Between Heaven and Earth, by Michele Paige Holmes
2016, 420p, Clean Contemporary Romance
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received a copy via eBooks for Review for an honest review
Cassandra Webb’s every waking minute is devoted to being a great mother and wife. She takes five-year-old Noah to the library each week, volunteers in his kindergarten class, and even coaches his soccer team. She makes sure her husband’s uniforms are always laundered—even though he hasn’t worn them the last six years—always has his game day snacks on hand, and meets him for date night every Friday—which consists of one sided conversations at his bedside and watching his favorite take out remain untouched.
Pearl, a mysterious visitor at the care center, suggests that it is only Cassie’s love still tying Devon to Earth when he has been ready to move onto Heaven for quite some time. If Cassie will but open her eyes and heart, she will discover the path she should travel, one that will bring relief to Devon and much joy to her own life. But Cassie vowed never to give up on him. She never has and she can’t now, even after meeting hapless, single soccer-dad Matt.
This is another fantastic installment in the Matchmaker series! Six years ago, Cassie's husband, Devon, was shot and has been in a vegetative state ever since. Soon after that, she found out she was pregnant so has been raising Noah on her own. She diligently visits Devon each week, hoping that he will finally come back to her. Cassie coaches Noah's soccer team and meets Matt through his son. Matt is a single dad who is overwhelmed with raising two sons. Cassie and Matt become friends, which is tricky at times since they are attracted to each other but she is technically still married.
I enjoyed their story! It alternates between the two of them so we get more of an insight into each of them and what they're going through. Cassie has put her life on hold and has stopped living in some ways so it was good to see her come back to life. Matt realizes what kind of husband and father he was in the past and has already made drastic changes but is committed to doing better in the future.
Miss Pearl plays a significant part in this story as she guides Cassie along in making some difficult decisions. Cassie doesn't necessarily like what she hears from Miss Pearl and has to do some soul searching. It's a tough situation, which made me think about what I would do in her shoes. I loved the pacing of the book--it takes place over the course of a year so it felt like a realistic time table for everything that happened.
There were some great characters to get to know in this story, especially the boys. They helped lighten things up. This is a heavier topic to take on and I thought the author did a great job. I felt a range of emotions while reading it and definitely felt happy at the end!
Michele Paige Holmes spent her childhood and youth in Arizona and northern California, often curled up with a good book instead of out enjoying the sunshine. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education and found it an excellent major in which to indulge her love of children's literature.
She is the author of nine published romance novels, which include books in the STARS Series (contemporary romance), HEARTHFIRE HISTORICALS, and the FOREVER AFTER series (young adult fairy tales). She is also the author of three novellas, two in the TIMELESS ROMANCE COLLECTION.
Her latest release, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH (Mirror Press, August 2016), is a part of the POWER OF THE MATCHMAKER series.
Michele attributes much of what she knows about good writing to time spent with her critique group and feels that joining a critique group is the single best thing an author can to do help improve his or her writing. She has been a member of RWA and URWA, LDStorymakers, and The League of Utah Writers. Michele enjoys both attending and teaching at conferences.
When not reading or writing romance, Michele is busy with her full time job as a wife and mother. She and her husband live in Utah with their five high maintenance children and a Shitzu that resembles a teddy bear.
1 comments:
This sounds like a crier but so good!
Post a Comment