(88) Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier

It was hard for me to switch gears from The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest to The Season of Second Chances. They are about as different as two books can get, but let me tell you. Once I really let myself get submerged into Joy's world, emotions bubbled to the surface that I never expected.

When Joy Harkness accepts a position at Amherst College she didn't realize that she was also giving up the shield of anonymity that New York City so graciously offered. Life in Amherst is so different than what she is accustomed to that the change of pace is almost more than Joy can handle. The nice little boundaries she has set for herself over the years come crashing down when her co-workers drag her into friendship and her General Contractor becomes her lover.

As time passes and Joy's role in her makeshift family becomes more defined she starts to realize what happiness is and that letting down those boundaries is okay.

Joy was a character that I was able to identify with in a way that I have not done in quite some time. She is a strong woman successful in her career. It isn't until she moves to Amherst & she becomes part of a community that she realizes what she has been missing all this time. And for her it is a scary realization. I started thinking back to the friends in my adult life and I realize that they are all people I met through my career. And I see that if it weren't for those people who pulled me into their lives outside of work, that I easily could have been just like Joy. Alone. It was eye opening for me.

I am giving The Season of Second Chances a "Best of " tag because I was moved to tears. I don't remember the last time a book has evoked such emotion in me. I think that makes it worthy of the "Best of" list, don't you?