Review: When Never Comes

When Never Comes by Barbara Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes learning to let yourself be happy is the hardest lesson of all…

Though the premise of this book may sounds like it veers towards thriller, it is anything but that—in a good way! Davis’s When Never Comes is a beautiful story of resilience, finding yourself, and learning to be open to happiness. It’s a story about a woman who ran away or hid her entire life, until she was forced out of hiding. This book is an incredible addition to Women’s Fiction in 2018. I think many readers will find this story to be a starting point to reflect on their own lives and identify the ghosts we all have following us around.

Christine lives an enviable life…

Married to handsome, charismatic, best-selling author Stephen Ludlow, book-editor Christine has the perfect marriage. They live in the very house one of Stephen’s books was filmed in for the movie-adaptation. They have no children (by choice), and Christine has plenty of the independence and solitude she craves.

Christine has worked hard to shed Christy-Lynn…

Despite the outward perfection of Christine’s life, she has a dark past she’d prefer to hide from the world—even from her own husband. Christine grew up as Christy-Lynn Parker—the child of an addict who spent her life taking care of the very mother who should be caring for her. Christy-Lynn was never able to make friends because of a string of evictions, a parade of strange men through her home, and finally a foster home that she was forced to run away from. Now, Christy-Lynn has found peace, but not happiness, in her life with Stephen. While he is off basking in his fame, Christine is left with the independence and solitude she found comfort in as a child.

And then Christine finds herself in the spotlight…

Christine awakens to a knock on the door from the police, and some shocking news. Stephen was in a car accident and she is being asked to come identify his body. But there’s more—Christine is also asked to identify a second body. The body of a young blond woman who was in the car with her husband. As Christine’s world unravels, and the press are hounding her for answers, Christine does the only thing she knows—she runs. But this time, the running leads her to a place where she may finally be able to create her own life, the one thing she has never had.

Reflection

This is truly a story of resilience. Christine has spent so much of her life trying to just survive, that she has never really lived. With a childhood marked by pain and struggle that no child should know, Christine has developed a fear of loving anyone. And in turn, Christine has never really experienced the security and safety of someone else loving her.

When Christine runs and ends up in the charming town of Sweetwater, she finds an opportunity to not only escape the shock of her husband’s secrets, but to create a new life separate from who she was. With her new life Christine is able to do things she was never able to in the past—make friends and choose a new career. And most importantly, Christine is able to learn that happiness is something she can choose. When she stops letting others dictate her life, Christine opens up a world of opportunities for herself that she never dared dream of.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing, to Barbara Davis, and to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

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