BOOK REVIEW- OCEANS APART by Karen Kingsbury

A riveting story of secret sin and the healing power of forgiveness. Airline pilot Connor Evans and his wife, Michele, seem to be the perfect couple living what looks like a perfect life. Then a plane goes down in the Pacific Ocean. One of the casualties is Kiahna Siefert, a flight attendant Connor knew well. Too well. Kiahna’s will is very clear: before her seven-year-old son, Max, can be turned over to the state, he must spend the summer with the father he’s never met, the father who doesn’t know he exists: Connor Evans. Now will the presence of one lonely child and the truth he represents destroy Connor’s family ? Or is it possible that healing and hope might come in the shape of a seven-year-old boy? This title is also available as an unabridged Audio Pages® CD.    AMAZON  5+ STARS


WOW!  This book hits almost all of the emotions.  It was so good. A little bit like an emotional roller coaster. But believable and fairly easy to relate to.  Love, anger, sadness, grief, fear, inability to forgive, just to name a few.  It shows the good times and the bad times that all of them are going through.  The characters had depth and their flaws were showing. Connor, Michele, Kiahana, Max, none of them are left untouched. That one mistake has a ripple effect that goes beyond them.  It touches Connor and Michele's children Elizabeth and Susan too.  Even goes as far as Connor's estranged father.  Now there is a relationship that really  needs healing too.
The times that come up in the story with Max and his mother Kiahana were both sweet and bittersweet.  She loved him so deeply and gave him such a foundation of not only her love but the love of God.
The struggles that the main characters go through are clear and understandable.  So is their struggle with their faith in God and the things that they have been hiding. 
Another one of the interesting people in the book is Max's part-time baby sitter/almost family Ramey Aialea.  If her health was better, she would have adopted Max in a minute but that wasn't about to happen.   She didn't think she was very important but keep an eye on her, she will have her part to play. 
I have to say that this is one of the best Christian fiction books that I have read.  There are a handful of them that I have enjoyed enough to give it a 5+ rating on Amazon.  And this one now stands out in that group.  
I also wanted to mention what a really good choice for the cover of this eBook.  It really conveyed the emotion of this lost little boy, his best friend, Buddy (the dog).  And the shadow of his father in the background with his back turned, really made for a very accurate picture.   I really like it when the cover of the book is a good representation of the story.