Monday, June 3, 2019

Beyond Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury

Last year, I was introduced to Karen Kingsbury's 9/11 series. The first book in the series is One Tuesday Morning. Beyond Tuesday Morning begins 3 years after One Tuesday Morning ends.


Image Credit: geralt - CCO Public Domain Image via Pixabay - Collage Created in Picmonkey

Beyond Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury

Jamie Bryan's husband, Jake, died on September 11, 2001 when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers in New York City. He was a firefighter. Now, three years later, Jamie is still volunteering at St. Paul's Church. The church still stands across the street from where the Twin Towers had once stood. Jamie ministers to families and friends of 9/11 victims as she honors the life of her husband. Her daughter, Sierra, was only 4 years old when the attacks happened. She is now seven and is starting to forget things about the man she had adored as her daddy.

Jake's former boss at FDNY, Captain Hisel, also volunteers at St. Paul's Church. He and Jamie have become friends over the past three years. He was there for Jamie when they thought they had found Jake alive after the towers had collapsed, but the man they found turned out to be another man who looked just like Jake, Eric Michaels. The friendship between Captain Hisel and Jamie has grown very close. In fact, Captain Hisel makes his intentions clear to Jamie. He thinks of her as more than just a friend.

Eric Michaels had spent several months with Jamie while he recovered from his injuries. He was suffering from amnesia. He didn't know who he was or whether or not he had been a husband and father before September 11, 2001. After his true identity had been discovered, Jamie helped Eric find his family. For the past three years, Eric Michaels has been enjoying life in California with his wife and son.

Eric's brother, Clay, is a police officer for the LAPD. After a shooting, Clay and his friend, Joe Reynolds, travel to New York for three weeks of police training. Clay and Joe board a ferry on their first day in the city. They are on their way to visit a church, St. Paul's, when they notice a woman in distress. Clay catches a glimpse of the gun held to her side. Of course, he and Joe rescue the woman from her dangerous circumstances. Her name is Jamie Bryan.

Clay and Jamie hit it off right from the beginning. Jamie is beyond thankful for her rescue, but is there more to the reason for her feeling towards this Clay whom she has just met? What was his name that she had heard him try to tell her over noise on the ferry . . . Clay Miles? What about Captain Hisel who has shared grief and a three year friendship with Jamie? Who is this Clay Miles anyway? Does he have a family? Where is he from? All those questions will be answered within the pages of Beyond Tuesday Morning.

Then there is little Sierra who is not near as little as she used to be. She's 7 now. Some of her friends at school who lost their daddies in the Twin Towers now have new daddies. Sierra misses her daddy but she is ready for a new daddy. She doesn't really dislike Captain Hisel, but would he make a good daddy? She doesn't have to wonder about her mommy's new friend, Clay.

"Before he left, Clay looked at her one last time and winked. And Sierra did a little gasp because that's something she'd seen before. Maybe it was her daddy who used to do that, or her second daddy - the one who lived with her after the Twin Towers fell down. But instead of feeling confused, her heart felt happy. Because maybe the wink was a sign that God knew how lonely she was without her daddy. And maybe God would take away the lonely forever." - excerpt from Beyond Tuesday Morning

Karen Kingsbury's books always find a way to pull at my heart. Beyond Tuesday Morning is no exception. Reading One Tuesday Morning made me fall in love with the characters. When Jake died in the towers, my heart broke into a million pieces. As Jamie goes through the many emotions along the journey to live and find love again, I feel like I'm on this journey with her and it isn't an easy one.

I hope you will read One Tuesday Morning first. Then, pick up the story with Beyond Tuesday Morning. Get lost in the story and choose life along with Jamie, Sierra, and Clay.