When Beck Holiday lost her father in the North Tower on 9/11, she also lost her memories of him. Eighteen years later, she’s a tough New York City cop burdened with a damaging secret, suspended for misconduct, and struggling to get her life in order. Meanwhile a mysterious letter arrives informing her she’s inherited a house along Florida’s northern coast, and what she discovers there will change her life forever. Matters of the heart only become more complicated when she runs into handsome Bruno Endicott, a driven sports agent who fondly recalls the connection they shared as teenagers. But Beck doesn’t remember that, either.
Decades earlier, widow Everleigh Applegate lives a steady, uneventful life with her widowed mother after a tornado ripped through Waco, Texas, and destroyed her new, young married life. When she runs into old high school friend Don Callahan, she begins to yearn for change. Yet no matter how much she longs to love again, she is hindered by a secret she can never share.
Fifty years separate the women but through the power of love and miracle of faith, they each find healing in a beautiful Victorian known affectionately as The Memory House.
Click here to read an excerpt!
Rachel Hauck is an award winning, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journalbestselling author.
Her book The Wedding Dress was named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times Book Reviews. She is a double RITA finalist, and a Christy and Carol Award Winner.
Her book, Once Upon A Prince, first in the Royal Wedding Series, was filmed for an Original Hallmark movie.
Rachel has been awarded the prestigious Career Achievement Award for her body of original work by Romantic Times Book Reviews.
A member of the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers, she teaches workshops and leads worship at the annual conference. She is a past Mentor of The Year.
At home, she’s a wife, writer, worship leader and works out at the gym semi-enthusiastically.
A graduate of Ohio State University (Go Bucks!) with a degree in Journalism, she’s a former sorority girl and a devoted Ohio State football fan. Her bucket list is to stand on the sidelines with Ryan Day.
She lives in sunny central Florida with her husband and ornery cat.
For more information, visit www.rachelhauck.com, Facebook (@rachelhauck), Twitter (@RachelHauck) and Instagram (@rachelhauck).
My Impressions:
Rachel Hauck has long been a must-read author, and with The Memory House that status has been cemented. She has outdone herself with this book. It easily is my favorite by this talented author. There is certainly romance, but the characters are what got me. Their stories resonated deep within me. This book is a highly recommended read.
There are two story lines in The Memory House. Present day finds Beck Holliday, an NYPD sergeant whose forgotten childhood leaves her adrift in the world, while 50+ years before Everleigh Applegate is left widowed and feeling like love and happiness are something in the past. Each woman deals with grief and survivor’s guilt in a solitary manner, yet long for connection with others. The men that reach out to them have issues of their own, and I loved that about them. Neither man is a savior, but rather a partner in sorrow and joy. In fact all the characters, main and secondary, are flawed and so very real. I found myself connecting with them in so many things. The house that links the two women, the Memory House, is a wonderful setting and provides a place of comfort and safety as they make their way back to a full life. I also like that Hauck inserts a bit of fairytale into the women’s stories. It is subtle (I had to go back to the beginning to make sure I had it right), but wonderfully reminiscent of God’s care and provision in our lives.
If you are a fan of romance or women’s fiction, you are in for a treat with The Memory House. I loved it and was sad to leave when the last page was turned.
Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
To purchase, click HERE.
(Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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I’m excited to read The Memory House! Thank you for sharing.
I love Rachel Hauck’s books and can’t wait to read this one!