Review and Giveaway Alert: Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber

I saw the premise of this book and was intrigued. Dr. Michael Everett had been married to the love of his life, Hannah, for 12 years, until she died. The book starts on the one-year anniversary of Hannah's death. Hannah's brother Ritchie gives Michael a letter she had written before she died, asking Ritchie to give it to Michael after a year had passed. In the letter, Hannah tells Michael how much she loved him, and that she wants him to be happy. She then goes on to ask him to start dating again, going so far as to list three women she thinks would be good candidates to settle down with and start a family.

Oh my gosh - I can't lie, the first few pages made me teary-eyed. Ms. Macomber just drew me right in to the pain and anguish Michael still feels at losing his wife, even a year later. His feelings for his wife are so sweet and raw and good. You could tell he'd gone back to living his day-to-day life again, but he was just going to the motions. After much introspection, and gentle (and not-so-gentle) coaxing from his brother-in-law, he decides to at least attempt to honor Hannah's last wish.

The three women on Hannah's list are:

Winter Adams, Hannah's cousin and friend. Winter owns a french bakery and is on a "break" with her on again-off again boyfriend, Pierre. When Hannah originally wrote the letter Hannah and Pierre had broken things off. Now, a year later, they're taking a break again, after trying uncussessfully to make things work again.

Leanne Lancaster, who was one of Hannah's oncology nurses. Leanne had been married, but around the time Hannah had started chemo Leanne's husband, an accountant, had gotten into huge trouble for unscrupulus financial reasons, and Leanne had divorced him.

Macy Roth is an artist/model /actress who was friends with Hannah but Michael didn't know. Macy is a bit of a free spirit, someone who takes life as it comes and loves people and animals. She's never been married and has a cantankerous old neighbor whom I loved.

All three seemed to be kind, smart, generous women. I liked two of them and thought they'd be good for Michael, one got on my nerves a bit (okay, a lot). And poor Michael, he was so out of practice with dating and he'd sort of jumped in with both feet; at one point he found himself trying to remember who'd cooked which meal for him!

I breezed through this book! It was such a sweet story, the characters were likeable and Ms. Macomber's style of writing put vivid pictures in my head as I read. I really liked Michael and his love for Hannah was so sweet. The secondary characters' stories were woven in nicely. As I mentioned above, I loved Macy's neighbor, Harvey, and Michael's brother-in-law, Ritchie - they were just "good people", if you know what I mean.

It wasn't until about Chapter 8 that I realized Michael's story was told in 1st person POV and everyone else was told in 3rd person POV. It seems like that would be awkward, but it wasn't; I don't think I've read another book written like that but I liked it - I feel like it made me feel closer to Michael.

While Michael didn't end up with the person I would have chosen for him, Ms. Macomber wrapped things up nicely and everyone did get an HEA. Now, if you're looking for "sexytime in your storytime", you won't find any, but if you're looking for a light, sweet read, then this is a book you'd enjoy. I give Hannah's List 4 out of 5 stars.

Come back tomorrow when I'll be giving away a $25 Visa gift card and a copy of Hannah's List, AND two more winners will each win a copy of Hannah's List, courtesy of Big Honcho Media!

I received this book from Big Honcho Media in exchange for an honest review.