Review: What's Left Behind by Lorrie Thomson

Title: What's Left Behind
Author: Lorrie Thomson
Format: ARC
Publisher: Kensington
Publish Date: August 26, 2014
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "When the person you’ve built your whole life around is gone, what do you do? It’s not the first time Abby Stone has faced the question. At eighteen, she envisioned a future with her childhood sweetheart, Charlie, only to have him go off to school and leave a pregnant Abby behind. But that pales beside a second loss, when her eighteen-year-old son, Luke, falls to his death from his third-floor dorm.

Abby throws herself into running her thriving B&B on the coast of Maine. With the help of Rob, a local landscape architect, she plans a backyard labyrinth as a memorial to Luke—a place to find peace and solace. Even as Charlie begins hanging around again, looking for a chance to do right by her, Abby resolves to look forward, not back. And then Luke’s girlfriend arrives on Abby’s doorstep—pregnant, as alone as Abby once was—bringing with her the unexpected gift of a new beginning, one that celebrates the past."

My Two Cents:

After Abby loses her son, Luke, in "What's Left Behind," she is unsure how she can go on. She throws herself into her work at a bed-and-breakfast in Maine but she knows that her life will never be the same. When Luke's girlfriend, Tessa, shows up pregnant with bloops child Abby can't help but to feel that this is a sign from Luke. This book definitely tugged on my heartstrings. I was thoroughly engaged by the story and the characters.

I'm not a parent but I can only imagine how hard it must be to lose a child. It's so hard to lose somebody very close to you. I really liked how the author was able to capture the raw feelings of Abby and the feelings of Tessa. Most of the book focuses on how Abby deals with her son's death and the reemergence of his college sweetheart. She is definitely one tough lady but even she is going through something absolutely devastating. I really enjoyed reading about her because she was such a strong character! I felt that the author did a good job of making her seemed really real.

I really like the writing of this book I thought that the author was able to create dialogue and situations that felt very realistic. I love when a book can really move you and this book definitely moved me. I know that in the future I'm going to be on the lookout for more by this author. This would be a great book for her when you're looking for a book that I takes you through all different emotions but leaves you with a happy ending!