As the Tide Comes In

GIVEAWAY
RANDOM RETRO READ DAY!

WOODSMALL, CINDY

WOODSMALL, ERIN

AS THE TIDE COMES IN

A New York Times best-selling author releases her first southern novel, a Steel Magnolias-meets-Sweet-Home-Alabama story set on St. Simons Island.

After losing two loved ones in a devastating tornado and suffering a head injury, Tara Abbott flees to St. Simons Island, where her disorientation causes the lines between imagination and reality, past and present to blur.

There she encounters island residents Julep Burnside, Luella Ward, Sue Beth Manning, and Dell Calhoun -- The Glynn Girls -- who have been friends since Bible camp, forty years earlier. When Julep's son Gavin identifies a troubled soul in need of help, can the Glynn Girls guide Tara back to herself?

My Review:

published in 2018

True confession: I checked this book out of the library three times before I actually made it through to the end. The first two times I reached the same point early on in the story and, well, the authors deliver a lethal literary sucker punch that rocked my tender bibliophile heart to the core  and I just couldn't read on. But this time I relied on my hoard of comfort chocolates and tissues and soldiered on and am I ever glad I did!

What a stunning story! It's haunting in some ways but hopeful in others as the Lord takes center stage in the broken lives of hurting people. There's romance (two, in fact) but they aren't the focus of this beautiful, redemptive tale. There's plenty of drama as several characters journey through grief and the every day upheaval losing a loved one can cause.

Lest I give the impression that this is a heavy, depressing book, let me assure you that it's anything but. There's plenty of humour, largely sparked by the outlandish antics of The Glynn Girls -- four ladies of middling years who also claim 'mamaship' to Gavin, though only one birthed him. 

Gavin puts up with a lot from his mamas, even more from the perpetual hazing of his firehouse crew and then there are his run ins with Tara! Some of them are hilarious even as they highlight the kind and compassionate man he is. (insert swoony sigh here.) 

And then there's Tara -- watching her struggle about ripped my heart out! And the way Gavin and the Glynn Girls rally around her...well, sniffle...(not before some crazy misunderstanding, mind you.) And, oh my, that plot twist is a doozy! 

Told from multiple points of view, As the Tide Comes In is a captivating slice of real life in all it's glorious mess and a beautiful example of sweet, inspirational Southern Fiction.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice

If you would like a chance to win a copy of As the Tide Comes In, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winners announced on Saturday May 15  2021. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!