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Friday 9 August 2013

It All Started With A Lima Bean - Review


© Janeane

A past that haunts can be laid to rest through the act of forgiveness, even if the person you forgive is yourself. It must be gifted freely.

Abby Sullivan cherishes the life she is creating for herself in her hometown of Santa Barbara, California. She adores her best friend and supportive family. Her job as a kindergarten teacher offers her life hope and purpose. She is very talented at many things, especially hiding the pain of her past. That is until her world collides with Caleb Hunter’s, giving them both a lesson in forgiveness and love.

A life changing love is cruelly snatched by sickness and death. A person must be willing to give love, the greatest gift of all, to receive love.

A successful writer, Caleb is living life day-to-day. Giving refuge to his sad and lonely heart since his wife's sudden death from cervical cancer, his primary focus becomes honoring her memory by rearing their five-year-old daughter, Madison. Yet, when Madison Hunter walks into Miss Abby’s kindergarten class, everything changes for all three of them.

With a little nudge from a loving mother-in-law who has everyone’s best interest at heart, anything is possible, especially when forgiveness and love gift even more blessings than ever imaginable.
 

Review

The title of this book immediately had me interested, and it certainly did not disappoint.  In fact, I was up until 4am reading it!  It is one of the sweetest love stories I have read in a while

It pulled at my heartstrings from the first chapter, and I could not put it down from then.

Abby was burned in a relationship when she was a teenager and has never forgiven or got over it.

Caleb is a widower and father of a 5 year old girl.

Their worlds collide on Madison's first day of school when Abby literally falls at her feet in the school yard. Sparks fly, there is an instant attracction that cannot be denied.  

But Caleb is not ready to move on after his wife's death, and as much as Abby is in lust with him, she fears her past will drive him away.

What I really liked about Abby is that she is the girl next door.  Nothing extraordinary about her life or job, she isn't the supermodel-sized woman like in so many other books.  She has her curves, and she works them!

Oh, but of course Caleb has a cut physique, tattoos, a knicker-dropping smile and dimples.  Oh and the things he says and does *Swoon*  What's not to love?

But both Abby and Caleb are... normal!  They could be the people we see down the street or work with, not some super extraordinary people that none of us would ever meet in real life.

The scene stealer is Madison - what a sweetheart!  And such a smart kid.  She is such an open book and speaks what she thinks

The cast of characters are wonderful - best friend Leah, the grandma Grace, Abby's mum, Caleb's cousins Bri and Stefen.  They all played their part well, helping the story flow along.  The stories with the secondary characters were well rounded and were closed well.

This is book 1 in a four part series, and book 2 (Stefen's story) cannot come soon enough.

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About Kimi

Kimi lives in So Ca with her high school sweetheart, prom date, and now husband of over 20 years as well as with her two boys that bring so much joy and laughter to her life. There is never a dull moment in Kimi’s day with these three guys by her side. Her family and she are happily involved in volunteer work with several local non-profit organizations. They believe that everyone needs to do their part and a portion of her sales will always go to charity.
At an early age, Kimi discovered the magical world of imagination. Many stories were written as well as illustrated by her as a child. Not realizing at the time that she had dyslexia, schoolwork became extremely difficult, and her confidence as a reader and writer dwindled. Thanks to a high teacher who took the time to invest in her, Kimi found a love for literary legends such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving and Jane Austen. This teacher helped Kimi create one of the happiest school memories she holds. Discovering in college that she had the learning disability was terribly discouraging since help was not readily available and her reading and writing confidence fell once again.
Needing to find a distraction when her husband unexpectedly ended up in the hospital for a week, Kimi explored the indie reading world. Jumping in with everything she had, Kimi pushed herself to read over 150 books last year. During that process, many characters reappeared in her imagination and insisted that their stories be told. Putting all self-doubt and barriers aside, she started writing the outlines and drafts for the four books in her Intertwined Hearts Series as well as bits and pieces of the three books in her next series, Down by the Bay.
Her message to you is similar to that of pop icon, will.i.am’s: ~You can focus on your problems or you can focus on your dreams ~

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