REVIEW: Goodness and Light by Patty Blount

Goodness and Light by Patty Blount: Elena Larson and Lucas Adair both lost their mother’s in the horrific attack on September 11, 2001 in the twin towers. That didn’t mean that they both handled it the same or handled it at all.

For Elena it was all she could do to run and just not stop running. For Lucas it was anger and then as he grew older it was figuring out how to really make things better. What they both had in common though was guilt. They were both dealing with a mess of it. While Lucas had come head to head with it at 17 Elena was facing it for the first time this holiday season. Would the signs point to happiness? Or would all signs point to hell?

Ms. Blount takes the reader back to New York and the circle of friends in this Christmas in New York novella that can be read as a stand alone though is much better if read with the series.

The hero and heroine are more than battered in this novella and anyone who has first hand experience with the tragedy of 9/11 should be prepared to have emotions surface.

Goodness and Light is well written novella, but engages most in a young woman’s journey of self forgiveness. If you are ready for some guilt trips pack your bags and be ready to leave them for the return journey.

Book Info:

Published November 11th 2014 by Tule Publishing

Thirteen years ago, two teens met on the ramp to Ground Zero, on a cold and snowy day, strangers bonding in a moment of grief. The boy pressed a crystal snowflake ornament into the girl’s hand and disappeared into the crowd, unaware that his simple act of kindness saved her from the guilt that threatened to consume her.

Since losing her mom, Elena Larsen hasn’t set foot in New York City — until now. Agreeing to help her sister prepare for her baby’s birth seems like a good way to spend Christmas and Elena vows not to let the monstrous guilt that weighs on her heart ruin everything. But those plans go awry when she meets Lucas Adair, a man whose own grief and guilt just might rival her own.

When Elena discovers Lucas is the boy who gave her that crystal snowflake all those years ago, she can’t accept it as the sign Lucas believes it to be. For her, it means only one thing — even beyond the grave, her mother can never forgive Elena for breaking her heart.

For Lucas, New York is hallowed ground that he can never leave. He spends his days working in the Financial District and his evenings volunteering and it’s almost enough to help him forget what he did. Lucas knows better than to make plans with a woman who will soon be leaving, yet can’t help himself. There’s something about Elena that pulls him in. He doesn’t put much faith in signs but even he starts to believe Elena is his absolution. Now, he only has to convince her.