Sugarcoated (Finding Sweet Release from Cravings that Control Us)

All around the world, women yearn for a perfect life they can never grasp. They want to be successful, attractive, sexually fulfilled, and free from distress.

Rather than turning to God, too many try to feast on everything under the sun—diet pills, pornography, shopping sprees, one-night stands, and social media—anything to hit that sweet spot.

In the end, they are left with a deep sense of shame that can draw them further down into a spiral of bingeing, hiding, and emotional self-flagellation. They totally get Paul’s woeful lament, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).

Consequently, these women build a wall between themselves and God. They fear divine retribution for their chosen form of gluttony while simultaneously operating under the false assumption that God doesn’t want to have anything to do with them.

As author Angie Haskell notes, “This dangerous form of beratement worms its way into every facet of women’s lives. It burrows into their psyche, making them believe that demeaning treatment from others, as well as themselves, is perfectly normal. And if they dare throw caution to the wind, stepping out in their stilettos to stand up for what they need, it is often met with assumptions from others that their morals and values have flown out the window.”

These women feel alone, unseen and unsatisfied, but Angie wades into their despair. With disarming wit and boldness, she empowers readers to take a hard look at their secret cravings, understand where they are coming from, and get on a path that leads to emotional and physical health.

In a society that has become dangerously divisive, Angie reassures women that they’re still deserving of a relationship with God while also standing up for themselves and their needs.