Saving Abby by Steena Holmes
Published by Amazon Publishing on May 31st 2016
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary Women, Family Life, Fiction
Pages: 336
Goodreads
All children’s book illustrator Claire Turner ever wanted was to be a mother. After six years of trying to conceive, she and her husband, Josh, have finally accepted that she will never be pregnant with a child of their own.Yet once they give up hope, the couple gets the miracle they’ve been waiting for. For the first few months of her pregnancy, Claire and Josh are living on cloud nine. But when she begins to experience debilitating headaches, blurred vision, and even fainting spells, the soon-to-be mother goes to the doctor and receives a terrifying diagnosis. Since any treatment could put their unborn baby’s life at risk, the Turners must carefully weigh their limited options. And as her symptoms worsen, Claire will have to make an impossible decision: Save her own life, or save her child’s? USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Steena Holmes brings us an unforgettable story of one woman’s courage and love.
…and the Summer Reading Challenge 2016 continues!! For the month of June, BookSparks has some pretty awesome books in store for everyone, the first of which is Saving Abby by Steena Holmes. I remembered author, Steena Holmes from her two books – Finding Emma and Emma’s Secret, which I thought were fantastic books so I knew I was in store for a great read with Saving Abby.
We begin this book learning about Claire Turner and her husband, Josh, who are traveling abroad doing research. Josh writes children’s stories and Claire does the illustrations for his books and together they were a very successful team. They are also using the trip to let go of one of their biggest dreams as a couple – to have a child of their own. Over the years they’ve kept a bucket list for when they did have a child of their own, but they decide one moonlit night from the deck of their cruise ship to let the sheets of paper holding their bucket list to fly through the air.
When they arrive home, Claire just can’t shake her “jet lag”. She starts having some medical issues that include horrific headaches, tiredness and lack of appetite and Josh begins to fear that something is really wrong. He encourages her to check in with her doctor and when she does she learns that she’s pregnant. (Did I mention her doctor is her best friend? That seemed kind of odd to me, just saying.)
However, in addition to learning that Claire is pregnant, she also has life threatening problem that needs treatment but that same treatment will harm the baby. It is at this point that Claire and Josh are faced with the decision of whether to save the baby or save Claire or even to try and save them both. Any treatment could put her pregnancy at risk.
Author, Steena Holmes gives readers the believable characters who are strong but yet vulnerable at the same time. The continual show of love and strength span throughout this story. Readers go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows with a turn of a page. The characters come to life and your emotions take the same rollercoaster ride as the characters in the book, and the story will keep you reading way past your bedtime!
If you are a fan of “chick lit” and contemporary drama, you’ll love this book! It’s a great book for the beach or for a rainy day so be sure to grab yourself a copy!
I received a complimentary paperback copy of this book from the publishers and BookSparks as part of the 2016 Summer Reading Challenge in exchange for this post, which is my honest review and unbiased opinion.
Keep checking out BookSparks’ Summer Reading Challenge 2016! There are so many more books you’ll want to put into your beach bag! This is going to be the “best summer ever.” #SRC2016 #BestSummerEver #BestSRCEver!
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