And Then I Found You
by Patti Callahan Henry
Publication Date: April 9, 2013
St. Martin’s Press
Amazon Synopsis:
Kate Vaughan is no stranger to tough choices.
She’s made them before. Now it’s time to do it again.
Kate has a secret, something tucked away in her past. And she’s getting on with her life. Her business is thriving. She has a strong relationship with her family, and a devoted boyfriend whom she wants to love with all her heart. If Kate had ever made a list, Rowan would fill the imagined boxes of a perfect mate. But she wants more than the perfect on paper relationship; she wants a real and imperfect love. That’s why, when Kate discovers the small velvet box hidden in Rowan’s drawer, she panics.
It always happens this way. Just when Kate thinks she can love, just when she believes she can conquer the fear, she’s filled with dread. And she wants more than anything to make this feeling go away. But how?
When the mistakes have been made and the running is over, it’s time to face the truth. Kate knows this. She understands that a woman can never undo what can never be undone. Yet, for the first time in her life she also knows that she won’t fully love until she confronts those from her past. It’s time to act.
Can she do it? Can she travel to the place where it all began, to the one who shares her secret? Can the lost ever become found?
And Then I Found You gives new life to the phrase “inspired by a true story.” By travelling back to a painful time in her own family’s history, the author explores the limits of courage, and the price of a selfless act.
My Thoughts:
And Then I Found You is an amazing, heartwarming book which is based on the real-life story of the author’s sister. Kate and Jack (characters in our book) were childhood sweethearts who were destined to spend their lives together. However, things do not go to plan when Jack ends up marrying someone else and Kate finds herself pregnant … with Jack’s baby. Faced with unimaginable decisions, 22 year old Kate (and Jack) decide to give their baby up for adoption in hopes to give her a better life than the one they could provide for her.
Thirteen years later, Kate is on the verge of getting engaged to her beau of four years, Rowan. However, things just do not seem “right” with him. She wants to love him and spend her life with him, but there is always the nagging feeling in her heart that keeps drawing her back to Jack and the “what ifs” surrounding their relationship. When she receives a friend request on Facebook from someone named Emily Jackson, her life begins to take an unexpected turn.
Emily Jackson is a thirteen-year-old girl living in New York who is prompted by her best friend to start looking for her birth parents. Adopted at birth, she has always had nagging questions regarding her identity and worth. Emily uncovers some information which leads her to finding Kate on Facebook.
Reuniting over the discovery of their daughter, Kate and Jack are forced to confront the past and face an uncertain future.
This is truly a wonderful book. The fact that it is based a real-life story makes it even better because true life is stranger than fiction, as the saying goes! I’m thrilled for the author’s family that they were able to reunite with the child they were wondering about for so long.
Kate and Jack are awesome characters. I really felt for each of them. I engaged with their story and felt their emotions. Kate was a bit stand-offish and I did not completely understand Jack’s motives for what he did at times, but that can be said for any one of us humans, I think! Overall, a great story with a heartwarming theme of redemption and hope. I would highly recommend this book.
And Then I Found You is the April Selection for the SheReads Book Club!
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Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own.
*****
