How can you choose what is right for you when your decision will break the heart of someone you love?Having abandoned her childhood dream years ago, Johanna Thatcher knows what she wants from life. Discovering that her fiancé was cheating on her only convinces Johanna it’s best to maintain control and protect her heart.Despite years of distance and friction, Johanna and her sisters, Jillian and … and Payton, have moved from a truce toward a fragile friendship. But then Johanna reveals she has the one thing Jillian wants most and may never have–and Johanna doesn’t want it. As Johanna wrestles with a choice that will change her life and her relationships with her sisters forever, the cracks in Jillian’s marriage and faith deepen. Through it all, the Thatcher sisters must decide once and for all what it means to be family.
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‘It seems every time I grasp even the smallest bit of hope, it gets taken away from me.’
Beth Vogt brings us Johanna’s story in this last of her Thatcher Sisters series and she saved the best for last. I will confess that I did not like Johanna in the previous books. She was not likeable, in my opinion. But I was taught a lesson in this book. I admit I had no idea how Vogt would bring her into a place where she would indeed be likeable to the reader, but she manages this admirably.
Johanna finds herself in a desperate situation and reacts like a typical Johanna at first, but soon she changes her mind and decides to go forth in the style she manages her entire life: head held high, allowing no one to see her pain and confusion. She is Johanna Thatcher. She can do this. No matter what. After all, she is very good at closing herself off to avoid pain. She’s actually become a master at it.
It is a rare book that manages to bring out such deep emotions in me. This one pulled at everything inside me as Vogt continues to explore these sisters to such a degree that it’s just amazing. I was stunned at times at the incredible emotional depth she manages to pull out of these women. I was left weeping several times as I marveled at the powerful realness of this novel. It’s not just a fluffy story of three sisters. No, it’s way more than that. It’s deeply moving and heart wrenching, but also full of hope and precious love. I was moved greatly during the reading of this book and it will stay with me a very long time to come. I can highly recommend this book.
*My thanks to Tyndale House Publishing for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.
This is the third book in the Thatcher Sisters series and probably my favorite. This is Johanna’s story and just wow! As the series started there was something about each sister that touched my heart. Johanna being the oldest I saw many things that resembled my sister. This story pulls the entire series together wonderfully. Johanna finally shows a side of her character we haven’t seen, her vulnerability. As I finally saw all sides to this character she wound herself into my heart and is probably my favorite in the emotionally charged series. Each sister will come full circle and face the past along with the future. This book was very hard for me to put down it was so engaging. I strong recommend this book and the series to anyone who loves a real to life family story that brings out the negative and the positives. All thoughts and opinions are my own.