The Shadow of Your Smile

While I enjoy reading a good book that truly takes you away from your ‘normal’, I also enjoy reading a good story that hits a bit closer to home.

The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren presents a story that both draws you in and makes you want to see what will happen next and that challenges you on several fronts.

About the Book:

A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage.

After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle’s memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember?

Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future? Read the story behind the story here: http://www.susanmaywarren.com/books/the-shadow-of-your-smile.

About Susan:

Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband are active in their local church.

Susan’s larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of My Book Therapy, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)

A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at:www.susanmaywarren.com.

My Thoughts

I loved the story overall.  Ms. Warren does a wonderful job painting the settings so the reader can ‘see’ them in their imagination.  The characters have the air of real people with real challenges and pain that life can bring.  And, she has done a stellar job of weaving in the Christian faith.  Not all of the main characters feel connected to God in their pain, but as the story unfolds they do all see that God had not abandoned them in their hours of need and waits with open arms for them to re-establish a relationship with Him.

I can only imagine losing a child and the pain that must accompany it.  But, I have seen how that kind of loss can impact a family.  Years ago, I heard a speaker say that the loss of child either brings a couple together (as they cling to each other in grief and work towards healing) or tears them apart.   The Shadow of Your Smile threw in the interesting twist of one person losing their memory and all the pain that was tied up inside.  And, it was the near loss of his wife and seeing her without the baggage previously associated with their marriage that helps Eli realize how he needs to live to both honor God and be the husband his wife deserves.

The Shadow of Your Smile retails for $13.99 in paperback and is available at major retailers, including Amazon.  You will also find it in hardback and ebook formats.

Disclaimer ~ I was provided with time limited access to an ebook version of the novel to facilitate this review.  No compensation occurred and all opinions are my own.

Come Back to Deep Haven and Win a $200 Visa Card from @SusanMayWarren!

Sometimes love requires a little forgetting … Come back to Deep Haven and find out what’s been happening in your favorite quaint hamlet. If you’re new to the Deep Haven series – this is the perfect book to start with – each book in the series is a stand alone story.

Susan is celebrating the release of The Shadow of Your Smile by giving away a prize pack worth over $200 from 1/9-1/28.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A $200 Visa Gift Card (Use that to rekindle a little romance, treat yourself to a spa day, snap up those shoes you’ve been eyeing, or purchase a few great books!)

• The entire set of Deep Haven Books

The winner will be announced on 1/30/12 on Susan’s blog, Scribbles</ a>! Just click one of the icons below to enter and tell your friends about Susan’s giveaway on FACEBOOK</ a> or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.