As the Tide Comes In ~ Review

As the Tide Comes In
By Cindy Woodsmall
     and Erin Woodsmall

Cindy Woodsmall is known and loved for her Amish fiction but As the Tide Comes In is a vast departure from this. Tara Abbott at 18 years of age is on her own readying herself to start college. After being abandoned by her mother and going the foster home route she's going to make a life for herself. But sometimes what we plan and what is are two vastly different things. For Tara, she's about to become the guardian of her two half-brothers - brothers that she has seen only once before.

But time passes and this small group becomes the family Tara has always wanted and now both boys are about to head out on their own. With a summer adventure before them, excitement is riding high. When the boys get to St. Simons Island, Georgia, Tara plans to join them. Her brothers are convinced that Tara has roots that go back to Georgia and they are determined to help her find what she has lost.

But life is about to take another unexpected turn and Tara is left trying to piece together her life once again. But she's not about to let her brothers down and she's going to St. Simons just as they planned. When she's unable to connect with Sean and Darryl she soon finds herself in an unexpected situation and without her phone or funds, she has nowhere to go.

On St. Simon, Gavin Burnside is dealing with troubles of his own. Troubles that go back to his father's death 18 months ago. A death that left him with a looming loan payment due in just weeks. Gavin has a plan but it will take a lot of hard labor to accomplish what needs doing if he is to succeed. The last thing he needs is a troubled young woman who is lost somewhere between reality and what isn't. And to help Tara he's going to need the help of his mama and her friends the Glynn Girls - that is if they can stay out of trouble themselves.

As the Tide Comes In is an emotionally moving book as the various characters work their ways through the upheavals of their lives. When faced with change be it loss or gain how do we react? Does it wear us down?  Does it beat us back? Or do we conquer and embrace it?

Tara is an individual that most could relate to even if only in a limited way. Gavin, oh boy, poor guy having to deal with the Glynn Girls. They mean well but let's just say a little goes a long way and he's had years of them. Don't get me wrong they have a whole lot of Southern charm and they lay it on nice and thick which if you are hurting is a comforting blanket of love. But don't make them mad you won't soon forget it.

I received this book from the publisher through their book launch program all opinions expressed are my honest views.
About the Book:

From splintered roots, she built

an unexpected life. A beautiful one. 

Will an unshakable nightmare 

steal it away?

When an unthinkable loss sends Tara Abbott’s life spiraling out of control, she journeys from North Carolina to Georgia’s St. Simons Island. Although confused and scared, she hopes to find answers about her past – her life before the years of foster care and raising her two half-brothers as a young adult. 

Will she find steady ground on the island, surrounded by an eccentric-but-kindhearted group of older women called The Glynn Girls and a determined firefighter? Or will the truth splinter what’s left of her identity into pieces?