I was not expecting to give this book 5 stars. Originally, judging by the blurb on GoodReads, I thought that it might be a 3 star. I love being wrong! I found a new favorite author. Ms. Hyde's writing style is simple, clear, concise and held my attention throughout! There are not many authors who can do that.

The plot is simple enough -- a fifty something lawyer gets tired of the grind after a friend her age dies, decides to chuck it all and heads out into the country. Green Acres anyone? I would have thought. But I was dead wrong. She finds so much more -- freedom, changes of attitude and communication with people she never would have thought about before her move.

The reader should definitely be the judge of whether Roseanna was successful and if she is now leading a better life. I know how I feel.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.

I am a fan of the author's work and I was delighted to receive this book for review by the publisher and Net Galley.
Thank you with gratitude for the ARC which does not influence my review. I adore this book.

This is a wonderful read full of heartfelt emotion, having the strength to know that starting over is best and learning that family is not always blood relations but can be found in unexpected relationships. This book has all the elements of a great read and I was unable to part with it until the end.

Heaven Adjacent is the story of Roseanna Chaldecott, a driven, successful Manhattan lawyer who spent decades practicing law with her best friend, Alice. But Alice passes away and after her death one morning, Roseanna just starts driving. She ends up in the Adirondacks where she finds a seventy-six acre old broken down farm for sale. Roseanna soon discovers a mother and her five-year-old daughter are residing. Roseanna's guest house.
Rosanna is anxious to settle into her new home, even with its poor condition. She decided to make the life changing decision of not returning to her law career.
Roseanna soon learns that the barn is a warehouse full of scrap metal. Roseanna learns to weld and the metal menagerie of various animals she brings to life are giving her a new lease on life. They are also selling well and very popular.
Rosanna soon has a building relationship withe the little girl and her Mother which is surprising to her as she originally wanted them gone. She came to the farm craving peace and does not initially like the noise of the child. In fact she wants no noise at all and soon when other squatters arrive she finds herself at odds with them yet she lets them stay. Her quiet farm is soon filled with new and interesting people.

Surprising what disrupts Roseanna's new life further is her famous metal sculptures that lead her former law partner to her, and also her thirty-year-old son, Lance, with whom Roseanna has always had a argumentative relationship. She soon learns that new relationships can be built out of old animosity and life offers many second chances.

Heaven Adjacent is interesting and entertaining, I love the exploration of human relationships. The charcters are deep and all add to the story. The book is well plotted and a enriching reading experience. I highly recommend this book for your reading enjoyment. A excellent read ! I look forward to further works by this wonderful author.

This was a really good book. It actually had me thinking about things personally. I enjoyed Roseanna's character and really loved how she had the strength to just "run away" from home under such devastating circumstances. Of course she also had the financial ability to do that. I think the best part of the story is how she found her "heaven". In this tragedy Roseanna was able to open her heart to her son and built a new relationship with him. As well as those who inhabited her land. I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book through NetGalley and the review is in my own words. I highly recommend this book.

Roseanna Chaldecott walks out of her life and hopes to remain solitary in her new home. However, there are already people on her land and while she wants them gone, they seem to linger. Roseanna becomes involved in her squatters lives and becomes agitated when her previous life comes calling and wanting her back. A delicious and uplifting read.

Heaven Adjacent's quirky characters make this book come alive! I laughed at them, squirmed uncomfortably with them, and basically thoroughly enjoyed them. Roseanna is much older than the typical coming of age heroine in a book, but that made it all the more interesting to me.

This was a book that will certainly make you stop and think about life. Losing a best friend can do crazy things to a person. Or maybe it’s not crazy but more like making you wake up and see what you have and what you truly want.

Roseanna was a high powered attorney who had it all. Her own law practice with her best friend a nice apartment overlooking a park and a car that was to die for. But when her friend and partner die she starts looking at life a bit differently. She gets in her car and leaves. She has no real plan but once she gets there she knows it is the place for her. A nice piece of land with a small shack of a house and a few other buildings. She buys it and intends to spend her life alone there. But there are other people who live there and she becomes friends with them. No one, not even her son, Lance, can get her to come back to the city. He stays with her and they finally start talking and become much closer.

This is a good story that will keep you wanting more. Even after the last page I was not ready to let it go. It’s a story that will make you fall in love with people again. Some tears are mixed in and some laughter. The kind of story that you will love reading.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is a great story teller. I look forward to more of her awesome books.

I received a copy of this via @NetGalley #Lake Union

We meet Roseanna, a woman who makes metal sculptures of animals. A reporter from the New York Times about her sculptures. She asks the reporter not to mention her location but her son, Lance finds her. He gets upset at the fact that she's living with five people and a dog. This book kept me on my toes and I absolutely loved it.

This was my first book by Ms. Hyde. I can’t wait to read another

Another wonderful story by this author, her books always have great messages to relay.
This story about a high-powered attorney, Roseanna Chaldecott, whom after her best friend and fellow law partner dies unexpectedly, runs from responsibility and goes from NYC, to a remote area of NY state where she falls in love with the solitude, and where she feels, what she left behind will not find her, even her own son.
The author always has a way of creating fascinating characters, who all come together to complete a whole.
We see the main character go through great changes and realizations, as she decides to take on this new life. The life she is escaping from, and her new one collide, and she her son, ex office people and all of the new found characters in the book, need to see how they can make a difference in each others lives.
This was a great read and one that we can all benefit from.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book

An enjoyable book and quite thought provoking. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for providing this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review..

Heaven Adjacent is a deceptively simply constructed, but beautifully told latest book from the talented Catherine Ryan Hyde. It is the story of Roseanna Chaldecott, a driven, successful Manhattan lawyer who spent decades practicing law with her best friend, Alice. But one morning, Roseanna simply cannot go to the office so she calls her office and notifies her secretary that she will not be coming in, gets into her Maserati, and starts driving. She ends up lost in the foggy foothills of the Adirondacks where she spies a seventy-six acre dilapidated farm for sale. The main house is in disrepair, but does offer a few pieces of furniture, as well as a functioning bathroom and kitchen. It is in better shape that the guesthouse in which Roseanna soon discovers a mother and her five-year-old daughter are residing. Roseanna's introduction to Patty and little Willa provides the first clue as to the depth of Roseanna's story. After that heartbreaking beginning, Roseanna goes about settling into her new home.

Roseanna soon learns that the rundown barn is actually a warehouse full of scrap metal. Only the deceased former owner,. Macy, knew why she collected it. But little Willa comes up with the idea of fashioning it into sculptures of animals. Before long Roseanna learns to weld and the metal menagerie continues growing.

Roseanna escaped New York City to find solitude, quiet, and be alone. But despite her best efforts, she manages to attract squatters -- homeless, down-on-their-luck folks who need a place to lay their heads -- and is largely unable to evict them. And the farm is full of the noises of life -- a squealing little girl, a rambunctious dog, and even an elderly horse!

But is the noise a reporter for the New York Times makes that disrupts Roseanna's new life. His story on her increasingly famous metal sculptures lead not just her former law partner, Jerry, to her, but also her thirty-year-old son, Lance, with whom Roseanna has always had a tempestuous relationship.

Heaven Adjacent is populated by a case of quirky characters that keep the story interesting and entertaining, But in the skilled hands of Catherine Ryan Hyde, the tale is an exploration of relationships, priorities, emotional openness, and family. It is a look at values and how each individual must determine what matters most to him/her and how he/she wants to spend his/her days. It is a study in second chances, reconciliation, and living a life that has meaning and finally finding a home.

"Why do we live like we’re not going to die?”

Roseanna Chaldecott is a high-powered attorney in New York City, one of the founding partners of her firm. She has a condo overlooking Central Park, drives a Maserati, and enjoys the high life.

But then her best friend dies and Roseanna runs away from her former stressful life.

She ends up buying a ramshackle rural property and reevaluates what is really important in her life - family, friends, and having "enough."

I am a big fan of author Hyde's books and have been since PAY IT FORWARD. They always are a learning experience for me and always touch my heart. I highly recommend this latest offering of hers.

I received this book from Lake Union Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

ks
Browse ▾
Community ▾

Search books

46
23
Debbie Krenzer
Debbie Krenzer's Reviews > Heaven Adjacent
Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Heaven Adjacent
by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Goodreads Author)
12691311
Debbie Krenzer's review Jun 21, 2018 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: ebooks, net-galley-books

This was definitely the quirkiest bunch of characters I've ever seen all in one book.

Roseanna is a high powered attorney who snaps when her best friend and law partner suddenly dies. She decides to go for a ride in her Maserati and winds up buying a piece of property that includes 76 acres near the Adirondack Mountains.

No only does Roseanna get those 76 acres with hills, creeks, a barn and a small guesthouse, she also gets squatters.

It's a story about a lot of things including finding yourself, finding and connecting with your adult son again, helping others, and love in many phases.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and getting to know these quirky characters. I chuckled many times while reading this book. Definitely entertaining!

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Rating: 4/4.5 stars

This is another heart-warming book from Catherine Ryan Hyde! After reading; ‘The Wake Up’, and ‘Allie and Bea’ recently, I’ve become quite a fan of her writing. This author pulls off a mean feat. She is able to write heart-warming without being smarmy. This book is a classic trope of
“Chuck big city life and step into an unknown rural setting.” (In other words, a Fish Out of Water story.) While this is a theme found in lots of books, Catherine Ryan Hyde manages to pull it off in a meaningful way. I truly felt that the main character, Roseanna Chaldecott, was overwhelmed with sadness and the seeming futility of her current lifestyle after her good friend and law partner died suddenly. If that can happen so randomly, what is the point of planning and saving and working yourself literally to death? I bet that most of us have felt that way one time or another.

So one day, in mini mental break-down mode, Roseanne took drove her expensive car out of New York City. She just drove. She drove with no destination in mind. She ended up in the foothills of the Adirondacks, and stumbled upon an old farmstead that was up for sale that called to her in some inexplicable way. After staying overnight in the one-room farmhouse, she couldn’t bring herself to go back to the city. She is literally hiding from her former life. That strategy brought her some peace, but also its own set of problems. She is sued by her other law partner for abandoning the practice, her son is angry at her because she can’t be reached, and these unexpected strangers keep popping up on her property. Most of the people on her land stay despite her requests to get them to move on. Even her son Lance stays longer than expected, and is able to be more honest with Roseanne than he ever has. Maybe it’s something about chopping all that firewood in the clear mountain air that helps heal old hurts?

Through it all, Roseanne, unbeknownst to herself, redefines her meaning of success and family. I liked the mixture of quirky, and ordinary characters that inhabited this landscape. There were happy and sad moments, just like in real-life. Yes, I cried just a tiny bit at one scene. Lots of the scenes with the little girl, the dog, and the horse just made me laugh. It was a heart-warming book in all the best senses of the phrase. Bravo!

Thank-you to NetGalley; Lake Union Publishing; and the author, Catherine Ryan Hyde; for providing a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Publication Date: June 19, 2018

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. A very enjoyable and relatable story. Rosanna is at the top of her game. She thinks she is living her best life. Then her friend dies and everything changes. She embarks on a journey to find out what life truly means. She is a no nonsense woman and I loved her. I think you will too.

The main character, Roseanna, seemingly has the perfect life until tragedy strikes. She takes this circumstance to evaluate her life and truly find out who she is and who she wants to become. Almost anyone can relate this to a time in their life!
Edit

Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan, a new to me author I can't remember having read this author in the past but will sure be checking out more books by her. This book took me awhile to get into but once I did I couldn't put it down. Enjoyed the storyline. Likable characters, and great dialogue. A great story when I was in the mood for something different.

I just absolutely love Catherine's stories and the wisdom that she shares. Her stories are always filled with normal, down-to-earth people who struggle through life but come out better in the end. She always fills her stories with life lessons—lessons we could all learn from.

Heaven Adjacent is a thought provoking look at a woman who decides she is done with her current life and sets out to find her little piece of heaven on earth. As her new life evolves, is this really what her idea of heaven is? She was looking for peace and quiet. Can her life be filled with people and still be what she's looking for?

As I was reading this wonderful story, I couldn't help thinking that maybe the wisdom imparted here should spread like Catherine's 'pay it forward' did. We should all look for what makes us happy and strive for that little peace of heaven on earth, like Roseanna did.

Heaven Adjacent was my first Catherine Ryan Hyde read, and it certainly hit numerous spots throughout the story. If I’m being completely honest, I wasn’t sure what I was going to receive at first as it took a while before I was sucked into the book, but by the end I found I’d rather enjoyed this one.

It is hard to explain this story without giving too much away, without writing out all that happened. Just know it is a story that deals with numerous topics throughout, a story that looks at many different elements in life. It’s about finding what makes you happy, about realising what we have when we overlook the material things. It is a story that focuses on relationships, on finding what we need, and it certainly holds the attention once it grabs it.

As I mentioned, it does take a few chapters before you’re completely sucked in. You’re intrigued from the very start, but it takes a while before everything starts to come together. We get insights into so many things, and it isn’t until the details start to come to life, that we start getting the smaller details, that we are really pulled in.

Without a doubt, this is a story that slowly wins you over.

A beautifully written novel of what is important in love and why we need to hold on to it when we find it.

After spending her entire life as a high-powered attorney in Manhattan, Roseanna Chaldecott has decided she has had enough after her best friend and partner suddenly dies. With only the clothes on her back and a tank of gas, Roseanna heads out of the city with no plans of return. Deep in the mountains of the Adirondacks, she finds a plot of land and a ramshackle farm that turns out to be her Heaven. On the land are squatters she wants to get rid of to be alone, but doesn’t have the heart to turn them away. Roseanna starts working with her hands creating sculptures out of the junk found on the farm, which attracts attention she doesn’t want, including her son, Lance. He wants her to come back to the city, which she refuses to do. He isn’t the only one that wants her back, her partners at her law firm want her back or she might just lose all she has worked for her entire life. She has to decide what it is she truly wants and can live without in order to be happy.

Heaven Adjacent needs to be read by so many, especially in the day and age we are living in. Our culture has become so obsessed with the material things we have to offer that we have forgotten what is truly important. Roseanna decides that things have to change for her after her best friend dies without having experienced all there is in the world. She doesn’t want to work herself to death and regret the time she has had on this earth. Taking time to find out what matters is so important, by slowing down and enjoying the simple things in life she is able to actually find happiness again. I loved the idea of this because so many times we think that we need the newest and coolest things out there to be happy, but we don’t. The characters were completely believable and completely in track with the actions they took and the consequences of those actions. I loved how Hyde was able to bring these characters to life and draw the action forward without action scenes or major suspense. She used tension in each scene in a different way to move the story forward and keep the reader entranced. This story reminds us to stay encouraged and not lose hope in the difficult times but go back to the basic simple things in life and there we will find our happiness. I recommend this book to readers that have enjoyed her work and are looking for a book unlike any they have read and one they won’t soon forget.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

With HEAVEN ADJACENT by Catherine Ryan Hyde, I definitely got more than I bargained for with a storyline that is rich in detail, full of depth, and very thought-provoking.

Roseanna Chaldecott had it all but when her best friend suddenly dies, it prompts Roseanna to change her life so drastically that most people don't even know where she is. Finding herself in the stunning Adirondacks, Roseanna finds solace in an old farm with land as far as the eye can see. But she also finds that she isn't as alone as she hoped she would be and these unusual squatters seem to be growing on her. But when a reporter finds her, it will bring Roseanna's past and present hurtling together with some unexpected consequences.

This is a story that will really make you stop and think about what matters in your life. Take away all of the materialistic stuff that we have surrounded ourselves with and what do you really need around you to make you happy? This is the type of question that this book will have you asking. For me, the answer is my family, and family plays an important role in this story too.

Compelling, emotional, and stirring, HEAVEN ADJACENT by Catherine Ryan Howard is definitely worth reading.