Saturday, April 18, 2020

The Joy of Falling by Lindsay Harrel Blog Tour


About the Book


Book:  The Joy of Falling
Author: Lindsay Harrel
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Release Date: April 14, 2020

Eva and Angela must learn to live again. One step at a time.

It has been fifteen months since Eva and Angela lost their thrill-seeking husbands in a scuba diving accident. Both women are trying to navigate their way through the grief, but neither one is making much progress. Angela is barely making ends meet, angry at her husband for leaving her to raise three children on her own. Meanwhile, Eva is stuck, unable to move forward after losing the love of her life and her source of inspiration.

But then Eva gets a life-changing phone call. Before Brent and Wes died, they had signed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place, and Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband’s choices.

Training is exhausting, and the race is even more demanding. Their journey grows more complicated by the presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. With every step, Eva and Angela must ask themselves questions that they haven’t had the courage to ask before. As the women literally put one foot in front of the other, they wonder: Is it possible to find their way forward in hope?

 Click here to get your copy!

 My Review

 Harrel's novel is a good exploration of two widows dealing with grief in the context of them fulfilling their husbands' mutual dream. Preparing for and then completing an ultra-marathon in New Zealand provides a good framework to see how the women grow from their experiences. Though the women were married to brothers, the men were very different as were the marriages. We see how working through grief can be so different for the two women.

There are several other issues included in the novel. One is dealing with guilt when the possibility of love comes again. Another is struggling to understand when God's plan is not what was anticipated. There is also the issue of dreaming yet living in reality. There are several issues of family relationships too as one of the widows has children, including a teen daughter. And then there is also the question of why some want to participate in extreme sports.

This is a good novel dealing with loss and grief and how each person's experiences may differ. It was also fun to get an idea of what is involved in preparing for and completing a long marathon and to be able to visualize the beautiful New Zealand setting.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author


Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. She’s held a variety of writing and editing jobs over the years and now juggles stay-at-home mommyhood with writing novels. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Connect with her at LindsayHarrel.com.

Read an Excerpt


Click here to read the first four chapters.

Blog Stops

Remembrancy, April 19
Genesis 5020, April 20
Splashes of Joy, April 20
Older & Smarter?, April 22
Hookmeinabook, April 24
Hallie Reads, April 26
CarpeDiem, April 27
Stories By Gina, April 28
The Becca Files, April 29

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Celebrate Lit.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)
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