Happy Friday, friends! We’ve made it through another week! I don’t know about you, but I’m glad we have this fun tradition of First Line Friday linkups, to help keep a sense of routine and normalcy in these crazy times. Thanks to Hoarding Books for hosting!

Today I’m featuring Linsday Harrel’s upcoming release, The Joy of Falling. I’m cheating a little and sharing the first two lines 😉

“Once upon a time, color had dominated Eva Jamison’s days. Now she stared at a white wall, with nothing but a black computer screen, a pen holder, and a stapler decorating her tiny world.”

The Joy of Falling by Lindsay Harrel

The Basics

Title: The Joy of Falling

Author: Lindsay Harrel

Publication Date: April 14, 2020

Genre: Christian Contemporary Fiction

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

From the Back Cover: It has been fifteen months since Eva and Angela lost their thrill-seeking husbands in a scuba diving accident. Both women are trying to navigate their way through the grief, but neither one is making much progress. Angela is barely making ends meet, angry at her husband for leaving her to raise three children on her own. Meanwhile, Eva is stuck, unable to move forward after losing the love of her life and her source of inspiration.

But then Eva gets a life-changing phone call. Before Brent and Wes died, they had signed up for a race of a lifetime—an ultra-marathon in beautiful New Zealand. Eva begs Angela to run the race with her in their husbands’ place, and Angela finally agrees, hoping to finally understand her husband’s choices.

Training is exhausting, and the race is even more demanding. Their journey grows more complicated by the presence of two men—Marc is Brent’s best friend who is running the race with Eva and Angela, and Simon King is a writer who is covering their inspiring story. With every step, Eva and Angela must ask themselves questions that they haven’t had the courage to ask before. As the women literally put one foot in front of the other, they wonder: Is it possible to find their way forward in hope?

My Thoughts

Lindsay Harrell has written another heartwarming story filled with faith, purpose, and personal transformation. There were so many layers to the story – from the different family dynamics, a restored relationship between grieving sisters-in-law, finding purpose after tragedy, and a second chance at love when the person you thought you’d love forever is taken from you.

The juxtaposition of Eva and Angela’s ways of dealing with their grief – Eva’s idolization and romanticization of her late husband, and Angela’s anger at hers – helped to provide rich characterization and a realistic picture of the different forms grief can take. Their journeys of spiritual, emotional, and relational transformation were beautifully reflected in the physical transformation they underwent training for the ultra marathon. I think this is Lindsay Harrell’s best book yet!

If you haven’t ordered this book yet, Baker Book House would be a great place to get it! They’re offering some great sales and free shipping, so it’s a perfect opportunity to stock up on books for the next few weeks 🙂

Now it’s your turn! Please share the first line of the book you’re reading in the comments below, and don’t forget to head to Hoarding Books to see what first lines other bloggers are sharing, or to share your own!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.