Susan Rush's Just Over the Horizon - great story!

Just Over the Horizon

Susan Rush
c. July, 2014

Astrea Press

Inspirational fiction
e-book, 250 pp
$3.99

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From the Publisher: While grieving the death of her eccentric nana, Sarah discovers an unexpected gift. She soon grows dependent on the heirloom, a little box, for comfort and guidance. Feeling restless and needing a change, Sarah accepts a job as a traveling hospice nurse and ends up in the quaint, historical town of Camden, South Carolina. Although she loves caring for her patients, loneliness creeps in and threatens to take root. Eventually she opens herself to new friendships, and two remarkable yet vastly differing men compete for her attention. Nate is a true Southerner with a sarcastic wit and genuine warmth, while Dr. Joseph Thornton is a caring oncologist who is known as the best catch in the state.

Facing heart-wrenching trials, the faith of her childhood is all but shattered. In spite of this, Sarah seeks comfort from her box and is determined to cling to Nana’s godly legacy. But when a mysterious stranger appears with devastating news, can her cherished box continue to provide answers or will Sarah realize her life has been based on nothing but lies?

 

My Review:

Just Over the Horizon is a sweet romance with a couple of great twists. The author follows the genre faithfully with the romantic couple meeting early in the story under quirky circumstances, there’s a rival, and there are conflicts which keep them apart. The great twists happen with advice from Sarah’s past, and biggest conflict is in Nate’s past. I also love that the story was allowed to progress past the natural happily ever ending to the wedding and beyond a year. It felt natural and although there wasn’t a problem that forced the couple to reexamine their relationship and themselves, there was a serious issue that Sarah shouldn’t have faced alone. This issue certainly could have been handled before the wedding to create that evaluating issue and may have made the structure of the story more typical genre romance, but that’s a problem in itself—typical genre romance. Sometimes it's nice to break out.

 

Sarah is a hospice nurse, a career I admire from a great distance. The author writes based on her own chosen career, and the details makes the character realistic. If you have trouble with end of life issues, this story may be difficult for you. It certainly isn’t easy for Sarah, and her grandmother, the woman who raised her, helps Sarah with sage advice left in an old recipe box before. At times it started to feel as though Sarah was relying on this advice to guide her, though it never fell into the realm of spiritism. Even Nate came to appreciate the wisdom of Sarah’s grandmother, and they were both blessed and comforted. The advice was sprinkled with life lessons that Grandmother shared while raising Sarah.

 

If I’d read this book at any other time in my life, I would have thought, oh, it’s just a sweet story. Like it, move on. But I recently became a grandmother and my greatest desire is to leave a lasting impression on my grandchildren that is positive and loving, joyful, and godly wise. The life lessons and teachable moments are ones that I hope to build upon, so I’ll definitely be reading this book again and looking for more stories from this author.