The Joy of Falling

I don't know that I can say this novel is “enjoyable” because it's mainly about two women coming to terms with the acute stage of their grief at losing their husbands. Yet at the same time, while I felt sympathy for both of them, I also had a hard time feeling fully absorbed in their pain. I kept feeling like I ought to like it really well but not quite being able to lose myself in the story.

I think the romance was the hardest part for me. The odds of two grieving women finding someone to love on the same trip was a bit of a stretch and I think making the book longer and giving more of the “recovering” scenes (once they came to the point of facing and really accepting their grief) would have made the romance more believable for me.

My favorite thing about the book was the gorgeous descriptions of the scenery and the flower shop scenes...those were so sweet. And then the grief scene over the waterfall...I'll be thinking of that one for awhile.

Content: the scene where the two women promote “charitable gambling” at a party was difficult for me to get through and I mostly skimmed. Might be triggering for recovering gambling addicts.

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