Crossing Oceans - A Must-Read

If you're looking for a stellar book, this is it!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Crossing Oceans Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (May 1, 2010)
by
Gina Holmes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gina Holmes began her career in 1998, penning articles and short stories. In 2005 she founded the influential literary blog, Novel Journey. She holds degrees in science and nursing and currently resides with her husband and children in southern Virginia. To learn more about her, visit May 2010's issue of CFOM at Interview with Gina Holmes or Novel Journey.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Jenny Lucas swore she’d never go home again. But being told you’re dying has a way of changing things. Years after she left, she and her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, must return to her sleepy North Carolina town to face the ghosts she left behind. They welcome her in the form of her oxygen tank–toting grandmother, her stoic and distant father, and David, Isabella’s dad . . . who doesn’t yet know he has a daughter. As Jenny navigates the rough and unknown waters of her new reality, the unforgettable story that unfolds is a testament to the power of love and its ability to change everything—to heal old hurts, bring new beginnings . . . even overcome the impossible. A stunning debut about love and loss from a talented new voice.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Crossing Oceans, go HERE.


Watch the Video Book Trailer:



MY THOUGHTS:
This is an amazing novel for any author to have written, but the fact that it's Gina Holmes' debut novel makes it that much more incredible. Just be sure to have one thing by your side at all times as you read it:


I am not kidding you. I have never had a book break my heart like this one did, nor cause me to mull over it so long after finishing it. (What is a reader to do when she longs to pray for and hug the neck of fictional characters?!) Not that it is morose in its telling. On the contrary, it is an achingly tender story. Jenny and her precious daughter, Isabella, walked right off of the pages and into my heart. As I progressed further into the book and the layers of sorrow and love intertwined, I couldn't fathom how the story could end in any satisfying manner. And if this were a secular title, that would be true. But God infuses hope and grace at each of life's most fragile turns for the believer, and Gina Holmes has gently and expertly woven Truth into this book. While the book literally made my heart hurt and brought me to tears, the last sentence left me with a smile. And that is all I will tell you! You absolutely MUST get this book.

My blogging reviewer pal Kim at Window to My World interviewed Gina for this month's issue of Christian Fiction Online Magazine. You can read that interview here.