Laurie C Lewis has written yet another intriguing novel. Awakening Avery is the story of a woman who had recently lost her husband. Realizing his death had taken a greater toll on her emotional well-being than she could have anticipated, she--at the urging of her children, takes a beach house in one of her favorite vacation spots, Anna Maria Island, Florida.I very much enjoyed this character-driven novel. Not only Avery, but each supporting character takes his/her own journey of growth. I personally love staying on the beach, so reading this novel was also a beach holiday for me. I could feel the ocean breezes, heard the waves rolling in and the winging of the seagulls.
Join me again on June 10 when I post an interview with Laurie.
Here is the blurb from the back of Awakening Avery:
"You're depressed," the doctor declared.
"Ya think?" is author Avery Elkins Thompson's sarcastic response to the astute diagnosis for the malaise that set in following her husband's untimely death. Avery's carefully controlled world is imploding, and her adult children fear they are losing her too.
"You're just a shadow of the person you used to be...We'd gladly give you up for a while if it meant getting you back."
Avery can't write, and questions about their father's death leave the family mired in pain. "We need a healing place," her oldest son tells her, suggesting she find it on Anna Maria Island, Florida, a former family vacation spot.
When Avery returns to Baltimore to sell the family's waterfront condo, she meets rodeo-ers-turned-real-estate-brokers Teddie and Rider Davis, and Avery's quiet life will never be the same again.
The Davises help arrange a short-term house swap with widower Gabriel Carson from Anna Maria, whose overprotective parenting has resulted in two self-centered, twenty-something daughters. Avery and Gabriel are in for the summer of their lives as they step into one another's messy, complicated worlds.
Still, venturing out on her own again is challenging for Avery, whose experiences at the Ringling's magnificent Ca d'Zan mansion, and with the quirky characters she meets there, eventually awaken her to truths she has long forgotten - that as crazy as life can be, it is possible to laugh and love again.
"Ya think?" is author Avery Elkins Thompson's sarcastic response to the astute diagnosis for the malaise that set in following her husband's untimely death. Avery's carefully controlled world is imploding, and her adult children fear they are losing her too.
"You're just a shadow of the person you used to be...We'd gladly give you up for a while if it meant getting you back."
Avery can't write, and questions about their father's death leave the family mired in pain. "We need a healing place," her oldest son tells her, suggesting she find it on Anna Maria Island, Florida, a former family vacation spot.
When Avery returns to Baltimore to sell the family's waterfront condo, she meets rodeo-ers-turned-real-estate-brokers Teddie and Rider Davis, and Avery's quiet life will never be the same again.
The Davises help arrange a short-term house swap with widower Gabriel Carson from Anna Maria, whose overprotective parenting has resulted in two self-centered, twenty-something daughters. Avery and Gabriel are in for the summer of their lives as they step into one another's messy, complicated worlds.
Still, venturing out on her own again is challenging for Avery, whose experiences at the Ringling's magnificent Ca d'Zan mansion, and with the quirky characters she meets there, eventually awaken her to truths she has long forgotten - that as crazy as life can be, it is possible to laugh and love again.
To find out how you can win a copy of Awakening Avery on Laurie's blog, click here. The winner will be drawn on May 31st. Good luck!
Awakening Avery can be bought at any LDS bookstore and Amazon.
Read chapter one of Awakening Avery.
Read chapter one of Awakening Avery.
Shadow of the Crown by 
