Always There

In this fresh, poignant novel, Always There, Shelby Lynn LeeMaster grapples with her recent “orphaned” life and how to let down her guard to fully experience true love, allowing it in to her heart without fear. The mother, Betheny LeeMaster, struggles with dying before she could teach and guide her children into adulthood. The daughter cannot break from her own fears, while the mother cannot forgive herself for leaving her children too soon. The different narrators, the mother in Heaven and the daughter on Earth, tell their stories in alternating chapters. Can the two women reconcile their fears and remorse before it’s too late, and Shelby loses the one man she’s destined to be with?

*May Contain Spoilers*

Carol  Ann Albright-Eastman shares the afterlife with the living in her novel, Always There. As a mother worries about how her children turned out after she died from cancer, her daughter struggles with the fear and pain of being, and dying, alone. 

Bethany died from colon cancer when her youngest daughter was twenty. She spends the afterlife with her husband, who died before she did, and sisters. Readers will connect with this character based on her title, Mother. She wonders and worries that she didn't have enough time to prepare her children for the adult world before the cancer killed her. Readers will use this to build a relationship with Bethany, connecting with the universal fear of what happens when we aren't there to help the most important people in our lives.

Shelby was the youngest of Bethany's three children. Saying goodbye to both of her parents before she turned twenty-one took it's toll on her quirky and fun personality. Now she lives in fear. She's so afraid that her life may be stolen by cancer - the death sentence that took her Aunts as well as her mom - that she refuses to let anyone in. Readers will form a bond with Shelby based on her fears. It's too easy to shut yourself off from the world when death looms on the horizon. Especially when alone seems like the safest place from worry and pain. 

Readers will quickly form strong bonds with each of these main characters and they will only strengthen as the plot advances. The story line focuses on Shelby and how close she comes to losing everything that matters - including her destiny, Chance. As Shelby struggles to open up to love, the last Aunt of the family passes away and joins Bethany in the afterlife. When Bethany learns of her daughter's emotional conflict, she tries to find a way to help her. Highly recommended novel! 

Rating: 4.5/5 Cups

Always There

Wander Home

Death is what you make it. . . .

Eleanor never wanted to leave the daughter she loved so much. The overpowering urge to wander -- to search, without knowing what she sought -- drove her away. She left little Cassidy in her family's loving care. But Cassidy and the others died in an accident before Eleanor could find her way home.

Now, they are all reunited, in an afterlife where nothing is truly lost: places once loved may be revisited, memories relived and even shared. Surely this is a place where they can understand and heal. And yet, the restlessness that shaped Eleanor's life still haunts her in death. Somehow, she must solve the mystery of her life -- or none of them will be at peace.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Karen Wyle explores death and the ramifications of reincarnation in her novel, Wander Home. When Eleanor reunites with her family in the afterlife she begins having dreams and memories of another woman - Jordana. A woman she never met in life. 

Eleanor begins the novel as a character that is misunderstood and will possibly be disliked by many readers. After all, various forms of judgement are often bestowed upon women who abandon their children. Wyle writes Eleanor as a wanderer, constantly harboring the need to move on, to search for something she doesn't understand. 

As the plot unfolds, readers will come to understand Eleanor, and Jordana, in such a way where judgement falls to the wayside. Eleanor emerges as a woman full of love, good intentions, and a generous soul. Wyle takes a risk by portraying a woman who wanted nothing more than a child who ends up leaving her behind in life. But after death, Eleanor is determined to rekindle her relationship with her daughter, Cassidy. 

Readers will align with Cassidy straight away. They will feel her abandonment and the joy at regaining her mother. Readers will bond more quickly with Cassidy than with Eleanor but in the end, readers will understand and come to love them both. 

The plot is well paced and opens the imagination of the readers. The afterlife that Wyle creates is brimming with memories, places to visit, and amazing people to meet. It's written in such a way that it is truly life after death. The characters can be confusing at first, but they quickly claim their independence. Wander Home is a magical story that delves to the depths of the human psyche and is definitely recommended. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Wander Home

WWW Wednesday (32)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

01. Currently Reading: 

Wander Home by Karen Wyle. Set after death, a family is in the afterlife preparing to welcome another member and help her understand the choices she made and how that affected her. So far, so good. =)

02. Recently Finished: 

Hera: Queen of Gods by T.D. Thomas. Absolutely amazing YA (18+) book! Greek gods come back to Earth as teenagers because the Fates are missing. It's up to them to find them, save them, and avoid apocalyptic chaos. 

03. Reading Next: 

Shift (Chronoshift) by Zack Mason. I'll probably start this one as it's been on my Kindle for awhile. About a man who finds a time traveling device and decides that he wants to travel back in time to save his kids from death.