Review: A HEA Reunion of Lost Friends
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 9, 2014
Maggie Gray, best-selling author of nine novels, is having a minor breakdown, as the harsh childhood of growing up in an orphanage twenty years ago which she has kept hidden from current friends, fans and tabloids suddenly begins to bring her nightmares. She remembers the three friends, Elizabeth, Randolph and Lucy, with whom she bonded in the orphanage and was forced to leave behind when the evil Sister Theresa drove her from the orphanage as she turned eighteen. When she attempted to go back to the orphanage a year later and connect with her friends, she was told they did not want to see her. Now, wealthy and famous, Maggie suddenly decides she needs to find her old friends, find out why they spurned her when she left the orphanage and seek to fill the emptiness in her heart. I found the premise of this story to be intriguing and felt there could be some interesting interactions of hurt, hesitation, subtle conflict and careful self-examination among the former friends as they reunited. However, the author wove her story with broad strokes, giving her characters slightly unrealistic outcomes and minimal conflict in the reunions in order to give the story the maximum "happily ever after" conclusion. There is even a hint of a romantic triangle that is never fully explored or resolved. Yet, when it comes to tugging the heartstrings as friends seek reconnection, redemption and restoration, this novel will satisfy readers who seek happy stories.