When I open a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, I know I will be opening up an emotional, uplifting, story.
This one is all that!
Physician Maggie Blount, volunteers her services with a group called Doctors on Wheels and goes to help when there are life changing disasters.
She loves helping others. However it does come with a price.
Her teen-aged daughters (spoiled and selfish) do not like giving interrupting their daily routines for anything or anyone.

Following a devastating hurricane, two girls come to Maggie's clinic for needed medical treatment. They have lost their parents tragically and all they have.
But... they have rescued a puppy that also needs help and love.
They are everything her own daughters are not. Kind, selfless, thankful for each day and any help.

Maggie decides to bring them all (including the pup) into her home to foster them and help them heal.
How will this go with her own girls?
Can they learn to live with each other and even better, possibly be friends/sisters?

I love the lessons in this novel and the challenges that are so real.
My favorite quote and lesson: "When you love somebody they get prettier."
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Lake Union Publishing for this ARC and allowing me to provide my own review. Well done!

This novel is a well-crafted and emotionally impactful story that successfully navigates contemporary themes, particularly addressing social media and cyberbullying. It portrays teenagers with depth and understanding, steering clear of stereotypes and emphasizing the importance of acknowledging mistakes.

Centered around Maggie, a doctor involved in charitable work after natural disasters, the narrative unfolds as she decides to adopt two young girls she meets during a hurricane relief mission. This decision challenges her relationship with her own daughters, leading to a journey of self-reflection and growth.

The characters are authentically portrayed, reflecting individuals we may encounter in real life, each grappling with personal struggles while striving to make a positive impact. The novel delves into themes of acceptance, family dynamics, and personal growth with nuance and compassion.

Highly recommended for its relatable characters and heartfelt storytelling. This compelling read showcases the author's talent for crafting engaging narratives that resonate with readers. A solid introduction to the author's work, enticing me to explore more of her past and future releases. Gratitude to NetGalley for the opportunity to delve into this emotionally resonant tale ahead of its publication.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

This is my third read by this author and I think it is an ok, shortish read. Not my favourite by her though.

I think the story is written well, it flows easily and the plot is good. But I wish I could have liked most of the characters more (especially Maggie's daughters). I usually like this authors books, her writing and story telling skills are normally a hit with me and I struggled here as I just couldn't connect or relate to the characters well. Saying this though, once I'd started reading I found I wanted to see how this blended family fared and I did like the ending here.

I don't think I'm the right fit for this book unfortunately, although I will still look at future books from Catherine Ryan Hyde.
If you like books with family drama and angst this is probably for you.

3 stars

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for this digital ARC!

You can always count on a Catherine Ryan Hyde book to teach you a lesson and make you evaluate your own life and that holds true for this book too.

This is a story about making a blended family work while navigating teenage girls who have been given everything in life compared with two teenage girls who lost everything. It is at turns heartbreaking, frustrating, and heartwarming.

Worth the read!

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite authors specifically because of the emotional connections readers make to her characters and the feelings she creates in her heartwarming stories. I understand what she was trying to emote in this book and really loved the doctors on wheels concept, but the dialogue seemed fake and too unrealistic. It was very predictable and I did feel for the orphaned girls, but this one did not hit me in the feels like almost all of CRH's other books have.

Unique situational setting. Characters were refreshingly real. Several topics covered:
Severe weather, emergency evacuations,
death, medical care, family dynamics and
life changes. Good read.

This author clearly has a great following of readers and is highly regarded. This is the first book I read of hers and unfortunately it wasn’t for me. It was very readable and I had no problem finishing it but it was a bit too sappy and predictable for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Catherine Ryan Hyde books are always a welcome read for me and this one was no exception. Maggie is a non profit doctor and has two teenage daughters. Through a disaster she takes on two teenage foster girls also. A story of family dilemmas and high quality disasters. I loved every minute of the story and am finding it hard to stop thinking about. I loved the characters and the plot left me feeling warm inside.

I always enjoy reading books by Catherine Ryan Hyde and was delighted to receive a copy of her new book Rolling Towards Clear Skies.
This is a story about a doctor Maggie who gives non profit help to people caught up in natural disasters.
Another great read from this author. I can’t wait for her next book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one surprised me! The beginning of the book, I thought I wasn’t going to make it out. Alex gave off “no family only girlfriend” vibes to me and that really bugged me based on the trajectory of the storyline. I didn’t give him enough credit, and I ended up loving his roll here.

I didn’t love Maggie as a main character, but I really appreciated her.

I think the progress of the girls and their relationship was good to see. And it certainly wasn’t glossed over like in some novels.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite book ever written but I liked it and it was a nice read! I will still be recommending it to many others.

Always such a pleasure to read one of Catherine Ryan Hyde's books. They touch the heart in a special way. This one was a lot of ups and downs until the end where it got me. Such a beautiful ending to it all. Looking forward to her next book in anticipation.


Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an early release of this book.

Not my first book by this author, and as many of her other titles, I enjoyed this storyline. It was a quick, well written story with highs and lows as the book progressed. I also related personally to it on several fronts and that made it enjoyable as well.

Maggie is a Dr. for a non-profit Doctors on Wheels who gives medical assistance to those in need at disaster areas. She is divorced, has two daughters and lives with her boyfriend of several years who is a nurse with Doctors on Wheels. After a hurricane she treats two teenage girls who were able to evacuate their home but their parents did not get out and they drowned. Maggie tries to get the girls help through a social worker to find relatives, but does not have any luck. After much thought, Maggie decides to foster then adopt and many trials and tribulations ensue because Maggie's daughters aren't too happy about it! Throughout the story, the likeable (and not so likeable) characters evolve until all learn valuable lessons about themselves and life in general.

Catherine Ryan Hyde books are easy, joyful reads for me even when they confront difficult topics. I find the writing to be effortless and the story just flows. This isn't my favorite of hers but I enjoy the respite they give me and the time spent with folks who understand the complexity of the human condition.

Maggie Blount is a physician who travels to areas to assist after disasters occur. Her relationship with her daughter is on shaking ground as they resent her being away so much. They have became so selfish and ungrateful that she is shocked. When she responds to a disaster in Louisiana she encounter two sisters that have been orphaned from the storm along with a dog. When plans to take them to their grandparents falls through Maggie sees no other option than to foster them. When she tells her daughters they move out to their fathers. Maggie is wondering whether these two orphan girls can bring her family back together or tear it apart permanently.
.

I am a recent appreciator of Catherine Ryan Hyde's work, and from what I've read so far, her novels are uplifting and heartfelt, with satisfying endings. These are not the type of books I typically read, but they are wonderful comfort. "Rolling Toward Clear Skies" is the story of a mother and practitioner at Doctors on Wheels, providing medical assistance for people in need during disasters. Through her services, she comes in contact with two abandoned teenage girls and a puppy (heartstrings tugged). Her own teenage daughters are entitled and self-involved, so the challenge for her, is to try to blend them all into one cohesive family. Recommended for fans of Catherine Ryan Hyde, and readers who need a pick-me-up feel-good story. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
#RollingTowardClearSkies
#NetGalley

Often I think of a good book as something that’s immersive and feels like real life, but this had a different feel. Each person was a caricature or an archetype. They acted like characters in a play, arriving on stage and saying their lines. There was a lot of therapy-speak. It was almost more like “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” than general fiction.

The more I read, though, the more I liked the characters in a play thing. It made me feel like I’d gone out to see a show. The therapy was decent advice. I’m not sure the characters were served well by the way they were portrayed, whether as spoiled “bratty” teenagers or ones that were “sincere and polite and appreciative and kind,” but at least they’re fictional?

Having recently discovered Catherine Ryan Hyde and read her full back catalogue under a few months, I was thrilled to receive an early copy of her latest novel. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed by this one. Maggie works for doctors on wheels, offering medical care where needed. After a natural disaster she meets two displaced teenagers who lost their parents. She takes them home with a view to adoption, much to the horror of her two biological children. It’s an overly sentimental story and the dialogue between the family is just too unbelievable. Not one of CRH’s best.

[NetGalley Read#3]

This was very nice. A well written, uplifting, heartwarming, (at times) heartbreaking and all round good book.
It deals with the contemporary setting quite well especially with the social media amd cyberbullying aspect towards the end. Also teenagers are not written like, you know, complete idiots. Rather, this makes a case for them and about accepting mistakes.

Characters are well written and realistic.
We all know people like these. People like Maggie (and Alex and the Doctors Bishop) who are trying to do good while grappling with their own problems. We all know the spoiled teenagers (though we never really see or want to see why they are that way. This book does a good job of exploring that).
I really liked Maggie. I liked her (nearly) infinite patience with people. Wish more people were like that.

Recommended. 👍

This is the first book I have read from this author. Will definitely be checking out more of her previous (and upcoming) books.

[Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book]

Emotional and heartfelt. I enjoyed reading about the main character mom and how she does her best to parent her daughters and her new foster children. It’s complex and the story does it justice. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Rolling Toward Clear Skies by C.R. Hyde is a wonderful uplifting book so worth giving it a try.
The book is published by Lake Union Publishing and is a stand alone.
Maggie is a divorced mother of 2 teenage daughters and works as doctor at a practice. Together with her boyfriend Alex, she founded Doctors on Wheels a nonprofit who goes to disaster areas to provide medical assistance to the needing.
On one of her assignements she picks up three strays. And all their lives are about to change forever. Two orphaned teenagers, one puppy and two biological offsprings later it seems she's drowning in drama and karma. They struggle to make their patchwork family work.
But all is well in the end. To come to this point it took a lot of work and growing for all of them.
A beautiful story, literally unputdownable, a quiet book that stays with you long after finishing this gem of a story.