About the Book:
Two lives converge one stormy night on a train headed to ClevelandLucy is traveling by herself via train to Jacob's Crossing to help care for her cousin Mattie, recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Trying to overcome the sudden death of her husband, she's glad to get away and focus on someone else for a while.
The only other Amish people on the train are Calvin Weaver and his little sister, Katie. When their train breaks down outside of Cleveland, Calvin and Lucy band together to face the outside world. But Calvin also carries the weight of past hurts. When an altercation brings both their wounds to light, they question whether they can trust each other.
Once in Jacob's Crossing, Lucy is occupied with caring for Mattie, while Calvin does his best to run his family's farm. But they can't stop thinking about those special hours spent together. Will the bond they formed last? And will Lucy and Calvin be able to put away the pain in their pasts to recognize the happiness that is suddenly in their grasp?
My Comments:
This is a short (approximately 200 pages) romance, and in my experience, books of this length feature formula plots and characters who are just a little too cookie-cutter for my taste. I'm happy to say that I didn't notice the length when I requested the book from NetGalley, and even happier to say that for a book of this length, the characters seemed well-developed and the cancer sub-plot gave the reader something to think about other than just boy meets girl. Another interesting aspect of this book is that Lucy had been the victim of domestic violence and Shelley Shepard Gray does a good job of incorporating this into her personality. In short, even though this is a short romance, there is a lot happening, and yes, of course, there is happily ever after.
I'd like to thank the publisher for providing access to a review copy via NetGalley. I was not obligated to write any review, much less a positive one. Grade: B.
Uhh I hate books!>P
ReplyDeleteThen you are reading the wrong blog. Try some other ones!
ReplyDelete"The Caregiver" is a beautiful story that deals with marital abuse, cancer, widowhood, love and trust. I'm thinking that Shelley knows someone that has gone through cancer because her descriptions as she deals with Lucy helping her cousin Mattie go through her chemotherapy I was near tears. It was moving and touching as Mattie deals with depression and Lucy struggles to keep her from losing hope. Lucy is Mattie's caregiver, but she soon finds out that maybe she needs a little more care herself than she realized. There are some wonderful plot points in this book and Shelley has a way of making you really care about the different characters. A beautiful story and I look forward to the next one in this series.
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