For any of you who haven't heard of them, this is a series of stories all happening in the cozy community of Heart's Haven...a wonderful little community where love blooms all over the place and angels are known to help the residents along the right path.
I love this story!!! So sweet! What a wonderful Mother's Day treat this is!
Back Cover:
Forty-three-year-old Lexi Carlisle’s abusive marriage ended three years ago. Deeply scarred by the experience, and helplessly watching her beloved mother succumb to Alzheimers, Lexi is devastated. After selling her fancy home, she rents a cottage in Heart’s Haven, a special place unlike any other. Slowly learning to live again, she despairs of ever delivering the message of love that burns within her heart for her ever-worsening mother. But Mitch Gaynor, a handsome Christian author, reminds Lexi that with God all things are possible, planting within her battered and distrustful heart the seed of hope for a miracle. But can she open her fortressed heart to God? And is Mitch a part of His plans for her future?
Here's a peek:
The thought sliced through her mind out of nowhere, just as she turned the wheel toward Angel Falls and touched her foot to the accelerator. She frowned, gave her head a slight shake, and ignored it. She visited Mama on Monday, not Friday.
Again, decision made. Lexi rarely wasted time on mental hashing and rehashing. She floored the gas pedal and sent her car flying into town.
Owner and operator of Angel Hair—the sweetest little beauty salon in East Texas, in Lexi’s biased opinion—she spent each Monday cleaning the shop. Every barber-type facility in the mid-sized town closed its doors on the first day of the work week, making it the ideal time to give the place a decent once-over. Lexi still tried to keep Sundays free of extensive labor, even though she hadn’t attended a church service in too long to remember. She recognized the contrasting behaviors but couldn’t seem to change the pattern. Old habits did, indeed, die hard.
Decision made.
On Friday afternoons, she always drove into Lufkin to visit her mother at Rosewood Senior Care. The facility was the only place within driving distance that boasted the excellent reputation and caring staff Lexi required for the most important person in her life. The thirty-minute drive wasn’t convenient, but it could have been worse. She might have had to drive all the way to Dallas.
She shuddered at the thought. Although she wasn’t a church goer, she did thank God for Rosewood! Having Mama half an hour away was difficult enough. Two hours would be unthinkable.
What gift would she take with her this week? She’d have to fit in some shopping time before Friday. On every visit, Lexi presented her mother with some small item…something meaningful, that she hoped would trigger a spark in Mama’s sadly short-circuited memory. She loved the hunt for the perfect gift, loved her recollections of fun shopping excursions the two of them had enjoyed in better times.
But Mother’s Day was coming up in a few weeks, and Lexi wished she could find a way to just skip to the week afterward—why on earth hadn’t scientists found a way to do that by now? Getting through this first year on her own would be hard. Beyond hard. As far back as she could remember, Mother’s Day had been a treasured time of togetherness—church first, then a special lunch, just her and Mama, usually at some fancy little tea room they’d scouted out earlier.
Go see her.
The words thundered through her mind with the force of a bellowing megaphone. Lexi’s foot slammed down on the brake, and she sucked in a sharp breath that hung in her frozen throat. She eased onto the shoulder and forced herself to breathe. A glance at her dash verified the radio’s continuing state of non-operation. It hadn’t worked in over a year.
She had heard something. But now she decided it hadn’t been an actual voice—not an audible one that required ears to hear. Yet the directive rang too clearly to be denied.
Go! Now!
Without further hesitation, she checked for traffic, made a sharp U-turn, and headed for Lufkin. The salon would have to get by on last week’s efforts.
Decision made.
Review:
Lexi's pain is one that many of us know and understand. The loss of an ageing parent to Alzheimer's disease is heart wrenching, watching them drift away. Yet the joy that can be found in those special moments with them are treasures to cling to. And going through it alone is nearly unbearable.
Mitch is so obviously a God-given gift to both mother and daughter that your heart can't help but sigh. You can feel the God's love wrap around you as you read this story.
Kudos to Ms. Latham! Well done!
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Donna! What a wonderful treat on a day when I needed an uplift! I'm thrilled that you liked Lexi's story...and I'm even more thrilled that God allowed our lives to touch. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! Beautiful story! My mother suffers with dementia although she's not that far gone yet, so I could totally relate to Lexi.
DeleteOh, Donna...bless you heart - and your mother's too! I will keep the two of you in my prayers.
DeleteSounds like a great book. I had to read about it, because my daughter's name is Lexi. Great name, Delia.
ReplyDelete:-) any reason's a good reason, but that one's great!
DeleteWonderful excerpt!
ReplyDeleteI loved it! Talk about being "in the now"!
DeleteThis series sounds great!Anything that is described as cozy will get my attention every time :)
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, I've just sat back and let you all carry the party! :) Thank you so much for coming, ladies...it means the world to me. Donna did (as always) an amazing job at summing up the whole storyline. I'm so glad she liked it! It was not an easy story to write, for sentimental reasons, but also one I feel very close to. I hope you all love it. :)
ReplyDelete