Family Ties Are Not Just Biological

Brooke's's husband is dead leaving her alone to raise her two children. Owen is divorced. His wife had an affair with his partner hurting him deeply. Hunter, a teenager, was abandoned by his mother. Now the grandmother he's been living with is ill. He's always been in trouble, but now he has no where to turn.

Brooke is particularly sensitive to abandonment. Her father left when she was small, and she grew very attached to her mother. Her mother lived with her after the death of Brooke's husband, but she moved out wanting to have her own life giving Brooke another abandonment.

Abandonment is an issue in this story, but so is forgiveness. Owen is struggling with the issue with his ex-wife. Brook thinks she hates the father who abandoned her, but each of these characters is hurting themselves because being unable to forgive makes them act in ways that are destructive for themselves. Being unable to forgive hurts the person more than the object of their hatred.

The characters in this book are believable. They're hurting and the hurts are very human. The story has enough twists to keep it interesting and as it's a romance all is well at the end, if not exactly what we expect.

I reviewed this book for the Thomas Nelson Booksneeze Program.