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A soul stirring tale of lost love and forgiveness.

"He loved her the way he always had, with singleness and a focus. Even now, because no matter when she would see the ring or read the inscription on the inside of the band, it would be true. Even now, when they were struggling; even now, when they were not sure how to get from today to tomorrow. Even now....he loved her."

I purchased this book a few days ago at McKays (when I broke my reading challenge). Honestly I'm glad I got this book. This is the second Karen Kingsbury I have read and I have to say: the woman had talent! The first Kingsbury I picked up was, "A Thousand Tomorrows" and it was a complete and total gut-wrenching, tear jerker. So I knew, going into this book to have the tissue box ready!

This book gave me the biggest case of the feels I've had in a while! The book is centered around one main event, but you follow several different characters that were involved. So your getting to see how everyone in the story was affected.

Where to begin....

Our story starts out with a young girl, looking through a box of personal belongings that belonged to her mother. A mother she has never known, but desperately desires to meet.

Flashback to the 80's. Lauren Anderson and Shane Galanter are two 17yr olds who are deeply in love and have been since they were 13. Shane is a star baseball player and Lauren, a natural born writer and story teller. Both being popular and coming from wealthy and prestigious families, it seems they have the world in the palms of their hands. The only thing stopping them from having the bright future they had always planned, is that they have just discovered that Lauren is pregnant.

The young couple want nothing more than to be together and raise their child. They had already planned to be together forever anyways, forever is just going to start a little earlier than they had anticipated. However, both sets of parents have different plans... After continuous urging to give up their child for adoption, Lauren and Shane remain adamant that they want to keep and raise their baby together. So the parents plans to keep the children apart conspires, in hopes Lauren will chose to give up the baby and that Shane will simply lose interest and move on. Both families move to different states without giving the teens anyway to contact eachother. (Keep in mind, this is the 80's. No internet. No cellphones.)

Lauren eventually gives birth to a healthy baby girl, and decides she now must find Shane. She, along with her now, 4wk old daughter hit the freeway, the only clue she has as to Shane's whereabouts is that his family is now living somewhere in Southern California. Along the way trouble intervenes, the newborn becomes sick. With no money and no insurance and positive her family had filed her as a missing persons report, she has no choice but to return home for help.

After getting her baby to the hospital, Lauren learns that her baby has pneumonia and has little to no chance of making it. She prays for a miracle. Things begin to take a turn for the better, but when a mistake leads to the giving of false information, Lauren runs and never looks back...

Til 18yrs later when she receives an email that will forever change her life and show her what she's been missing while she's been running from her past. Lauren always thought she would have time to reconcile with her parents, that when she eventually found Shane she would return home and show them that they could never truly keep them apart. Time is no longer on her side and the race is on to make it home in time. But the surprise that awaits for her upon her arrival is far beyond anything she could ever phathom...

Now with the chance to have the family she always dreamed of, will she be able look past her broken heart and find the peace it takes to move on or will she do what she's always done...and run.

"She blinked, and the memory swirled into nothingness, like dust in the desert wind. It didn't matter what would happen, because she couldn't go back. She didn't know the way if she wanted to."

I think it's safe to say I really enjoyed this book. I usually won't review one I didn't like. Kingsbury is a terrific author. Her way with words and ability to draw you in is impeccable.

I went into this book without any knowledge of what the book was going to be about, for the copy I own didn't have a description. So I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. After reading, I discovered this book was part one in a two part series. While the ends in this book were, for the most part, tied up rather nicely and you could easily read as a standalone, I would very much like to see what became of our characters.

"So this was her life now. Lies and making due and pretending she was someone she wasn't. The pain she carried buried deep within her. She blinked tears away.
So be it."

Without a doubt my favorite character of this story would have to be Lauren. I felt such a strong connection with her. I could feel her joy and fears as she was about to become a mother. My heart broke and I cried with her when Shane was forced to leave. When she finally felt peace, I breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart and mine became one throughout the course of this story.

The parents in this story.... oh my word. I never in my life wanted to jump into the pages of a book and shake a character so badly. (And I read the Fallen series!!) Thier behavior towards their children, was completely unacceptable and uncalled for. Both teens had admitted to making a mistake and fully wanted to take responsibility for their actions. 1). Because of how much they cared for echother. 2). Because they both had a strong faith in God and looked to Him as their source of strength. However, neither set of parents was interested in anything other than keeping up appearances. As a parent to two girls, this book showed me how not to react if, God-forbid something like this happened to them. I'm thankful that they were able to see the error in their transgressions and able to turn over new leaves and not make the same mistakes later on.

"Everyone thinks we're too young to know what love is. But I look at the way you and daddy and the Galanters are, the way your friendship has died because of this, and you know what I think?.. Being old hasn't helped you know what love is either."

I loved Shane as the male lead. He was a believer and never lost his faith even though his world was crumbling all around him. In his heart he wanted nothing more than to be with Lauren, even after 18yrs. His character was genuine and fit the story nicely.

I highly recommend this book. It is a Christian fiction and while it does deal with some mature themes, it is clean and written in a manor that encourages purity and the importance of forgivness. In my opinion it would be appropriate for a teen or older. ( )