Reading Recommendations: Red Hook Road, a novel, Ayelet Waldman

Becca Copaken and John Tetherly are young and in love, and the future looks as bright as the day of their marriage. Becca's family is well to do and summers in Red Hook, Maine, where John's mother, Jane, runs a housekeeping service for clients like the Copakens. The only thing that binds the two families is the love the elated couple share but its enough to bring them together for the occasion.

Until the unthinkable happens. Becca and John's limousine collides with another vehicle mere minutes after the wedding, killing them instantly. Joy gives way to grief, and the riff between Becca's mother, Iris, and Jane grow from the funeral arrangements to Iris's strong willed interest in the musical career of Jane's niece to a new romance that buds between the surviving children, Ruthie and Matt. Time's healing powers prove elusive for Iris and Jane. Iris's thirty year marriage disintegrates, while Jane's bitterness threatens to ruin her relationship with Matt. Only when a powerful, blinding storm hits Red Hook do families begin to see what matters most.

And, The Broadmoor Legacy, Book Three, A Surrendered Heart, Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

When cholera strikes Rochester, New York, in the spring of 1899, the members of the Broadmoor family flee to their castle home in the Thousand Islands. But Amanda Broadmoor, who has always held a special compassion for the less fortunate, resolves to remain in Rochester with Dr. Blake Carstead, working to help control the spread of the dreaded disease.

However, much more than Amanda's health hangs in the balance. Mishandling of the family fortune threatens to leave the Broadmoor family penniless and even willing to sacrifice Amanda's future. Will she be forced to marry a man she disdains in order to save the Broadmoor legacy?

And, Angel Song, Women of Faith, Novel of the Year, Sheila Walsh and Kathryn Cushman

Anne Fletcher has returned to Charleston to see her younger sister Sarah receive her master's degree. But she soon finds herself riding in the back of an ambulance, watching helplessly as Sarah fights for life. As they race to the hospital, Sarah talks to someone who is not there, and hums a melody Ann has never heard before.

That unfamiliar, unearthly beautiful melody keeps finding Anne, first in the hospital chapel, then in her dreams, and finally in Sarah's empty house.

Two neighbors have a profound effect on Anne. Ethan McKinney lends her a shoulder to lean on. And as a carpenter, he volunteers to help Anne get the Fletcher family home into shape for selling. His strong presence is a pleasing distraction. Anne's 12 year old neighbor, Keith, has Down Syndrome and the guile to believe he can actually see and hear angels. In fact, he insists they are looking out for her in ways she's never imagined.

God begins to reveal Himself to Anne, both in her newfound friend and through supernatural events. As she discovers the very real presence of angels around her, will she finally open her heart to receive God's healing love?

See you at Rylander!