Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky

Synopsis:~

Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way away from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that’s nobody else’s business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church—they all think she’s the very model of compassion and kindness.

Then Marnie’s past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son—a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome—and that she’s woefully unprepared to care for him. What’s worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister’s attorney, a man Marnie once loved—and abandoned.

As Emmit (and Taylor) work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must at last face the scripts of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

My take:~

Marlo Schalesky has a lovely way with words which can be experienced in her latest love story with a twist, Shades of Morning. Wary and jaded on the outside, Marnie's heart for others can be seen in the selfless things she does for others but her generosity is tested when she is forced to care for her late sister's son. Challenged by Emmit's Downs Syndrome and the fact it brings Taylor Cole back into her life after fifteen years of silence, Marnie's journey is awkward and moving with an ending I thought I saw coming but clearly didn't! A tender story of broken faith, wounded souls and the freedom of unconditional love, Shades of Morning challenges us to choose wisely...to love and to forgive.

With thanks to Kelly Blewett of KBK Public Relations for my review copy

Relz Reviewz Extras

Character spotlights on Jimmy Henley & Kinna Henley (If Tomorrow Never Comes) and Paul Tilden (Beyond the Night)

Review of Beyond the Night

Visit Marlo's website and blog

Buy Marlo's books at Amazon or Koorong