before her), and today, for some reason, she has decided to find it. Despite the endless conversations we are privileged to hear between Joy and herself, as well as all the outer ones, she is silent on why she was trying to find her charm (nice metaphor) that day, or what she intended to do with it, or what it had been meant to do, in the first place. The hearth beneath the chimney is the heart of her house, just as the apple tree where her first love, Jimmy, had kissed her is the heart of her garden. But unusual things happen to hearts : a tornado takes down the chimney (and still Joy's charm is not found) and lightning strikes the apple tree in half. I confess that I don't usually choose to read romantic fiction, but I was taken by Joy and by surprise, and simply couldn't put her story aside, out of snootiness about girls and romance novels. Like Joy herself, I had been feeling for a while that I was in a kind of predictable and static place (she in her role in life; me in reading only those books that had won awards,or were by authors I knew and were likely to be good. And so once in a while I succumb to Kindle's advertising and buy a book by someone I've never heard of, or for its title. Sometimes I'm disappointed, but not in this book. *Waking up Joy* is so completely authentic it could be about people I myself had known all my life and loved, warts and all, though I live in urban Canada, and she in a small town in Oklahoma, where big dreams consist of maybe seeing the ocean one day. Joy's love for Jimmy, unrequited, is beset by silence, and Joy doesn't hide her frustration at this in her inner monologs. We read it and nod, because everywhere there are broken romances marked by silence afterward. But in this book we should wonder. Long ago he loved her and they both knew it would be forever. Yet almost the next day, he is wordlessly, without any explanation, getting another girl pregnant and marrying her and being faithful to her memory even five years after her death, virtually never speaking to Joy in all that time. Joy's hatred of that and her love of him are totally believable. Her endlessly entertaining inner monolog woven between spoken sentences is so easy to read, with its quickness of wit and her kindly but sometimes cynical understanding, that we are caught into thinking we know Joy completely. But even with all Joy's revelations, there is still that Joy we met in the first chapter, hanging from her chimney like a question mark. It is what Joy doesn't say that gives substance to this book. Yes, it is a romance, but it is a mature romance about expectations and small towns, about secrets that can't be kept yet somehow are -- because of the loyalty and protection that make small towns work, instead of our stereotype of them as being so small everyone knows what skeletons are in everyone else's closets. I found "Waking up Joy" fascinating: the way words hide things and silence reveals them, the way you sometimes have to rebuild a hearth without charms in it so that you can have a fire instead, or cement over a fascinating well, like the one underneath Joy's house, deep and cold. This is the stuff of literature, but don't let that stop you from enjoying everything else this book has to offer. This is a novel you will be charmed by, charmed despite perhaps your own prejudices against "silly teenage romances". I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning to finish reading it, and then I fruitlessly prowled the cupboards for a piece of five-layer cake.

Tina Ann Forkner takes us back to a simpler time...the early '80s. We're reminded that it wasn't necessarily that simple even then. Lives in a small town held more excitement and surprises than we may have anticipated. A 'strange' family. A 'fall' from a roof. A love that was never resolved. The potential of a new love.....and so much freedom from the past. Interested yet? We gain a glimpse into why the Talley family was always seen as the 'odd family' in the town. Maybe they weren't so odd. They're a family like any other trying to make their way through life! Public servants, Church leaders, even the town gossip all have their secrets. Can the love, family ties, histories this town shares make it through the secrets they're about to hear?

Waking Up Joy is a wonderful journey that starts with a woman 'accidentally' hanging from a roof and only gets more interesting from there.

It's a quick read and a great glimpse into regular life. I hope you all enjoy it like I have!

This book starts out with the main character, Joy Talley, being rushed to the hospital. People believe she had tried to hang herself, but actually Joy was trying to revisit a secret of the past. She is in a coma while she is in the hospital and can still hear everything that happens around her. When she finally wakes from her coma she learns to take back control of her life and quit reliving old hurts and rejections. In the process she learns that during this time she has not been the only one with baggage hanging around. A lot of secrets are uncovered and Joy has to confront her past in order to move on.

Joy's family in this book was hilarious! They all had their own quirks but in the end they surround Joy with love. (Sometimes getting to that point can be a little painful though.) The whole book centers around a secret that Joy has tried to ignore for decades. When Joy finally explains what the secret is, she is not only putting her life and happiness at risk, but someone else's. The story is heartbreaking and even though there is happiness in the epilogue, there is also sadness. When the final straw is revealed, it is so sad to think about the what-ifs and time lost. Misunderstandings and resentment happened because of someone else keeping a secret from Joy. I liked how once Joy woke up from her coma she tried to seize opportunities and try to help people. This story makes you think about people's hurt that happen in their lives. Some people may not always be nice, but there may be reasons for that. Also most of the characters had some sort of secret and in the end they all come out. This was a great read!

I received an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

This is an interesting novel for readers who enjoy a crisp, clean love story with a touch of mystery. What I mean by "crisp and clean" is you won't be hit with a lot of profanity or overly detailed sex scenes. For me, the story line moved a bit slow. About 80% of the novel alludes to a tragic event that happened between the main character, Joy, and her ex high school sweetheart, Jimmy. The constant buildup towards this event (and all the dancing around the issue) became frustrating for me because it went on too long and slowed the pace of the story line. However, it picks back up beautifully once the secret is finally revealed (and also a family treasure is discovered). The last five or six chapters of the book were probably the most enjoyable for me because we finally got to the meat of the matter. Overall, the writing is done well, however, the pace of the story could've been a bit more balanced, faster, and less repetitive in some areas.

Stop the world, Joy Talley wants to get off! Wait, does she? This is the exciting beginning to a novel that is both delightfully humorous and insightful. Family dynamic and eccentricities have never been more accurately depicted than in Ms. Forkner's Waking Up Joy. Joy Talley is a truly believable character that tugs at your heart strings from the moment you get to know her. Initially childish in her mannerisms, you discover that there is a lot more hidden within the body and mind of this remarkable lady. The glue that holds her rather dysfunctional family together, she finds out that she has wasted her life, after a near death experience.
One of the most touching aspects of the tale, for me, is the relationship Joy has with her niece, Ruthie. A kindred soul, born to her sister. Joy's heart is enormous though, and has the capacity to love so many people, which she finally understands as the novel progresses.
Essentially the tale is one of growth. Individual for Joy, familial for the Talley clan, and communal for the small town that has harbored secrets and misconceptions for decades.
There is no doubt in my mind that this book is a 5 Star, award worthy novel.

"Waking Up Joy" is a Christian general fiction novel. The first part of the book was spent with Joy in a coma overhearing things, and it had a slightly comedic feel. We know that something traumatic happened in the past, but we're not told what it is even when the heroine is thinking about it. I don't like it when an author does this as the "big secret" never lives up to all the mystery and it'd make more of an emotional impact if we knew what she was struggling with.

Yet, in a way, it worked in this case. We get clues about what happened, and it was very traumatic. The event happened when she was a teenager and so seemed even bigger to her. Part of the story was her learning that she's not alone in having secrets or a bad past, and she doesn't need to live bound by one traumatic hour.

Joy and the boy who was traumatized along with her act realistically and have a good depth to them. But I felt distant from them rather than highly empathetic because the events that motivated all of their actions were hidden from the reader. Most of the other characters were the comic relief and had very little character development.

A side theme of the story was Joy and her family learning to let go of a heritage that believed in magic trees and charms in addition to God as they realized that it was God doing the miracles to free them from the past. (They still believe that their dead father visits them, though.)

There were no graphic sex scenes though a vaguely described rape does occur in one scene. The was a minor amount of bad language. Overall, if you're okay with stories about traumatic pasts that are the main focus and yet not openly addressed for much of the book, then you'll probably like this book.

I received this book as a review copy in return for an honest review.

Waking up Joy is the perfect title for this novel. I don't want to give spoilers, but I love how the "hospital time" worked to push the story forward and tied in with the title. This novel has that air of expectation and magic, similar to a Sarah Addison Allen novel.

Joy, a middle-aged, unmarried main character (whose head I loved being in--very Southern gal!), wakes up to her life bit by bit, realizing the cobwebs she needs to sweep away before she can move forward. I enjoyed the progression of events and the love triangle...I was drawn to both men and wondered which one would steal Joy's heart. I'm not a huge romance reader, but some just grab hold of me and won't let go, and Waking up Joy was one of those enjoyable, memorable reads. Joy, her family, and the other characters felt like real people, and I felt like this story brought me a new perspective on some things. I was impressed with this whimsical, endearing story, and I will be reading more of Tina Forkner's books!

Great cover! This story was a very bizarre but charming read. It starts with the main character Joy Talley in a coma, but she can hear everything everyone who visits her says to her! This of course leads to a new found way of looking at the towns people who she thought knew and thought were her friends. People think she tried to kill herself but really she was looking for something. Joy wakes up after a week. With the help of her very young niece Ruthie digs into her own deep family secrets forever buried and then unearthed in their homes chimney during a tornado. Lots of characters in this town, a story of true love, family, and a time for second chances.
Dark family/love secrete part of the story line went on for bit longer then I would of enjoyed, and I liked Doc, Kyle better match for Joy to marry at the end instead of Jimmy but other then that a very good story over all.

Waking Up Joy is such a charming tale! Author Tina Ann Forkner is a gifted storyteller. Forkner had me at “I’m still breathing, so I obviously didn’t kill myself.”

I fell in love with the small town of Spavinaw, Oklahoma, and the quirky, down-to-earth Tally family. Count me in with the others whose favorite characters are Joy and Ruthie. But don’t think this novel is all whimsical fun…Forkner’s characters have depth and you’ll find yourself cheering for Joy as she fights to put the past behind her and move forward with her life. Forkner manages to keep readers turning the pages, until the very end when secrets are revealed and Joy claims her heart’s desire. I highly recommend this feel-good story!

Waking Up Joy tackles some deep, personal topics. Joy is in a coma and can hear what others are saying, Once she awakes, her family believes she is mentally disturbed. They don't believe her and question how "the accident" that led to her being in a coma happened. She is also dealing with a traumatic event that happened in her life over twenty years ago. She finds herself torn between two men-- one was her doctor while she was in a coma and the other one was her first love that she has been waiting for.
The book was a little slow to develop the story, but I am glad I stuck with it! It made me think about some difficult topics and my feelings about them.

Welcome to the town of Spavinaw Oklahoma. A town filled with quirky characters, family secrets and love that never dies.

After a freak accident, Joy Talley is left in a coma for a week. Her family thinks she tried to kill herself. She hears everything people say about her while in her coma. When she finally wakes up she doesn't forget. She sets out to make a new life for herself wanting to do good for someone. She chooses Tulip House, a home for troubled teens. She also finds two men in love with her. One is her doctor and the other her high school love, who she never got over. Which will she choose?

This was a fun book to read though it started out a little sad. But, once it picked up, it didn't stop. I really enjoyed the story and loved the characters. It left me wanting to know about them.

Welcome to the town of Spavinaw Oklahoma. A town filled with quirky characters, secrets and love that never dies.

After a freak accident, Joy Talley is left in a coma for a week. Her family thinks she tried to kill herself. She hears everything people say about her while in her coma. When she finally wakes up she doesn't forget. She sets out to make a new life for herself wanting to do good for someone. She chooses Tulip House, a home for troubled teens. She also finds two men in love with her. One is her doctor and the other her high school love, who she never got over. Which will she choose?

This was a fun book to read though it started out a little sad. But, once it picked up, it didn't stop. I really enjoyed the story and loved the characters. It left me wanting to know about them.

Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings

Joy is well into her adulthood and never settled down with a partner and after a mishap at her home, she ends up in a coma, but can still hear her family and all the things they are saying about her. Joy is only in her coma for a bit of the book and once she wakes up the rest of the drama revolves around the doctor that saved her and a high school crush that went downhill for some reason.

My biggest problem with the book was the very long wait that the reader has to get to the secret that is hinted at throughout the entire book. I wish the secret had been revealed a little earlier to allow for the characters to have more time to react and resolve the repercussions. I also think that if we had received a few flashback chapters we would have felt even more connected to the sibling's parents, I felt detached because I felt like I didn't get to meet them myself.

Waking Up Joy was quirky and wonderful. I loved the characters and how Joy interacted with them. I believe Joy is new favorite quirky character!

Making Joy choose between Jimmy and the doctor all while dealing with her family had me laughing and tearing up. If it could happen, it seemed to happen to Joy.

If Ms. Forkner writes more characters like Joy readers will definitely enjoy her books.

This paperback was provided to me by BookSparks for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting story. Joy's family is very eccentric. Her mother believed in good luck charms and had tons of them hidden in the chimney of their home. Joy has an accident while trying to remove a charm she put in the chimney herself as a young girl and everyone thinks she was trying to kill herself. Her recovery and journey to self discovery follows in a story that is interesting, and sometimes frustrating.
I found myself a bit miffed at Joy's indecision at times, but yet I could understand it considering her circumstances. Her family sure was an interesting group of characters.
All in all it was a good story.

This story was okay. It was interesting and different, but it was a bit long and chatty. I had to read it a lot slower to really understand the story. Joy has a freak accident that puts her in a coma for a week. Her family thinks she was trying to commit suicide, but that wasn’t the reason she was on the roof. I won’t tell you why, that secret is a big part of the story. You will just have to read the book to find out. While in a coma Joy hears and remembers everything that people say around her. When she wakes her she decides to become a new “Joy” and live the life she has put on hold for so long.

I was given an ARC to read for an honest review.

I loved this book and the main character Joy from the very first sentence.
Who hasn't wanted to be a "fly on the wall" to hear and know what people think of them? Well, Joy gets just that after an accident, and I love what she does with that knowledge and her life afterwards.
The fun intriguing backstory of her family was great, and I had a number of laugh out loud moments reading their antics together.
Tina did a great job drawing the reader into Joy's secret from her past, and didn't reveal anything till the very end.
I would recommend this book, and look forward to reading more from this author.

WAKING UP JOY By Tina Ann Forkner
Behind every lost dream lies a second chance…
When adored town spinster Joy Talley ends up in a coma after a peculiar accident, she is surprised and incensed to hear what is being said in her hospital room, including plans for her funeral. When she finally wakes, her well-meaning, but bossy, brothers and sisters dismiss her claims, thinking her accident has knocked her off her rocker, but Joy has never felt better, and is determined to set the past right.
Now Joy must face her darkest secret and risk reopening wounds caused by an old flame who rejected her more than twenty years ago. But taking risks brings change, as well as a new, younger man into Joy’s life, making her feel like a teenager again. Suddenly Joy’s once humdrum life is anything but boring and routine and the future beckons, exhilarating and bright.
how did Joy Talley and Jimmy Cornsilk meet?
where does Joy work?
why was Joy on the house roof?
will Joy Talley and Jimmy Cornsilk be more than friends?
who is the new, younger man in Joy’s life?
who is your favorite character in this story?
And why?
WAKING UP JOY By Tina Ann Forkner is a 3 stars book.
more books by Tina Ann Forkner
Ruby Among Us (La Rosaleda Series #1) by Tina Ann Forkner
Rose House (La Rosaleda Series #2) by Tina Ann Forkner
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the storyline, the family dynamics and the sometimes quirky dialogue. The author tries keeping a secret through part of the boom, but as a reader you figure it out almost immediately. That being said I gave this book a three because I found myself getting annoyed the more I read because of the elusive mystery. I almost didn't finish the book. But aside from this I think the book could be a great story.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review via NETGALLEY.

This was a very entertaining story but the pace of the book was a little slow for me. The characters are very entertaining, especially the family, and Joy listening to them talking about her while she was in a coma was great. Once she is awake she decides to take stock in her life and get it back on track. Very entertaining and one I would recommend.

Waking Up Joy is an interesting read. I liked the dynamics of the Talley family and the character of Doc was a nice diversion for Joy. I didn't feel a risk connection between Joy and Jimmy so that made it a strange love triangle for me. The play back and forth between the sisters is funny and I enjoyed the read, but don't know that I would know even how to recommend it to someone. I am curious to read more by this author though.

This is a story about Joy Talley and the struggles within herself for her actions about what happened to her in the past. The moment when Joy wakes up from her "life" and really starts living, is when you know that things will be alright. There was a few laugh out loud moments that I wish were more of in the book.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Waking up Joy is an entrancing read! Told through the eyes of Joy, the tongue-in-cheek voice is compelling and the author’s decision to open with Joy’s observations while in a coma is a stroke of genius. Forkner introduces a cast of colorful characters with deep secrets which she carefully spills as the story progresses. Joy is especially captivating as a woman caught in the past who comes to life as she emerges from her coma and finally discovers life. Her reluctant growth reveals a woman who speaks to all of us.

Waking Up Joy by Tina Ann Forkner. This book took me awhile to get though. I was undecided with my feeling after finishing the book. I did enjoy the characters and the storyline. I'm looking forward to checking her this author's other books.

I thought this was fun book. Intriguing to find out what happened during the hospital period. I loved the folksy magic. With two men in love with her, Joy was bound to get her HEA. I was actually rooting for the one she didn't chose.

A refreshingly candid look at the ties that bind. From dark secrets and magic charms to deep faith and a touch of romance, this book was somewhat reminiscent of the magical realism that I’ve enjoyed in Sarah Addison Allen’s books. Tina has an enchanting way of weaving lively prose and heartfelt humor into a great story. I fell in love with the Talley family. Bravo, Tina!