Distant Shores

My first book by this author.
Pretty predictable storyline, but much better writing and well developed characters, clearly make this author worth reading.

Jackson and Elizabeth (Birdie) Shore have been married for 24 years, have two children, 19 and 20 years old, and have lost parts of themselves causing a great deal of stress in their marriage. Jack is a former NFL quarterback who fell on hard times when he blew out his knee and became addicted. Birdie helped him through that and his tendency to infidelity. The story begins when Jack is working his way back in the television industry--looking for his big break. Birdie is lamenting the fact that she lost herself while putting Jack and her daughters first. Her father dies and she decides to do something about her disappearing self.

As expected, Kristin Hannah's writing is beautiful.

The Shores, fallen football star Jack, and his college sweetheart, Elizabeth "Birdy" are struggling to keep their marriage together after twenty-four years. Jack, who once was the golden boy, has struggled for the past many years to climb back to the top by way of sports anchoring at mediocre television stations across the country. Birdy, who gave up everything about herself she loved, including painting to support Jack and his dreams, has finally found a house, a town, a life where she wants to grow roots, in Echo Bay, Oregon. Of course, Jack has now been offered the job of a lifetime, in New York. Now Birdy must figure out who she is, what she is, and what's important to her: should show more she follow Jack, again, or refind herself? And Jack is left to wonder, should he give up this once-in-a-lifetime chance so that Birdy, who never can seem to make a decision, might finally do something that makes her happy?

Anyone who has ever had any lasting relationship can relate to both Birdy and Jack. Relationships can easily grow stale with age. The love may still be there, but gone is the excitement, long are the made and broken promises. In all relationships there are crossroads and Distant Shores does its best to touch on some of these. But, unfortunately, touch is all that happens.

I love the way Kristin Hannah writes, so polished, so effortless, while I liked this book and could relate to it, I didn't necessarily love Distant Shores; there just wasn't much there to sink my teeth into. For me, the most clever part of the book was the title. show less

This is one of those books that I would probably appreciate a lot more in ten years. It's the story of a marriage slowly falling apart at the seams and a woman who finds herself "passionless" and tired of waiting around for "her turn." Her husband was a promising NFL quarterback who blew out his knee and became addicted to pain-pills. Over the years he's worked his way up being a sports newscaster for different tv stations around the country. As a result she and her two kids have had to move houses time and again. Once they move into a beach cottage by Portland, Oregon he promises her they are done moving. And she's glad. She loves the view, the house. Their two daughters are in college on the east coast. Everything is going fine. Until show more her husband finally gets a big break and a huge new job in New York. Without consulting her. He's just so used to Birdie doing what he wants, that he never questions what SHE wants. Can their marriage weather this storm? Can she keep her dream home and rediscover her passions? Perfectly ok story. Ups and downs of a relationship. I think Kristin Hannah's newer stuff is a little more exciting. show less

I was in the mood for a contemporary romance, so I went to the queen of romance hoping for a homerun. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with this one.

I really enjoyed this story when it started, but the longer it went out, the longer it dragged out. I enjoyed learning about Elizabeth and Jack: how they met, their marriage, their current struggles. I liked seeing Jack as an ex-football star and trying to find himself. When he broke the story around college athletes and rape, I thought this was going to be amazing. However; it really did not focus on much besides the relationship between Jack and Elizabeth, and it did this over and over again. It dragged on way too long for what it was. I found myself ready for something else to show more happen or to capture my attention.

Jack was so selfish. I just never was routing for him. I was getting so mad with Elizabeth and wanted to scream at her. It just went back and forth with not being happy, but not making any changes or communicating about it. They never talked about their issues, just knew the both had concerns. It would have been fine if this happened once or twice, but it was the majority of the story. I feel like I could have read the first and last part, skipped the middle, and would not have missed a thing.

Yes, there were still things I enjoyed or I would not have finished it. But, I was forcing myself to finish it towards the end.

This does have triggers for rape and infidelity.

Overall, I just did not connect with this one like I have with other Kristin Hannah reads. show less

I enjoyed this one, probably because I identified with the main character in many ways. It was an easy read and with the typical relationship nuances Kristin Hannah crafts so well.

3 1/2 stars.

There were two things that kept me from giving this book four stars. First, the opening seemed to drag on and likewise I think that the length of the book itself could have been condensed.

With that said, I think that this book successfully hit many of the notes that are true for middle aged women, especially ones who have allowed the relationships in their lives to overtake any goals they have once had. I think Hannah wrote this character very truly.