If you like Abby Jimenez, Jodi Picoult, Kristin Hannah, Hannah Bonam-Young, or Rebecca Yarros (contemporary romance version), you should read this book.

In this book, Catherine Ryan Hyde explores multiple big topics such as adoption, blended families, loss of parents, and victims of natural disasters in this general fiction with a side romance.


⚠️MILD SPOILER SUMMARY⚠️
Alex and Maggie run a Doctor on Wheels which is a mobile doctor’s office that deploys to locations of natural disasters and provides victims with free urgent medical care. When deploying for a hurricane, Maggie meets two young girls with pneumonia who lost their parents in the hurricane. When the girls have no where to go, Maggie takes them in as a foster placement and adopts them. Only hiccup? Maggie already has two teenage angsty girls that want nothing to do with Maggie our her new daughters.

thank you to netgalley & lake union publishing for this arc!

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY ↡
📗 literary fiction
🫶🏻 found family
👭 teenage daughters
🧑‍🧒‍🧒 blended family

REVIEW ↡
i have found that i love catherine ryan hyde’s books!! this was my second book written by her, the first was HAVE YOU SEEN LUIS VELEZ? and i loved that one too. i found maggie’s story to be very heartwarming and compelling. i’m sure anyone with teenage daughters would appreciate sentiments about this book. the concept was far-fetched at times and there was an opportunity to add more depth, so i did take off a star for that. otherwise, it was a quick read and i loved it!

Catherine Ryan Hyde never disappoints! I loved this heartfelt and thought-provoking novel. Highly recommended if you are fond of emotional story telling

A feel good story from Catherine Ryan Hyde. I know I can pick up a book from her and I will be immersed in the story. All the emotions from beginning to end.

Rolling Toward Clear Skies is another amazing story by the author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

I really enjoyed this story, especially reading about Maggie's daughters' gradual change with the new circumstances in their lives. Yes, sometimes I wanted to slap them a few times for their entitled persona, but in the end, they were teenagers behaving like teenagers, always creating problems for their poor mother, who only wanted to do her best.

Maggie is dedicated to helping people in disaster situations she travels around helping as much as she can until she finds two girls who lost everything their parents and even grandparents who are unable even to know what to do with them, that's when Maggie steps in to help these two girls to find a suitable place to live finally becoming part of her own family,

The process as you can imagine was complicated having already two girls who were at the worst age of their lives making this harder for her but in the end finally understood why these things happened and why her mother did what she did.

this was a great story I enjoyed so much, every time I start a story by the author I immediately feel transported to a movie where all the characters start to come alive.

I'm still enjoying the characters, the story all that was wonderful i recommend this magnificent book.

Thank you, Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing, for the advanced copy of Rolling towards clear skies in exchange for my honest review.

Rolling Toward Clear Skies by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a heartfelt and thought-provoking novel about family, resilience, and the power of human connection. Maggie Blount, a California physician, is forced to put her life on hold to help in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane in rural Louisiana. As Maggie bonds with two orphaned sisters, her life—and the lives of her own daughters—are forever changed. Hyde masterfully explores themes of empathy, gratitude, and personal growth, highlighting the complexities of blended families and the challenges of redefining one’s sense of home and belonging. A poignant and inspiring story of healing and transformation.

Maggie is a single mother of two daughters. She is a doctor and can lavishly provide for her family. Giving children whatever they want can have undesired consequences like an air of entitlement and this weighs heavily on Maggie as her daughters lack humility. Something has to be done, but if nothing changes, nothing changes. Along with her live in love interest, RN Alex, they travel where disaster strikes. On site of a hurricane, Maggie encounters 2 sisters that have just lost their parents and feels an immediate bond. The contrast between the two pairs of sisters is striking. Feeling the need to give the girls a home, she adopts them. Navigating the dynamics of this new blended family is a splendid read.

CRH has a way of writing heartfelt stories that are full of depth and relatable without being too sugary sweet.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an early copy.

Rolling Towards the Clear Blue Sky is a heartfelt novel about family, sacrifice, and personal growth. The story follows Maggie and her partner Alex, who are both medical professionals. They work together at a disaster site after a hurricane devastates a town. While there, they meet two orphaned girls, and Maggie feels an immediate connection to them. She decides to take them in and care for them, even though she already has her own family at home. However, her decision causes tension with her two daughters, who are spoiled and selfish.

Maggie is a truly caring person, always thinking of others before herself. She is willing to take on the responsibility of these two orphaned girls, even though it creates conflict with her own children. However, her daughters don’t seem to understand or care about the girls’ pain and loss. Instead, they focus on how Maggie’s decision affects their lives. As a reader, it’s hard not to feel frustrated with them—they seem so selfish and entitled, especially when they can’t see beyond their own desires.

One of the most realistic parts of the book is how Maggie’s daughters eventually admit they were wrong. However, even at the end of the book, you can still feel that they haven’t fully changed. As the saying goes, “a leopard can’t change its spots.” They still have a lot of growing up to do and need to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around them. This adds a level of realism to the story because, in real life, people don’t always change overnight.

What I appreciated about the book was the way it highlighted Maggie’s struggle to blend her family and care for the orphaned girls. She’s a good person who tries her best, but her own children make it difficult. The story shows how hard it can be to deal with family conflicts, especially when it feels like some people just can’t understand what you’re trying to do.

Overall, Rolling Towards the Clear Blue Sky is a touching story about love, family, and the challenges of raising children who don’t always appreciate what they have. It’s easy to root for Maggie and Alex because of their selflessness, but the way the author portrays Maggie’s daughters makes the story feel very real. It reminds us that growing up and learning empathy isn’t always an easy process, especially for teenagers who feel entitled. This book is a great read for anyone who enjoys stories about family struggles and personal growth. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

This was a good story, I just don't think it was one I would rave about. It did hold my attention, but I just didn't get really engrossed in this book like I do some.

Thank you, Net Galley, and Lake Union Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

What a great book! I am a great fan of Catherine Ryan Hyde and was thrilled to read this book. She has an amazing ability to draw her readers into her stories and provide thought provoking situations, relatable and realistic characters, and a unique ability to convey emotions. Thanks so much #NetGalley #LakeUnion

Maggie Blount runs a Doctors on Wheels program that assists those needing medical attention after a devastating disaster. When she is called to a hurricane, she meets teenaged sisters, Jean and Rose, polite young women that lost their family. Deciding to foster the two, she takes them home to meet her own entitled teenaged daughters. Needless to say, things did not go well. Has Maggie made a terrible error in judgement, or will the four ever get along? Once again, Hyde writes a heart tugging story. A story of family and what matters most. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I absolutely love Catherine Ryan Hyde. My favorite book so far is "When I Found You". I find that she writes such depth to her characters, and weaves an emotional beautiful story using ordinary people. However, this one did not affect me like previous novels that she has written.

I found that I had a difficult time connecting to Maggie. While I appreciated and understood her need to take care of the two orphaned girls- Jean and Rose- I felt that the journey that this story was presented seemed a little forced and contrived. Maggie is nurturing, patient and kind to the fostered girls- but doesn't treat her own daughters, Willan and Gemma, this well. Thus, Jean and Rose come across in such a positive, humble light while Willa and Gemma are very unlikable. There are reasons for their attitude, but it seemed way too contrived that suddenly everything becomes roses and sunshine. It did not feel like an authentic story of growth. The depth in the characters that I usually see in her writing felt forced- like polar opposites. I think this was written this way so that we could see how far they came to becoming a family.

I have been reading books by this author for years. She always picks complex topics and includes life lessons for her characters and this book was no different. Maggie is a doctor who helps in disasters. She ends up bringing home 2 teenage girls who lost their parents in a hurricane. Her own two teenage daughters are very spoiled and extremely unaccepting of the new girls. This was a great story about the kind of children that are being raised to have and expect everyone to just give them everything they want. What happens when you love your kids but you don't really like them? I loved the beginning and the concept of the story. It was a great topic and something that people really need to think about. We try to give our kids everything they want and to save them from experiencing pain, but then they don't grow into nice people who care about the world and others. How can we change that? As a teacher who works with middle school students, this was a interesting book.

Rolling Toward Clear Skies, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, is yet another example of this prolific author's ability to find the heroic in normal people and contrast it with common pettiness that can grow in all of us. This is a heartwarming story of a family adjusting to a great deal of change, and I enthusiastically recommend it. However, this book is flawed in that some characters seem to be fixed in either the "good" or the "bad" group. While all the characters evolve, a certain amount of this author's usual subtlety and nuance is noticeably absent. Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the masterful Catherine Ryan Hyde.

I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting but by 30% of the story I took an immense dislike to Maggie and her two daughters. The two daughters are unlikeable and it all comes down to Maggie. Sure Maggie has great intentions with the two foster children, but maybe if she had treated her own biological children as she did the two foster children perhaps they wouldn't have been such a mess.

Some of the story was interesting and I liked how she approached a hot topic of social media's influence on people. But I just didn't find the characters believable.

I know I am definitely an outsider on this opinion, but the one part I totally disliked was the epilogue, too long and oh my goodness death by sweetness.

All in all it's a decently written book it just wasn't for me so I can only give it 3.5 stars. But by all means read it for yourself!

A story about a divorced mother of 2. She volunteers to help others when disaster strikes.
A story abut helping adoptive children cope, get used to their new life and coping with all the changes.
A story about a blended family adjusting to each other.
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sending me a digital copy for review. I really enjoyed this story.

Maggie and Alex are an engaged couple who participate in Doctors on Wheels. Maggie is divorced and has 2 teenage daughters who live with her and Alex. When Maggie and Alex go to help people after a horrific storm, her daughters go to stay with their dad. During the rescue efforts, Maggie is encountered with 2 orphans. After talking with Alex, she agrees to take them in, much to the outrage of her 2 biological daughters.

The story follows them as they learn to become a united family. I really enjoyed this story.

One of my favorite authors.
She is one of the best at being able to make us see, and feel how her characters, and their complicated scenarios can make changes.
She has, through her stories, tackled all of today's issues, so beautifully and compassionately.
This story revolves around Maggie Blount, a California Physician, and a divorced mom with two teenage daughters, Willa and Gemma, her partner Alex also in the medical field. Maggie and Alex have started “Dr's on Wheels”, where, whenever a disaster strikes she Alex and another two Dr's can drive to help out.
On one of these trips, after a category 5 hurricane, they meet two girls, Jean and Rose, whose Mother and father had died in the hurricane., along with them a stay dog.
When finding out that the girls had no relatives they could go to, Maggie decided to foster them as they were also about the same age as Maggie's girls.
Here starts the challenging part of the story. The girls were very different from each other, and this would be a challenging ordeal for all involved.
Such a good story. I am not going to give a lot of details as I find it more fun to read the story.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book.

I've enjoyed every other book Catherine Ryan Hyde has written, but this one was lacking. It didn't feel as rich, not did it seem to have as much depth or character study and development as her other books.
Maggie and her boyfriend Alex seem to be two perfect people in a perfect relationship, and despite Maggie constantly talking about her guilt in bringing up two selfish daughters, she never does much to help them, preferring to go off on rescue missions, one of them causing her to bring home two "perfect" girls who are nothing like her own children. They smile, are polite, care about others, and don't seem to have suffered a whole lot by becoming orphans.
Hyde does deal with the after effects of a social media hate campaign, but a friend of mine went through this with her own child, and the mental results were far more horrendous than the light dusting Hyde gives it.
I really hope this is just a one-off mistake by Hyde and she will go back to writing better books that are given more thought and more layers.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this book and leave a voluntary review.

Thank you Lake Union and NetGalley for this ARC in return of my honest review.

I am new to Catherine Ryan Hyde’s books. This was a family drama with relatable themes for modern blended families. It also has very relevant themes relating social media and how things can be used and interpreted by the mass.

I liked the multilayered telling of this story, through the use of Eleanor, the reporter and Susannah the therapist.

I admit that this book was almost a DNF on a number of occasions as it was just not drawing me in for the first 60 percent. I think this was due to questioning so many of the characters choices and also the slow pace. I’m glad that I committed as I enjoyed the second half a lot more and overall I found it an enjoyable read. .

3.5 stars for me.
Thank you for this ARC.