What do You think about Family Blessings (1994)?
I picked this book up at the library, mainly because I have read a couple by the same author that I enjoyed so much. This one was a disappointment. I am learning that I don't necessarily love every book by a favored author. This is the story of a woman who falls in love with a man 15 years younger than herself. He was a good friend and room mate of her son who died in a motorcycle accident. Her adult daughter harbors feelings of her own toward the man she has fallen for and the whole extended family (minus her 14 yr old son and father in law) are all outraged. But love prevails as it usually does and the couple work it out. I was bored with the story. Kept reading faster and faster to just get done with it.Have not given up on this author.
—Virginia Markhart
WOW! This story was so emotionally draining through the first part that I had to put it down and do something physical to recharge. As this story opens, the heroine is a widow who loses her oldest child in a motorcycle accident, and we soon learn that two decades earlier she lost a baby to SIDS. This sounds like a bad soap opera, but in this author's hands, it becomes an uplifting story of dealing with loss.Unfortunately, IMO, this is marketed as a romance, and the focus in readers' minds is on the older woman/younger man relationship - but this is so much more; it's about how people deal with loss, and how that loss can come forward "out of the blue" and seem as fresh as the day it happened.I don't know that I'll ever be able to read this again - I used so many tissues my husband was sure I must have a cold - but I'll never be sorry I read it. It is definitely a count-your-blessings story, and a tribute to the strength and resilience of family.
—BJ Rose
"Family Blessings" is about a mom named Lee who has a son that works for the local police department, named Greg. Greg's best friend, Chris is also a police officer. One afternoon, Lee got a phone call from the police department saying that someone got into a very bad motorcycle accident. Since the accident was so bad that had a hard time identifying who the person was so Lee had to tell them if that person was Greg. Unfortuanately, it was Greg. Lee was full of grief and didn't know what she would do without Greg. Nobody really helped Lee cope with the loss of her son except Chris. About a year after his death, Chris and Lee started to develop feelings for eachother. They started going on dates and falliing in love. The only problem was that Lee was about 45 years old and Chris was about 23. If word got out that they were dating, Lee's family would be disgusted with her. Lee's daughter actually had a crush on Chris and that hurt her daughter a lot to think her mom would do that to her. Lee's family was very mad about this but they soon realized that Chris made Lee very happy and slowy accepted their relationship.This story takes place in Anoka, Minnesota. One of the problems in this story are that Lee and her family were not talking for about three months because they were so disappointed in her. Another problem is the fact that Lee co-owned a floral shop with her sister. Once her sister found out about Chris, Lee's sister wouldn't even talk to her and it would be kind of hard to run a business without talking to eachother.I gave this book a four out of five because I really liked it and it always kept my attention. I think young adults and teenagers could read this book. Anyone that really likes romance and tragedy will enjoy this book.
—Kelsey M. Miller
