Reunion Pass: An Eternity Springs novel (Eternity Springs, 11) Mass Market Paperback – April 5, 2016

Reunion Pass by Emily MarchA beautiful and touching romance. Eternity Springs is a place to relax, rejuvenate and maybe find your forever love.Small town with lots of lifetime friends and happily ever after.The author has a light touch when dealing with difficult issues. In this book, PTSD plays a huge role and pet therapy is key.This is the story of Lori and Chase. They were lovers back in her early college days, but her dedication to her goals drove him away. Now she's the only one that can reach himLots of flashbacks and memories of events of when they were together make you feel included and hopeful about this young couple.I really love visiting Eternity Spring.

At the risk of repeating myself, it was good to go home again! I just love the people there! This particular story is a little darker than earlier books in the series, and it deals with present day horrors and the effect they have on those involved. Lori and Chase were in love and in different places six years ago. She was in college and planning her future as a veterinarian, he was living his dream of photographing and experiencing life on the edge. Slowly they drifted apart, and went on with their lives. Now Lori is back home as Eternity Springs new vet, and Chase has come home with his finace, Lana, to be married in his home town. As a now world famous photographer, Chase has one more trip planned with Lana who shares his love of life on the wild side, before the wedding. Lori realizes that she still has feelings for Chase but must now accept that he has chosen someone else. When the unthinkable happens, all of Eternity Springs pulls together to support Chases' family, and Lori realizes her feelings are deeper than she thought. This story beautifully deals with the horror of PTSD and how it changes a person. Sometimes love just isn't enough. Sometimes you need a place like Eternity Springs to heal, a person like Celeste Blessing to speak wise words, and knowing that you are not alone in your despair to learn how to live again. One of my favorite Celeste-isms is "courage is a muscle that is strengthened by use", and as always it is very apropriate for this story. Have your tissues ready, you will have tears of sadness and joy during this trip!

Reunion Pass really tells two stories: Chase and Lori’s early love and how they drifted apart, and their friendship and second-chance love after Chase experiences a truly horrifying event that leaves him damaged both emotionally and physically. In a sense, that makes it a little like Dreamweaver Trail—a deeply wounded man who tries to hide from everyone and everything, and the woman who helps bring him out of it. But Reunion Pass is different from Dreamweaver Trail in significant ways. For one thing, there are a lot more flashbacks, many of which explore Chase and Lori’s first love and separation and Chase’s relationship with Lana, his fiance through much of the present part of the story. We also get some of the backstory of what happened to throw Chase into such a dark place, but the full extent of it isn’t revealed until closer to the end of the book.The tight-knit Eternity Springs community shines in this book, as they rally to support Ali and Mack Timberlake when Chase goes missing. But it’s Lori who really amazes me — how did she get so wise, so young? She has an instinctive understanding of how to help Chase heal, which is clearly based both on her love for him and on her understanding of animals. (A veterinarian, Lori has come home to take over the practice from Nic Callahan, who decided to retire to focus on her growing family.) But then, Eternity Springs has always been about healing, and Lori grew up there… and grew up listening to Celeste Blessing, a truly wise woman if ever there was one.Normally, I don’t like romances where one of the couple is involved with or worse, engaged to, someone else. But Ms. March handles Chase’s involvement with Lana extremely well. On the one hand, it’s clear that Chase never really got over Lori, and still has feelings for her. On the other hand, he doesn’t let himself dwell on them and seems committed to making things work with Lana even as I could see the cracks developing in their relationship. For her part, Lori tries to hide her pain while still being a friend. And after what happens to him, it’s so obvious that while Lana cares about Chase, she isn’t right for him (nor he for her); they’ve gone in different directions. But there’s no infidelity in the book, nothing that got my hackles up. I applaud Ms. March for successfully handling a situation that in other hands could have killed the story for me.I like Chase, and I empathize with him, even though occasionally I wanted to shake some sense into him… but I love Lori. She’s caring, brave, loyal, and determined, a steadfast friend and a wise young woman.I devoured Reunion Pass in one night. It cost me several hours of sleep I hadn’t anticipated losing, but it was worth every minute. Already, I can’t wait for book #12, Christmas in Eternity Springs, which will introduce two completely new characters to the series. It’s due out in early October.REVIEW ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED at The Bookwyrm's Hoard: [...]FTC disclosure: I received a copy from the publisher as a giveaway on Goodreads. All opinions are entirely my own.

This story of Chase Timberlake and Lori Murphy keeps you hoping that love wins. They date through high school, but drift apart during college and then life gets in the way.Chase is a famous photographer engaged to his reality series co-host. His wedding is set for Valentine's Day, however his fiance postpones the wedding for more episodes of their show. Against his instincts, Chase agrees to the trip. The trip proves to be a horrifying experience in which two crew members are killed and Chase is missing.The town of Eternity Springs gets behind the Timberlake family and townspeople with the influence and capability to find Chase. While waiting for news, Lori admits that she is still in love with Chase.When Chase returns to Eternity Springs, he is a broken man unable to talk about his experience. He agrees to set a new wedding date even though his relationship is as broken as he is.Lori believes that Chase needs therapy and takes him a puppy to foster. Chase begins to find himself while taking care of the puppy, but it is when his fiance buys him a camera, he starts to relive the horrifying experience of losing his friends while on the trip. They agree to end their relationship.Finally, Mac Timberlake, Chases father insists he help with a summer camp for children who have experienced trauma. It is during this camp and while spending time with Lori that Chase finds himself and recovers..Ultimately, love wins.

These wonderful stories just keep coming and coming!! Look forward to the next one to learn yet more about Eternity Springs. Do not miss this series

Tried to read this but gave up. It seems more suited to YA/NA readers. Loads of angst. It kept having loads of the past scenes appear all over.

I read this out of sequence because I wanted to know their story and couldn't wait until I'd read the previous books! I would recommend reading the earlier books first to get the back story. Good series.

Highly recommend the eternity springs series. Such a captivating and enjoyable read and this new edition is no exception. Such a talented author.

always good