Tuesday, April 23, 2019

ACROSS THE BRIDGE by Kristen Neva, Reviewed by Karen Klepsteen

I was so pleasantly surprised to discover that Across the Bridge takes place in my home state! Copper Country is absolutely beautiful so I’m a little biased to the book’s setting. Kristin Neva does such a wonderful job of describing the scenery and the extreme weather of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
In the story, young widower Drew moves to Quincy with his young son and is immediately drawn in by his landlord Marcella, a unique young woman with a penchant for gardening, nature, and healing. While Drew is excited at the prospect of getting to know Marcella better, she is very cautious about overstepping boundaries with Drew’s son AJ. She’s learned from experience, having lost her mother at a young age and then being quickly forced to adjust to a new stepmother. Adding another layer of complication is the possibility that Drew’s late wife might have hidden the truth about AJ’s true paternity. 

There are a lot of topics covered in this book, and I think that most of them are handled well. I felt like we could have had a little more spiritual growth from Marcella, but if the series continues then I’m sure we’ll get to see her progress! I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, but I still appreciate the way that the characters of Copper Island are all woven together through love and friendship.

Overall, this book is a nice portrayal of the people in Copper Country, and I’m looking forward to catching up on the books that I missed! 
*I received a copy of this book from JustRead Publicity Tours and am under no obligation to provide a positive review. All opinions are my own.

BackCover Blurb:
When Marcella Seppa meets her new tenant, widower Drew Smith, a spark ignites, but she won’t consider dating him. She doesn’t want his son, AJ, to experience the hurt she felt when her dad remarried shortly after her mom died. Her faith unraveled, and she threw herself into exercise and gardening instead of forming trusting relationships.

When Drew finds out he may not be AJ’s biological father, his first instinct is to leave Copper Island, but he wants to find out the truth. He seeks out Marcella’s support.

Is it possible their friendship could become more? But how would that affect AJ? Could love help make peace with the past?

Love weaves its way through the messiness of life on Copper Island.

Across the Bridge is part of the Copper Island series, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel.

Across the Bridge will make you laugh and cry. Deep, meaningful themes are woven into a fast-paced storyline.

After Marcella Seppa lost her mother when she was fifteen years old, her father quickly remarried, and her stepmother pushed too hard to foster a relationship with Marcella. Well-meaning people used Christian clichés in an attempt to comfort her, but it resulted in Marcella having a faith crisis. Is love worth the risk of loss, and how can you hold on to faith when questioning the idea of a puppet-master God?

Drew Smith moves to the small town of Quincy so that his in-laws can help raise his son, and he plugs into a local church where the leader of a boys group — and his deceased wife's high school boyfriend — looks strikingly like his son. Drew fears losing part of his son's heart to a man who even he admires for his height, charm, and cool job as a State Trooper. What does it mean to be a father, and what is the balance between protecting and preparing your child?

Across the Bridge also contains a theme dealing with ALS, a terminal disease that requires a team of caregivers. Readers who've met Grandma Lou in Snow Country will want to be with her again

Available in paperback and digital ebook:
 

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Karen! This is a new author for me and I hope we see more of her stories here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She was new to me too! Such a pleasant discovery! 😊

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