Somewhere Between Luck and Trust: My Review

Somewhere Between Luck and Trust (Goddesses Anonymous)

About the Book:

Christy Haviland served eight months in prison, giving birth behind bars to the child of the man who put her there and might yet destroy her. Now she's free again, but what does that mean? As smart as she is, a learning disability has kept her from learning to read. And that's the least of her hurdles. 

Georgia Ferguson, talented educator, receives a mysterious charm bracelet that may help her find the mother who abandoned her at birth. Does she want to follow the clues, and if she does, can reticent Georgia reach out for help along the way? 

Both women are standing at a crossroads, a place where unlikely unions can be formed. A place where two very different women might bridge the gap between generations and education, and together make tough choices. 

Somewhere between the townships called Luck and Trust, at a mountain cabin known as the Goddess House, two very different women may even, if they dare, find common ground and friendship.

My Comments:

As I said when I reviewed the first book, in this series, One Mountain Away--I LOVED this book.  Grade A.

Ok, I'll admit that the premise was a little far-fetched, but the details were not.  Christy was abandoned by her parents when she became pregnant (actually before then emotionally).  She couldn't read.  Her boyfriend was bad news.  That's probably the life story of over half the women in prison today.  I loved watching her get the help she needed to get her life back on track.

The Goddess house was donated by a woman who, in the final months of her life, realized she wanted to make a positive difference in the lives of others.  She got some friends together to run it and it was to be a haven for women who needed a leg up in life.  I suspect Christy is just the first in a long line of stories of help and healing.

The book is series fiction and I think a little more back story would have helped.  It has been a long time since I read One Mountain Away, and I couldn't remember how everyone fit together.  Still, most of the characters who didn't fit weren't important to this story and those who haven't read it will wonder why they are mentioned at all here.

As someone who reads way too many romance novels, one thing I liked about  this book is that one of romantic couples was older--my age.  No, I'm not looking for a new romance in my life--I'm very happy with the one I have, but it is hard to find books about women my age who aren't embittered about aging or acting like teenagers.  Georgia is almost fifty and has reached the point in life where she is comfortable in her own skin and yet when she receives a clue about her birth mother, she wants to learn more. Who was this young woman, and why did she do what she did? 

In a lot of ways the book is a study in contrasts.  Christy can't read, but she's a gifted artist.  Two babies are involved; one loved, the other not, yet there is similarity. Analiese is a minister, but as far from the condemning self-centered person Christy's minister father was as possible.  Christy's old love was out for himself; her new love looks out for her.

The book is general market women's fiction, not Christian fiction, and in a lot of ways organized religion gets a bad rap here.  One of the real "bad guys" in the book is Christy's minster father--but as a study in contrast, when the chips were down, the church's deacons stuck by Christy.  Analiese is a minister but she listens, she doesn't preach.  Still the goddesses (no none of them think they are divine) feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, teach the ignorant...

Besides the heartwarming story of Christy getting her life together, the book includes two romances and two mysteries.  What more could you want?  

My birthday came early this year.  This book goes on sale on my birthday, which is coming soon, but I got to read it back in March, via NetGalley.