Wednesday, November 23, 2022

The Best Is Yet to Come

An emotionally immersive romance about two grief-stricken people struggling to open up their lives to love again.

The aftereffects of war on two people trying to rebuild their lives anchor The Best Is Yet to Come, a deeply moving, compassionately drawn contemporary romance by Debbie Macomber (It’s Better This WayA Walk Along the Beach).

Los Angeles native Hope Godwin relocates to Oceanside, Wash., after her twin brother, a soldier, is tragically killed in action. Longing to reconcile her grief and live simply--teaching at the local high school--Hope’s plans are complicated when her pushy landlord ropes her into volunteering at the local animal shelter. There, she meets injured ex-Marine, John Cade Lincoln Jr. “Cade” may have been awarded a Purple Heart, but a sordid past keeps him standoffish. Having witnessed his army buddies “blown to bits,” he is a recovering alcoholic and loner dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and serious anger-management issues that sent him to jail for a year. Cade is performing community service at the local animal shelter when Hope crosses his path. He becomes intrigued when “Shadow,” an abused, human-averse canine takes eagerly to Hope. As the fearful dog warms up to Hope, so, too, does Cade. The couple slowly--and awkwardly--get to know each other until the past suddenly resurfaces, testing what’s in their hearts and challenging their romance.

Memorable, fully fleshed-out characters--including a suspenseful, very well-drawn subplot involving students at the school--round out an emotionally immersive story. Debbie Macomber is a master of depicting the nuances of smalltown life and how romance can rally and recharge the human spirit with hope.

The Best is Yet to Come: A Novel by Debbie Macomber

Ballantine Books/Random House Books, $28.00 hardcover, 9781984818843, 304 pages

Publication Date: July 12, 2022

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 NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (July 15, 2022), link HERE