Title: Ninety-Nine
Authors: Elisheba Haxby and Jess Rivas
www.ElishebaHaxby.com; Above the Sun
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Amazon link:
Back cover/Amazon summary:
Darkness has shrouded Tamara’s life as long as she can remember. After one more “love of her life” shatters her heart, she’s on the run, desperate to flee the pain—and the state. A hundred miles of driving and something strange is happening. The number 99 is haunting her.
When an unexpected breakdown leaves her stranded in Vancouver at the Highway 99 Diner, it feels like a sign, but will she find a new beginning or the same old patterns? Stuck for a time, Tamara faces the reality that running doesn’t lead to freedom, but cost far more. Will she allow the truth to set her free, or go the way of the familiar and risk losing it all?
Read it? Yes
Why it’s worth your time:
The characters make this story. They have gritty, heart-breaking and realistic lives that draw on your empathy, whether you can relate to their struggles or not. Tamara, a waitress at the Highway 99 Diner, is likable and yet frustrating. I was reminded of Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. I loved her and yet some of her decisions frustrated me to the point of wanting to throw the book down . . . but I couldn’t stop reading. Joe, the cook at the diner and Tamara’s friend, makes mistakes yet is endearing – the kind of guy any woman I know would want in her life. Even the mysterious regular customer, Levi, has his secret struggles. The way the number 99 brings them all together will give you chills.
Don’t plan on getting anything done or going to bed once you reach the last third or so of the story. Trust me, you won’t be able to put the book down at that point. This is the kind of story that stays with you long after you have finished the last page, and has the power to change a life.
My favorite line:
“The fury twisted and fought within me like a feral animal clawing from the inside out.”
