Canary Island Song

Often times we have to accept our lot in life. Whatever choices we have made along the way are personalized just for us.

When life dealt Carolyn a tough hand, she dealt with it the best way she could. She coped on the outside, put on a smile when need be, and avoided the subject of her husband, Jeff's death. Even after so many years the grief remained buried deep inside. As long as no one mentioned it, she could ignore it.

Yet, life was passing her by! Her twin sister, Marilyn is already married and she is moving on and finally out of her house. Now alone, she takes the advice of her sister and daughter, Tikki, that she needs to get out there again. Meet some one. Fall in love again!

With the approach of her mom's 70th birthday, she plans a surprise for her and returns to the Canary Islands. She is ready to begin a new start, but what she didn't expect was to meet up again with the man who captured her heart at 18 and broke it. Will she be ready to start a new life or will her past reclaim her and hold her heart captive again?

I received Canary Island Song by Robin Jones Gunn, compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and have to give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. We all have had our fair shares of heart breaks in our life, but rarely do we get the opportunity to possibly rekindle that old flame. This is a novel about romance but also about dealing with grief and the ability to move forward even though our hearts and emotions will sometimes hold us back. Filled with so much love and hope, this novel is a great summer book that will take you to the most unexpected places.

Here's even more great information about the book, the author and even a first chapter sneak peek!

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Canary Island Song Howard Books; Original edition (July 5, 2011) by Robin Jones Gunn





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Jones Gunn was born in Wisconsin and lived on a dairy farm until her family moved to southern California when she was five years old. She grew up in Orange County and spent her summers at Newport Beach with friends from her church youth group. After attending Biola University and Capernwray Bible School in Austria, Robin and Ross were married and spent the next two decades working together in youth ministry.



It was the young teens at Robin’s church who challenged her to write stories for them. She hadn’t thought much about being a writer, but took their request to heart and set her alarm for 3am, three days a week. With two small children it was the only time she could find to write the first story about Christy Miller. After two years and ten rejections the novel Summer Promise was accepted for publication in 1988. Robin hasn’t stopped writing since. Over 4 million copies of her 75 books have sold and can be found in a dozen translations all over the world.



Robin and her husband now live in Hawai’i where Ross is a counselor and Robin continues to write to the sound of tropical birds chattering in the palm trees outside her window. Their children are grown but manage to come to the islands with their families every chance they get. Robin's awards include: three Christy awards for excellence in fiction, a Gold Medallion finalist, Mt. Hermon Pacesetter and the Mt. Hermon Writer of the Year award. Robin travels extensively and is a frequent key-note speaker at various events around the world. She serves on the Board of Directors for Media Associates International and Jerry Jenkin’s Christian Writer’s Guild.





ABOUT THE BOOK

When Carolyn’s grown daughter tells her she needs to “get a life,” Carolyn decides it’s time to step out of her familiar routine as a single woman in San Francisco and escape to her mother’s home in the Canary Islands. Since Carolyn’s mother is celebrating her seventieth birthday, the timing of Carolyn’s visit makes for a perfect surprise.

The surprise, however, is on Carolyn when she sees Bryan Spencer, her high school summer love. It’s been seven years since Carolyn lost her husband, but ever since that tragic day, her life has grown smaller and closed in. The time has come for Carolyn to get her heart back. It takes the gentle affection of her mother and aunts, as well as the ministering beauty and song of the islands to draw Carolyn into the fullness of life. She is nudged along by a Flamenco dance lesson, a defining camel ride and the steady gaze of Bryan’s intense blue-gray eyes.

Is it too late for Carolyn to trust Bryan? Can Carolyn believe that Bryan has turned into something more than the wild beach boy who stole her kisses so many years ago on a balmy Canary night?

Carolyn is reminded that Christopher Columbus set sail from the Canary Islands in 1492 on his voyage to discover the New World. Is she ready to set sail from these same islands to discover her new life?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Canary Island Song, go HERE.