The Second Coming of Lucy Hatch

If you're looking to be swept away for a night (because once you pick it up, you won't put it down), then you NEED to buy this book. Every once in a while you come across a gem of a story -- one that you fall into, where you feel you know the characters better than you know your best friend, where the emotions that tumble off the pages are every bit as powerful and heady as the ones that swept through you when you fell in love the first time... This book defies categorization. It is a love story, a 'coming of age' story, a literary triumph... and hot, hot, hot. :) No, it's not a romance. No, it's not a 'let's fall in love and everything will be hunky dory' book. It's a soul-searching, soul-rending, beautiful story that will remind you what passion is -- and might just make you fall in love with your husband (or wife) all over again. (BTW, The Last of the Honky-Tonk Angels is just as good... can't WAIT for the third! Write faster, Marsha!)

This book is amazingly well written for a first novel. A mix between a romance novel and a coming of age story, it is both touching and joyful. Lucy Hatch's husband dies in an accident, and Lucy moves back home to recover. Shortly after she arrives, Lucy meets a man that "rocks her world" literally and figuratively. Most of the story focuses on Lucy's processing what love has been for, what is has not been, and what she wants it to be. I don't typically read romance novels, but stayed with this one because of the depth of Lucy's feelings for her husband, her family, and the new man in her life. It would be easy to assume that Lucy's marriage was loveless, and that she finds true love at last. Underlying this all is the concept that one can only love someone as best and as far as they will let you. I recommend this book highly, and can't wait for Marsha Moyer's next one.

I read this one in a day - it was engrossing from start to finish. Light and sweet, not too much different than your average romance novel, but with a little more spark and substance. Normally, I tend to take a cynical bent on books like this, but it was such a pleasure to read, I set my cynic aside for the entire novel.Thirty-three year old Lucy finds a new life for herself when her husband (whom she did not love) of fourteen years dies unexpectedly. She is unencumbered and free to make her life over. She moves back to her hometown and immediately becomes captivated by heartthrob country singer/carpenter Ash Farrell. Their relationship takes on the fun spar and parry that leads to the inevitable moment when they FINALLY get in bed together, beginning Lucy's sexual awakening. These love scenes are just juicy enough to give new meaning to Lucy's "second coming" (wink, wink).For a first novel, this was so smooth and well-paced - there wasn't a hang-up in the whole book. A great escape novel that'll make you want to go out and find your own honky-tonk handyman.

I know I just read a good book, because I keep thinking about Lucy, and I'm reluctant to pick up a new book just yet.Lucy Hatch Breward is a 33 year old woman who finds herself suddenly widowed. Married 14 years to a man more married to his farm than to her, she finds that she doesn't know how to mourn him, and she doesn't know who he was or who she is now.Lucy moves back to her hometown, and almost immediately is confroted by the town heartthrob, Ash Farrell. At first she tries to ignore him, but the more she tries, the more she realizes that Ash won't be ignored.Lucy is on a quest to discover who she really is and what happened to her "light" when she married Mitch. Ash complicates and distracts her. At first she is angered and frustrated by him, but as she gets to know him, she starts to feel that she has always known him. This causes Lucy to feel enormous guilt for not grieving her husband.Only when Lucy can give her husband his place and then begin to look forward to the next chapter in her life is she able to embrace her "light" and the future. This is a wonderful read for anyone who is at a crossroads in their life.

Tears, Laughter, Steamy Sex, A Hero to die for, A Heroine whose emotions are right on, Likeable secondary characters, authentic settings, superb dialogue, believable plot - there wasn't anything about this book that I did not love... except that it ended. I am adding first time novelist, Marsha Moyer, to my "just buy it" list, and you should, too.