Wednesday, July 18, 2012

BOOK REVIEW: Reunion: A Novel by Lauraine Snelling


This story begins with two happy families. Keira and Bjorn Johnston, who have two sons living away from home, are about to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary with their first trip to Norway. The other family, Leah and Marcus Sorenson, live in the same block as the Johnstons. They have two sons living outside the home and a daughter Kirsten who is a high school senior who lives at home.

Marcus, the pastor of a local church, is Keira's brother. Leah is Keira's best friend, and Kirsten is like a daughter to Keira. Leah, a nurse, works some nights at the city's residential care facility. Bjorn has his own insurance company and Keira is the office manager.

The only sadness for the two families is that Marcus and Keira's mother died from cancer about a year ago. It is time to prepare for the annual family reunion and this will be the first one without their mother. Still, all in all, they have much to be thankful for.

Kirsten is graduating from high school just before her eighteenth birthday and she and her boyfriend Jośe have great college scholarships and both plan to eventually go to medical school. Kirsten is the class president and Jośe is the valedictorian.

The two families suddenly come face to face with two problems. Keira, after finding her birth certificate required for a passport for the trip to Norway, learns the man she thought was her father, isn't. The other crisis is that Kirsten learns she is pregnant. This leads to secrets being kept from one another, further eroding the happiness enjoyed before the problems.

The two families will never be the same, but you'll be turning pages fast to learn how they get through it all. Will the problems tear them apart or bring them closer? You'll want to have tissues close at hand, but, even so, I suspect you'll love the story as much as I do.

The publisher provided a complimentary copy of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255. 

11 comments:

  1. This does sound like a book I would like to read. But I must admit, as far as I am concerned Lauraine Snelling has yet to write a "bad" book". I love all of her stories and her characters are the kindthat become friends you wish to visit with over and over. Thanks for the review. I will be sure to look for Reunion.
    Kris Morgan

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  3. I'm already hooked! "Secrets" always make for good drama and I'm already wondering about the paternity issue. I haven't read any of Lauraine's books yet and it looks like I've been missing some great reads! Thanks for sharing her Reunion with us!

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  4. Sounds like a good book. Enjoyed reading the review. :)

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  5. Thanks, Melissa. This was the first one of her books I have read. I'm sure I'll be checking on the others now.

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  6. Thanks for the great review and I look forward to reading Reunion. Thanks for the opportunity to enter giveaway.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  7. Oops, I don't have a book to give away for this one. All they sent me was a single-use Kindle version. The giveaways are for Davis Bunn's Hidden in Dreams and, later, Rare Earth. Sorry.

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  8. This does sound like a very interesting book and one to add to my to read list.

    Blessings,
    Jo
    azladijo(at)aol(dot)com

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  9. I highly recommend it. But, seriously, you will need some tissues. Of course, I like the kind of book that makes me feel something.

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  10. Hi, Sidney,

    I just came across your blog, and noticed you enjoyed Lauraine Snelling’s novel, RENUNION.

    HEAVEN SENT RAIN, Lauraine’s newest novel, is about to be released, and she has a fabulous giveaway happening July 1st through 21st, to coordinate with the book launch.

    Would you be interested in learning more, or sharing about the giveaway with your readers?
    If so, please let me know. You can contact me at amanda at pulsepointdesign dot com, and I’ll be happy to give you all the details.

    And either way, I hope you’ll stop by and enter the giveaway at http://laurainesnelling.com/html/giveaways.html :)

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