Harvest Moon

One of my favorites of Denise Hunter's books...the others in this series were fun, but this one has a lot more depth to it as well as a real Christian message.

In the earlier books we get the sense that Gavin looks back on the loss of his marriage with very mixed feelings as well as a sense of grief, plus we aren't told why he feels such a deep sense of personal guilt over losing his child. Here is the story where we find out why, and also why being named the guardian of his good friend's toddler is so stressful to him. The question is–does he have a real reason to feel guilt and apprehension, or is he saddling himself with it voluntarily?

Then there's his ex-wife Laurel. She has moved on to follow her dreams as a landscape designer and has a fancy new job at the Biltmore. She has tried to forget how much she loved being a mother and how much she and Gavin failed at marriage. But when she suddenly inherits guardianship of her best friend's little girl, how much do those carefully built dreams of hers matter compared to the needs of that tiny child?

The result of this inheritance leads to a deeply thoughtful story about the most important things in life and complex questions about where relationships go wrong. Overall, a delightful and satisfying story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.