"Where the Blue Sky Begins," by Katie Powner

 "Where the Blue Sky Begins," by Katie Powner

Sometimes the hardest road of all is the road home.

When confident and handsome Eric Larson is sent to a rural Montana town to work in the local branch of his uncle's financial company, he's determined to exceed everyone's expectations, earn a promotion, and be back in Seattle by the end of summer. Yet nothing could prepare him for the lessons this small town has in store.

At forty-six years old, eccentric and outspoken Eunice Parker has come to accept her terminal illness and has given herself one final goal: seek forgiveness from everyone on her bucket list before her time runs out. But it will take more courage than she can muster on her own.

After an accident pushes Eric and Eunice together, the unlikely pair is forced to spend more time with each other than either would like, which challenges their deepest prejudices and beliefs. As summer draws to a close, neither Eric nor Eunice is where they thought they would be, but they both wrestle with the same important question: What matters most when the end is near?

This book took me a little time to get into it; and honestly I wasn't totally convinced to start with that I would.  However, by the time I was a quarter of the way through it, the story took over and I did enjoy it.  As it says above Eunice is terminally ill, so it's no surprise she dies.  What is a surprise is how Eric and Eunice's friendship develops and how they come to rely on one another.  They need one another and they learn from one another.

It takes a skilled writer to write this type of story that creeps up on you without you knowing. There are a couple of twists in this book, and a couple of surprises that catch you unaware.

Stars out of 5 : 4.5  This is a book you have to work at in the beginning but once you get hooked it is totally worth it.  Everything and everyone is not always what they seem on the surface, which was true in this book and true in life.  Well done Katie.  This is the first book I have read by Katie and will look out for more of her books.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. 

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".