WISH ME TOMORROW - Karen Rock
Harlequin Heartwarming
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-36641-5
September 2013
Contemporary Series Romance

New York City, New York – Present Day

Christie Bates first meets Eli Roberts when he wheels a cancer patient into her support group at the YMCA, followed by his boisterous young son, Tommy, and his teenaged daughter, Becca.  Eli's curt manner has Christie taking notice.  Something is definitely troubling this man.  For Christie, her job as a grief counselor is a natural extension of her nursing career following the untimely death of her brother.  When she learns that Eli is a cancer survivor, she understands his attitude.

Eli is bitter.  Having been betrayed by a wife who left him to raise two children alone after he was diagnosed with cancer, Eli no longer trusts women, let alone any adult.  But from the moment Eli meets Christie, his heart feels lighter and more alive.  Still, he cannot overcome the bitter feelings left in the wake of his wife's desertion.

As circumstances and fate throw Eli and Christie together time after time, WISH ME TOMORROW becomes a mantra for them.  Eli is recovering from the scars left by his wife, and, wishing to protect his children from his reality, he refuses to talk to Becca and Tommy about the cancer.  But instead of shielding the kids, uncertainty about Eli's condition just worries them.  Christie, meanwhile, is still trying to overcome the tragedy of her brother's death several years ago.  Together Christie and Eli merge toward a common bond while they work to overcome Becca's sudden acting out at school.

WISH ME TOMORROW is a candid look at the devastating damage cancer can do to a family.  The characterization in this story is excellent; however, I feel like the focus was so much on Eli and his family that Christie got left out in the scheme of things.  I feel as if I did not really get to know her or her life at home and her Irish grandmother.  That aside, WISH ME TOMORROW is a compelling story, and a thought provoking read.

Diana Risso