Gina Holmes

Dear Readers,

So the weather was perfect.  It was a warm September Sunday afternoon and I had nothing to do.  So what else is there to do but pick up Gina Holmes' newest book Driftwood Tides and disappear out to Nag’s Head. 

Holton lost his perfect, saintly wife over 5 years ago and he then lost himself in a bottle.  Libby finds out she is adopted because of a blood test that comes back.  She decides to go hunting for her birth mother and that leads her to Holton’s doorstep.  What she find there is a drunk man, mourning the loss of a beloved wife, but also someone with great artistic talent.  How can she ever justify telling him who she is, when he doesn’t seem to care about anyone but himself?

No more storyline as there is a lot going on in this book and I don’t want to give that away.  Just know that the intertwining threads of this book are fascinating.  It is a feel of real life in the ways that so much of what goes on in our lives is affected by or affects others and their reaction to us.  When Libby decides to go to Nag’s Head it is not only a decision that she makes for herself, but also her mother and fiancé.  Once there, her being there not only affects herself but also her mother’s husband and the people that know and work with him.  Everything twines together.

The story moves along at a good pace and really kept me interested all day long.  I didn’t even put it down to watch the Tigers clinch the AL title.  J  I always look forward to Gina’s books because she takes what could be an ordinary story and adds a little twist to it.  Because of the twist it usually teaches me something about dealing with a person with an issue brought out in the book.  This time it was alcoholism and how it is in every walk of life. For many  people and families the disease is part of their everyday lives.  Sometimes because of something in their DNA people can’t say no to alcohol and how others can support them though it all. 

Even if you don’t have a whole day to just sit and read, make sure you put this book on your to-be-read list.

Happy Reading,  

Gina Holmes

Dear Readers,

I wanted to read Gina Holmes’ book Wings of Glass as soon as it came out, but because I was in the middle of a couple other books at the time, it had to wait.  I can’t say I was sorry to have to wait because it was great to anticipate what I was going to read. Yet, I could hardly stand to wait to read it either.

Penny saw Trent as a chance to get away from her abusive father, but it turned out to be “going from the frying pan into the fire.” Trent was a prince while dating; he called her beautiful, made sure she understood she was his girl, stood up to her father and stole her away.   Penny thought those were all signs of someone who loved her and wanted to take care of her, when it just meant that he wanted to control her and keep her under his thumb.

When Trent is hurt in an accident it forces him to allow Penny to get a job to support the family.  Not only does she have a job for the first time in her life, she starts to find herself.  With the two friends she makes while cleaning houses helping her, she finds her backbone to stand up for herself and to be able to live and laugh.

I am not sure which of the two women who support and help Penny I loved the most, Fatimah or Callie May. They are wonderful, funny, and gentle with Penny.  They each have their own baggage and yet want to help Penny get out of a situation that is hurting her.  They never once tell Penny she is not worth “saving” just because most of the men in her life have told her she was worthless. They love her unconditionally.   On the copy on the back of the book it says “… and lend her their backbones just long enough for her to find her own.”  What a wonderful way to put that.

It is not a light read and yet it has funny moments.  I know there were a couple of times I was reading and I could feel myself reacting emotionally with Penny because of the way Trent was acting or that he was due home soon and supper wasn’t ready or the house might not be clean enough.  To be able to put your reader into the emotions of the character is a wonderful thing an author can do, it makes that story so much more to savor.

Happy Reading.

Gina Holmes

Dear Readers,

Dry as Rain by Gina Holmes is her second book.  I really liked Crossing Oceans but I enjoyed Dry as Rain even more.  Gina has a gift for writing issue driven stories that include wonderful characters.  The characters are very human and you like them at times and you dislike them at times.  They could be our neighbors, family or even ourselves. Which always makes for an interesting read if not a comfortable one.

Eric and Kyra had something wonderful and they promised each other it was forever.  On their way to success they lost each other and the promise they made.  When Kyra finds an incriminating email she tells Eric he needs to leave. 

When Kyra loses her memory, Eric has to decide if what they had is worth figthing for.  With support from a friend and little support from Kyra's sister, he decides it is and goes to work.  But when Kyra gets her memory back will she be able to forgive him?  Will it still be worth it?

Statictics are showing that the greatest number of divorces are happening in marriages that are 20 - 35 years old.  It is happening across the board, in and out of churches.  When asked why, infidelity is still listed as number 1, but running a close second is the "we just grew apart"  reason.  Empty nesters find themselves suddenly having lots of time on their hands and don't know what to do with each other.  They have their own lives and nothing in common with their spouse.  This can even lead into the first problem.

What makes Dry as Rain so interesting is that it is told from Eric's perspective.  He talks a lot about why he did things like earning a living and moving the family into a certain neighborhood and even why he sent and received the email.  I thought it was an interesting perspective on the story that usually gets written from the woman's perspective.  I am not sure how Gina was able to write this perspective so well, but like I said, it is interesting to get the guy's point of view. 

If you haven't had a chance to pick up a book by Gina yet, this is a great place to start.

Happy Reading