Thursday, May 14, 2026

Stronger than the Storm Tour & Giveaway

About the Book

Book: Stronger than the Storm

Author: Deena Adams

Genre: Christian Women’s Fiction

Release Date: April 28, 2026

A runaway teen. A wife’s devastating secret. A family’s reckoning.

Since surviving a rocky season in her marriage nineteen years earlier, Beth Holbrook has prayed and worked toward maintaining a solid marital commitment, raising godly children, and leading a thriving parenting ministry. On the cusp of realizing her publication dream and expanding her influence nationwide, her daughter, Leesa, runs away without a word.

Having recently turned eighteen and graduated from high school, Leesa is livid with her parents for not allowing her to attend a beach party, especially when the only guy who has ever shown interest in her will be there. When her best friend suggests they escape their parents’ strict rules and move to Myrtle Beach together, she makes a spontaneous decision to leave town. A mere six weeks later she returns home with shocking news that affects not only her future, but her family’s.

While grappling with a volatile blend of failure and anger, Beth’s identity as a pastor’s wife, mom, and respected parenting coach disintegrates. Amid mounting conflict in her marriage, continued criticism from her mother, and strained relationships with her children, Beth confesses a long-held secret, shattering her already splintered family.

As a hurricane bears down on the Holbrook’s house, the storm raging within the walls threatens to rip apart the fragile stitches holding their family together. When Beth’s solid foundation crumbles, will her family survive intact? Or is her contrition too little, too late?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

As a Jesus girl for more than thirty years, Deena Adamsunderstands how important hope is to daily life, which fuels her passion to inspire others through hope-filled fiction based on true to life stories.

She is a Certified Mental Health Coach, a multi-award-winning author, an active ACFW member, founder of the Marathon online writers group, and a six-year ACFW Virginia board member.

Deena lives with her husband near the coast in beautiful Virginia. When she’s not writing, reading, or serving in her church, you’ll find her hanging out with family and friends, playing board games, and doting on her seven grandchildren.

More from Deena

Crafting a novel from authentic life experiences is a challenging task, but it’s one I sensed God’s call to undertake. If the Lord can encourage those facing heartbreaking situations through my struggles as the mother of a prodigal twenty years ago, I’m all in.

Growing up, I tried my hardest to please my parents and teachers, but I always felt I didn’t measure up. As a Type A person, I’m sure that mindset was my doing, not theirs.

Fast forward to my season as a young mom, and my insecurities ramped up even more. When I became a Christian in my late twenties, I already had three small children and longed to be the world’s best mother and do everything right. I saw my kids’ mistakes as an indictment of my parenting abilities, leading me to believe myself a failure and to try harder to succeed.

With that attitude, you can imagine how I reacted when our teenage daughter ran away from home and returned pregnant—especially since my husband is the pastor of our church. Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.

The emotional upheaval I endured while watching our child make one poor decision after another revealed my many shortcomings. Among the important lessons God taught me was what a shallow person I’d been and how much I wanted others’ respect and for them to find me acceptable—no, exceptional. Sadly, I was at a place in life where other people’s opinions seemed to carry more weight than my children’s feelings, but I was blind to my faults.

As I walked through the deep valley with a prodigal, God, in His great mercy, opened my eyes and showed me the truth about myself.

My journey of healing and restoration with our daughter was the catalyst for my debut novel, Stronger than the Storm. I pray that the challenging themes I address will uplift those going through extreme difficulty and that the embedded truths inspire hope in Jesus.

In my book, the Holbrook’s crisis begins as ours did, with a teen runaway getting pregnant by a guy she barely knew. I incorporated some factual events from our lives and drew many of the characters’ raw emotions from personal history. Although I gave Beth Holbrook, the mother in the story, a few of my personality traits, including the passion to be a supermom and failing miserably, the bulk of this family’s journey is fictional.

My experience as an adult daughter inspired the revelation of a long-kept secret in the latter part of the book. To avoid spoilers, I’ll simply state that nothing prepares anyone for such devastating news.

Yet, amid turmoil and unexpected adversity, God is still on the throne and has a perfect plan for our good and His glory. When we surrender everything to Him, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus through life’s storms, we can gain true peace and cling to the truth that God is stronger than anything we face.

In Stronger than the Storm, the Holbrook family must come to this understanding as well. As you read the book, I trust that this family’s journey, and mine, will provide you with encouragement and hope.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 (NLT)

MY REVIEW

A family faces many trials in this emotional journey to reconciliation. There are a few topics that could be triggers to some readers. The author handles these topics with grace and the Word. The family are respected members of the church and both husband and wife have thriving ministries. I could very much relate to the prodigal in the story. We are dealing with a young adult who has turned away from God. The anger and bitterness is hard to deal with. Like the author illustrates I can be controlling and a helicopter mom. This story has helped me understand the prodigal better and know there is always hope.

Beth is shocked to find her teenage daughter has left home without warning. She struggles with looking at herself and seeing how she may have been part of the reason her daughter left. As parents we want the best for our children. Sometimes we forget to treat them with respect and allow them to make mistakes on their own. I was able to relate to Beth the most because I understand what it feels like to want others to accept me even though my life is in chaos. Trying to hide what is going on causes Beth to wonder where her trust in God is.

Leesa is strong willed and ready to escape her controlling and critical mother. She adores her father but when it comes to her mother their ability to communicate is difficult. A decision to leave the safety of her family will show Leesa that the pasture is not greener on the other side. A big mistake finds her in a relationship that is dangerous. I like how she still turns to her father when she reaches rock bottom. Her journey is filled with dark moments where she finds that God is there. Her story gives hope to the lost and peace to those who think they will never be forgiven.

I appreciate how the author uses parts of her own life and incorporates it into a story that is relatable. We worry about our status in church but forget that our family is more important. I thought that Kevin had blinders on when it came to facing problems at home. He wanted this perfect family but beneath the surface is a family in crisis. His ministry was out before anything which he soon discovers is out of God’s order. Secrets play a big part in his marriage and his reaction is exactly what others would feel. We all make bad decisions that can hurt others. This story shows how a family steers through rough patches to find forgiveness and that we need to always depend on Him.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.