two book reviews

Lisa Samson is one of THE BEST authors ever!!! I recently finished two of her books, and they were GREAT!
1. The Living End -- A woman's husband dies, leaving her all alone except for some cousins and a handicapped brother. The husband was a Christian, but the woman isn't. Before he died, the husband showed the woman a list of things that he wanted to do while he was still alive. He didn't get to do any of them, so the woman decided to fulfill her husband's last wishes. Her plan was to kill herself as soon as she finished the list. But somewhere along the road, she made new friends and got re-acquainted with her cousins and decided that she didn't want to die. Two things really struck me about this story. First, that woman was left with no children to take her mind off her loss, to take care of her, to give her a reason to live. I'm thankful for my children. Second, her new relationships and her new faith in God made her life exciting and worthwhile.
2. Tiger Lillie -- This book is written in a diary form with intermingled entries from two sisters. The main character is a wedding planner and has two very close friends that work with her. Several years earlier, her best friend and possible fiance disappeared. She had to learn to believe that he was dead and move on. Her sister was married to a man who became a cult kook. By the end of this book, my heart was pounding so hard, I almost had to sit up instead of lying down in bed to finish reading the book -- at midnight last night, which is why I overslept a little bit this morning. Besides the entertainment factor of this book, the close, honest, encouraging friendships that the main character enjoyed were beautiful.

Now I'm starting another book by this author -- I'm sure it will also be hard to put down and I'll lose quite a few hours of sleep until I finish it.