Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky

Hey, anyone up for an other-worldly story of redemption?

Marnie didn't know much about miracles. 
Mistakes maybe. Accidents. And monstrous mess-ups.
She knew a lot about those.
Bit miracles? Those were for other people.


Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that's nobody else's business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church--they all think she's the very model of compassion and kindness.


Then Marnie's past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son--a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome--and that she's woefully unprepared to care for him. What's worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister's attorney, a man Marnie once loved--and abandoned.


As Emmit and Taylor work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must as last face the pieces of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

This is one of those books that will grip you from page one, but leave you puzzled until the very end, which actually leaves me conflicted about how I feel about the book as a whole. Now that I've finished it, I love the story. Reading it? Grr. I don't like predictable, but a little more hurry out of the confusion would have been nice. (but, frankly, I've been insanely stressed and that could factor into my feelings)

One thing I do know is that, other than an overall satisfying story, you never know what kind of book you'll get when you pick up a Marlo Schalesky. Was this my favorite? No. Was this my least favorite? No. It hovers somewhere in the middle. But I'd still give it an 8.7 out of 10. (As Veil of Fire was a solid 9.8, that's what I expect, and that's a lot to expect from a writer. I know that. I'm trying to mature. ;P )

So, as I said, you like other-worldly, mysterious, time leaping reads, here's a book for you.

Have a good book-filled weekend, peeps!