TIDES OF TIME

Author: Sonya Kate Childers ISBN: 1419955659 12/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: CERRIDWEN PRESS

Every girl fantasizes about the latest music star: bedroom walls are lined with bedroom eyes. Little did Rebecca Lynn Roberts know, at the tender age of 14, that the lyrics she had inspired then for her guitar-playing boyfriend. Jason Engles, would today become his hit song on the country music charts. When these highschool sweethearts are separated by their parents, seven years go by without a word, yet he is never far from Rebecca's heart and mind. Stuck at home with a tedious job, a disabled uncle and an alcoholic mother to care for, she can only imagine how different her life might have been if she and her young love had stayed together. Surely Jason, caught in the powerful whirlwind of fate, must have forgotten her. With his rugged good looks, dynamic personality and hypnotic singing voice, he could have his pick of girls. When the rising star returns home to the Texas Panhandle to give a benefit concert, Rebecca and her friends get front-row seats. Would he see her? Would he even remember the small town life he shared with the poetic girl who knew him best...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this epic romance novel, which starts as a fairy tale, turns into a nightmare, then back into a fairy tale again.

Rebecca Roberts is in her early twenties, struggling in a dead-end job while she works to sell her songs to Nashville. Her best friend talks her into going to a military benefit concert showcasing her ex-boyfriend, who had left her seven years before, entered the military, then become a huge country music star. Rebecca's reunion with Jason Engles is magical, and the first third of the book is full of Rebecca's joy at being swept off her feet. She has a somewhat defeatist attitude toward life though, after a horrible childhood, and soon doubts set in about her future. A number of events take over her and Jason's life, creating tremendous hardship and also a tremendous opportunity for growth before Rebecca can find her happy ending.

This novel covers a variety of difficult topics—violence, the Iraq conflict, injuries, cancer, alcoholism, mental illness, stardom and murder. I recommend it for book clubs.

TIDES OF TIME is full of heart and enthusiasm for her subject matter. Rebecca feels very real and the story is so absorbing I couldn't put it down until I was finished—quite a feat for what is a fast moving but still pretty long novel! I hope Childers is able to produce another novel because I look forward to seeing how her talent develops.

Heather Hiestand