I didn't need any introduction to Rebecca Marsh. I've read three of her books. I guess the fact I've read more than one more or less confirms what I think of her as author. Her skill is taking a tragedy or trauma, cramming it full of heartbreak, managing to wring out every last bit of emotion from her readers, but then bringing the story to an uplifting end. And…manages to leave you wanting more. How's that for skill?

The tragedy in this is quite a whopper, but it's all about dealing with loss, facing a different future and finding hope in what that brings. Not just for the main character, Marissa, and her eight-year-old daughter, but Marissa's brother too, who faces a different kind of upset. Cleverly done, it's powerful, emotional, poignant, but Marsh very subtly gives you confidence that you will turn that frown upside down by the end.

As for the wanting more…well, in this case, not a problem: there is a sequel (don't panic, they're both stand-alone!). So it was with the greatest of pleasure that I dived straight into the next book. ( )

“Where hope is found” is an intense emotionally-driven story about a young woman, Marissa, dealing with horrendous loss and desperately trying to make it through to the other side of her overwhelming grief.

With the help of her family, including her brother Owen and their children, Marissa relocates to a nearby residential island where she struggles to find a footing that will allow her to heal.

In the grips of the terrible irony of grief and healing, Marissa cannot recover until she allows herself to experience the full extent of her emotions (all of them), which won’t happen until her own subconscious mind believes that she is truly ready to bear them. For the reader, on the outside, looking in, this grief-to-healing journey feels authentic, uncertain and frightening - it is all too possible that Marissa will lose everything she has left to live for, including herself.

It’s hard not to be touched by the subject matter, and although this story may be intense and difficult to read in some places, we feel a raw connection with these characters- Marissa, Owen, and the children - and can’t help but feel, as we witness their struggles and share in their pain, that hope and healing for them all is both possible and within reach.

I won’t tell you how it ends (no spoilers here) but this is a lovely story, sad in many parts and sweet in many others, and the author is very skillful in telling it.

A big thank you to the author, Rebecca L Marsh, for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts presented are my own. ( )