5*++++++! I am such a fan of Catherine Ryan Hyde that sometimes it is hard for me to read her books. And that’s mainly because once I read them, I don’t want them to end. This book, Rolling Toward Clear Skies, is a perfect example. I love books with relatable stories and characters. In our lifetime it is plausible that there could be a small non-profit group that goes to help in natural disasters. I want to be best friends with Maggie and Alex. I’ve known sisters like Willa and Gemma. I had best friends like Jean and Rose. It is a very good book. I will definitely recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for allowing me to read an advanced copy for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I originally picked it to review as it is something that I wouldn’t normally read but knew I would benefit allot from it. It is a relatively easy read that you can put down and return to, so is the ideal summer read. The book is emotional and features topics that many would avoid, but dose so in an empathic and relatable way. My only issue with the book is how heavily it bases on the differences between the two sets of sisters, rather than what they had I common and how they get over these said differences. It led to a very predictable story line and a very sudden ending, without these small factor it would have been a easy 5 rather than a 4.5.

I’ve read other books by Catherin Ryan Hyde, and in my opinion, she is a gifted storyteller. This particular captivating story of a single mother with two teenage daughters, ages 14 and 17, captured my heart from the beginning. Willa and Gemma could easily be called entitled and spoiled, and their mother, Dr. Margaret Blount, who goes by Maggie, holds herself accountable for raising the teenage monsters, specifically after the divorce from their dad when they were too often, over indulged.
Maggie is a primary care physician, and her boyfriend, Alex, a registered nurse, is the founder of Doctors on Wheels. When there is a natural disaster such as a hurricane, tornado, flood, etc., they travel in their 40-foot motor coach, which serves as a clinic on wheels and offer medical care at no cost.
While in Louisiana, after a major hurricane, two very sick, girls, the ages of Maggie’s girls come to the clinic suffering with pneumonia, and injuries a result the hurricane. These girls also witnessed the drowning of their parents. With no place to go, Maggie allows the girls, Jean and Rose to stay in the motor home, so she can monitor their care and recovery. It is quickly noted that Jean and Rose are the exact opposite of her own daughters.
When it’s time to go head back to her home in an affluent area of Southern California, Maggie is not about to leave Jean and Rose, who will be sent to a foster home. Maggie applies to foster them herself, and upon their arrival at her home, Willa and Genna take an instant dislike to the sweet, polite girls with a southern accent.
With four teenage girls in the house who are polar opposites, there are many twists and turns. Maggie takes a leave of absence from work since she’s not entirely sure it’s safe to leave them home alone during the summer. Until the last page was turned, this intriguing story was nearly impossible to put down.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

Maggie is a divorced doctor with two teenage girls. She and her romantic partner put their lives on hold and answer the call when survivors of natural disasters need immediate medical help. After a stage 5 hurricane in Louisiana, she helps two teenage girls who lost their parents in the storm. She falls in love with them, applies as a foster parent and eventually adopts them. Her biological girls are less than thrilled with this new blended family.

I have read over half of this author's forty plus books. I love many of her stories, but this one, not so much. Maggie's two daughters are totally obnoxious to the point of seeming evil. Her two adopted daughters are unbelievably nice to the point of being sickly sweet. Everything was black and white here, with no shades of gray. There was little to no plot. A disappointing read because I know this author can do better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this advance copy.

Catherine Ryan Hyde does it again! I know every time I pick up one of her books its going to be good and this time was no different! The dynamic between Maggie, her boyfriend Alex and the 4 daughters (2 adopted and 2 biological) was so intriguing! It really showed the differences between thoughtfulness and taking things for granted (and so much more)

5 stars!

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader!

Publish date 11/12/2024

Maggie - a doctor and volunteer with a program called Doctors on Wheels - is a mother of 2 teenage girls. After responding to a call to help in the aftermath of a hurricane, Maggie is presented with the opportunity to take in 2 orphaned teenage girls and their dog. But how will these new additions to the family affect Maggie’s already tumultuous relationships with her daughters?

I was compelled enough by the storyline and the characters. This story overall felt like a Hallmark or Lifetime movie - which don’t get me wrong, I typically, massively appreciate. Similar to a Lifetime movie, the dialogue didn’t feel genuine and the characters felt just a bit too 2D for me. I think more could have been done to flesh that out a bit, especially in writing teenage girls. It seemed as though they were either all good or all bad, but in my experience - as someone who was once a teenage girl - there’s lots of hormones going on that makes it a bit more convoluted than that.

Overall, would recommend for someone wanting a clean, uplifting story about family dynamics and overcoming obstacles.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for proving this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Publication Date: November 12, 2024

It was, as always, a delicious treat to read a new book by one of my favorite authors! I really enjoyed the premise… Very unique! I liked how the author right Maggie‘s teenage daughters to a realization about the way they were acting, however, I thought that the two foster/adopted daughters were too one-sided. I also thought that Maggie’s boyfriend/fiancé Alex could have used a lot more development… He seemed very one dimensional.

The bit about social media and influencers, and the effect that they have on our children and teenagers was well received, and hope it will be well received by everyone who reads it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The concept of this book is very interesting and I felt it had a lot of potential, however I found it lacking in real depth and struggled to like any of the characters to any extent.
The dialogue, for the most part, felt forced in that every discussion took place as though the character speaking was a child therapist. A very natural comment would be made, then the character would go on to explain it for a full paragraph as though this was the script for a high school drama.
I found the time jumps very confusing and completely took me out of the story. It felt as though they took place during the times in which the majority of the conflict would have naturally occurred, making it difficult to care for the story. A year after fostering the girls, the characters would speak to each other in the exact same tone in which they did originally, giving no sense of any deeper bonds having formed.
I couldn’t put my finger on whether there were hints at an almost supernatural element to the book? Maggie often mentions feeling both the emotions and physical pain of her patients to a degree that far surpasses strong empathy. This felt completely random without explanation.
Overall I feel the style of the writing caused each character to feel completely 2D. The foster children were perfect and angelic, the biological children were spoilt brats (think evil stepsisters in any Disney film), the partner had no personality of his own, and the mother was the perfect, well-meaning doctor (who only seemed to work when it was necessary for the plot). The addition of the television reporter completely surpassed the boundary of believability and made for very cheesy and unrealistic dialog.
This book felt like it scratched the surface of the story it aimed to convey and it failed to allow me to relate to any of the characters.
I wouldn’t say I disliked reading this book, but I don’t know that it’d be at the top of my recommendations.

Thank you, Net Galley, for allowing me to review this book. I can genuinely say Catherine is an author who has quickly become my favorite after reading this. I loved this book. This is the first book I have read by this author; I look forward to reading more.
The book was an interesting take on the perspective of adding new family members and its effect on the existing family members. Focusing on how true the story could resonate with real life was amazing.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is a must read author for me. Her books resonate with me and this book is no different.
I absolutely loved this book. This is a character driven book. Even though I wasn't a fan of the children it shows that Catherine can make her characters feel real.

Such a good book. One that I recommend.

Thank you Lake Union and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and isn't influenced by anyone else

I really enjoyed reading this book.the characters were great and believable.Good storyline Thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the arc

This is the first book I read from this author and it was a pleasant read. It was a good story, Maggie always trying to do good and give the orphanage girls a family , have them live with her and her daughters where love and lots of patience is required for her to make it work out.

This book had all feelings, as always when I read a book by this author she just has a way of making me see beyond myself and makes me want to continually be a better person.

Maggie and her boyfriend Alex run a nonprofit “ Doctors on Wheels” out of an RV and they travel to natural disasters to help people, these can be fire, flood, earthquakes, any other natural disaster.

Maggie is divorced and has two daughters from a previous marriage, for lack of a better word these girls are bratty, selfish, and spoiled.

When she’s called to one of the many disasters they go to she comes across too young girls, who have nothing, they have lost their parents in a flood, and they are both pretty sick.
Maggie helps, heal them and ultimately wind up fostering them
And then adopting them.

These girls are the complete opposite of her daughters, so Maggie and Alex are doing their best to blend this family!

Written is only this author can do and written so beautifully, this is one book you will not want to miss!

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite writers and she is very prolific. So much so, that I have begun to wonder if she has a roomful of monkeys with typewriters. Or, perhaps, she is another James Patterson who has multiple co-authors. In either case, I have taken to checking Net Galley twice a year to see if there is another forthcoming novel from her.

As luck would have it, there was one! And it's another winner. Rolling Toward Clear Skies is in the vein of Pay It Forward, perhaps Ryan Hyde's best-known work. This one focuses on Dr. Maggie Blount, a California physician whose charitable pursuit is Doctors on Wheels. She, and another couple of doctors and a male nurse go to disaster sites to take the pressure off hospitals in dealing with injuries and treating overflow at no charge.

Maggie is divorced and in a relationship with Alex, the male nurse. She is the mother of two entitled and obnoxious daughters until she treats and adopts two girls the same age as hers who have lost everything in a hurricane. Knowing this author, you can predict several things.: You will grow attached to the characters and you will learn a bit about at least one thing. In this case, it's about caring social workers/therapists and what happens when things on television go viral via the internet. (Also quite a bit about a rescue dog.)
It might have earned 5 Stars had there been some inclusion about 17- and 18-year-olds' involvement with college applications.

As always, there are relationships, growth, change and just a darn good page turning story. Thank you, Net Galley, and Lake Union Press for the ARC to read and review.

I firmly believe that Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of the best authors writing today. She addresses difficult human issues with such sensitivity and intelligence.

In this story, Louisiana has been hit with a category 5 hurricane. Dr. Maggie Blount has a private practice in California but also is a member of Doctor on Wheels. She and the nurse from her practice (Alex - also her fiance) fly to Louisiana and then head as close as they are allowed to the hardest-hit area in their clinic on wheels.

Then two very sick sisters show up alone, girls about the same age as her two daughters (fourteen and sixteen). It was evident to Maggie that the two girls had been sick for weeks, not just since the hurricane, and that something was very wrong. When the girls have no one suitable to care for them, Maggie begins the process of adopting them, which leads to the rest of the drama: getting her entitled birth daughters to accept two new girls into the family, plus the mongrel puppy.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I received an e-arc from the Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

Rolling towards clear skies by CRH published by Lake Union Publishing on Nov 12, 2024
I have read a lot of Catherine Ryan Hyde books and truth I am never disappointed, at least not yet. This book had me hooked from the start. It touches on family dynamics and being torn from the daughters you birthed and those that happened by accident and trying to make everyone happy. Lessons were to be learned here and being able to live and open your home to total strangers in need!! The writing style is so nice, heartwarming and enlightening as well.
Another Great book by CRH,.
Thanks for keeping me entertained and also teaching Grace and how God brings people in our paths. I look forward do your next book or obtaining some I haven’t read yet. Always a treat!!

I loved this book. This is the first book I have read by this author, I am looking forward to reading more.
The book was an interesting take on the perspective of adding new family members, and the affect it has on the existing members of the family.
It would have been good for the story to have more focus towards the end on the relationship between the four daughters and their Mum and Step dad. I liked that there was a chapter at the end that showed the characters a time later.
It was good to see that other parents also find parenting hard, and the challenges that are faced when trying to bring up children.

“Rolling Toward Clear Skies” by Catherine Ryan Hyde is another fascinating perspective into emotional real life issues, in this case blended families. This is a story about a divorced female physician with two very privileged and spoiled teenage daughters. She volunteers her services for a group called “doctors on wheels” who treat patients affected in natural disasters. She attends to two teenage girls who have lost their family in an hurricane and are quite ill. Along with an abandoned puppy, she decides to foster then adopt these girls in an abrupt decision to expand her family. The consequences, lessons and the challenges are delt with brilliantly, a truly impactful novel as are all of Ms. Ryan Hyde’s books.

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Another great novel by CRH. The main character is a physician who devotes her spare time to disaster relief. As a result, her family suffers and she feels guilty about her failure to raise her young daughters with the same ideals.
I read this book quickly, as I do with all of her books. I enjoyed it and felt it had timely
messages for this time. However, I felt that it was fairly predictable.

It is always a real joy to read a Catherine Ryan Hyde book. She has a special way of shedding light on difficult subjects and making the world feel like a better place at the end of the book.

Rolling Towards Clear Skies is the perfect example of this. You can read the blurb yourself so I won't recount the plot but you cannot help but be rooting for the situation to resolve itself and I confess I cheered a little at the ending as it was just wonderful.

My advice is if you've not read any of Catherine's books absolutely start with this one as you won't be disappointed.