🚗💍👢🌻 "A Gift To Cherish" 🌻👢💍🚗 (2019) [Road to Refuge #2] - Book Review

MY REVIEW

Series: Road to Refuge (Book 2)

Paperback: 357 pages

Publisher: Independently published (December 28, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1704371473

ISBN-13: 978-1704371474

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“When Daisy Riley arrives in Refuge, Wyoming to live with her brother and his family, she intends to stay forever. The victim of violence in Los Angeles, Daisy craves stability, peace of mind, and safety. Her dreams all come true when lands a job as a personal assistant to Miss Joan Prescott, the owner of Cottonwood Acres, a historic ranch that once served as the set for a famous TV show. A retired college professor, Miss Joan has secrets and stories of her own, including a very unusual project.

Rafe Donovan, a cop from Cincinnati, is haunted by a recurring nightmare about the drug death of his high school sweetheart and his failure to save her. Those nightmares lead Rafe to take leave from the police department, seek help, and shelter in Refuge where he pounds nails for his brother’s construction business. He has no desire to stay in Wyoming. His goal is to get back to being a cop in Ohio as soon as possible. But then he meets Daisy Riley . . .

When he finds her stranded late at night with a flat tire, Rafe is instantly impressed by her courage. Daisy is equally impressed by him. Together they navigate the road to love—one that’s complicated by the arrival of Daisy’s troubled best friend, online dating, and the impossible obstacle of 1,600 miles between her home and his.

Author Note: This story is about our current dating culture, including the risks of online dating. It also looks at the social mores of 1970s and how those values impact today's women.”

Thank you in advance to the author, Victoria Bylin, and JustRead Publicity Tours for providing an advanced review copy. A positive review was not required, all words are my own.

I was not familiar with the author’s work prior to this, so she is a “new-to-me” author.

While this is the second book in the “Road to Refuge” series, it easily acts as a standalone, though readers might enjoy reading the other book, “When He Found Me” prior to this one.

When I read the description for this book, I was really curious about it. Right off the cover is cute and whimsical like this is going to be one of those “cute” romance reads.

It is and it isn’t. That’s what is interesting about this. This is a clean read and has a deep Christian Faith/religious tone to it. There are bible quotes in the headers of some chapters. Daisy’s faith is a huge part of her character and also part of the story. There are no sex scenes, while an affair is mentioned the “action” takes place off page.

Some “content” and/or “trigger” warnings will include:

** Opiod Addiction

** Drug Addiction

** Alcoholism

** Suicide

** Abortion

** Sexual Assault

** PTSD

** Extramarital Affair (mentioned)

In addition to being about recovery (in more than one way), there are also themes of redemption, healing, and facing new challenges. Bylin also tackles the new age of online dating and dating apps with a realistic, though challenging approach.

The main characters are:

** Daisy (Shane’s sister) – Sober and free of alcohol, she is trying to put her life back together. Deeply rooted in her faith and belief in Jesus, she still battles her demons

** Rafe Donovan (Jesse’s brother) – While he has “some” Christian beliefs, he is reluctant to firmly commit his life to God; happens to fall in love with Daisy

** Joan – a former TV actress who is looking to give her home away to a worthy cause since she leaves behind no husband, children, or grand-children. Was deeply in love with her married co-star, Trey, even after the affair ended

** Chelsea – single mom of Hannah. One of Daisy’s friends from Los Angeles. Stops in Refuge, Wyoming on her way to Michigan. Desperate not to be lonely, she takes to dating apps to find men

These four characters balance the story out. Told in third person, except for Joan’s reflection, the reader sees the dynamics of the relationships as well as the difference between the social setting of the 1970’s and today.

Daisy and Rafe don’t exactly hit it off on their first meeting – but, their “second” encounter is less stressful.

Daisy finally lands a good job working with Joan as an assistant. Joan, who is not only trying to write a “memoir” about the land, she is trying to sort through worthy charities to leave the ranch to. Daisy loves her job – and on the day of the interview – it is there she sees the kindness in Rafe.

Despite Rafe’s temporary status, he falls for Daisy. His approach to romance, for some, might seem old-fashioned. Yet, given everything Daisy has been through, it is a slow and sweet approach to gain her trust. Daisy appreciates his slowness and decides to take a chance on him.

From there, the romance is at a steady pace, not rushed or hurried. Rafe’s consideration of Daisy is admirable, if nothing short of chivalrous. There’s only two problems – his lack of faith and Geography.

Daisy wants to make her home and set down roots in Refuge, while Rafe wants to get back to the big city. Yet, each one starts to re-think what they want.

Chelsea, despite her divorce and what her friend has been through (and numerous warnings), has no problems with the world of dating apps. After Rafe and Daisy set up a date with Jesse, that fizzles, Chelsea takes to the apps to find her Mr. Right. Only she finds several Mr. “Wrongs” – three in a row no less. The last one proving to be dangerous.

Joan’s reflection on her own “affair” and how she handled her personal beliefs back in the early 1970’s, causes her to be the conscious and guiding hand that Daisy needs.

In the midst of this, Daisy’s brother (introduced in the first book) is getting married to MJ (also from the first book), a single mom.

Joan’s experience guides Daisy into finding and listening to God’s suggestion. Plaguing Daisy – choosing comfort and security over love.  Joan has her regrets, but feels blessed by her experience. Her grace, tenacity, and benevolence are beautiful to witness.

I enjoyed watching Rafe slowly come around to seeing what his brother and Daisy saw. It wasn’t an “epiphany”, but a deep understanding and realization. Yet, his “stay or go home” conflict remains throughout the story, only being solved at the end (last few pages to be exact).

Joan’s lesson and advice for Daisy (and the reader as well) could be best compared to the “Serenity Prayer”:

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change what I can,

And, the wisdom to know the difference

Using Chelsea’s traumatic event at the end, Daisy and the reader, see that sometimes a place like Refuge isn’t to hide away, but to recover so one can move on to the next stage of their life. The work we’re sometimes called to do can be done from anywhere – both Rafe and Daisy see this throughout their journey of the “geography” challenge.

Bylin also has another message in the book – new challenges and how God directs us to them or puts them in our way. Not necessarily to punish us, but test us, as well as prepare us.

Of the four characters; I enjoyed Rafe, Daisy, and Joan. While Chelsea had a good heart, I was frustrated with her. The writer leaves the rest of Chelsea’s story at the beginning of the last chapter. I’m hoping that we get to see Chelsea’s story continue in the next book.

Written in a non-rushed pace, that keeps the reader interested, this was hard to walk away from. Despite it being over 350 pages, I found it a quick read. Most 350+ page books take at least three (3) to four (4) days. This took less than 36 hours to read.

The title, “A Gift to Cherish” comes from something Joan tells Daisy in chapter 32, close to the end. The gift is “grace” because it came at a cost, albeit different ones, to both of them.

This is definitely a heart-breaking, endearing, yet sweet story. It even had an element of suspense at the end.

I did enjoy this read and very glad I was able to get a review copy.

I’m sure fans of the author will enjoy the story, particularly fans of the first book.

Anyone looking for a read of this type will likely enjoy it as well.

RATING:

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐– Goodreads

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐– Bookbub

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐– Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)

Other Books in the Series:

Series: Road to Refuge (Book 1)

Paperback: 379 pages

Publisher: Independently published (March 16, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1793192979

ISBN-13: 978-1793192974

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“Love Discovered . . . Hope Renewed

Once a strong Christian, third baseman Shane Riley lost his faith the night he injured his knee in a freak car accident. Determined to return to professional baseball and to find the sister he treated badly, Shane retreats to Refuge, Wyoming. There he meets Melissa June “MJ” Townsend, a single mom battling the virus that causes cervical cancer.

MJ wants nothing to do with the handsome athlete—no doubt a womanizer considering the stories in the news. But when a mistake results in Shane renting her garage apartment, they become friends. That friendship blossoms into something deep and pure, leaving MJ with a painful secret to tell. Even more complicated, she discovers an unexpected tie to Shane’s missing sister—a wounded woman who wants nothing to do with the perfect brother who scorned her.”

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