Powerful, heartbreaking, ultimately triumphant story of overcoming tragedy and reconnecting as a married couple. Leaning on Air is my first book by Cheryl Grey Bostrom and won’t be my last. I was struck by the beautiful prose and the poetic way she describes nature, faith, and life on the spectrum. This was unlike any story I’d read before and I appreciated the tender ways she dealt with loss, anger, and reconciliation.

Burnaby Hayes is a brilliant veterinarian who’s also autistic. A friend in college took Burnaby under his wing and helped him build his faith as well as learn how to manage his challenges in the best ways possible. When he reconnects with his childhood friend whom he’s had a crush on for years, he’s able to make a marriage work with her. But, when tragedy strikes, Burnaby is at a loss on how to connect to his wife and their unimaginable grief.

Ornithologist Celia Burke ran away from a series of relationships until she returns home only to discover her handsome, now all grown up friend, and soon finds herself charmed by the familiar yet different Burnaby. Ten years later, their happy if unusual marriage is torn apart when she experiences painful loss. She flees to a nearby family member’s farm located near the gorgeous Palouse region to try to heal, and decide what to do next. As she struggles with her past, lack of faith, and a tempting neighbor, she has to decide if she’ll run away again or make things work with Burnaby and all his challenges.

This book had so many layers and was deeply emotional. My heart ached for Burnaby and Celia. Burnaby tries so hard to do everything he can to save their marriage. I loved his persistence and willingness to do whatever it took to show Celia his love even when things like sensory touch were so difficult for him. Anyone who’s gone through profound loss can understand what Celia’s going through, the agony, blame, overwhelming sadness, & need to escape from everything. I loved how being in nature revitalized her and helped her with her spiritual journey towards God and reconciling with her husband.

I loved the vivid descriptions of the land and red tailed hawk. There’s also a bit of mystery thrown in as well as other tragedies involving a horse and a little boy who suddenly becomes mute. Celia & Burn find themselves working together to help Cobb and save their land.

Definitely a must read for those who enjoy women’s and inspirational fiction. There are some definite trigger warnings those sensitive to loss should be aware of. See below. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own and voluntarily provided. 4.5-5 stars!

CW: detailed description of miscarriage, child loss, fade to black love scene between a married couple, child abandonment. ( )

I recently had the pleasure of not only reading Cheryl Grey Bostrom’s debut novel Sugar Birds, but I also listened to the audiobook and was drawn into this rich world that is set in the Pacific Northwest, an area of our country that I have not yet had the pleasure to visit, but after reading these two novels I feel like I intimately know this landscape.

In Sugar Birds we are introduced to our protagonists as children and Leaning on Air picks right up where we left off, seeing Burnaby and Celia as adults and where life has taken them. Having an autistic son myself I fell in love with Burnaby as a young child and seeing him flourish as an adult was wonderful and gave me hope for my own child. It’s clear that the author took great care highlighting the uniqueness and complexities of autism and told Burnaby’s story in a very respectful way.

Like with life, there is so much tragedy within these pages that I would give a trigger warning and highly recommend being in the right frame of mind before you delve deep into the narrative as there are some pretty tough subjects tackled. Death of varying degrees is tackled, including one soul-crushing death in particular, and other accidents and injuries, are just a few subjects that could be triggering for some. Having gone through my own personal grief due to immense loss the emotions that this novel evoked in me were raw and real, piercing me with their authenticity, and tethering me to these characters, as I found kindred spirits in our sufferings.

Above all the tragedy, this is first and foremost Burnaby and Celia’s love story and we get to see that love deepen, grow, and be tested by the tragedies and trials of life, like most great love stories are, in vivid technicolor. There are moments that will make you swoon with their intimacy and tenderness and other times you will feel your eyes filling with tears as you viscerally feel the pain of these characters. We will never know or understand why things happen the way they do in our lives but that’s when faith and trust in God comes in and this is something that is seen fleshed out in characters like Burnaby and Hazel.

I do feel like some parts dragged a bit and would’ve liked the pace to be a little more up tempo, but I think that could also mess with the laidback, country cadence that is felt the entire time you’re reading. You feel like these are simpler times though the majority of this novel is set in a more present-day time. I loved seeing Aggie again while also being introduced to new characters and would love to see more novels set in this world. Cheryl Grey Bostrom truly has a gift for bringing these worlds to life and I am so grateful and thankful that I got to be apart of it, even if it was only for a moment.

*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher through JustRead Tours. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own. ( )

When I first started Leaning on Air by Cheryl Grey Bostrom (published by Tyndale House Publishers), I was drawn in by the familiar setting. I lived in Moscow, Idaho (where Celia teaches) for seven years and know the area well. But as I continued with this story, there was so much more that I loved about it.

First, there is Burnaby—a neurodivergent hero who loves is wife strongly and persists in pursuing her even when its work. This is a unique love story that goes beyond the initial romance, engagement, and wedding to the hardest parts of life—loss, disappointments, disillusionment, and much, much more. It’s a story of grief but also one of hope and healing.

I loved spending time with Celia, Burnaby, Hazel, Florie, Satchel, Cobb, Willie, Ruth, and many more salt-of-the-earth characters who love and live off the land of the beautiful Palouse region.

Disclosure statement: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a positive or negative review. All opinions are my own. ( )

I really enjoyed this continuation of Celia and Burnaby lives and the story of them coming together once again. This story really has a lot of emotion and you really feel for Celia as she struggles to find herself, to be a mother and who she really is. Getting the shock of her life when she attends a family funeral, she realizes she really has no idea who she is and her family background. Dealing with various kinds of grief and the struggle with her and Burnaby's relationship, she heads to nature where she has alway found solace. But can time and nature heal everything she feels is broken? I loved how much was in the novel! All the storylines, all the characters and how the author had Celia and Burnaby's storyline play out. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. ( )