WHAT WE FIND - Robyn Carr
Sullivan's Crossing - Book 1
A Perfect 10
MIRA (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-0-778-31885-9
May 2016
Women's Fiction
Denver, and Sullivan's Crossing, Colorado - Present Day
Maggie Sullivan's life is a mess. Intense pressure is nothing new in her daily life as a neurosurgeon, but today she cracked, and is now sitting in her favorite hiding place at the top of the back stairwell where she can cry to her heart's content. Maggie's been crying in the stairwell since med school, it's a way to vent her frustration and let all those pent up emotions go before she pulls herself together and faces her colleagues again. Lately, her life is a mixed up tangle: she suffered a miscarriage and a broken engagement, all in the same fell swoop, and just when things couldn't get any worse, other doctors from her practice are being sued, and she herself is facing a lawsuit for the alleged wrongful death of a teenager. All this sends Maggie running home to her father at Sullivan's Crossing.
Maggie knows she is depressed, tired beyond belief, and in need of a long break, so going back home is just the ticket for her. Sullivan's Crossing sits at the point where the Continental Divide and Colorado trails meet, and Maggie's father, Harry (Sully) Sullivan, still runs the small country store and campground founded by Maggie's great-grandfather in 1906. Twenty miles from the nearest town, Sullivan's Crossing is a favorite stopping place for vacationers and hikers, and it's the home Maggie was forced to leave when she was six years old and her mother, Phoebe, divorced Sully and hightailed it for the excitement of city life, taking Maggie with her to Chicago and a new step-father: neurosurgeon Walter. In the intervening years, Maggie discovered her love of science and went on to follow in Walter's footsteps. Even so, she regrets to this day that Sully didn't fight to keep her with him instead of forcing her to live with Phoebe. And now, even all these years later, she's still not sure of Sully's love. Maggie has a lot going on in her head as she drives up to Sullivan's Crossing, intent on a healing vacation. There, she finds Sully and his yellow lab, Beau, along with Frank Masterson and his wife Enid, who help Sully around the store. Maggie settles in, but shortly thereafter, Sully suffers a stroke.
Mystery camper Cal Jones is helping out at Sullivan's Crossing when Sully and Maggie return weeks later from Denver. Maggie plans to stay and take over management at the Crossing while Sully recuperates. She's not sure what to think of Cal Jones, but as they work together a relationship develops and Maggie comes to depend on his help, maybe even falling a little in love him. Still, it bothers her that Cal openly admits to being homeless and having no job. His only possessions, he says, are his truck, camper, and laptop; his past is vague and Cal makes no move to reassure Maggie or explain. Maggie knows he plans to hike the CDT, and it breaks her heart when he leaves, but she has to stay behind.
Three years ago, Cal lost his wife to a horrendous disease and he made some promises that he has yet to keep. His part in her death still weighs on his conscience, but one day he plans to tell Maggie everything, just not now. Right now he has to keep the promise he made to his wife, so he leaves to hike the CDT and fulfill that vow.
WHAT WE FIND is the story of two people, both lost and hurting, who find each other amidst the sea of their individual grief. Maggie welcomes her time at Sullivan's Crossing, and she's unsure where her future lies, or if she'll be able to go back to practicing medicine. Cal keeps quiet about his vocation and his past while he and Maggie find themselves falling in love, but neither one admits these feelings; there are still too many obstacles in the way of what might develop into a permanent relationship. So, they each go about finding their own solutions while holding a place in their hearts for a possible future together.
WHAT WE FIND is the first book in Robyn Carr's new series, Sullivan's Crossing , and is reflective of Ms. Carr at her very best! The emotion is palpable; you will laugh and cry, and I guarantee that you will cherish every word of this phenomenal story. The second book in the Crossing series is THE LIFE SHE WANTS, to be released in October 2016. I am counting the days! In the meantime, WHAT WE FIND is a book of healing, romance, and just plain happiness. Sullivan's Crossing is a place I want to find for myself!
Inside the pages of WHAT WE FIND is a story so spectacular and far beyond anything I have read this year! These characters are dynamic and lively and pull the reader right into their stories, making you never want to leave Sullivan's Crossing!
WHAT WE FIND is that special novel that won't soon leave your heart or your memory, and as such, I am awarding this wonderful novel A Perfect 10 award. Enjoy!
Diana Risso
