Grounded in January

By

Savannah Hendricks

For a delightful "romcomdram" with a bit of suspense, this is a perfect book to pick up.  Kate Wilson has been struggling to find out why her life isn't what makes her happy.  She's not sure why. So she decides to return to her home town where she grew up to surprise her parents and search for answers.  One big hurdle in getting there, is her fear of flying.  Plus, add a few other anxieties and her klutziness, as she fearfully steps onto the plane, and I was pulled right into the pages.  Her flight is the beginning of a story that I enjoyed immensely. 

As her luck, or fate would have it, when Kate reaches her destination at her parent's house, lo and behold, they have taken a trip to Hawaii unbeknownst to her.  Now she's stranded in Washington and no where to go.  She decides to try and get a flight back to Arizona in spite of her great fear of flying.  But that wasn't meant to be, either.  There's a snowstorm and all fights are grounded.  Enter Oxnard (Ox) Swanson and the spark of a connection between them starts to smolder.   This is the essence of a Hallmark movie in the making! 

The characters in this story are so easy to connect to.   They are human with feelings and emotions that Ms. Hendricks wrote into them tenderly and had me empathizing with each one.  She adds  humor, drama, anxiety, doubts and scenes written in details that were easy to visualize and had me experiencing them along with the characters.  I especially liked the humor in the situations from Kate's accident proneness.  Or more her clumsiness.  It added to her adorable personality.   The way Ms. Hendricks wrote about Ox's MS diagnosis was with care and compassion.  His feelings and fears about what it meant for his future were heart tugging.   I absolutely loved the yellow lab, Bayou.  He was intuitive with both Kate and Ox.  He knew just when they needed him to comfort them and bring a calmness. 

This story is a sweet romance that touched my heart.  It's so well written and heartwarming.  The feelings that Ox and Kate had for each other were carefully and perfectly paced.  The walls they had up were chiseled away with the help of a wise and understanding guest at the inn, named Maggie.  She guided Kate and Ox to seek the answers for themselves with bits of nudging care.  The devotion and unconditional love of Bayou is so joyful and exactly how dog lovers feel about their fur babies.  He is such a great character in the book. 

This book was a feel-good, light escape for me.  It is a story about letting go and trusting in someone.  That love for another knowing they will be there for each other no matter what.  Together, love is what matters the most.  I liked this passage from the book that Maggie shares with Kate: "Faith and hope is all around me.  We can choose to be happy, even if we're missing a piece of our self."  

I want to thank Ms. Hendricks for the lovely copy of this book.  It is a fantastic five star novel for me.   I can't wait for the next one!  My granddaughter enjoyed her children's book "Nonnie and I" very much and the message she shares in it.  I am honored to have read this book and all thoughts and opinions in this review are my heartfelt own.