Book of the Week: Her Sister's Shoes, Ashley Farley

Her Sister's Shoes by Ashley Farley was a fantastic read. When I had the opportunity to choose this book to review I decided right away that it interested me. I love family stories, relationships and the like, and I thought I'd enjoy learning about the three Sweeney sisters and their mama. And I definitely did.

Samantha Sweeney is the go-to sister of the family. She runs the family fish market with her mama, Lovie, and holds an air of control as best she can when it comes to the family business and her own immediate family's needs.

Things aren't all roses for Sam, though. Her son Jamie is paralyzed after an ATV accident that took his best friend's life. He's finding that he has no motivation to go on, let alone walk again, no matter what his mother tries to say or do to push him through this.

Sam's two sisters, Jackie and Faith, have their own crosses to bear.

Faith is in an abusive marriage that she won't tell anyone about. But she and her beautiful daughter Bitsy find themselves in such danger that this silence cannot last for too long.

Jackie is the sister who is supposed to have the best life of all. Married to a wealthy doctor, she shows off her wealth and so-called happiness as mom to twin teenage boys. But her husband isn't faithful, and she doesn't know exactly who knows. And at first? We don't really know if she knows. But it unravels, as betrayals do, and Farley takes us on a brilliant ride throughout.

The men in this book are strong characters. We hate Curtis (Faith's husband), as we should. We experience mixed emotions when it comes to Bill (Jackie's husband). We want to hate him for his betrayal, but we're also too concerned about the family, the boys, the situations they experience - all of it - to rush to judgment. So while I initially thought that I didn't like him, some aspects of his character grew on me.

Sam is a really strong mama. She's got an incredible support system as she works to maintain the family business, offer her sisters the support that they need, and find a way to get through to her son.

Lovie, the family matriarch, has issues of her own that the girls are struggling with. Several episodes of dementia leave them confused as to whether this is a stroke, early onset of Alzheimer's, or something far worse. Their concerns for their mother hold far more weight than their worries about the family business - and yet - without that flourishing they're unsure how they'll take care of themselves and their own.

Family runs first and foremost through this book. I've not done it justice when it comes to how it all plays out - likely because of my typical need to ensure no spoilers ruin it for you! But I really enjoyed Her Sister's Shoes. So much so that I'd love to see a follow up book down the line with updates on how the characters are doing. Especially the next generation - the Sweeney girls' children - because surely these kids will be impacted by the journey their mothers have taken to get to where they are when we meet them here

I've got one copy of this book to give away to one of my readers (US only - sorry!), and to enter I ask that you leave a comment below with your favorite book of 2015 so far. And for an additional entry, feel free to share this post on social media and bring me back a link. I'd love to see more people pop by and say you sent them.

* I received a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours. All expressed thoughts and opinions are my own. TLC Book Tours is providing me with a copy of this book to giveaway. There are affiliate links scattered throughout this post in case you want to buy your own copy of the book. *

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