Review: The Sweet By and By by Sara Evans

Goodreads:  Jade Fitzgerald left the pain of her past in the dust when she headed out for college a decade ago.  Now she's thriving in her career and glowing in the light of Max Brenson's love.

But then Jade's hippie mother, Beryl Hill, arrives in Whisper Hollow, Tennessee, for Jade's wedding along with Willow, her wild younger sister.  Their arrival forces Jade to throw open the dark closets of her past - the insecurity of living with a restless, wandering mother, the silence of her absent father, and the heart-ripping pain of first-love's rejection.

Turns out Beryl has a secret of her own.  She needs reconciliation with her oldest daughter before illness takes her life.  In the final days leading to the wedding, Jade meets the One who shows her that the past has no hold on her future.  With a little grace, they'll meet in the middle, maybe even before that sweet by and by.


Kritters Thoughts:  A wonderful story that kept me reading until the very end and made me even more excited to know that there is book two already on my nook ready to start!  You find yourself wrapped into a story where there are quite a few mysteries that you are trying to figure out throughout the book.  I loved how the reader was kept just as much out of the loop as the characters and we learn about the history that makes these characters who they are as they share them with others in the story.

The mother/daughter strained relationship was wonderful to read because you were able to find out piece by piece why they were not in communication currently and what kept them at odds with each other.  I couldn't believe all the history that this family had and all the drama their shaky foundation tried to withstand.

A wonderful piece of women's fiction that I am recommeding to all readers; no matter your age, this book is worth the read.

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Pages:  307

Gr Oct-Dec 2011 Challenge: Stars in My Eyes