Welcome! An Amish Homecoming by Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller and Shelley Shepard Gray is out today along with The Christmas Star by Donna VanLiere, Delayed Justice by Cara Putman, A Year of Extraordinary Moments by Bette Crosby, Dear Santa by Nancy Naigle and The Spitfire Girl by Fenella Miller (I will feature on October 24).
A Year of Extraordinary Moments by Bette Lee Crosby is the second A Magnolia Grove Novel. Dominic DeLuca left Magnolia Grove three and
a half years ago and swore that he would never return. His grandmother, Alice calls telling Dominic
that her cancer has returned, and she only has months to live. Alice would like him to return home to help
her finalize details. Dominic
reluctantly returns to Magnolia Grove, but he is not prepared for his
grandmother’s interference in his life.
Tracy Briggs lives with her mother, Lila and her hearing impaired son,
Lucas and manages the Snip ‘N Save magazine that her father began. Tracy has turned her life around since she
left Dominic and returned home. Her
sister, Meghan is happy working alongside her husband, Tom at the Kindness
Animal Clinic. She wants Tracy to have a
fulfilling personal life and encourages her to go out with Gabriel Hawke. When Gabriel asks Tracy to accompany him to
an awards dinner, it is beginning of their relationship. Alice is unable to get a straight answer from
Dominic regarding Lucas’ parentage, and she decides to take matters into her
own hands. Alice sets out to get answers
and ends up having a special relationship with her great-grandson as well as
Tracy. It leads Alice to make decisions
that will lead to unexpected repercussions.
Come along to Magnolia Grove for A Year of Extraordinary Moments.
A Year of Extraordinary Moments is
not a standalone novel. You need to read
The Summer of New Beginnings before embarking on A Year of Extraordinary Moments. I did find the story to be a
slow starter. The beginning was off-putting
to me, and I wish the author had started A Year of Extraordinary Moments on a
different note. However, the pace slowly
increases, and the story becomes more intriguing. By the halfway mark, I was engrossed and kept
reading until I finished. I was
surprised to find foul language and intimate relations before marriage included
in A Year of Extraordinary Moments. I
thought A Year of Extraordinary Moments was a Christian novel. The characters were well-developed, and I
like that they keep evolving (except for one).
Alice was such a loving character.
You could feel the love she had for family and the pain she was
experiencing from her illness and Dominic’s actions. The point-of-view alternates between Meghan,
Dominic, Tracy, and Alice. It allows the
reader to see each person’s perspective and understand what they are thinking
and feeling. However, it is also
distracting and made it hard to become fully engaged in the book. Bette Lee Crosby portrays what a family
experiences when a child is hearing impaired. In this book, Lucas is learning to speak with
the aid of his cochlear implant and speech therapy. I appreciated that the author shows the
difference between a job and career that someone enjoys. It is important to find your niche and follow
your dreams. I did feel the romance
between Gabriel and Tracy was rushed.
One minute Tracy states they are just friends and then he asks her out
for which he receives a resounding yes (I experienced whiplash at her sudden
change of mind). I was happy to see them
become a couple, but their relationship seemed rushed. There are some loving moments with Alice,
Tracy, Charlie, and Lucas that will touch your heart. A Year of Extraordinary Moments has family
love and drama, friendship, romance, hope, faith and tension blended into one absorbing
novel.
Both of books in A Magnolia Grove Novel series are on the Kindle Unlimited Program through Amazon. Thank you for joining me today. Tomorrow I am featuring Forever Fudge by Nancy Coco. It is the sixth book in A Candy-Coated Mystery series. I hope you have a positive day. Take care and Happy Reading! Kris
The Avid Reader
