I’m going to be honest here, when I heard the premise of this book I thought, really, another cheesy book about relief society sisters? Didn’t we leave those behind in the early days of LDS fiction? The truth is, yes, yes we did. Lipstick Wars is not cheesy, or overblown or super preachy or any of the things I was afraid of when I picked it up.

The story starts with Eden, wrapped in nothing but a towel outside after having to jump from the shower and run through her suddenly-busy neighborhood to grab the two-year-old, who had gone streaking (literally) down the sidewalk. And there’s a cop driving over to speak to her, because her neighbor is just nasty enough to turn her in.

Oh, well, I’ll give you the blurb:

Meet Eden Duncan, a young mother of two who has things completely under control–well, kind of. Her two-year-old has suddenly become an expert escape artist while her sweet three-month-old takes a lot of her attention. Her husband, Josh, is constantly at work, leaving Eden to maintain a run-down home and an overgrown yard. And on top of all that, a grouchy neighbor is determined to tear down Eden’s house to make the property into a park!

When her neighbor escalates their war to dirty tactics, Eden must rely on a most unexpected resource–her visiting teachers. From early morning walks to the ward “nerd” party, to new friends and neighbors, Eden discovers that sometimes prayers aren’t answered in the way we would expect.

Filled with zany humor and tender moments, Lipstick Wars is a visiting teaching adventure you’ll never forget. Christine Thackeray once again brings us a story that touches your heart and fills your soul with laughter.

I love that Eden’s visiting teachers/partenr all have so many honest foibles and struggles, and though they totally misread each other to begin with, they manage to figure out a way to be friends and support each other, and as I said–it’s not cheesy and preachy, just good, clean fun. I think there’s something in here for any woman to connect with, from young mothers on up.

To learn more about Christine’s visiting teaching adventure series, or learn more about the author, visit her website or her blog.