Book Review: Never Say Never by Lisa Wingate

"I've often walked the shore and wondered if all things drift according to a larger plan. For each message in a bottle, each straw hat blow from the hand of a strolling lover, each sailor far from home, all the lost coins from all the ancient ships, is there a designated landing place? I've marveled at the seeming randomness of the treasures pushed up on the tides, corroded by salt, encrusted with barnacles, at home in the ocean, now tossed back to the land.

A street preacher on the pier told me once that God stirs the currents with His fingertip, the winds with His breath, and that even in the vastness of the sea He knows each ship at sail, each tiny creature beneath the water, each shifting patch of sand. Nothing lost, said the preacher, is ever lost to God." Never Say Never, pg 19.

Donetta Bradford and her two friends are looking for an adventure to celebrate their seventieth year of live. A cruise sounded a great plan, but they weren't expecting a hurricane to ruin everything for them. Far from home, and out of gas, Donetta and her friends throw in with other refugees escaping the effects of the hurricane. It is Donetta's idea to take them all back home with her to Daily, Texas.

Kai Miller loaded up her VW Microbus and her landlord's dogs and rushed away from her home, with the storm on her heals. Kindhearted Kai shares her meager supplies with those in need, and ends up picking up Donetta and her friends when the trio ran out of gas. Nothing, however, could prepare her for the town of Daily. Can her heart handle being so close to her past while wondering about the future?

Never Say Never is a story about second chances, and overcoming prejudices about the past. The story is told in first person, back and forth between Donetta and Kai's point of view. Both women are struggling with family secrets, and how those secrets mold them to be the women that they are. Never Say Never would be a good read for those who enjoy light, contemporary romance.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of review.)