A Book a Day

Sometimes it seems like I read a book a day.  Today, for sure, I did.  It was so good, I just couldn't put it down.  *sigh*  I had a list of things I intended to do today, none of it got done.  None. Of. It.  The book was Finding Ian by Stella Cameron.  It's an older book, published in 2001.  I found it at the OTOW library.  If it didn't belong to the library it would become one of my keepers.

For a few shining moments, Byron Frazer had it all - an adoring wife, a newborn son - until one was snatched by the cruel hands of death, and the other was cast away by Byron himself as he launched into a downward spiral of grief and pain. He'd assured himself that he had made the right decision, and that his son would find contentment in the arms of another couple. After all, he told himself, Lori would have wanted it that way.

Traveling across the ocean to a distant land of stone walls and cobbled roads, Byron will fulfill the promise to his lost wife - and be free to move on at last. Yet as he discovers his son, he also experiences an unexpectedly fierce paternal longing. Too soon, he realizes that Ian is destined to become as much a part of the close-knit Cornish village as the lush honeysuckle that scents the summer air. As much a part of it as Jade Perron is.

Reeling from a shattered marriage, Jade, Ian's lovely, protective cousin, is struggling to rebuild her life without a man and determined to do it here, in the only home she has ever known. She's vowed that nothing can change her mind - certainly not a brash American whose eyes betray haunting heartache. . .and forbidden desire.

This book was a very emotional story. You learn of Byron's past with his wife by selected snippets of memory that are scattered through the book. As the saying goes, he's a very deep well. And Jade is dealing with a lot of issues as well with her father being extremely chauvinistic and her ex-husband trying every trick in the book to get her back. They are both very wounded individuals who come together and have the potential to heal each other. The boy Ian is also a character that you just want to grab and hug. Shoot. I can't do this book justice in a review. It was emotional, gut-wrenching and ultimately, satisfying. If you can find it, read it.