Book 15 in the 26-Books-in-52-Weeks Challenge has to be a book that someone else recommended to me.

As with many of the other categories in this challenge the list of potential choices was quite a long one. This is because I base most of my book choices on someone else’s recommendations. I sometimes go with suggestions made by bookshops or by reviewers in newspapers and magazines, but by far my main source of recommendations are a trusty group of book bloggers.

I’m a member of a Facebook group called Book Connectors set up by the utterly amazing and awesome Anne Cater. This is a group made up of readers, writers and reviewers. The reviewers are all book bloggers and many of them are amazingly dedicated and prolific. Their review posts are done out of a love of reading and a desire to share their thoughts on what they’ve read. Their reviews aren’t paid for by publishers and so there is no bias other than personal taste.

I follow quite a few blogs written by Book Connector members and some of them are almost entirely responsible for my rather large TBR (To-Be-Read) pile of books.

It was Book Connector, Joanne, whose blog you can visit here who recommended my most recent read. It is book number 15 in my 26 Books Challenge and it is Finding Alison by Deirdre Eustace.

Back Cover Blurb: In Carniskey, a small fishing village in Ireland, the community is divided, wracked by grief and guilt; love and resentment; despair and hope. Sean Delaney has been missing at sea for three years, and no one – least of all his grieving wife, Alison – knows what really happened to him. Having lost her husband, her financial security, and having grown distant from her daughter, Alison feels alone and estranged from the villagers. Sean’s mother has not spoken since her house was burgled after his disappearance, and Alison’s only friend, Kathleen, harbours secrets of her own. Isolated by their stunning, yet often cruel, surroundings, the community is forced to look inwards. But when artist and lifelong nomad William comes to town, he offers Alison a new perspective on life – and love. What she doesn’t realise is that strangers have secrets of their own, and William’s arrival threatens to unearth the mysteries of the past. A story of courage and humanity, we follow a community through their struggles and triumphs in love, loss and betrayal. As each of the characters strives to find their own sense of belonging, they are led to the realisation that it is only through the truth that they can truly find happiness.

My Review of Finding Alison:

I loved this book. It was a difficult book to put down and had me reading way past my usual lights out time. It was also one of those books where I desperately wanted to know how it ended, but I also didn’t want to finish it because it was so enjoyable a read.

The book tells the story of Alison who meets and falls in love with William whilst recovering from the loss of her husband Sean. As Alison gets to know William, she also gets to know her true self. Themes of redemption, recovery and mortality are woven through the story as Alison faces up to the challenges of parenting her teenage daughter, accepting her marriage was far from a happy one, and to moving on with her life.

On the face of it, it’s a contemporary romance, but it’s also so much more. A man and a woman meet and fall in love but the challenges their relationship faces are far from the usual sort. The characters are superbly drawn including the supporting cast.

This is a beautifully written, captivating, intelligent and very moving story.

Type of Read: Snuggle in, tea and tissues to hand, and immerse yourself.

Finding Alison is published by Black and White Publishing and is available as a paperback and as an e-book.

QUESTION: Where do you get your book recommendations from?