About the Book

Series: Sequel to The Last Summer
Genre: Adult, Christian, Contemporary, Fiction, Inspirational, Romance
Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
Publication date: February 4, 2019

Debra Hart is moving on. Maybe. Hopefully. One day.

As a radio show host, Debra spends her mornings as Miss Lonely Heart on air, empathizing with all the broken hearts in the Denver metro area. She spends her evenings watching old musicals and trying not to think about the guy who broke up with her and subsequently fell in love with one of her best friends. Alone in a new city, Debra questions where she belongs and who she is now.

When she stumbles into the indie music scene, Debra meets singer Ben Price. Rock star appeal, with a day job as a worship pastor, Ben is everything Debra wants to avoid. But he’s determined to be her friend, and it so happens she could really use one. Because try as she might, nothing seems to erase the anger and betrayal she feels.

It’s time for a new dream. But how does she start over when she doesn’t even know what she wants anymore?

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About the Author

Brandy Bruce is a mom to three kids, a wife, a writer, a book editor, and someone who really loves dessert. She and her family make their home in the beautiful state of Virginia.

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Review

If you read Brandy Bruce’s The Last Summer, you know there was one person whose story ended with pain and heartbreak. I am so glad we get to read Debra’s continuing story. And Bruce once again pulls out all of Deb’s emotional upheaval.

In After the Rain, Deb is struggling to let go of the anger and hurt from not only losing the man she fell in love with but also her closest friends—her family in a sense. She sees herself as a shadow of the woman she was before.

In spite of some bitterness toward the two people who shattered her dreams and drove her away from Texas and everything she once knew, Debra is brave and courageous. While she doesn’t see it, God has something beautiful on the other side of her pain.

For everyone who has nursed a broken heart, had their entire world pulled out from under them, wondered if God cares, or felt alone, Debra’s story is one you must read. Going through the fire is painful, you will get burned, but the beauty that comes after the refining? That’s a symphony of life not to be missed.

My Rating:

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Snippet

Deb, I miss you. I think about you. Just wanted to say it again.

I read the text from Lillian—Lily—Spencer as the elevator doors opened. Then I tucked the phone into my small purse. I walked toward the exit of the condominium building I called home now, catching a glimpse of myself in one of the mirrors on the wall.

This woman—with short hair, ringlets barely brushing my shoulders. Dark colors, chocolate-colored eyeliner—nervous about a simple thing like going to a coffee bar. I didn’t recognize her.

I stopped mid-hallway and leaned against the wall, my heart hurting.

I’m starting all over.

No.

I closed my eyes. I’d cried all the tears already. None were left. But the pain didn’t stop. A reminder of how much I’d loved Luke Andersen. How ready I’d been to link my story to his for forever.

But he’d chosen my friend Sara.

Quiet, lady-like, sophisticated, predictable Sara.

“Debra?”

My eyes opened. Cassidy and Jake, my neighbors, stood in the hallway, looking worried. I must have seemed ill. With one hand, Jake carried a baby car seat, inside it their five-month-old daughter, Gilly, slept soundly.

I pushed myself off the wall. “I’m okay,” I said without eye contact. I walked straight out of the building, to my car, and drove downtown.