February 26, 2012

Book Review - Heart Echoes by Sally John

Heart Echoes by Sally John

The third book in the Side Roads Series
(Ransomed Dream, Desert Gift)


Teal Morgan-Adams' life was on cruise control with a job she loved, a handsome husband, River, and a lovely teenage daughter, Maiya. Then several events happened that set her world ajar. First, she was witness to an earthquake which caused an overpass to collapse on a busy freeway. People were hurt and she was traumatized herself. In trying to find her daughter, she learned that Maiya was not where she said she would be. Enter an older boyfriend with a delinquent past and a daughter's lie that can not be excused. Then, the nagging question which was also pulling at the bond with her daughter - answering her pleas to know the identity of her biological father.

Teal decided that she needed to take Maiya back to Teal's hometown to finally meet her grandparents and aunt and to have time to reconnect. But Teal also has some demons to face there - namely, an abusive stepfather and alcoholic mother, her sister's illness, meeting her own biological father and coming to terms with Maiya's desire to know her birth father.

Teal was a woman under so much stress because of the secrets she guards and the memories she can not release. Her own feelings of unworthiness from her childhood, her guilt, and lack of trust undermined her efforts to be real with the people she loves the most. Can she overcome her own mental hurdles to bring her issues to some closure and keep her own family strong?

Only at the end did I feel that some events in the plot were a bit too contrived, especially regarding pregnancy and adoption and how the real father enters the story. All in all, this was a good read with an especially realistic relationship portrayed between mother and teenage daughter.

This book was provided to me by Tyndale House Publishing for my honest review.

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