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 Way, A 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
To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE
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