Heaven Adjacent

While Pay It Forward is one of my favorite movies, reading Allie And Bea shattered my mind, so it was no wonder I nearly jumped from joy when this book landed in my hands. And once again, I am sitting here, humbled and in awe by a brilliant story, the clever plotting, and the characters whom will stay with me, destinies and lives that touched my heart, life-lessons that had a profound impact on me. Such an inspiring, uplifting, real, and raw story about life, priorities, relationships, family, and friends.
At first, I wondered why the timeline was chopped up and the story went back and forth within three to four years, but as the story unfolds, it all starts to make sense, and I turned to appreciate it being presented as it was, so I could understand the nuances and tones of the events.
Roseanna Chaldecott's struggle to find peace, to realize her true life goals, her needs, the bare necessities she needed to be happy, and the priorities she would and could set in her life, is a journey and a battle that will make the reader evaluate and ponder on their own life as well, if they allow the story to touch their minds and hearts.
Her relationships have always been distant, keeping people at the arm's length, even her son. The patching of the most important connection in her life, to Lance, while finding her true self, was eye-opening and inspiring. The story shows repeatedly, how people are capable of change, or refind themselves when the core values are recognized and set in place.
What do you really need to be happy? How much material things do you really need to live a satisfying life? Are things, success, being right, winning the argument, being the best more important than inner peace, meaningful relationships, deep connection to the people surrounding you? Contentment, joy, and peace of mind, or being busy, dealing, and wheeling through life?
Each one of the cast and crew in the book contributes with their unique stories, their unique way of life and living, their character, highlighting some of the major characteristics in most of us.
This story gives hope, it encourages to look deep inside and embrace what you find. It reassures that there is still goodness in people, it cheers you to re-define what makes you satisfied in life, what family means to you, and how happiness is not tight to the material possessions.
If read with an open mind, this heartening story just might change your way of thinking or at least give you a new aspect to the outlook of life.
~ Five Spoons!

Heaven Adjacent is a thought provoking novel filled with quirky characters.

Roseanna is a high flying attorney until she up and leaves it and everyone behind. A life changing moment happens when her attorney friend Alice dies before she can experience the joy of retirement and doing all those fun relaxing things she plans to do. However Roseanna leaves behind one irate partner in the business who isn't impressed by her departure. He plans revenge! I didn't like him at all!

When Roseanna settles down on a farm she just comes across she finds that there are already some people living on her property and along come more. As well her son finds her because of a reporter who stops by and writes about what Roseanna has been involved in along with the little girl on the property.

Over a few years Rosie finds herself being challenged and while what might have began as a 'pretend' living off the land, becomes a reality. She finds out that it is not too late to change and to become the someone she would like to be towards herself and others.

There's an old man, a dog and a horse with a mind of its own, a young man with no where to go until now and a little girl who is persistent but low key.

There are poignant moments and moments filled with humour. And times where family really counts.

"Maybe everything deteriorates in time, and maybe that doesn't make it any less worth having it while it lasts."
This is a novel that many need to read and really look at the message given.
A brilliant book that I actually felt I was living in. The details of the land and the feelings of each character described was amazing.
Rosanna- a NYC attorney gets into her car one morning after losing her "best friend" who dies suddenly, and drives until she runs out of gas. She finds herself in a small country town and decides then and there, that she has had enough of the pressures and noise in her life.
She moves into a tiny rundown cabin on a large piece of property. She finds a whole new world, relationships and happiness that she never had embraced before. It wasn't easy lessons to learn, until she accepted and opened her heart.
Definitely a terrific story!

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.

Have you ever wanted to completely change your life? If you had the chance, could you ?
Roseanna and Alice have been best friends since college, they stared a successful law practice together and both have beautiful homes and cars and all things material, but they are truly workaholics, saving up all their fun for retirement ! Unfortunately Alice dies suddenly and this changes Roseanna, she gets in the car and drives to a remote location and decides to stop and live there ! She trades everything in to live simply, a one room cabin , and lots of land ! That comes with a eclectic group of squatters !
One day her son Lance shows up , they had never been particularly close with Roseanna working all the time , they start to develop a relationship and I loved that storyline !
I loved this story and Roseanna ‘s strength to change her live that drastically and I don’t know if I could ever do that, but I’d sure love to try !
Catherine Ryan Hyde Thank you for this story that will resonate in me for a long time !

When Roseanna’s friend, Alice, died, Roseanna was changed forever. The two of them had been best friends and workaholics. Alice took her overworking habits, however, to an extreme. She never took a vacation. Alice was saving her money for early retirement. The problem was, though, that Alice never got the chance to enjoy her savings, before she died. That incredibly, sad fact, changed Roseanna. So even though Roseanna was a successful senior partner in a Manhattan law firm, she walked away; leaving everything behind.

Roseanna bought a tiny rundown house, on seventy acres of land. What Roseanna thought she wanted most in the world was peace, quiet and solitude. But what she discovered made her happy, was something, entirely different.

Roseanna was flawed. She had a problem being intimate with people. She kept everyone, including her thirty-year-old son, at arm’s length. But, something magical happened on her country farmland, which made her rethink everything.

Heaven Adjacent is an emotional and touching story about relationships, forgiveness and finding happiness. Most people understand that happiness comes from within. It also comes from sharing one’s life with others, showing kindness, and helping those in need. Roseanna discovered that when she let go of her rigid, and selfish ways, something beautiful happened, so magical, that she would pay any amount of money, to keep it. Heaven Adjacent is a well-written, thought-provoking, and humorous story. I loved it.

Thank you, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley, for my advanced review copy.

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.

*I voluntarily reviewed this book from Netgalley

With over thirty books, Catherine Ryan Hyde's fan base is deep. There are probably few who don't remember the movie Pay It Forward which is based on her book by the same title; her novel Take Me With You is a favorite of mine. Hyde is a story-teller, plain and simple--her novels may not be high art, but the stories are compelling. Heaven Adjacent is no different.

Manhattan lawyer Roseanna Chaldecott has walked away from everything: her established law firm, apartment in the city, friends, and family. With the clothes on her back and a few things thrown in the back of her Maserati, she heads for the hills (literally) and runs out of gas next to a piece of property with a FOR SALE sign posted in the yard. The house (if you can call it that) is barely two rooms, unheated save for a wood stove. There's an even smaller out-building and an unoccupied barn. Perfect for someone who wants to escape from the stress of modern life--for someone who wants quiet. Peace. Freedom. And little, if any, human interaction.

Except that's hardly how it played out for Roseanna.

Before she knew it, Roseanna has a young veteran camping in the woods by the creek, a mother and her five-year-old daughter squatting in the out-building, and an elderly man living on her Adirondack retreat. Her estranged son shows up on her doorstep. Add a dog and an old horse and you see how things weren't going as she planned.

Roseanna fled New York broken-hearted and shaken: her best friend and law partner Alice died of a massive stroke at fifty-three. Alice, like Roseanna, was working full tilt, waiting for the day she could retire. And then ... gone. The work? The sacrifice? All for nothing. Roseanna becomes an evangelist, of sorts, nudging others to ask themselves: am I really happy? As you can imagine, that peace and quiet suddenly becomes less and less important, and Roseanna's relationships with Nelson and Patty and Willa and Martin and Lance become what she was seeking all along.

I had only one reservation. Hyde seems, at times, to use Roseanna as her own mouthpiece, and it comes off a bit didactic, even though fitting with the story. I want my characters to be human beings in their own right, not the writer's proxy. But because I loved the story, I could forgive that flaw.

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.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.

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.

Reading through Roseanna’s experiences made me want to unplug. To walk away from the things we feel so attached to, the lifestyle we feel we can’t survive without. I can remember a time when my life wasn’t dictated by emails or social media, the ding of a notification on my cell phone. When waiting for a loved one’s letter was the highlight of my day, or hearing someone’s voice over a tinny phone line filled my soul with love and appreciation.

But it’s never easy. I really appreciate how honest and real Roseanna is, in her quest to let go of her attachments and go in peace. While she’s trying to find a new norm, we discover that she’s also finding a new norm within her psyche. There are struggles and gains to be made when you’re trying find out who you really are without society’s views on that, without your own ideas and opinions that are now changing and evolving. It was beautifully told and masterfully woven in, so the changes we see in Roseanna are subtle and raw and we feel as though we’re going through those changes with her. That, her quest has given us a new perspective on how we’re living our own lives.

There was so much I could identify with. Roseanna’s need to be. Her relationships, particularly the dynamic with her son. The need to be left alone, but not really. The search for balance in an otherwise chaotic world, and how, even in its most simplistic form, life can still throw wrenches into plans, since ultimately, it really is all relative. And, that the people who enter your world, the ones you would have never counted on, end up becoming the people you count on the most, changing your life in ways you'd never imagined, in the best and worst ways possible.

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

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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.

HEAVEN ADJACENT by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a beautifully-written and thought-provoking story of love, friendship and life lessons that is told with honesty, humor and empathy. The main character, Roseanna Chaldecott, is a driven and successful attorney living the high life in Manhattan when her law partner and closest friend dies unexpectedly. Shocked and suddenly feeling adrift, Roseanna escapes from everything in her rigid life including her law firm, clients, home and even her son. She settles on a run-down farm in a small country town and attempts to live on her own with only the bare necessities. Although she seeks only peace and solitude, she ends up coming in contact with a cast of diverse and interesting characters and the story unfolds through her interactions with these colorful people. The author incorporates many important themes while keeping a perfect balance of happy and sad moments along with a little bit of mystery that kept me fully engaged from start to finish. I truly enjoyed this heartfelt and hopeful story of self-acceptance and finding out what is really important in life. I highly recommend HEAVEN ADJACENT and look forward to whatever comes next from Catherine Ryan Hyde. Her books are always a delight.

Rosanna has a high-powered job and everything that money can buy but when her best friend passes away suddenly, Rosanna has second thoughts about the life she is living. On a drive outside of the city, she comes upon a run-down farm that calls her name. A place to be alone and rethink her life. But after buying it, she finds she is not alone. Other people are drawn to her little piece of heaven too. And when her son shows up on her doorstep, wondering what has gotten into her, she isn’t sure how to answer. Can she return to her empty city life, or is the little farm her destiny?

Beautifully written, heartfelt, sometimes humorous, honest. These words describe this latest story by Catherine Ryan Hyde. She touches a nerve here, giving the reader something to think about. Are you living your life to its fullest? Rosanna isn’t sure she is, and we follow her as she struggles with the changes going on around her. Changes occurring by her recent loss, by the people who are now surrounding her, by her trying to reconnect with her grown son. But the author does this in a way that entertains, makes you smile, and maybe even cry. This is Catherine Ryan Hyde at her best. Highly recommended.

**Many thanks to Netgalley for this review copy.**

I've only read a few of Catherine's book, but they strike me as being deep stories about the strength and struggle of family. This book is no different.

We've got Roseanna, a New York attorney, a partner in her firm, a clearly successful woman who suddenly runs away from home and refuses to go back. Her law partner and best friend had died suddenly. The woman had been working herself to the bone for years so she could retire early and then just dropped dead.

Roseanna was heartbroken, but I think also afraid of the same happening to her. She buys a farm on a whim, and moves right in. Giving up many luxuries, but finding that she can live without a lot of them just fine.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this story. I'm sorry to have to leave Rosie's farm. I'm quite satisfied, though. Reading one of Catherine's books is like eating a hearty comfort food meal. Grab a copy, she keeps her prices pretty low for how well she writes.

Roseanna leaves New York and moves to a totally different life in the country. Why? And can she survive the reactions of those she leaves behind?

A bird tapping on Roseanna's window opens her eyes to change needed in her life, and there and then she makes a drastic decision. As Roseanna's reasons for this massive lifestyle change become clear, so through Roseanna's eyes the reader is shown lots of interesting ideas on what makes people happy, alongside a great story with lots of interesting characters.

A thought provoking, and often fun, book about what heaven on earth can look like - and how different it may be to initial ideas. Naturally acceptance of what is right for one person might be totally wrong for another is included. A wonderful and uplifting novel.

4*s from me, as there were quite a few time changes in the novel, which I found confusing. However I just accepted them so they did not detract too much from the story.

There is a great list of discussion points at the end of the book, so definitely recommended for Book Clubs.

I was sent this book by the publisher, Lake Union Publishing. My ratings and reviews will be my own personal opinions and are in no way influenced by publishers or authors who may have sent me books to review.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is becoming one of my must read authors, and I want to read everything she has written. I had previously read Allie and Bea and I loved it. When I saw she had a new book coming out, I knew I was going to give it a try.

I love how the author really makes you think when you are reading her stories. Although, this was very entertaining, this was so much more than that! This makes you really take a step back and think what do you really need in your life? What do you need in your life to make you happy? This is one of those stories that will stick with you much longer than just when you end that last page.

I will say this was a little slower start for me, but I highly recommend pushing though as it was worth it in the end.

Overall, this is another home run for me as I loved it.

~ Catherine Ryan Hyde’s writing is so smooth, it’s practically lyrical. I’ve said it before and she’s done it again; it feels as if she’s sitting in front of you telling a story. I laughed (out loud in a fairly full commuter train) and my eyes Wells more than once. That is an incredible gift.

“People come into our lives, she thought, and it’s not always a forever kind of thing, and not always meant to be. Not every deal is for keeps.”
Roseanna was fed up with her life as a big city attorney. She needed a change. She basically wanted off the grid; not wanting her former colleagues and even her son to know she was leaving, she just up and went. Where? She didn’t know. Until she came across some land with a tiny dilapidated farmhouse for sale. Happy to live with the bare minimum, she made an offer. Away from the city and all its suffocation. The little farmhouse had its own issues though. But still, she was free. That is, until she was found and soon there were knocks on her door she was not expecting.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a fantastic book about a woman realizing what is important in her life.......money and possessions or peace of mind and tranquility. Roseanna is a successful NY attorney, her best friend and founding partner in their law firm dies unexpectedly 2 years before she plans to retire and live life. Roseanna has trouble making herself get out of bed and go to work every day until one day she decides to "run off" and she sees things in a whole new light. This book is one of the best I've read this year. Enjoy reading a can't put down book!

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

This is an excellent book! The story is very well developed and the characters come to life page after page! I've read most of Catherine Ryan Hyde's books and this is one of the best. We all have choices in our lives and some are more difficult to make than others, however, we should respect each other's decisions. Great story which makes you think , what choice would I make ? if I were in a similar situation. Highly recommend this book!

And that's certainly the case with this novel. Gosh, I wish I could write even 1/8th as well as Ms. Hyde. The story isn't just about the protagonist, Roseanna. In many respects, I felt the interlopers on her property shared that spotlight and when Roseanna's son arrives on the scene, well move over everyone, there's still lots of space for his character to make a lasting impression on the reader. Delightful book.

I anxiously awaited this book coming out as I really like this author's work. This book had many insights into life, love, and mostly self-awarenexs. The subject matter is very close to where I am in life and Hyde has a way of making her characters out into words perspectives and truths hard to express. Each book is more well-written than the one before. Like her characters,the author never stops growing.

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

Loved this book! Maybe because I'm considering retirement in the future, but it really shines a light on figuring out what's important and - generally speaking - it's not your job (unless you're saving people or animals). Character development was fabulous - I would love to meet so many of these people and see the farm. A totally satisfying read - Catherine Ryan Hyde at her best!

Catherine Ryan Hyde never fails to deliver a story that feeds and heals your soul. This story hit me right in the gut. It is so relevant to today’s world I suspect that folks will quit their jobs and run out to find their own Heaven Adjacent. I read a lot, and while I enjoy all the heavy hard hitting historical fiction and mystery suspense to a point, I savor CRH books to clear the harder images and put me back in a happy place. Thanks for another great read!!!

The story started out good but we never really got to know the squatters especially the young woman and her daughter or much about what they did all day. The relationship between mother and son got old and the ending was disappointing. Would have liked to have read more about what they did on the farm and how their lives were improved as well as the buildings. I didn't really care for the way her boss was deceived.

I would have enjoyed this read even more. Fanciful.....fun conversation.....wonderful outcome. Enjoyed all the characters.....I lost a friend who had been in my life for over 55years so I can see why Roseanne was thrown so badly by the loss of Alice. It would be so awesome if everyone had the same options as Roseanne but that's not reality. Even so a good read.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is a fantastic author. Her books always keep me thinking well after I have read the last page. Her stories always have such strong characters but characters with real flaws that you can relate to. You never want her books to end and I can never put them down once I start reading and I always find myself sharing her stories with my friends.

Enjoyable book. I have always liked Catherine Ryan Hyde. It is fun to see the interaction between Roseanne and all the new people who unexpectedly came into her life. The solitude she thought she was looking for turned instead into a life changing experience that she could never have anticipated. Renewing her relationship with her so positively was her heaven.

Reading Catherine Ryan Hyde's characters is an experience similar to spending time with people from the old neighborhood; not necessarily best friends, just people who can share common experiences. The focus of the story in Heaven Adjacent is just how much does one need to be happy with lots of fingers pointing towards a minimalist kind of life - which I found easy to learn towards.

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.

As always, Hyde tugs my heart and reaches into my soul in this story about finding real meaning and purpose in life that isn't about material wealth and how it's never too late to do an about face with your life. Loved the complexity and humor of Roseanna and how her sudden departure from her old self brought rewards and mended relationships she thought were lost and beyond repair.