Book Tour and Review: Flaherty's Crossing by Kaylin McFarren (Pump Up Your Book Promotions)

My Review:

I thoroughly enjoyed Flaherty's Crossing while reading it and I already miss Kate and Drew as characters.  This novel was such an exploration of what love is, what it is like to lose a parent and forgiveness.  How is this done?  Drew and Kate are married but seem to lost track of each other and their marriage, they are both at the breaking point, but after an accident and as time passes the two start to work together and talk together again.  But can some secrets that still remain ruin the reigniting love between them.

Kate also has issues with her father in the beginning of the book and he is at death's door.  The book goes through what Kate does after his death and how she learns more about her father and herself and how to go on with life.

This book is full of emotion and characters that really come to life.  I feel like Kate and Drew are a part of my family now, and that is pretty amazing for a 250 page book.  Also I found this book kept surprising me.  As soon as I though I had something figured out, it was different than I thought.  But it was the relationships that kept me reading above and beyond the plot, even though the plot was wonderful, the relationships were outstanding.

I look forward to reading more of Ms. McFarren's work in the future.

My Rating:  4.5/5.0

About Kaylin McFarren

Linda Yoshida, aka Kaylin McFarren, is a rare bird indeed. Not a migratory sort, she prefers to hug the West Coast and keep family within visiting range. Although she has virtually been around the world, she was born in California, relocated with her family to Washington, and nested with her husband in Oregon. In addition to playing an active role in his business endeavors, she has been involved in all aspects of their three daughters’ lives – taxi duties, cheerleading coaching, script rehearsals, and relationship counseling, to name but a few. Now she enjoys spending undisciplined time with her two young grandsons and hopes to have many more.
Although Kaylin wasn’t born with a pen in hand like so many of her talented fellow authors, she has been actively involved in both business and personal writing projects for many years. As the director of a fine art gallery, she assisted in furthering the careers of numerous visual artists who under her guidance gained recognition through promotional opportunities and in national publications. Eager to spread her own creative wings, she has since steered her energy toward writing novels. As a result, she has earned more than a dozen literary awards and was a 2008 finalist in the prestigious RWA® Golden Heart contest.
Kaylin is a member of RWA, Rose City Romance Writers, and Willamette Writers. She received her AA in Literature at Highline Community College, which originally sparked her passion for writing. In her free time, she also enjoys giving back to the community through participation and support of various charitable and educational organizations in the Pacific Northwest.
You can visit Kaylin online at www.kaylinmcfarren.com.

About Flaherty’s Crossing

From Pacific Northwest’s award-winning author Kaylin McFarren comes a powerful novel about love, loss, and the power of forgiveness…
Successful yet emotionally stifled artist Kate Flaherty stands at the deathbed of her estranged father, conflicted by his morphine-induced confession exposing his part in her mother’s death. While racing home, Kate’s car mishap leads her to a soul-searching discussion with a lone diner employee, prompting Kate to confront the true reasons her marriage hangs in the balance. When her night takes an unexpected turn, however, she flees for her life, a life desperate for faith that can only be found through her ability to forgive.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

Kaylin sat before her computer writing FLAHERTY’S CROSSING as a source of personal therapy after losing her beloved father to colon cancer. You might say she was angry at him, at God, at the world in general. However, after writing this story, she had the opportunity to really look into her soul and consider the fact that so many other sons and daughters have had to deal with similar and even worse situations. Rather than a memoir, her novel evolved into a fictional journey which brought about the resolution she needed to find. She never expected this exercise in writing to go to press, touch lives, or win literary awards. But as a result of her good fortune, she has arranged for proceeds from the sale of this book to go directly to the Providence Medical Foundation’s colon cancer research department in her father’s name. She’s now convinced and proudly shares her belief that good things can grow out of the worst times in our lives if you just take the time to open your heart.

Read the Excerpt!

The last grain of sand was about to drop in her father’s invisible hourglass and there was nothing Kate Flaherty could do to stop it. The realization launched a shudder up her spine.
She’d known this day was inevitable. Yet it still came as a shock when she’d learned only hours ago that his final days had arrived. She should have come back sooner.
No–it was his fault, not hers. She’d had every right to stay away after discovering the truth. So why did she feel remorse encroaching on her anger, his gurgling breaths draining strength from her limbs?
In his curtain-drawn bedroom, she perched on the edge of the mattress, a few inches away from what had become a mere sketch of a man. The lamp’s amber glow cast shadows across his features, accentuating how much he’d deteriorated in just under a month.
Surgery, chemo, radiation therapy. For two years, she’d watched his heavyset frame shrink with every trip to the hospital, his sixty-three year old body blast through a time warp. But never ravaged to this extent. She barely recognized the sheeted man beside her. Mussed strands of thin, ghost-white hair, matching jagged mustache, and stubbly chin were all that remained of the father she knew. He was more of a stranger than ever before.
Slowly, he lifted his eyelids and turned his face. When their gazes met, a spark of recognition flickered. “You’re here,” he rasped as he reached for her hand.
She accepted reluctantly. His palm was cold and clammy, his skin sallow and tissue-thin. She swallowed hard, wanting to pull away, but the child in her resisted, the part of her that had never stopped longing for his affection.
“Where’ve you been?” He inhaled a labored breath. “I was waiting for ya.”
“I…” A lump of guilt formed in her throat, blocking any answer.
“Is the baby ready?”
She stared at him, shocked. His words made no sense. “What, Dad?”
“We gotta go. Don’t wanna hit traffic, Iris.”
Kate’s heart plummeted before she could remind herself of what he’d done. She slipped her hand away and clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. She tried to reignite the rage she was entitled to, but he appeared so defenseless, she summoned only the foreboding of imminent loss.
She leaned toward him. His gaze fixed on the ceiling. All she had to do was say good-bye, just as she’d done countless times throughout her youth. It would be a relief– for both of them.