By: Renee Carlino
Published: November 11, 2014
Publisher: Atria Books
Source: Publisher
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GR's Summary:
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a deeply emotional contemporary romance about the second chances waiting beyond the shattered dreams of youth.
Under the bright arena lights of a rodeo show, young Avelina Belo falls for a handsome cowboy with a larger-than-life personality. After a whirlwind courtship, she happily moves away from her family in northern California and settles into married life with her cowboy on a seven-thousand-acre cattle ranch in Montana. One freak accident later, Avelina’s hopes for the future come to an end.
Nate Myers graduated from UCLA medical school at the top of his class, ready to follow in the footsteps of his father, a superstar cardiothoracic surgeon. Six years later, Nate’s career is being ruined by a malpractice suit. Questioning himself for the first time, he retreats to a Montana cattle ranch to visit his uncle and gain perspective. There, he meets a beautiful young woman named Avelina who teaches him more than he ever knew about matters of the heart.
My Thoughts:
After the Rain by Renee Carlino was a beautiful story. It was very true to real life. It was emotional, tragic, devastating, and bittersweet. After the Rain is one of those stories that felt like it was speaking directly to me. It was honest in how the raw depth of excruciating loss was depicted. Ms. Carlino could have made this story more cliche and cookie cutter. She could have taken the easy way out, but instead delivered something so powerful in its authenticity.
Avelina (Ava) is just a young girl when she see's how death can destroy the living. When her father dies, her mother becomes a shell of her former self. As she grows in to a beautiful young woman, she falls madly in love with a handsome, and charming young cowboy. They quickly get married, and it seems as through Ava's life is complete. However, the tides quickly change when fate deals her a most painful tragedy.
Nate has had a wonderful life, loving parents, and is use to things coming easily to him. He decides to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a Cardiothoracic Surgeon. When he begins his new job, things come to a standstill in his life and career when he loses a patient, and is threatened with malpractice. Nate's father gives him a leave of absence and sends him to Montana to spend time with his Uncle Dale and Aunt Trish as a way to get perspective on his life. While on the Ranch, he meets the beautiful, but lost Ava, and builds a beautiful friendship with her. While they share an attraction and chemistry, Ava's broken heart never mended, and Nate doesn't know if there will ever be hope for the two of them to be together.
Ava and Nate were such richly created characters. From the beginning of the story, I was hooked, and crying my eyes out. My heart physically ached for Ava. I applauded Nate for his patience and compassion towards Ava. I was proud of Ava as well for being true to herself. She was strong in her own right. Yes, she lost her way at one point, but the fact that she could pick herself up after all that she had gone through took courage, strength, and perseverance. The plot was extremely well developed, and the characters were fully fleshed out. The life lessons in this story were abundant and relatable. Be prepared for your heart to break, your eyes to tear, and your heart to quiver. After the Rain is an epic life story, as well as love story!
My Rating:
I give, After the Rain by Renee Carlino 4.5 Paralyzing Tragedy, Epic Love, Forever is Only Now" Filled Stars. This story will shatter your heart, and then mend it back together again.
My Favorite Quote:
"In all my years, I've learned that life delivers many storms for us to weather. Some will be slow, brooding, quiet beasts, and others will be loud, thunderous, and frightening. But if you're willing to look close enough, no matter how devastating the storm may be, after the rain you'll always find new life sprouting in the aftermath." (eARC, Loc. 3755)
~Edith
Book Teaser:
About Renee Carlino:
Great review! Now I know what to pick up when I am in mood for emotional read :)
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