Age Before Beauty
Sister-to-Sister, Book 2
by Virginia Smith

List Price: $13.99
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780800732332
Publisher: Revell

“Smith entertains and enlightens through down-home characters you can welcome into your heart like family.” --- Ann H. Gabhart, author of The Outsider

Allie Harrod is ready for a new career. She doesn’t want to go back to full time work and risk missing her baby’s first smile. But she does want to contribute to the family income, and a home-based business seems like the perfect solution. Sure, she dropped out of Girl Scouts because she was lousy at cookie sales, but selling makeup is different, right?

Still, the challenges Allie faces seem to be rising as fast as her credit card balance. None of her clothes fit, her mother-in-law is driving her batty, and her husband only leaves the couch to go help his beautiful --- and single --- coworker with her home repairs. What’s a working girl to do?

A lighthearted story of family and finding focus, Age before Beauty is the second book in the Sister-to-Sister series.

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1. When the story opens, new mom Allie has undergone some changes she didn’t expect, both in her body and her outlook. Identify some ways she has changed. How does having a baby alter a woman’s life?

2. Allie, Joan, and Tori are sisters with a common background and unique personalities. Describe their differences and similarities. With which character do you most identify, and why?

3. Allie describes the event she attends with Joan as “a stupid party where some fanatical woman would try to force her to buy something she didn’t want and for which she had no use.” Have anyone ever been involved in a home business or maybe tried to find a way to work at home so they could be a stay at home mom?

4. Though she desperately wants to stay home with Joanie instead of returning to work, Allie can’t force herself to rely on Eric as her sole financial support. Why? Does she overcome this fear?

5. In what ways do the Sanderson sisters support each other?

6. When a “rash” appears on Joanie’s face, Allie panics. Is her reaction a common one for new moms? If you’re a mom, have you ever overreacted to a situation involving your child?

7. Allie’s dislike of Betty is based on a series of misunderstandings. Identify some of them, and discuss the ways their relationship changes throughout the course of the story.

8. Eric and Allie were raised in vastly different environments. How do their parents’ relationships affect their marriage?

9. In what ways do Eric and Allie each put their marriage at risk?

10. Because of a disturbing incident in his youth, Eric distrusts people who go to church. Is his attitude justified? Why does he decide to give church a try at the end of the story?

11. As Allie struggles to resolve her growing list of problems, a song she learned years before in church keeps coming to mind. How does this help her resolve her problems? What role does music play in the life of a believer?

12. Author Virginia Smith says the engagement scene in Age before Beauty never fails to bring tears to her eyes. If you are married, describe how you became engaged. If you’re single, what is your idea of a romantic marriage proposal?

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