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ROLLING TOWARDS CLEAR SKIES (Catherine Ryan Hyde—October 21, 2024

4 stars

Geez, I love this author. I just love her. She has written over 40 novels, and I hope someday to be able to say I’ve read them all. For now, I read 2-3 per year and savor the experience while trying to make them last for years to come.

I love how she fills her tales with poignancy, unconditional love, and understanding. In terms of specifics, each story is very different, but again, the underlying themes are all along the same lines. They read fast, they’re loaded with feelings and are full of hope.

In Rolling Towards Clear Skies, Dr. Maggie Blount and her significant other Alex, who is an RN, are part of a small group called Doctors on Wheels. When the need arises, they hop into a couple of RVs and head to disaster areas to administer free medical care. During a mission to Louisiana to help those affected by a category 5 hurricane, they encounter two sick teenage sisters and a stray dog who have nowhere to go. They are lovely, respectful and kind girls—polar opposites of Maggie’s own two spoiled, sullen teenage daughters at home. Maggie somewhat impulsively decides to adopt the two orphans, which leads to all sorts of seemingly unresolvable issues at home.

The predicament in this novel seemed to me nearly impossible to solve so I was flipping the pages like mad to see how it would all shake out. And shake out it did with typical Catherine Ryan Hyde wisdom. With themes of privilege, entitlement, jealousy, gratitude, and ultimately understanding, forgiveness, and second chances, all in the face of keeping it real, Rolling Towards Clear Skies (with all of its meanings) was a super satisfying and meaningful read for me.

Many thanks to Catherine Ryan Hyde, Lake Union Publishing, and to Net Galley for granting me an advanced review copy. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.