Synopsis

After his wife’s betrayal, Mark jumps on the first flight out, heading for Central America. He soon joins Aaron, a South African dive master, and Kendal, a quirky fellow American.

But their friendships get more complicated by the day.

Kendal finds Mark’s needy misery a welcome diversion from her problems. Her husband, Charlie, is thirty years her senior and dying, and Kendal has sought solace in the arms of Charlie’s best friend, Aaron.

Charlie may be dying, but he’s not blind, and his tickle of suspicion becomes an unbearable scratch. He’s always been Kendal’s protector, and now he must struggle with his illness and the risks of finding out the truth.

Funny, heartwarming, and tragic, this poignant story is ultimately about love, survival, and redemption as Mark, Kendal, and Aaron navigate the rough seas of life.

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Review

Life changes bring together this cast of characters to Belize, where the weather is warm, and the drinks are cold. There might even be some fish involved.

This merry band of characters’ lives intertwines whether they meant it to or not. They have formed friendships and relationships and care about one another despite everything. They may not admit it, but they do. The descriptions are breathtaking, which isn’t surprising considering the Belize setting. I can only imagine settling there, taking life one moment at a time, and not worrying about much of anything. While life isn’t finite, they are all living it to the fullest, or at least to the best of their ability.

I’m not sure if any one character stood out. They all have their flaws but are endearing at the same time. I am fascinated by Kendal’s business of creating jewelry with precious stones. It sounds intriguing, if not labor intensive.

The only thing I did not like about this book was the author’s notes at the end of each chapter. It interrupted the flow of the story for me. While some of the information was intriguing, I often skipped over that portion.

This is an enjoyable story, and we give it 3 1/2 paws up.

About the Author

Karen Winters Schwartz wrote her first truly good story at age seven. Forty-five years later her professional writing career finally began in 2010, when the first of three widely praised novels, Where Are the Cocoa Puffs?, Reis’s Pieces, and The Chocolate Debacle were published by Goodman Beck Publishing. Red Adept Publishing released Legend of the Lost Ass in 2020, and her latest novel The Vast Clear Blue in 2023. Both are richly emotional stories about love and relationships and take place in the exotic setting of Belize.

Educated at The Ohio State University, Karen and her husband moved to the Central New York Finger Lakes region where they raised two daughters and shared a career in optometry. She now splits her time between Arizona, a small village in Belize, and traveling the earth in search of the many creatures with whom she has the honor of sharing this world.

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