Nobody’s Girl: A Music Fiction Book Review

Nobody’s Girl by Juanita Millhouse is a Christian romance novel dealing with love, loss, and redemption. The central character, Tess Brenner, is a devout Christian who is in love with a Rockstar. This is not your average wall poster Rockstar dream romance, though.

Tess went to school with a garage band and actually gave them their name when their songs began to catch on. The Four Jays (Jamie, Jeff, Joey, and Jack) soon rose to meteoric fame. Tess, their sound tech, stayed behind to live her life as a teacher.

Nobody’s Girl is definitely not my genre of choice, however, I really enjoyed this book. The characters are engaging and most girls/women can relate to Tess’s feelings of unrequited love. I certainly know that I can relate to this situation.

I felt that God had a plan for the Four Jays, or more specifically Jamie, Tess’ first love. I wanted everything to work out between them. That love would rule the day and they would be a-okay. Romance novels are hard for me at times. They often don’t go according to plan. I am impatient but I am working on it. Would God work a miracle for Tess, Jamie and the Four Jays?

The book held me enthralled. I knew I had to find out what happened to The Jays.  I needed to know if Tess ended up with Jamie. I needed to know if The Jays found redemption. I didn’t realize that I was so invested in the story until I found myself at three in the morning finally putting the book down as I finished.

The idea of “ugliness” is raised several times throughout Nobody’s Girl, by several characters. Juanita works through these situations with explanations that give the reader hope and confidence. Sex, drugs, and various situations are broached masterfully and handled in line with Christian theology. All are difficult subjects to cover but the light of hope is always present in the writing. 

It was a difficult read for me because I wanted to cheat so badly and skip to the end to find out what happened. Don’t judge me too harshly. I never do that with a book I am reviewing, so I kept to the path. I didn’t skip ahead and was very glad I allowed the book to unfold the mystery. It was almost as if I was uncovering Tess’s reaction to God’s love, voice, and grace throughout the book. 

This is a must-read for any Christian reader. You will feel like rejoicing, crying, and perhaps even praying. Tess’s actions are filled with grace and may even be educational to those who may be reading a Christian romance for the first time. Juanita drew me deeply into the story. 

Remember when I mentioned that this was not my genre? Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my thinking because I would love there to be a sequel to this book. There are so many more truths to uncover.

Sue Cook

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Sue Cook lives in Freeport, Illinois with her husband Randy and two dogs. Her passions include assistance dogs, rescue dogs, music, acting, theater, poetry, and Doctor Who. She’s been in both film and theater and is a regular cast member of the podcast Doctor Who’s Line is it….Anyway? Sue is an advocate for the use of Service Dogs to assist their disabled handlers to maintain their independence. Quigley’s Quest, her first children’s book, addresses how a dog becomes a Service Dog.

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