Cassia has always lived a life of frugality. She's learned to live cheaply and not worldly. In fact, money is the last thing on her mind. So it's a shock for her when she finds out that what she thought was a $5 donation for an office present is really her share in a multimillion dollar jackpot lottery ticket. Now she's being bombarded by everyone, those who want her money, to give her advice, even those she barely knows. Plus now she has 2 guys are who are vying for her attention. Cassia wants nothing to do with the money, but it's everywhere she goes. Money's not just the root of all evil, it also makes a normal life practically impossible!

Ok, who hasn't dreamed about winning the lottery? Everyone, no matter what they believe in, has had thoughts about what they would do if they were given a million dollars. How they spend the money may differ, but I'm sure that even the most practical person has some plans for its use. And that is why I found Cassia to be a very unreal character. Frankly she annoyed me quite a bit. I don't mind that she didn't want the money. I just found it annoying the way she kept complaining that she didn't want anything to do with the money, and then she's worried about having to pay rent. She brought up wanting to go back to college but not being able to because she didn't have money. Ok, now she has money but she won't do it because she doesn't want to touch the money. I don't understand why Cassia couldn't save just a little for her future and then give the rest away. She kept acting like it was tainted and evil. I also didn't really like that she kept throwing around Bible verses in normal conversation. If she was my coworker, I would have thought she was either showing off. There's nothing wrong with studying Scripture, but when it's quoted out of context, it's weird. I didn't really feel her relationship with Adam had much chemistry. I liked him, he was a good guy, I just didn't feel that they clicked. I did like Cassia's final decision about what to do with her winnings.

I personally enjoyed The Whitney Chronicles a lot more than this book. Maybe it's because I could relate to the main character in that book as opposed to this one. This book was a light read, but I would recommended TWC or Norah's Ark to a first time Judy Baer reader. ( )

I loved Baer's "Cedar River Daydreams" series when I was younger, so I was excited to see some adult books by her. FOr the most part, this was a nice, lighthearted book, great for a lazy read. However, the main character was so obsessed with avoiding money that it was kind of annoying. She takes Biblical standards about money and twists them to an extreme, quite beyond the extreme actually.

The book's a bit predictable, but as I said, if you're looking for a breezy novel that doesn't require a lot of brain power, this was a quick, somewhat enjoyable diversion (just roll your eyes at the main character every now and then and move on). ( )