Loving (Bailey Flanigan Series)

Bailey is planning a wedding and making decisions that will shape her future. Bailey enjoys the beginning of her new career and time spent with Brandon while .
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Loving, Bailey Flanigan Series 4. Loving, Bailey Flanigan Series 4 By: More in Bailey Flanigan Series. Product Close-up Shop Karen Kingsbury. Add To Cart 0. Unabridged Audio CD Edition. Bailey is planning a wedding and making decisions that will shape her future. But has she agreed to marry the right guy? Paperback Number of Pages: More Info Add To Wishlist. Longing Audiobook Karen Kingsbury. Leaving - eBook Karen Kingsbury. Have a question about this product? People change, grow apart, there's a season for everything, like Kingsbury reiterates in her novels. It's 'realistic' that Bailey would meet someone else and she and Cody would fall to pieces.

But as a fiction lover and writer myself, I have impossible difficulty figuring how an author can build so deeply on a relationship, work so intimately with it, pour so much time into it, so many years I really felt like that's what she did with Cody and Bailey. The shift of both their feelings felt artificial, inane. Suddenly, the depth of Cody's love for Bailey amounts to a chilly brotherhood? Randomly, a favourite character of mine from the Above the Line series, Andi, is reintroduced in a way I could hardly imagine more tasteless - to ignite some absolutely random flare of love and purpose in Cody's heart.

Forgive me if I'm sardonic, but this book was an incredible disappointment. I had high expectations, and honestly Cody's devotion to Bailey was the main reason I bothered with these books I'm not good with sappy stuff, generally speaking. That devotion, upon finishing, was cheap and fairly worthless, as far as I was concerned. Cody basically convinced himself his love for Bailey was childish, and he's grown up. If this is Kingsbury's idea of fiction - something you curl up with after a long day, something you intend to enjoy Unless you enjoy heaps of senseless mush that barely caters to intellect in any form.

And is riddled with mistakes. The reader in me wishes she could overlook these, but the editor can't very easily. I remember reading repeat paragraphs in one of the books. Finding easy mistakes, for example - Cody's mother's name changed from one series to another. That's a mistake an accomplished author should not afford, let alone her editors And these copies were published for retail.

I'm not much of a ranter, but look at this review. I don't mean to offend with it, but I'm very honest - this series had a lot of potential, but cheapened characterization, poor plot pacing and an over-abundance of sappy, cavity-inducing romance led to its downfall in my opinion. And again, both the romantic and the writer in me needed to see Kingsbury's lengthy work through to a proper conclusion. Proper I didn't receive. How can someone put so much into two characters only to let them drop in the end?

Give up on them? Paint them a plastic 'happy ending'? It's a mystery to me. Mar 27, Ibjoy Hannabass rated it did not like it. The Bailey series was by far Not my favorite, but I hung in there because I wanted to see Bailey and Cody get together in the end. Karen made an extremely bad error in the writing world by taking two series and lifting up her hero, Cody, building up that relationship with Cody and Bailey and more importantly Cody and the Lord, then dumping him, kicking him to the curb.

And she changed her mind at the last minute for family reasons??? I know I get too involved in characters, but Karen did this to us in the last two series about Bailey and Cody. Now he will no longer feel secure with this family that he loves so much. Sorry Karen but you blew it with this. The sad thing is, a huge percentage of teens and young adults who read this series and especially Longing will get a misled message. Wonder how many will go out there trying to find a rich kid that has all the money in the world to woo them literally any way they want.

Karen is leading a lot of young ladies on the wrong road and for that, I would want any of my family to read her books. That said, I do not recommend this book, nor do I recommend this series for anyone to read because it is critically leading our young ladies in the wrong direction when it comes to dating and marrying.

How much more will teens and young ladies idolize her enough to listen to this incorrect advice? This book was provided by the publisher, Zondervan in exchange for an honest review. I was not required or expected to write a positive review. The opinions in this review are mine only. Jun 25, Erin rated it it was ok Shelves: I took my sweet time in getting around to reading this novel. The reviews on Amazon have been polarizing from the moment it was released: I wasn't in a hurry to be disappointed, and while Karen rarely does, I did recognize there was plenty of potential for my reading experience to go either way.

I was only as far as Chapter 2 when I began to see that something was off. Storylines started to take contrived turns and, honestly, they never recovered. One of my least fav I took my sweet time in getting around to reading this novel. One of my least favorite plot devices is when a writer lays something out and then jerks it all back and says it means nothing. I call it the yo-yo effect and some authors have it perfected I'm looking at you, Julian Fellowes. Unfortunately, the whole Bailey-Cody-Brandon triagle turned out to be one big yo-yo. You'll have to read it to see if I'm referring to Bailey deciding Cody wasn't the one for her after years of loving him, or Bailey deciding that even though she's been seeing Brandon and he wants to marry her that she goes back to Cody after all.

I've defended Bailey in the past. She has lived a charmed life, so if anyone has the right to freak out over first world problems, it's her. But just a few books ago we could see Bailey being a bold witness for Christ in whatever situations she found herself in. Now she is reacting to everything out of fear. She cuts people out of her life.

She's nothing close to a role model. Falls in love with a girl from Indiana? Lives in a Malibu beach house? Has problems with paparazzi? In "Loving" the parallels reached ridiculous levels. Cody seemed poised at the end of "Longing" to accept his dream job. Enter a new dream job out of nowhere to shake things up.

Does it come as a package deal with a girlfriend he's known for a long time? One who has long held affection for him? Is this too good to be true, or too contrived to hold water? I've never read Meyer but many of the detracting points in "Twilight" seemed present in "Loving".

I hope I never have to say that about another Kingsbury book ever again! And yes, I plan to keep reading.

The Real Bailey Flanigan Gets Hitched! | Bookish

Surely the woman who brought us "Redemption" and "Remember" can find herself again and bring us more stories that we can recommend to our friends. My best advice to you would be to treat this book like one treats "Rocky V": This review originated at http: Mar 26, Katie rated it liked it Shelves: It probably deserves a four but my "Team Cody" glasses are so thick it will have to settle with three. Not satisfied but enjoyed it nonetheless.

View all 5 comments. Mar 27, Happy Lumasag rated it did not like it. First of all, I think this series proved to be a weak spot of Karen in that she mixes up biography with fiction. She allows too much liberty of her daughter's real life happenings to influence the story's direction when the story began years before her daughter met her current fiance!

It is sad that Kingsbury's maternal emotions over her own daughter's love life gets all worked up in a fictional story she had long established with her readers. Worse, it seems like she wrote this whole series for Kelsey and Kyle rather than for the readers she had gained through the previous series she wrote about Bailey and Cody which I find very unfair. On the other hand, I am sure there are people out there who can relate with her so-called "twists and turns". Personally, it is simply an unprofessional work coming from a well-known New York Times bestselling author that's what makes it much more disappointing.

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The Real Bailey Flanigan Gets Hitched!

Jan 05, Pamela Hubbard rated it did not like it Shelves: In the fourth and final Bailey Flanigan book, Bailey makes some major decisions when she starts coming across obstacles. She begins to detest her life in LA and realizes that it is not as glamourous as she expected. She must decide whether to stay for Brandon, move back home to Bloomington, or give New York another try. Along with those decisions comes thoughts about what Bailey wants to do as a career and what man she will end up with.

She learns what love really is and finds that sacrifice is In the fourth and final Bailey Flanigan book, Bailey makes some major decisions when she starts coming across obstacles. She learns what love really is and finds that sacrifice is essential to any relationship. I was extremely disappointed in this book. With each book that Karen writes, the quality decreases.

The characters seemed fake and too perfect, the story was contrived and the writing and language was corny and completely unrealistic.


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I even found some spelling errors and at least one name mix-up. This whole series was written about Karen's daughter and so she changed the story to match up with real life situations. In this way, the book isn't true fiction and knowing she based the book off of her daughter's life made the story unrelatable. It was also disappointing that Karen just threw away story lines that she had spent multiple books investing in. After years of being her main focus, Cody Coleman was just thrown aside and seen as not good enough for Bailey, and Brandon, her "knight in shining armor" was annoying and lame as a character.

This book turned into a fairy tale. Karen's books used to be so deep and impacting and now they are nothing more than Christian harlequins. I only forced myself to read this because I have read every book in the series and wanted to see it through, but there were multiple times I was tempted to return the book without finishing it! I skimmed many parts of the book because the whole story line was almost identical to Katy and Dayne's, even down to the songs used at the wedding and the fact that they moved into Dayne and Katy's old house, bought CKT, etc.

Bailey's character, once so strong, became wishy washy and weak. Even though Karen put to rest the Cody story in the last book, every time Cody texted Bailey or wanted to meet with her, she started wondering if Cody was the one. May 19, Jay rated it it was ok. I found the whole Bailey Flanigan series to drawn out and frankly, disappointing. She suddenly became self centered and everything seemed to revolve around her. What sacrifices did she make for the "love of her life"? She came across more as a taker then a giver.

The whole relationship with Brandon was unrealistic and I found I found the whole Bailey Flanigan series to drawn out and frankly, disappointing. The whole relationship with Brandon was unrealistic and I found it just too perfect. The perfect girl, perfect boy, perfect careers, perfect house, perfect wedding, perfect wedding dress. Nothing perfect about these two. Just two genuine, down to earth people who have overcome heartache and through God's grace have moved forward with a stronger faith and sense of well being and happiness.

Apr 25, Sarah rated it did not like it Shelves: It's been months since the release of the last Bailey Flanigan series book, and I still can't calm the disappointment a very serene word for my real feelings in the waste of time and money I spent on these books. I got hooked on the Redemption series, and pulled into the Fame series because I loved the idea of a small town theater director and a popular actor finding their way to each other.

Throughout the Fame series, I was a little surprised how Kingsbury's writing tone seem to change. Fri It's been months since the release of the last Bailey Flanigan series book, and I still can't calm the disappointment a very serene word for my real feelings in the waste of time and money I spent on these books. Friends advised I loved the Redemption series so much because Gary Smalley helped author them. I chose to ignore their point and continue through with Kingsbury's multiple additions despite the writing getting more boring with each book.

Instead, I feel like I was dropped on my backside and could hear cruel laughing in the background. After finishing Loving I immediately collected all the books I had from Kingsbury, threw them in a box and deposited them at my local library. This book officially ended any desire to read another Kingsbury again. Aug 10, Tamara Tilley rated it liked it Shelves: But, like many other reviewers, my thoughts are not completely positive.

My two biggest problems with this series are, One- the constant back story that I had to constantly skim through to get to the new story. I also began to lose a connection to Bailey because I could not relate to her near perfect life. This girl would be every parents dream, and maybe Kelsey Kingsbury really is this perfect, humble, always make the right decision, never makes a bad choice person, but I feel her faultlessness made it difficult for me to relate, as it would with most girls her age.

I also had a hard time believing the flawlessness of Brandon. And again, maybe Kyle Kopecky was just that perfect. But, I think Ms. I know this sounds like a lot of bashing, and maybe since I live in the real world I am just a little bit more realistic, but I definitely felt these were major flaws in the series. But, Karen Kingsbury is a best-selling author with an incredible following. I even got a chance to meet her at a convention I attended. Let me just say that I am an avid reader of Karen's books! She writes in a way that ministers to me, and this is such a blessing! With that being said, I have of course read, the Redemption series, Firstborn series, Sunrise series, Above the Line and finally the Bailey Flanigan series.

It had seemed like all along in Let me just say that I am an avid reader of Karen's books! It had seemed like all along in previous books that Cody and Bailey truly were meant to be together, and I held onto that as I started reading the Bailey Flanigan series. I even gave less then 5 stars on the first couple of book reviews because I SO wanted Cody and Bailey to be together.

However, I have to say that this final book, "Loving", although there is still a tiny little bit of disappointment with Cody and Bailey not finally working things out to get together, I am happy with the ending. What a LOVE story in this book! And when you think about it, real life is like that many times.

We think we KNOW who we love and who we need to be with, but when we step back and let God lead and I learned this from personal experience many years ago , He will bring the person into our life who is perfect for us! And that is what I saw in this final book about Bailey Flanigan. Both Bailey and Cody really thought they loved each other and would be together eventually, and both of them held on to that for a long time, Cody even longer then Bailey. But when they both gave their wants and desires over to God in this area of their life, God had a much better plan for them!

So, yes, I loved this love story that was God-ordained. And now I can give this final book of the Bailey Flanigan series a definite 5-star rating! Thank you, Karen, for staying true to what God was telling you to write! Can't wait for "Coming Home" in June! Mar 10, Kathy rated it it was ok Shelves: I've read a lot of Karen Kingsbury KK holds a place in my heart, but I've become so bored with her books lately - there's just too much perfectness, too much predictability. Mar 26, Nezzle rated it it was amazing. A wonderful ending to the series. So inspirational and motivational.

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I'll admit that there were many parts of these book that were really cliche and eye roll worthy but I couldn't help but love it! The scripture readings always seemed to speak to me personally and I really love the way Karen Kingsbury was able to tackle difficult topics from a perspective of love and grace. The writing style was very simple and easy to follow and the characters were very well developed throughout the series. I'l A wonderful ending to the series. I'll probably forever love Brandon Paul!!

For those looking for a sweet albeit sometimes cheesy Christian romance, this is an excellent choice. I'll definitely be reading other books from Karen Kingsbury in the future. Mar 27, Denise Romero rated it really liked it. I think she is a very good story telling and her books are quick to read because the characters are so engaging.

One of the specific problems I have with her is that she makes her characters too perfect. In this particular series, the main character is based on her own daugther and family. They seem too good to be true - always respectful, loving, patient, kind. There is no way that her family is that perfect and it seems almost egotistical to write about yourself that way.

How about some reality and then the use of biblical principals to overcome that?

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I was also disappointed in the ending as Bailey doesn't end up with Cody after Karen built that relationship up for the past 10 books. I specifically resented her contrived adding of something happening with Brandon on the "date" Bailey prayed for her future husband's life.

That plot point felt completely forced and an attempt to manipulate the story from what she had already set up with Cody being the end game for Bailey. I am not as angry as some readers who say they will never read her books again. I still enjoy her stories and I am looking forward to reading the new one about the Baxters.

I just wish she didn't feel the need to match her daughters life with these books just because the character was based on her. Jan 24, Rebecca "Rebaka" Lewis rated it it was amazing. Who will Bailey choose? Wanting to have this series end the way I want it to, may or may not be the reality that will be. Within the first six chapters of Loving I see turmoil in Bailey and see so many twists and turns to this story.

Is Bailey with Brandon only because she has to have someone. Who will Bailey choose. I so want to write about this book and how it ended, but I guess all I can say right now is I feel as if it ended the way it should have. To quote a line from the book "And jus Who will Bailey choose?


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    4. To quote a line from the book "And just because all love is not the same that doesn't make it less than love. View all 21 comments. Sep 08, Casey rated it did not like it. This book was so far removed from some of Kingsbury's older books that I really began to wonder if she actually wrote it. I was stunned at the number of opportunities for "life-changing fiction" were skipped over so that more detail could be given to trite issues and wedding details.

    Brandon and his parents haven't talked in years and years. Yet, all that was given to the reconciliation between them was one simple paragraph. His parents simply drove up his driveway and got out of This book was so far removed from some of Kingsbury's older books that I really began to wonder if she actually wrote it. His parents simply drove up his driveway and got out of the car and all was well. Can you imagine how many readers could have benefited from a more detailed explanation of the process of forgiveness and how Brandon got to that point with his parents. Instead we read this book thinking that nothing ever has to be discussed with estranged loved ones and that we should just act as if the situation never happened.

    I realize that once Brandon became a Christian he never had another struggle, outside of his distance from Bailey, but this just leads Christians to believe that reconciliation should happen this way, while it isn't a realistic or a healthy view of forgiveness at all. After so many novels about these characters, I feel like I really know them and their character. But the Jim Flanigan that I have come to know would have never so readily given his blessing for a marriage that his daughter was so obviously conflicted about.

    Just weeks before, Bailey ended her relationship with Brandon, yet when Brandon comes in to ask for Jim's blessing in marriage, he gives it right away. This seemed so forced to me I feel like, at best, Jim Flanigan would have talked Brandon into waiting the time it took to get everything straightened out between he and Bailey before jumping into marriage.

    Even though Jim Flanigan's marriage is easy and perfect, I think he is a wise enough man to know that when you are having problems in a relationship, marriage doesn't solve those problems. Yet, once again, instead of the "life-changing fiction" that Karen Kingsbury would have used at one time to show the importance of a right relationship before jumping into a marriage, now she writes in favor of parallelism to her own life, regardless of how ill these two fit together. The first 3rd of the book goes into great detail about how Brandon is fine with the paparazzi, he has grown up with it and it doesn't bother him at all.

    He even gets to the point of frustration with Bailey because she lets it affect her so much. However, in one or two paragraphs all of a sudden Brandon hates the paparazzi and can't live like that any longer. He sees exactly why Bailey has been so upset about it and is willing to give it all up right then and there. I'm sorry, Karen, but we can't get there that fast, and to expect us to makes the entire story unbelievable and difficult to relate to.

    People don't change their minds about an issue that big that quickly. I would have much rather had less wedding detail and more time spent given to this change of heart that Brandon experienced instead of it all happening at once. Not only was the writing different from past novels, but I barely got a glimpse of the character that Bailey once was.