This book was honestly so bad. I haven’t read a book this bad maybe ever and only finished it because it was an arc provided by Netgalley,

Some things I really didn’t like about this book:
The author often explains things that could be picked up in context. For example- actually translating the Spanish phrases or explaining a reference to Tim the Tool Man by saying it was from the show Home Improvement instead of just making it part of the story. It made me more aware of reading a story than I like to be.

I also hated the main character. Baxter is painfully stubborn and closed off which is hard to read after a while. He can’t see what it right in front of him and this piece gets a bit repetitive. I found it difficult to connect to him. He is also very stereotypically American- wanting to drive a big car and making fun of the little car. I honestly just didn’t feel that this aligned with this character. It felt false. Overall- I didn’t find his character believable and he seemed very cliched.

I did enjoy a few things about this book:
The setting is Spain sweeps you away and the descriptions of Spain are great.

I loved the character of Mia and thought her lines were witty and I enjoyed her connections with her family. However, she ass completely unbelievable as an 8 year old. Kids that age just don’t speak the way she did. While I enjoyed her, it was another aspect of the story that felt false.

I overall liked the storyline and overarching themes but it wasn’t done well. I didn’t feel it was written well, It was just so cheesy- and this is coming from someone who reads a lot of romance.

Quick synopsis: a young widower and his 8 year old daughter are trying to cope with staggering grief, even though it’s 3 years since the wife and mother died very tragically. It comes to light that the wife/mother has close family in Spain that they did not know about.

A very emotional book to read. The grief felt by Baxter and his daughter, Mia, is transferred to the reader. While I was not in total agreement with how Baxter was handling his grief and trying to help Mia through it, I felt strong compassion for both of them. After all, there is no step by step instructions on how it should be done. I enjoyed both characters…..Baxter makes mistakes but all parents do. Mia is so precious….intuitive and wise for an 8 year old.

They travel to Spain to meet the unknown family. The descriptive writing about the family and their region of Spain made me feel like I was along on the trip. I learned a lot about the olive oil industry which I found very informative and interesting.

This book/story is a slow burn during the first half. But I cared enough to keep going. There is so much to love about this book. The setting, the olive oil (a whole new interest for me), the fact that music is a huge part of healing (a proven fact), the whole new family dynamic. Of course, the required elements of any book are present too: secrets, drama and conflict.

There were a few revelations towards the end. I may have even shed a couple of tears. I really felt like I had a vested interest in the whole family. I wanted a good turnout for everyone.

Sometimes when bad things happen to good people, a path is revealed to good things. Those good things may not have come about if the bad thing had not happened. Sometimes it takes a while to discover that path.

And, sometimes I actually have to finish a book, sit back and think about it before I realize how much it touched me. This is one of those books.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an Advance Readers Copy.

Baxter tragically lost his wife in a shopping mall mass shooting three year earlier. At that time, he gave up on his musician career and his dreams to focus on raising his young daughter, Mia. He is now running a construction business and just existing, not living. Mia is now eight and while Baxter has tried to protect her from the ugly details of her mother’s death, she knows the truth. Mia is acting out and having trouble at school and socially. The first part of this novel is a little wearying and sad as the reader becomes acquainted with Baxter and Mia and their struggles to get through their grief. But I guess we need to understand where they are at and what they are experiencing to go through their transformation with them. That’s where the novel starts to shine. Shortly before his adopted wife died she sent off a DNA sample to 23 and me hoping to find out about her genealogy. To his surprise, there is a match and he connects with his wife’s birth mother. Baxter and Mia fly off to southeastern Spain to get to know the birth mother and her family. The author’s wonderfully evocative writing really pulls you in; I really felt I was there experiencing the tastes, sights, sounds and smells of Spain. Baxter and Mia really connect with their new relatives and begin to open themselves up to healing. This is a moving and heartfelt novel. Highly recommended!

Long story short, this is a book about a single dad trying to do his best for his grieving daughter and help comes, for both of them, from a place he least expected.

Active readers who pay careful attention to the elements of this narrative will be rewarded with (1) not only a breathtaking story but also (2) a feeling that they’ve just taken a trip to Spain.

The author has sprinkled his narrative with everything you’d expect to see when you visit Spain; spicy Paella, peppery olive oil, evocative flamenco dancers, and the warmth of the summer sun. It’s a real treat for the senses. Walker's love of music flows through the story and unites the landscape with the complicated lives of the family. I loved the hint of things to come in the poignant title! With every sunrise comes a new day, new opportunities and a fresh perspective.

The longer I spent in southeastern Spain, the better I got to know the characters. I felt deeply immersed in the story, and, like the characters, I was reluctant to leave. Author Boo Walker has a wonderful way of making everything feel real. I loved his characters, even the moody ones. Walker explores the true meaning of family, the pull of forgotten dreams and the healing power of love.

This high-impact story will be with you for days … a book hangover you can’t fix!

I was gifted this advance copy by Boo Walker, Lake Union Publishing, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I've read other books by Boo Walker, and have found he is able to delve into the deepest feelings of his carefully crafted characters so that their emotions come right through on the printed page. This book got right into my heart from the very first page.

Baxter Shaw, widowed, three years ago just can't seem to move forward. He's tried disposing of anything that reminds him of his deceased wife, Sophia, and the mother of 8-year-old, Mia. He never speaks of her and discourages Mia to not mention her either. He believes healing will come if they can forget about her. His method is obviously not very successful since he's been called into Mia's school a couple times recently because of her behavior, and she has continuous nightmares about her mother. Baxter changes careers, they move to another city, and nothing seems to help, and he's wondering where he's gone wrong.

As a result of Sophia submitting her DNA sample several years earlier, to 23andMe, she learned some surprising information about herself. A number of years after her death, Baxter receives a message through the DNA website that is life-changing for both he and Mia.

The revelation of decades of secrets brings about much needed healing and what emerges is beautiful indeed. Dexter learns to let go of thing that are unimportant and hold on to the things and people who are.
This is a compelling, heartfelt story that was difficult to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions and comments are my own.

This is one book I really, really want to see made into a TV mini series. A story that tackles the raw grief after the loss of a loved one. Followed by new hope and finding yourself.
Baxter is bringing his daughter Mia up alone. His wife was brutally killed. It meant he gave up his career as a musician to become sole carer for his daughter. But in providing for her works long hours. They both begin to suffer.
Then out of the blue Baxter gets an email. It’s a woman from Spain. She’s the birth mother of his dead wife.
Realising that she has family. Mia persuades her father to journey to Spain so they can get to know them.
The trip is a journey of discovery for everyone concerned. A real feel good book. And yes I shed a few tears. Bravo

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an arc

Took me a little while to get into this tale, but once I did I was hooked. Thank you for giving me the chance to read this my first book from this author. It's a really strong storyline & a great read

My rating:

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:


General Fiction



Review:

The book was a bit slow to start and in the beginning I found it a little difficult to relate to the characters but once you get further in the book, it becomes clear and you start to understand the reasons for their actions. They are interesting and nice characters and you can’t help but like them. The story is actually very uplifting and positive. The main themes the book is dealing with are grief, having to courage to change your life, moving on and starting again. I enjoyed the book and glad I continued with it to the end, despite the slow start. It was worth it

Review copy provided by NetGalley at no cost to me

I discovered Boo Walker with The Singing Trees, which I can't stop praising to this day, so I was extra excited when I saw this title here was available on NetGalley. I finished it in 3 seatings and I still really enjoy the author's writing style but this time it felt like everything was a little too corny, in my opinion. It's tough to say something about a story I clearly enjoyed, but at times, I couldn't help but cringe at the protagonist's thoughts and/or behaviour. I tried hard not to judge, but ultimately, while I liked Baxter's honesty, the rest of his personality gave me mixed feelings. This was a really touching novel though, and I can't wait to see what Boo Walker comes up with next time!

A huge thank you to Amazon Publishing for my e-ARC in exchange for the honest review.

Baxter left his band and abandoned his dream to be a single dad. He’s doing everything for her daughter. He didn’t tell Mia what really happened because he just wants to protect her. But then Baxter discovered that Mia knew how her mother died, he was sad and everything his going through is going back to him again. After a surprising result of DNA test, Baxter and Mia travel to Spain to meet the biological mother of Mia’s mom.

Mia is an eight year old daughter of Baxter. When her mother died she got nightmares and hurting another student. Her grades slipped and she’d lost interest in hanging out with her friends. When she start opening up to his father she feels like she’s not a good daughter to her mother.

A Spanish Sunrise is a heartwarming story of a father and his daughter trying to cope with the loss of Baxter’s wife, and Mia’s mother. Sophia died by gunfire while out shopping. After 3 years, Baxter and Mia are still trying to come to terms with the loss. Sophia was adopted and wanted to find her birth mother. She had taken a DNA test before she died. DNA testing found her birth mother and family in Spain. Baxter and Mia decide to visit and see what this family is all about. The descriptions of Spain, the town, and the olive trees pulls you in.
Another wonderful book by Boo Walker.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

This is a well written story of a father trying to escape his grief from the loss of his wife and help his daughter do the same. When they find out about previously unknown family in Spain, Baxter takes his daughter to visit. What they find is welcoming and confusing, as they try to embrace the more relaxed environment. A tale of a parents love and the lengths a parent will go to protect their child. Walker’s descriptive writing brings the scenery to life immersing the reader in the warmth of the Spanish sun.

Grab your box of tissues. This book is breathtakingly beautiful. It is well written. The characters draw you in from the beginning. It touches on serious issues but doesn't drag you down. The author brings you into the story describing the sounds, smells and tastes. You feel the words as you read them. First time reading this author, looking forward to reading more. #ASpanishSunrise #NetGalley

A Spanish Sunrise – A Review

In his most personal book yet, Boo Walker does not disappoint. A Spanish Sunrise is an intimate look inside the mind and emotional health of a recently widowed father, Baxter, who is raising a precocious daughter, Mia, after her mother’s sudden death because of an all too familiar American act of violence. Leaving his passion and success behind him, they move and he takes a more conservative approach to living. Owning and running his own construction business is full of stressors as is walking the tight rope of doing all the things he believes he should be doing to be a good father.

As in his previous works, Walker is a master of letting us inside the characters to look at what they are thinking and feeling via their actions or inactions. Though we may not agree with everything Baxter does, we can understand the impetus behind why he does it. Luckily, a random act completed by his wife shortly before she died, sets Baxter and Mia on a new journey, one that allows a change of perspective as well as geography.
Walker is a master of words and tone. His first days in his vacation home delights all the senses. I could smell, taste, feel, touch, and hear what Baxter was experiencing in his first days in Spain. Additionally, Walker is great at turning a phrase that either resonates with me or makes me smile. I’ve bookmarked many of them but I’ll only share one here, “This was the kind of music that required a seat belt for the soul;” a simple, brilliant phrase that explained everything.

If you’ve read Walker’s the Singing Trees, and the Red Mountain Chronicles, and if you haven’t you should, do yourself a favor and spend a weekend with A Spanish Sunrise. You will not be disappointed!

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read Boo Walker’s latest novel. I have read many of his books and enjoyed them all very much. This one started a little slowly for me, and I became somewhat weary of reading about the sadness Baxter feels three years after tragically losing his wife and the heavy responsibility he feels about being a good father and protecting eight year old Mia as he tries to help her recover from her mother’s loss. After learning that the woman who had given up Mia’s mother as an infant in a Spanish convent was wanting to connect, they go to Spain on a 10-day trip to meet Mia’s grandmother and her aunt and uncle. It is very difficult for Baxter to open his heart to any kind of love, other than that from his daughter, but slowly he does open up and even begins to make music again, having quit the very successful band he had been a part of. The most important thing he and the other family members must learn is honestly and that we don’t help anyone by keeping secrets in an effort to protect those we love. Mia is probably wiser than anyone and the most honest; in fact it was a little hard for me to accept that she could be so mature and knowing at age eight. This is a sweet story, and I finally did become quite engaged, but as I said it did take awhile.

Thankyou for giving me the chance to read this in advance. Finished it in a day. Powerful and heartfelt. Highly recommend

#boowalker
#aspanishsunrise
#netgalley

I had a hard time putting it down! A MUST read!! Boo Walker’s, A Spanish Sunrise is a powerful read with real life lessons that everyone will at some point need to grasp. It reinforces the joy’s in life that should never be taken lightly. I laughed and cried … it was a great, fun read! I love how descriptive Boo’s writing is as it just pulls the readers into the places and characters. Thank you Boo for being a master of written words! Keep the stories coming!!!

Read it in one day! Plot was so good! I even teared up reading. First half of the book wasn't that great. Other than this, the writing style didn't do it for me.

A powerful and beautiful read about life after the loss of a loved one and the journey to self discovery and single parenthood’s struggles. This book was beautiful, I found myself really enveloped on all this book offered on culture and love and dreams. I cried, i wept, i smiled! I loved it and all it offered. I will say its a slow painful journey for Baxter to settle in and wait for it all to unfold!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Baxter was married to Sofia and they had a young daughter, when Sofia was shot in a mass shooting in a mall.

Baxter left his band and moved with his daughter to Greenville where he set up a building company.

3 years after her death, a message is received via a genealogy website for Sofia from Ester who believed she was her mother..

The book follows the roller coaster emotions of both Baxter and Mia, dealing with their grief and also discovering Sofia's family in Spain.

A wonderful book