A Light At Winter's End

Hannah always had to be the perfect daughter for their demanding mother. Perfect grades. The right clubs. A demanding career. The perfect husband followed by the perfect baby. Holly, never quite good enough in their mother's eyes stopped trying. She decided to go her own way and pursue her music songwriting career. Working temporary jobs during the day and writing at night, her career is just starting to take off. Then their mother dies and everything changes.

Back of the Book:
Hannah has always done everything right: getting married, having a baby, caring of her mother in her final days, all the while performing impeccably in a high-level job. Her sister Holly is the college dropout, the one who works at a coffee shop and wants to be a songwriter. Then one day perfect Hannah suddenly--without explanation--leaves her baby with Holly and disappears. What Holly knows about babies is laughable, but she takes little Mason to the empty family homestead, where she meets Wyatt Clark, a close-mouthed, handsome cowboy who is mysteriously good with babies. And then, just as Holly can no longer imagine her life without either Mason or Wyatt, Hannah returns for her son...

My Thoughts:
Some pretty serious issues between the two covers of what should have/could have been a fluffy romance novel. To be frank that's what I was expecting. A light touch on the main issues and straight to the romance. While I don't mind that type of book, this was an incredible surprise. These are two characters- well three if you include Wyatt Clark, the hero, are struggling with some serious issues.

Hannah, after caring for her ailing mother, working a high stress job, dealing with infant Oscar and a philandering, cheating ass of a husband, finally cracks under the pressure. First she starts drinking and soon moves to her mother's pain pills. Only when she finally hits bottom, does she turn to her sister. Showing up in the middle of the day, she dumps baby Oscar on Holly with no explanation other than she's going to be gone for awhile.

Holly suddenly finds her already chaotic life turned completely upside down by something she never expected and never planned for. She soon moves from her unsafe city apartment to her mother's country home and there she meets equally damaged Wyatt. After being dumped by his wife, Wyatt retreated to his ranch, determined to never again let anyone in.

Very easy to put yourself in the shoes of any of the characters. Hannah just wants to get well and have her baby back. Holly loves the baby with all her heart and is unsure if she can turn the little guy over to a known drug addict even if it is her little sister. Poor Wyatt has lost the love of his life and was publicly humiliated all in one breath. Yet he finds it in himself to let Holly in bit by bit until she worms her way into his whole heart.

This book is at equal measures heartbreaking and wonderful. Just like life there are no easy answers. Yet the ending more than enough makes up for the emotional roller coaster. Pick it up- it will surprise you.