BOOK REVIEW: First Light by Erynn Newman

Drew and Elisabeth meet as teenagers, and they fall in love. Sounds like a perfect recipe for happily ever after. But when Drew’s father is killed at the Pentagon on September 11th, he finds himself spiraling into an abyss of rage. To avoid dragging the woman he loves down with him, he has to walk away, even if it means losing her forever. He joins the CIA and eventually makes things right with God, but is it too late to make things right with Elisabeth?

First Light is a series of vignettes set over the course of fifteen years, leading up to the culmination of their story in the full-length romantic suspense novel Out of Darkness.

It is a fifty page novellette (no cliffhanger).

I'm glad I read the synopsis of this novella before digging right in to read it.  The writing itself doesn't overly lend itself to jumping right in without the synopsis to set the stage.  Set over a period of 13 years from the day that Drew and Elisabeth meet until their wedding all those years later.  There's so much more than that stuffed into these mere pages but it's enough.  From meeting, to falling in love and promising forever after, to Drew's dad losing his life in 9-11 and him running away to join the CIA, to there rekindling and eventual marriage.  Like I said a lot.  But you don't miss the pages that aren't there.  You don't miss the years that aren't there, it's perfectly just enough.

This novella sets the stage for the full length novel 'Out of Darkness' that follows and it sets the need for me to jump in and start reading.  But first of course, the pile.  I don't have to wait long, there's only a few books between now and there but it's enough to cause me the need to read faster.  Read more.  This book promises so much just from this prequel.  I've not read Erynn Newman before but I'm starting to feel like, hopefully, this is just the beginning of a long term readership. 

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by the author.  I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.  I was not required to write a positive review. 

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About Erynn Newman

Erynn Newman is a pastor’s kid, raised in churches all over the Eastern Seaboard. As a little girl, she created rich fantasy worlds and imaginary friends that followed her into adulthood, when she realized that meant she was either a crazy person or a writer—or maybe both.
Though she has never worked with the CIA, her DVR contains a veritable Who’s Who of international spies.
She lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with her best friend (who is also her husband), a very busy little boy who calls her Mommy, two cats, and a ceaseless parade of characters who are all waiting for their turn to have their stories told.

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