"More Than Enough" (2019) - Book Review




MY REVIEW


Series: The Mosaic Collection (Book 5)
Paperback: 249 pages
Publisher: Feather House Press (December 13, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1734195401
ISBN-13: 978-1734195408
[Click photo to purchase book]

Quirky Fiona McGrath loves her job as a Child Life Specialist at a Dunedin, Florida hospital. As a former foster child, she understands trauma and wants to ensure no child ever faces the same kind of fears she once did. But are fears truly in the past? Gabe Cavenaugh’s life is right on schedule. As the youngest assistant Chief Financial Officer in the hospital’s history, he has much to prove, but he’s confident he can do anything he’s asked. After all, he’s secure in his faith and has the constant support of his family. 

When Gabe is directed to make cuts in order to balance the hospital’s budget, his search leads him to the Child Life Program and to Fiona. How can this crazy, hat-wearing woman, who rides around on a sparkly scooter possibly be a vital member of the medical team? As Fiona works to persuade Gabe about her job’s necessity, he begins to see there’s more to her and her work with young patients than wacky clothes. But will she be enough to save her program? And could she possibly be enough for a man like Gabe?

Thank you in advance to JustRead and the publisher for providing a complimentary copy to review. All words are my own in this review and a positive review was not required.

This is my second read of The Mosaic Collection and my first by the author.

What starts out as a quirky read with a sad tale – fun program facing a shutdown due to no funds – turns into a beautifully written, charming, and unique read with intermittent moments of humor.

As my mother worked in a hospital for 25+ years, so this was a realistic read with regard to corrupt hospital officials, budget shortfalls, budget cuts, and staff sentimentality for certain programs. I could’ve easily seen this story-line (with almost any department) happening where my mom worked.

Using Fiona’s own heart-breaking past, Seilstad combines family drama to highlight what drives Fiona and her defense of her department in a realistic way. Her own childhood scars has given her insight into what kids in a hospital and traumatic situations need to stay calm on focus on treatment.

Seilstad puts a gut-punching reality into this story. Her writing style flowed so natural that it was difficult to put it down. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure about this book in the beginning. The premise sounded adorable, but at first I was standoffish. But, I ended up reading this in one sitting. That is RARE. I haven’t done that in almost 15-20 years.

There were also a few smaller stories going on here – Fiona and Gabe’s romance, Fiona helping some foster kids adjust, and Fiona’s own family drama. The writer also added a touch of suspense to it with Fiona’s sister and the hospital corruption. So, this is a well-rounded story.

Fiona and Gabe’s relationship did seem to move a bit fast given he was only supposed to shadow her for five (5) days. Then again, this is a “light-hearted”, inspirational read.

Fiona’s character was very well developed so that she could’ve been someone my mom would’ve worked with.

Gabe’s personality was slightly “lighter” than the normal hospital management I’ve been around. However, he was a welcome addition.

The other characters were realistic in their support roles and what they were in the story.

I also enjoyed how the writer balanced the two types of family against each other – Fiona’s “chaotic” and “imperfect” against Gabe’s “calm perfection”. The quote that Fiona’s foster mom had used is perfect for this novel – “family aren’t like socks, they don’t have to match”.

This was a bit lighter on the faith than other books I have read. But, that was all right by me.

The author also did a great job in piquing my interesting into the role of a Child Life Specialist (CLS).

As mentioned above, my mother had worked at the county hospital for 25+ years and I really hadn’t heard of a CLS. After reading about Fiona, I wanted to find out more about the job and learned that it started around the 1960’s in the U.S and Canada.

This was a time when it wasn’t uncommon for parents to be excluded from hospital visitation except perhaps on weekends. This history would’ve been a very interesting fact for Fiona to reveal to Gabe as to how crucial the program is and how it got started.

Despite a few minor issues, I was pleasantly satisfied with this novel which reminds all of us – broken and those who seem to have it together – we are more than enough.



RATING:

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐– Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)


ABOUT THE AUTHOR




Lorna Seilstad writes multi-layered stories which contain a generous dash of humor. She is the author of the Lake Manawa Summers series and Gregory Sisters series (Revell) and has stories included in several novella collections. She was a Carol Award finalist in historical romance, but today writes both historical and contemporary stories. When she’s not eating chocolate, she enjoys doing flowers for weddings, teaching Bible classes, researching history, baking cookies, and working with her 4-H club. She and her husband live in Iowa with their three adult children living nearby.

She can be found on the following social media accounts:





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