READ: Review, Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes

 I can’t help it—I love a happy ending. That’s why, as Crossing Oceans unfolded (do stories still “unfold” on a Kindle?), fear gripped my heart. I’d already fallen in love with the story’s main character, single mom Jenny Lucas. I admired her fierce love for her daughter. I understood her desire to repair broken relationships. I rejoiced in her victories and wept at her frustrations. In other words, debut author Gina Holmes hooked me. I’d already read too much about this novel, but her words pulled me in anyway. I didn’t have time to read, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted to find Jenny’s happy ending. I wanted to discover my own. Holmes delivered, but not in the way I expected. She gave me our language in uncommon beauty. She drew characters whose lives reached past the page.  She provided reasons to consider  eternity and how it applies to today. She poured out multiple layers of meaning and depths of relationship that made me reexamine my own. First novel? Crossing Oceans doesn’t belong in that category. Whether or not you cry when you read it, you’ll see yourself and your family here. You’ll remember how much small actions and quick conversations matter. You’ll find your heart quickened, your love renewed. Thanks, Ms. Holmes, for the years you labored to give us this gift. Thanks for Novel Journey. And thanks for reminding me of the preciousness of story.    Happy endings start with great beginnings. You did it—and I can’t wait to read more....

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