Mind over Madi by Lynda Lee Schab is categorized as Women's Fiction from OakTara Publishers.  Six to ten years ago it would have been called Mom Lit because it is written in first person point of view of a thirty something mom with a unique voice in the middle of issues.  Of course, Women's Fiction is also about women with issues.  Because, what's fiction after all without some conflict?

Madi's conflict comes in the overexposed form of Fawn Witchburn, a single mom with no seemingly ingrained modesty. Fawn's daughter is in Madi's husband's class, but the interest doesn't seem to stop there.  Lipstick in Fawn's shade turns up on Rich's collar.  Which doesn't have to be an issue, except…

…Madi has bigger conflicts than a cheating husband.  She has trust issues with God, with man, with parents, with friends, and even her children.  She has eating issues.  She has communication issues.  She has phobias. She has a critical spirit.

But I liked her. I had empathy and compassion for her situation, for her brokenness, for her need for God to be in charge of her life, but how she kept running and running and running.  I understood that she believed a lie "All men cheat" fed to her from her own mother from the time Madi was a young child. And I like a book that explores finding freedom in Christ by understanding who we are in Christ.

I wouldn't have minded a deeper exploration. Madi's counselor could have put some more truth to her statement "You are a princess," by explaining what that means in Christ. Of course, Madi's hunt for which princess she most resembled — Sleeping Beauty, Airel, or Fiona — was cute. And the scene where Madi quits running and finds God present displays truth of God's mercy and pursuit of us.

Neat twist on Fawn Witchburn.

Good writing.  Cute internal dialogue.  Lots of fun, zinger lines.  And a spiritual truth worth exploring:  what happens in our minds plays out in our actions and speech. What we think determines how we behave.  Definitely Mind Over Madi.