Baby Girl (Memory House Collection #4) by @BetteLeeCrosby ~ Contemporary #Fiction

• Author: Bette Lee Crosby
• Published: March 2016 by Bent Pine Publishing
• Category: Contemporary Fiction
• 

Baby Girl is a mother’s story. It’s about the greatest sacrifice a mother can make when she wants only the best for her child. It’s about falling in and out of love, of losing and finding one’s self. It’s about the perilous journey from passionate young love to happy true love and understanding the differences between the two.

The day Ryan Carter and his mother moved into the old Ballinger place on Spruce Street was the day Cheryl Ann Ferguson’s life began to change. She and Ryan became firm friends. Apart from the father who loved her dearly, he was her only ally. Her mother was a cold, unloving woman, who only seemed capable of negativity, complaining about anything and everything and putting people down. The year her father died changed everything for Cheryl Ann. She felt so alone and the final straw was her mother’s refusal to let her go to college. She left home with Ryan after the graduation her mother failed to attend.

The story is told in the first person from Cheryl Ann’s perspective. It’s her journey from an immature teen to a woman who finally understands what love really means, the difference between youthful infatuation and grown up true love. And it’s the story of a mother’s love, when she is faced with an unthinkable ultimatum which forces her to make the hardest and most painful of decisions.

If I ever needed someone to love me, it was at that moment. I prayed Ryan would walk over, wrap his arms around me and say something. Anything. I would even have welcomed him saying that he was glad I didn’t have an ulcer.

But he didn’t. He leaned forward, dropped his face into his hands and sat there sorrowfully shaking his head from side to side. His silence was worse than a kick in the stomach.

Ophelia Browne, the only character from the Memory House series to appear in this story, offers wisdom, friendship, comfort and dandelion tea as Cheryl Ann struggles to come to terms with life altering decisions and their consequences. I love the way Bette Lee Crosby tells her stories with life lessons intertwined subtly in the narrative. This is about Cheryl Ann learning as she grows and matures, finding out that everything doesn’t always work out the way she wants it to. But ultimately, the hard knocks and bad times pave the way for true happiness, good friends and a family of her own.

Note from the author (which gives the story that extra emotional punch)

This book is based on a true story…a story that is heartbreaking at times but will leave readers with a better understanding of what a woman will do to protect her child. When I first heard this birth mother’s story I was touched by it, so much so that I needed to know more. When I knew more, I knew I needed to write my novel. The result is Baby Girl.

I received an ARC from the author in return for an honest review. This does not alter my opinion or the content of my review.

Book links ~ Amazon UK | Amazon US

About Bette Lee Crosby

It is the wit and wisdom of that Southern Mama Crosby brings to her works of fiction; the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky characters who will steal your heart away. Her work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. She has since gone on to win twenty awards for her work; these include: The Royal Palm Literary Award, the FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal, Reader’s Favorite Award Gold Medal, and the Reviewer’s Choice Award.

Author links ~ Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads