Book Review - The Best Summer of Our Lives

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the latest release from Rachel Hauck. That’s the problem with preordering. You know it is coming, like Christmas, but you can only count down until the day the clouds part and the book angels sing to announce its arrival in the mailbox. You dance your happy dance, (the neighbors are free to think what they want to think,) pluck your treasure from the box, and happy dance back inside before your glisten turns to sweaty drowned rat. You crack open the book to devour it. Then you realize this one is going to take some time. There’s a lot to unravel in The Best Summer of Our Lives. If you’re worried that you’ve overspent, please allow me to put those fears to rest. Clocking in at 376 pages, Hauck is giving you what you paid and waited for. Not a single page is wasted on frivolity and every bit of detail is pertinent. And if you think you’ve got this one figured out in the first chapter, here’s a spoiler: you don’t.

Summer, Spring, Fall and Snow are the Four Seasons, a group of friends knit as tightly together as the hours are knit into their days. The Best Summer of Our Lives focuses on the summer of 1977, the one between high school graduation and their freshman year at Florida State, the one they had planned to be the best summer of their lives. It is also the last summer these girls spent together and twenty years later they find themselves back in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma trying to figure out how to regain what was lost that year. Because if they can fix that, maybe they can also each find a way forward. Rachel Hauck threads together the individuals who make up this group and those who love them to deliver a perfect poolside read that will stick with you long after the last page.

The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

(This is where you usually see a disclaimer, because I often post reviews of books I have received from the author and/or publisher in exchange for an honest review. There is actually no need for a disclaimer here, because I bought this one and decided to review it because it brings me joy to share great books with you and to help promote and encourage these authors who work so hard to deliver quality literature.)

Book Review - After The Shadows

After leaving her family and friends behind to begin life at Mrs. Leland, Emily returns home to Sweetwater Crossing and finds it is too late to say goodbye to her dear mother. Furthermore, her sister Louisa’s demeanor is puzzling; they were once such good friends, but Louisa’s attitude now borders on hostility. As pieces begin falling into place, Emily realizes her husband’s abuse extended even beyond what she received directly, and she must now work to repair the relationships that are left. One thing marriage to George Leland taught her is that men lie to conceal their true intentions, and now that she has been released from that bondage by his death, she will never allow herself to be in that position again. When Emily’s father, Reverend Vaughn, is found hanging in the barn, Emily knows appearances are not always what they seem. There is no way her father committed suicide and she cannot rest until his killer is found.

Emily is a Vaughn through and through, and the way she cares for her neighbors reflects the values her parents modeled as she grew up in Sweetwater Crossing. Upon seeing the need of neighbors in distress, Emily opens the now empty family home to boarders, one of whom is the handsome new schoolmaster. A handsome new schoolmaster with an adorable little boy and the emotional scars that come from losing his beloved wife in a tragic accident. But working alongside Emily opens doors Craig never imagined his grief would allow opened, and there just might be a future for them after all.

I love good historical fiction with a well balanced romance element and a bit of intrigue. What After The Shadows delivers that I particularly enjoyed was the emphasis on the value of friendships. The four widows of Sweetwater Crossing treasure their friendship and encourage Emily to cultivate those relationships. After The Shadows is a well rounded read, the sequel to which I eagerly anticipate.

After The Shadows, Sweetwater Crossing #1, by Amanda Cabot is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Facing the Dawn

From the very beginning of Facing the Dawn, I felt like I could relate to Mara Jacobs. We both think we really ought to have it all together, and we both really don't have it all together. However, the main character of this novel by Cynthia Ruchti struggles with the weight of her family's world on her shoulders. A son prone to scrapes with the law, a daughter with a penchant for trouble, and the little boy of the family who struggles with more than a little boy should have to carry, all relying on Mara to keep the family afloat while their humanitarian dad is doing great things halfway around the world. When it all comes falling down around her ears, Mara finds that going through it alone isn't God's plan. Pushing through the wall of grief and the rippling consequences of her husband's death is a burden that Mara doesn't want to share. Being surrounded by people who love her carries her along the arduous path toward restoration.

I greatly appreciate the way the author carried the story. At times I felt that there would never be enough time left in the book for Mara's healing; I noticed that pages kept turning and still the journey was so slow that it could not possibly be accomplished by the time I ran out of text. I also appreciate the value of those who came alongside Mara to support her and who are supported by her, in spite of the fact that she seems to be depleted to the point of dysfunction. The story comes full circle in due time.

Facing the Dawn is currently available from your favorite local bookseller, or online from the following retailers:

Christian Book        Barnes & Noble        Amazon

Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.