Here's a description of the book:"A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage.
After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember?
Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?"
Read the story behind the story HERE.
My Rating
Spring
My Review
A new season has come to Deep Haven. In Warren's previous novel set in Deep Haven, My Foolish Heart, the serious elements of the story were balanced with fun and warmth. But The Shadow of Your Smile is very much a "winter" story, in more ways than one. The atmosphere is colder and darker, and yet the season of prolonged icy feelings and potential danger allows for the contemplation some difficult questions and a budding hope that another season is on its way.
Because of the weather and tone differences, Deep Haven looks quite a bit different in this story than in My Foolish Heart. But this allows the book to really stand on its own, exploring the complex and painful lives of a new cast of characters. Hidden secrets and sorrows... Faults and forgiveness... New love and renewed love. The characters experience a lot of hurting, but they also learn that God's healing touch is not as unattainable as it sometimes seems.
The Shadow of Your Smile has cold hands but a warm heart, as the saying goes. The characters and situations are sometimes very frustrating to read about, and while Warren's writing is lovely, some of the twists and turns are not always so. But buried underneath the snow is life that is waiting to be found again.
*With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion, to be shared during the Litfuse Publicity Blogging tour.*
About the Autho
r"Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband are active in their local church.
Susan's larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.
Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)
A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at: www.susanmaywarren.com."
To Buy the Book: click HERE
Blog Tour Schedule: Check out all of the other reviews scheduled by clicking HERE.
Contest:
Come Back to Deep Haven and Win a $200 Visa Card from @SusanMayWarren!
Sometimes love requires a little forgetting ... Come back to Deep Haven and find out what's been happening in your favorite quaint hamlet. If you're new to the Deep Haven series - this is the perfect book to start with - each book in the series is a stand alone story.
Susan is celebrating the release of The Shadow of Your Smile by giving away a prize pack worth over $200 from 1/9-1/28.
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A $200 Visa Gift Card (Use that to rekindle a little romance, treat yourself to a spa day, snap up those shoes you’ve been eyeing, or purchase a few great books!)
- The entire set of Deep Haven Books
2 comments:
OOOOOOOoooooo... I like your photo of the merging tracks!! I thought I had left a comment with you?? I would like to read My Foolish Heart and this new one, The Shadow of Your Smile. I am new to Deep Haven. Thank you for your review.
lanehillhouse[at]centurylink[dot]net
Lane Hill House,
Aw, thank you! :) I took that picture at Fort Humboldt in Northern California, not too far from where I live. I think it's neat that they preserved the tracks like that on the site! Feels like you could get some great metaphors or symbolism out of that perspective... :)
Anyway, sorry if your comment didn't come through before! My Foolish Heart is a great book (I think I preferred it to The Shadow of Your Smile, although they're both good in different ways). Glad you liked the review! There isn't a giveaway in this post, but if you click the links or one of the three images at the bottom of the post, you should be able to enter Susan's giveaway!
~Amber
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