The Revell Book Tour features Eva Marie Everson’s latest release Chasing Sunsets, the first in a new series from Eva and another example of good Southern fiction from a current Floridian resident.
Although this novel picks up in the aftermath of another messy divorce with a nasty ex-husband gaining favor in the disputed settlement of the time he’s allowed to spend with his boys in the summer, Chasing Sunsets manages to salvage what has become a bit clichéd in CBA fiction regarding the portrayal of mean ol’ ex-husbands and their wives as victims. If this plot point happened occasionally it would be palatable because such cases exist, but it’s almost a constant in CBA literature and it gets old seeing the guys get beat up in stories when in reality ex-wives can be just as lethal. To balance this out in Chasing Sunsets, Eva exposes a not-so-great wife who divorces her worthwhile husband.
During the course of Chasing Sunsets, the heroine in this novel, Kimberly “Boo” Clayborne Tucker, is forced to realize her control issues while resolving a self-worth she’s been unable to find or master.
Kimberly “Boo” is one of the four lovely daughters of Dr. Clayborne and his beautiful wife who own a beachfront vacation home in Cedar Key, the little island town that never changes as Kimberly finds out during her excursion to that familiar place at her father’s request many years after her mother’s death. Cedar Key held the keys to her heart as a kid and teen when she fell in love for the first time with a commercial boater’s son Steven Granger. During their final summer together before Steven leaves for college, Kim believes they’ll be together forever.
The haunting memories of her mother, their mutual interest in photography, particularly on Cedar Key where the sunsets invite both residents and tourists to gather just to watch them, resurrect feelings she doesn’t want to face. When Kim is forced to confront issues about her mother, her dad’s present wife Anise reluctantly explains information Kim had never known. When Kim’s closest sister, Heather, demonstrates similar behaviors to their mother’s, Anise warns Kim not to accuse her dad for his unwillingness to deal with the matter.
During the revelations being unveiled to Kim by a now hostile childhood friend as well as her wise elderly neighbor, Kim reunites with Steven, stunned to learn they still hold feelings for each other.
Chasing Sunsets is a story of loves, losses, sacrifices, and secrets we keep from ourselves while we press on in our lives that don’t often turn out the way we have them planned. It’s told well, clichés included which somehow fit in with this kind of Southern fiction. The vivid scenery and scents play a role in capturing mood and memories. Back and forth in time told from different perspectives, the story leaves the reader with a sense of hope even though life continues with all its bumps and bruises.
Personally speaking, I don’t care for the cover—or maybe I don’t “get” the cover. I don’t mind the divided images or the colors used, but it really doesn’t work for me as far as speaking to the story. Chances are without having read Eva’s work before this book I wouldn’t have picked it up, and I would’ve missed an interesting story.
Available June 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Father, please continue to bless Eva's writing, lending her skills to tell regional stories of the human heart. Encourage her as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.