RESERVATIONS FOR TWO by Anne Patrick

            This was a refreshing and delightful story.  A story that shows how two older people who have lost their spouses can find true love again.  Maggie O’Brien is a spunky 62 year old widow who has traveled to Mason Spring, New Mexico.  It is where she and her late husband had spent their honeymoon 39 years ago and a place where she wants to find closure and a time to move on with her life.  Carson Jennings is a 65 year old former district judge who has lost his wife to cancer after 35 years of marriage.  These two people had good marriages, loved and loved well and weren't looking or expecting to meet anyone to spend the rest of the lives with again, but God works in wonderful and mysterious ways.

Maggie finds herself roller blading and falling and finding Carson there to help her up.  There is so much though that goes into this scenario before that happens and it was fun to listen to their thought processes and see how this humble beginning turns into a delightful relationship that results in a great story.    Maggie has a lot of quick whit about her and Carson had good comebacks to her every time and you could just see they were a good fit for each other.  This book hit a special place in my heart.  You don’t often read romantic stories where the two main characters are in their retirement years, and maybe since I am close to that stage in my own life is meant more to me, but I would like to think anyone of any age could enjoy this story and find a real blessing in reading it.  The other people that Maggie and Carson come to meet while in Mason Spring, New Mexico were also a blessing and the way they all came together at the end was a joy.  There was humor, tenderness, joy and sorrow all wrapped up in a lovely story that was a blessing to read.

Some of may favorite lines; when asked how Maggie made her marriage work for 39 years, she said, “A lot of understanding on my part and whole lot of patience on his.”  (How true that is in all good marriages.) And when a good friend asked Maggie if she missed her late husband I loved her response, “I do miss him, very much.  But I take comfort in knowing he is in a place where he’s wanted to be all his life.  Walking in the garden with Jesus.”  Maggie loved thinking of her late husband talking face to face with the person he had committed his whole life to serving.  I just appreciated the spiritual refreshment this book was to me.  Great job Ann Patrick!