Title: A Year of Extraordinary Moments
Author: Bette Lee Crosby
Genre: Contemporary
Opens: I’m an old woman now and not long for this world, but I’m not afraid of dying.
Blurb: Tracy Briggs has finally gotten her act together. She’s focusing on her own life and helping her hearing-impaired son learn to talk. With her sister married and exploring a new career, Tracy has begun to run the family’s magazine business and feels her life is pretty much perfect. That is, until her son’s deadbeat dad shows up in Magnolia Grove asking for a second chance.
Now that her son is getting the help he needs and a promising new romance with his teacher is in bloom, Tracy wants to keep her life just as it is. But her ex isn’t taking no for an answer. And when a spirited elderly woman enters Tracy’s life in an unexpected way, she’ll have to work harder than ever to keep her new life on track.
Torn between the past she knows and the uncertain future, Tracy must decide what is best for both her and her son, learning along the way that ordinary choices can bring extraordinary possibilities.
My thoughts: I love, love, loved this book – second in a series it picks up after The Summer of New Beginnings left off. The story centres on Tracy who has put her past behind her and settled into life as editor for a local paper, her son Lucas attends a nearby school and she has a new admirer. But the past is not finished with her – an old lady knocks on the door and announces she is the great grandmother of Lucas and wants to spend time getting to know him. Then Lucas’s father arrives in town demanding access to the son he has rejected for years.
From this point the story takes off and tackles important topics such as disabilities, single mother hood, abusive partners, cancer and love. Bette brings her characters alive with love and compassion – even her baddies are brought alive by being assigned motivation for their actions. This is a book that deserves your undivided attention, a glass of wine, some cheese and biscuits, and your phone disconnected.
Can’t wait for the next book to come out.
Rating: Excellent Stuff – a real page turner and hard to put down. I carved out extra reading time just so I could finish it. This book got carted into the bathroom with me, read over meals, read at work, and/or kept me up late at night. If this author has more work, I will certainly read it
With thanks to Lake Union Publishing and the author via Netgalley for my copy to read and review
Awesome