God Bless This Mess: Learning to Live and Love Through Life's Best (and Worst) Moments

"God bless everything that was a total disaster that was my life. Because, if we can slow down long enough to see what God is trying to teach us, that's where we learn the most—in the chaos."

Twenty-four-year-old Hannah Brown found herself in the limelight and discovered she didn't know what she wanted. She had gained a lot of notoriety after participating in beauty pageants for years and going on to feature in Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelorette. She was in her early twenties and millions of people were watching and commenting on every move she made. She began to ponder what it would mean to live according to her terms. What it would entail to quit looking to other people for approval and make the first decision about what she wanted out of her own life.

God Bless This Mess is a memoir that doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but rather offers an open and sincere look into the author's own mid-twenties. Hannah is aware that she is not an expert in everything. She does, however, possess the wisdom of someone who has lived through formative years of public scrutiny. As a result, a quarter-life book that discusses the challenges faced by young women and how to overcome them gracefully comes to light. Hannah encourages others to do the same and to embrace the messiness that goes along with self-discovery (even if it sometimes means falling flat on your face) by overcoming her ingrained need for acceptance and learning how to think critically about her own objectives and ambitions.

Hannah doesn't hold back from discussing the most trying times in her life, including the times her faith was put to the test, the times she thought it was gone, and the times she triumphed over it on national television. She uses her time on The Bachelorette as a springboard. "And Jesus still loves me." The never-before-told tales—such as how she battled anxiety and depression during her pageant years, how counseling and journaling have been lifesavers, and the previously unrecorded private moments—both at home and on TV—that influenced the star's perspective—will inspire fans.

Sincere and strongly felt, God bless This Mess serves as a reminder that real development cannot occur without conflict and that love and self-acceptance may blossom in the midst of those gloomy, chaotic times.