What do you do with your Spare Change?

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SPARE CHANGE by Bette Lee Crosby

Spare Change

Coins Pictures, Images and Photos    Not sure what I expected, but it was so much more. Good things do come in small packages.

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In the 20’s it was unusual for a woman to  be unmarried, work and live on her own. Olivia had never considered herself a spinster, she just liked her life. She didn’t want to be one of the herd or do what was expected of her. She was terrified of kids. Her father had disowned her at 26 and her mother told her that no one would want an old woman.

It was totally unexpected when she met Charles Doyle. They fell for each other at firstMMM..... Chocolate Truffle Pictures, Images and Photos glance. When he proposed, she choked on the chocolate truffle she was eating.  She told him no and it broke her heart. He told her he didn’t want kids. And if she didn’t want to clean or cook, no problem. Those things weren’t important to him. He had a son he hadn’t seen in fifteen years and a grandson he had never met.

She was very superstitious. During the wedding ceremony, a hail storm broke out. Charlie blew it off, so she did too. She was afraid of the number eleven. On the tenth day of marriage they arrived in Miami  for their honeymoon. On the eleventh day, she talked him into staying low-key, taking no chances. They went shopping, she was thinking that nothing could go wrong shopping. He snuck off and bought her a surprise. Back in the room, he told her to close her eyes and he put the necklace around her neck. When she what it was, her heart fell. Opals were bad luck. He died that night.

Susanna Doyle told her husband she had to be in New York City for her singing career. Benjamin knew he would lose her if they went anywhere near there, so he’d played a stalling game with her. He would promise her they would go, then find an excuse not to.

When she became pregnant, life got even worse. To get even, when the baby was born, she named him Ethan Allen, after the furniture store she worked at. As Ethan grew older, their fights became so vicious that he built a fort out back to get away from them.

One day at the diner, he noticed Mister Scooter, the owner, touching his mom’s butt. He coins Pictures, Images and Photosasked her about it and she said if he kept quiet, she would make sure she always had enough spare change for him to go to the movies.

Susanna was very excited because Benjamin had promised they would go to New York  City in September. When September rolled around, he found another excuse not to go. She had been working and saving the money, so she told Ethan they were going without him, but not to say anything so he wouldn’t find out and try to stop them. She went to the bank for her money, but Benjamin had already closed the account.

Susanna immediately went to Scooter, telling him she wanted to run away with him and Ethan to New York City. He thought about his own kid, for only a moment, and said okay.

Ethan was eleven years old and his mom had always promised him she would never run off without him. But that night,  Ethan’s whole world changed.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos     5 STARS – Would Buy It For Them (lol)

I don’t know why I was drawn to the cover, title, then the blurb. Something tugged at me.The cover conveyed such a sense of sorrow from the boy. I  loved the second reference to spare change, but you will have to read the book to find out what it is, and why the title is so very appropriate.

I am not much for a story without some murder, killing, death, blood, gore, mystery, magic; in other words, some kind of action or adventure. This was a different kind of murder story, more a story of a woman alone, and a boy with no home and no one to love him. The murder was just a small piece.

For a short book, Bette made me feel like the story covered a lifetime. I kept reading faster and faster. I was afraid for Ethan and then both him and Olivia. She put so much story into a small book. Plot was detailed and suspenseful. I kept waiting for…..

The characters were amazing. Her descriptions left me feeling like they were my neighbors. I felt like I knew them. They were realistic and reminiscent of a time when we knew our neighbors. Such a feel good book. Made me tear up and cry because of its sweetness. I know my neighbors and speak to them, but I am a solitary creature, so it really surprised me that I felt such strong emotions while reading the story.

How do you get an eleven year old boy to trust you? I felt Ethan’s fear and panic. To win him over, it took much empathy, patience and compassion. So much, packed into its 280 pages. I know I keep repeating myself, but I still can’t get over how much this book affected me.

I received this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Not only was the author gracious enough to send me a paperback, she also autographed it for me. I love to add another book to my collection.

taiwan flag smiley animated gif Pictures, Images and Photos Giveaway – Bette Lee Crosby is offering for the giveaway:

International – ebook of Spare Change –  OR – US and Canada a signed paperback. As always the entry is easy. Leave a comment telling us what you do with your spare change and  an email address.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. The Winners Are:

Kimba – won the signed paperback   Alana – won the ebook

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful, warm and touching comments. I hope you will continue to follow fundinmental.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bette Lee CrosbyBette Lee Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006, when she won the National League of American Pen Women Award for unpublished fiction with What Matters Most. Her novel, Cracks in the Sidewalk, received the 2009 Royal Palm Literary Award and then went on to win the 2011 FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal. In 2011 Spare Change received the Reviewer’s Choice Awards and it garnered a second Royal Palm Literary Award. Her books have earned numerous five-star ratings with readers acclaiming them as heartwarming and captivating.

Most recently, Bette completed a memoir written for Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as The World’s Longest Living Quadriplegic.

Website   /   Goodreads   /   Twitter

To get your copy of Spare Change or any of Bette’s books, simply click on the covers below.

To see my Review of What Matters Most, go HERE.

To see my Review of Cupid’s Christmas, go HERE.

To see my Review of Cracks In The Sidewalk, go HERE.

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46 thoughts on “What do you do with your Spare Change?”

  4. Hi Sherry, thank you so much for this wonderful review. I am thrilled with the way readers have taken Spare Change into their hearts. And thanks to wonderful reviewers such as you, more people are finding the book every day. A heartfelt thanks to both you and your followers.

  5. Loved this! Usually between my husband and I we toss all our spare change into a jar labled “Creative Financing” however, I work at a local discount store where we are situated in the middle of several low-income apartment complexes. I see a lot of children come in who don’t have enough money to buy that special something they really want so I keep a pocket full of change for such occasions.

  6. I keep all my spare change in a jar and we have collectors here that come around collecting for the poor or cancer or whatever and I give them the change from the jar.

  7. I have a large cauldron in my house. All my spare change and some singles go into it as well. When it is full, I take it put it in a fund to pay for acupuncture and massage therapy for patients who cannot afford treatment and have been left without relief by western medicine.

  9. OOOH, I so want this book! I too never have spare change…my children always get it :0) But! When I do, I drop a bunch of coins into the Ronald McDonald House donation box….had a preemie and resided in the house while the litle guy was in the NICU….great review, thank you both!!!

  12. Sometimes I leave my spare change in the square box on the counter at Starbucks. Sometimes I put it in my husband’s savings cans on the dresser. Sometimes I give it to women and children outside Safeway or at the freeway entrance, and sometimes I give it to men who look hungry or needy as well.

    I’m grateful that right now I don’t have to say, “What spare change?

    B. Lynn Goodwin-Brown
    http://www.writeradvice.com
    Author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers

  13. We actually have a “Christmas Jar” that we throw all our spare change in for the entire year. We start Dec 25 and end on Dec 23 (to give me time to cash it in). We then use this to help members of the church who are having difficulty paying bills or we donate it to the Salvation Army. If we have enough, I also let my son use some of it to buy Christmas presents for family as well as getting an extra angel off the angel tree at the school.
    rayptc@gmail.com

  16. I have two little ones. As soon as they were old enough to repeat everything they heard, we instituted the curse jar in our house. At the end of the year the boys get to cash it in and get something cool

  18. I put the coins in my Hello Kitty shaped money-box at home when they are too many, or, if I see a homeless person on the street I give it to him or her.

  19. I have an old Miracle Whip bottle, my pop used to own it for his spare change. After he died I took it to use for mine.

  20. I save it inside a jar, until it’s pretty full, and I use most of the money for donations/charities. I think it’s nice to give it to others, because it’s spare change, after all. Others need it more than me.

  21. This giveaway is now closed. Winners will be announced after confirmation. I would like to tell all of you how much I enjoyed reading your comments. It is nice to know that there are so many loving, giving people out there. Thank you so much and I hope you will stop by again.

  22. Pingback: WINNERS!! | fundinmental

  23. Just wanted to stop by and thank all the wonderfl folks who entered the giveaway. I loved the comments and especially enjoyed that so many of you use your spare change to help others. If you’ve read the book, I’m sure you know that my way of thinking also. I wish you all a little spare change in every pocket *_*

    • Thanks so much for stopping by Bette. Next up will be Cupid’s Christmas, another wonderful story of life and love. Have a great weekend, everyone.

  24. Pingback: Giveaway and Review of Cupid’s Christmas by Bette Lee Crosby | fundinmental

  26. Love the review and the book sounds amazing!

    Well since our penny is becoming obsolete here in Canada, what i am doing is donating all our pennies or any pennies i find to a good cause to help children our Safe On Foods Store here has it set up.

    ((((hugs))))

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    • This was the first book of hers that I read. I have loved them all. Be sure and have some tissues handy. ^_^

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