Grant and Audrey are adding grandchildren to their family left and right, but middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas Brooks, have been trying for years with no baby in sight.
Though Danae is ready to consider adoption, Dallas will not even discuss it. Despairing of ever having a family of her own, Danae decides to pour her passion and energies into volunteer work with a newly opened women’s shelter in town. Looking for a good cause to fill her lonely days, she never expects to give her heart to the hurting women she meets there. She’s finally learning to live her life with gratitude, but then heart-wrenching events on Thanksgiving weekend threaten to pull the entire Whitman clan into turmoil—and leave them all forever changed.My Thoughts:
I have been looking forward to this book for a few months, and it was so good. Danae's story was one I was hoping we would get soon and I was thrilled that we got to get into her and Dallas' lives.
Danae and Dallas have been struggling with infertility for years. I struggled with infertility myself for a few years before becoming pregnant with my daughter, so I felt like I can relate with Danae on several levels. The obsession has with getting pregnant, the disappointment in her husband's actions, and the sadness over her sisters' kids all hit very close to home.
Danae finally makes the decision to put the baby-making on the back burner for a while and decides to consume herself with volunteering at the domestic violence shelter. This story gets SO good and the suspense totally wrapped me up in the lives of these characters.
Dallas is such a supportive and protective husband, and I adore the way he dotes on Danae and watches his words to not hurt her feelings. I felt like he is completely torn on the inside, but doing all he can to hold it together for his outside appearance. He worries so much about his wife and their future together.
When Thanksgiving weekend rolls around, this story takes a turn and becomes an amazing suspense love story. I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but I found myself crying with both pain and joy as these characters work through a rough couple of touchy months.
Although this is book three in a five-book series, it can be read as a stand alone. But I do encourage you to pick up the other books as well as get the full story of this fun Whitman family.
DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Her books have since won the RITA Award, ACFW Carol Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. THE FACE OF THE EARTH released in May 2013 from Howard/Simon & Schuster, and SILVER BELLS released from Guideposts in October. Deb and her husband, Ken Raney, enjoy small-town life in Kansas. They are new empty nesters with four children and a growing quiver of grandchildren, all of whom live much too far away.
