A lovely story, realistically written, based on the strong emotions of all the characters involved in an 'open adoption.'
The reaching out of the young biological mother, the tentative reaction of the daughter, and the fear of the adoptive mother are interwoven throughout the fascinating story.
A secondary plot is introduced of a dear old man bookstore owner whose illness introduces the love interest of Bella.
A lovely realistic story: you will feel you really know these characters.
I received this book for free from a giveaway on Goodreads.
This book is one of those rare pieces that leave your heart smiling. Right off the bat, when you learn about Bella's daughter, that she was basically forced into giving up for adoption as a young teen, you can sympathize with her. You can feel her emotions, and she comes to life as if she were one of your close friends or family members. That is how all the characters in this book felt. They felt personal. I salute the author for a job well done in such an area that can be difficult to achieve in writing.
Love. Let's talk about love. It could be found everywhere in this book. It wasn't just your basic cut and dry romance novel either. It was so much more than that. You have two characters who are hesitant to fall in love because of past experiences, but find out that they can't deny what is meant to be. You have family love. Destiny, you find, is loved by her adoptive parents tremendously. Her adoptive mother loves her so much, that she is fearful of losing her to her birth mother. Then you have Bella, who still has a mountain of love for Destiny, and she finally has a second chance to be a maternal figure in her life.
This story is one that breeds hope, resiliency, and an appreciation for others. As an author, Kate Vale has a unique style and voice. An author that can create such personal characters is one I admire, and is also an author that I will look up to and read more from in the future.
This was a delightful, satisfying read. Vale has dealt with important subjects and done so with style. I loved how she wove together the longer term implications of placing a child for adoption with facing how life offers unexpected opportunities to find happiness. Through all of those human adventures are the many ways we navigate relationships--with family, friends, and our own fears and dreams. I recommend it--for a good read and with potential for a good discussion about what moving on from difficulty really includes.
Bella receives a letter that changes the course of her life -- the adoptive father of her child, given up when she was just sixteen, as given her permission to get in contact with Destiny now that she is 21. The last time Bella had heard anything from the Harris', Destiny was five....there were supposed to be regular letters and pictures, but silence for 16 years.
This is another of Kate Vale's solid and intriguing romance stories with excellent character development and a plot that many adoptive parents, those who have given babies up for adoption, or those who have been adopted -- will resonate with.
The tensions that wind through the book -- Destiny's relationship with her adoptive mother -- Bella's relationship with her own mother -- and of course the pain that Vanessa feels when Destiny says she wants a relationship with Bella -- are well written.
Of course -- there is the romance angle as well.....why is Bella so afraid of a relationship? Read it and find out!
Though I'm not a huge fan of romance novels, I have thoroughly enjoyed the ones written by Kate Vale. The story lines are complex and intriguing.
This is a heart-warming, happily-ever-after story. We’d all be lucky to live among these characters.
What if life destiny gave you a second chance to get to know someone? That is what this story is all about, a second chance at love but not in the way you're thinking.
Isabella, Bella, Campbell small town librarian who loves kids and her friends dearly. When she was a teenager, she was forced into a decision she didn't want to make, to give up her child. She is given a chance to get to know her daughter as a adult.
Destiny knew she was adopted and now that she's a adult she has had contact with her birth mother and she's nervous and excited to get to know her. Destiny and her mom are at odds, a relationship that is typical of any mother-daughter pair.
Vanessa is Destiny's mom and though this story is about Bella, her story is just as strong. Vale does a wonderful job at bringing the emotions of three different women into this story. Bella, meeting a new man and meeting her daughter for the first time. Both or a new love, even though Bella has loved her child all these years, she gets to know her and love the real her.
Vanessa, scared that her daughter will no longer love her, but chose her birth mother over her. She holds onto Destiny tighter than any child wants.
And Destiny loves her mom but is clashing with her over everything. Grows to love Bella, but has to learn understand her mom's feelings too.
This is a very emotional tugging story, anyone who reads this will not be able to walk away without feeling something. As a mother, I could not imagine having to make such a choice. No matter the age carrying a person inside you for 9 months changes you and having to put your child up for adoption, whether it's for the best or not, doesn't stop you from loving them or wondering about their life.
Vale has done a great job at showing these three women growing in their own right and becoming a family.
*I received a free copy of this book from the author, this in no way impacts my following review.
Destiny's Second Chance was kind of hard to read sometimes - not because it was badly written but because it is poignant and both heartbreaking and heartwarming featuring a rather complex topic. From a teenage pregnancy to being pretty much forced to adopt her baby out by her harsh and totally unsupportive parents, Bella has been through the grinder - but she builds a life for herself. And she gets her second chance to reunite with the daughter she was forced to let go.
There are a lot of emotional ups and downs in this story and Ms. Vale handles them extremely well. Ms. Vale routinely manages to write the human aspect of her stories superbly and it shows. As the story unfolded you could feel the way the characters felt - the fear, elation, distrust, regret, sadness, acceptance and love in all its forms. None of the characters were perfect or without problems, they were all human and dealt with their situations as best they could. This was Bella and her daughter, Destiny's story but there is also Destiny's adoptive parents - the Harris' who I think were also important to mention. And for you romance lovers there is plenty of that between Bella and Gavin (which I am pleased to say did not overwhelm Bella and Destiny's story). It's an emotional ride, but well worth it.
At its core this story really is about second chances in life, love and family. And who doesn't love a second chance story?
Pregnant at sixteen, Bella had been forced into putting her baby up for adoption by disapproving parents, then out of the blue nearly twenty years later, she receives a letter from the adoptive father granting permission for her to contact her (now adult) biological child directly.
This is such a complex topic, but I thought it was handled very well. All the characters involved (biological mother, child, adoptive parents) had mixed feelings about the renewed contact between Bella and her child Destiny, but the way in which they expressed them really exemplified just how complex the characters were, each having good and bad traits, but doing the best they could with the situations they were given.
This story of reunion between mother and child played out alongside the romance between Bella and Gavin (the nephew of an elderly friend). Great story that really keeps you invested in the characters!
This story was previously published as Bella's Destiny.
Two decades ago, librarian Isabella Campbell made the wrenching decision as a young, unwed mother to put her newborn child up for adoption. Though Bella wanted to keep her daughter, her rigid and disapproving parents insisted that a child needed both a mother and a father, not a single, inexperienced, teenage mother. Bella reluctantly agreed, but only if she was allowed to receive regular updates from the adoptive parents. The parents complied for a short period of time, but then Bella heard nothing more from them.
Upon returning home from a business trip, Bella finds a letter from her daughter’s adoptive father, Nolan Harris, giving her permission to contact Destiny, who is now twenty-one. Bella is instantly thrown into emotional turmoil, thrilled yet very apprehensive. Would Destiny even want to meet or talk to her? Had her daughter’s adoptive mother, who had always disapproved of keeping Bella in their lives, continue to be a roadblock? And why had Nolan Harris chosen this moment in time to contact her after all these years?
With a deft hand, author Kate Vale weaves this stressful, yet welcome complication into the daily events of Bella’s busy life—the distressing illness of a close friend who runs a local bookstore, the difficult relationship with her mother, who has never let Bella forget about her “little mistake”, and, of course, the new romantic interest in Bella’s life, Gavin, the nephew of her elderly ill friend. The result is a compelling novel rich in detail, heart-warming in its delicate yet realistic portrayal of the impact of adoption on all the lives it touches.
Vale has a real talent for drawing characters one wants to get to know, and for understanding the emotional impact of the events that shape our lives. Destiny’s Second Chance draws the reader in from the very beginning, providing a thoughtful and satisfying story about people who feel like close friends. Life is messy, and life-altering decisions are never just good or bad, but rather create a mixture of emotions that run the gamut from satisfaction that one perhaps made the right decision, to guilt or despair over the toll that decision has taken in the intervening years. Vale understands this, and has described these conflicting emotions beautifully.
This book will stay with readers long after they put it down. Highly recommended for those who enjoy women’s fiction and stories of family relationships.
I opened Destiny’s Second Chance with confidence because I’d already read other works by Kate Vale, but I was enchanted by how very much I was pulled immediately into an engaging story of adoption, resilience, reconciliation, and making a future rich with promise.
Pregnant as a teen, Bella placed her newborn child Destiny for adoption largely due to the harsh insistence of her father and then, with determination, created a life. Never, did she forget the daughter who was loved and raised by other parents. A letter twenty-one years later opened a door to bring birth mother and child together. As the story unfolds, a group of interesting, colorful characters come together in much the way that life usually does.
Memory, contemporary moments, an eye to the future all interconnect as Bella, Destiny, Gavin, and many more people help shape a new story of how love unfolds. Fear and uncertainty give way to the confidence and acceptance that true love offers us all.
With the story set mostly in Washington State, Vale’s description of life here captured the spirit of the northwest. Woven through it all are the many threads of regret and ‘lately realized’ insights about how actions have long-term repercussions. As her characters discovered about themselves and others, Vale gave me insight into how people come to terms with significant sadness, betrayal, and loss. Finding and making peace with reality was often the stepping off point for them to find courage to accept the adventure of life.
Destiny’s Second Chance showcases how many second chances come in life. Mothers, daughters, friends, colleagues, and more faced changed circumstances that presented opportunities to create a new future. All in all, ‘twas a very satisfying read.