Review
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Title: Flying Home
Author: Rachel Ann Nunes
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Fiction/ Romance
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 326
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59038-798-6
Price: $15.95

Reviewed by Karen Hamilton

Rachel Ann Nunes has gracefully woven the past with the present in her new book "Flying Home." The giant chasm that is between Karyn and her older sister Clarrisa opens this compelling story. It allows a glimpse of the fierce love that is between sisters, even when they are estranged, and the gaping hole that is left when one sister is gone with no chance of reconciliation.

The reader is treated to Karyn’s diary entries that lay the groundwork for the story and how the chasm came to be. These entries are interwoven with the story of her daughter Liana, who is sent to live with her Aunt Clarrisa after her parents die in a plane crash in India.

Liana is plagued by memory flashes, nightmares and feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy. She has learned that love is a very dangerous emotion and has banned it from her heart. As a result Liana likes people and things, but never allows herself to feel or express love in any form for anyone or anything.

When Liana meets Austin Walker, who has ghosts of his own to fight, she begins to hope that life isn’t so cut and dried and that maybe there is a place for love in her life. As the two of them get to know each other, Liana starts to feel a glimmer of love for Austin. As she looks for the answers to her past and her mistrust of love, Liana takes large steps toward meaningful and successful relationships with her family and Austin. Eventually, Liana and Clarrisa go to India looking for answers where they find much more than they bargained for; and Liana’s sense of self is rocked to the core, leaving her even more uncertain of how she fits into her family.

It seems to take a long time to reach the “crisis” of the story, and then the book quickly flies to a satisfying conclusion that is full of emotion and hope. Although to be fair, I don’t know how I would have slowed the last part down without ruining the story. It is absolutely refreshing to read a romance book that is not filled with intimate scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good love story.