BOOK REVIEW- WHEN NEVER COMES by Barbara Davis

Author Barbara Davis deftly explores an emotionally charged landscape of pain, loss, and despair—and the risk one woman will take in the hope of loving again.

As a teenage runaway and child of an addict, Christy-Lynn learned the hard way that no address was permanent, and no promise sacred. For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.

Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?  AMAZON  4 STARS

I liked this story, it just took me a while to get used to the slower pace of it.  She was a great main character who had gone through so much and it wasn't over.  Because of all the pain she pushed back, she had also become quite skilled at becoming a runner emotionally.

And speaking of emotionally, this story was one; emotional. Of course, I think after reading the book blurb it was pretty easy to guess that was going to be a big part of it. 

A lot happens before Christy-Lynn even meets up  with Iris; I kept thinking it was going to happen long before it did.  But it worked because Christy-Lynn had so much going on in her life before that. 

Iris was one really easy to like and be drawn to as Christy-Lynn soon found out.  Even almost against her will, she was drawn to the child's vulnerability.

There were several different people who helped add more interest and richness to the story.  Several women who became friends; something Christy-Lynn was unfamiliar with. Missy is one in particular who had her back and actually imparted some really good wisdom into her life.   There is another person who adds quite a bit too but I don't want to say who because I  want new readers to walk through it like I did.

I liked that the story would go along in the present time but there would be a chapter that clearly showed it was Christy-Lynn's past memories.  No flashbacks that you had to wonder about were you were in the story.  Those chapters have the date making it perfectly clear you are in one of her memories.  

All in all, while some things might have been predictable, it was about the journey getting there.