Publisher Description:
Eva and Angela must learn to live again. One step at a time.
It has been fifteen months since Eva and Angela lost their thrill-seeking husbands in a scuba diving accident. Both women are trying to navigate their way through the grief, but neither one is making much progress. Angela is barely making ends meet, angry at her husband for leaving her to raise three children on her own. Meanwhile, Eva is stuck, unable to move forward after losing the love of her life and her source of inspiration.
But then Eva gets a life-changing phone call. Before Brent and Wes died, they had signed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place, and Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband’s choices.
Training is exhausting, and the race is even more demanding. Their journey grows more complicated by the presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. With every step, Eva and Angela must ask themselves questions that they haven’t had the courage to ask before. As the women literally put one foot in front of the other, they wonder: Is it possible to find their way forward in hope?
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My Review:
This story took me down a sometimes unexpected road with the two main characters, Angela and Eva. After they both lost their husbands in a tragic accident, their journey through grief seemed to take different two different paths and push them apart. However, they come together to honor their husbands’ lives by entering an Ultra marathon. They realize that even though they are handling grief and loss in a completely different manner, they have much in common with their struggle. The character that I liked the most, however, was Sherry, their mother-in-law. She had lost a husband and two sons, yet her faith in God remained strong even through her own deep grief.
There’s some romance in this story, although it’s secondary to the storylines of Angela and Eva coming to terms with their loss. This story took some unexpected turns, and at times I wasn’t quite sure what decisions these two women would make. The race in New Zealand makes a beautiful backdrop for their story, and a touch of adventure made this a well-rounded story of loss, faith, and hope.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
About Lindsay Harrel
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd with a B.A. in journalism and M.A. in English. She lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. Lindsay has held a variety of jobs, including curriculum editor for two universities, medical and business writer, and copywriter for a digital marketing agency. Now she juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with working freelance jobs, teaching college English courses online, and–of course–writing novels.
When she actually has time to do other things, she loves to sing, read, and sip passion iced teas from Starbucks. She loves to watch God work in ordinary lives to create something extraordinary, and she writes to bring hope to those who may have lost it along the way. Connect with her at www.LindsayHarrel.com and any other place she hangs out online, including Facebook and Twitter.
Your review is excellent! How many stars would you give it? As for the premise of the book, I just can’t imagine after only fifteen months that I would be ready to ‘move on’ to another love interest/spouse. Did you feel like it was presented in a realistic way or did you think it was too soon?
Lovely review Patti! How would have handled it? I’m thinking about reading this book.
I read and enjoyed this one recently as well. I think Lindsay did a great job on it. Nice review!