Texas Vows: A Mccabe Family Saga

Rating:
Summary: Texas Vows
Review: A Good heart warming story... Look for the other 2 books in the seies

Rating:
Summary: Bring your hankies...
Review: Ms. Thacker brings a more heavy-hearted subject matter to this novel, but she keeps the same magical charm going. I am amazed how she continually creates fantastic characters who are so honest and likable, even if they do some hurtful things. Ms. Thacker acknowledges through her characters that everyone has a past, but that past can certainly be reckoned with. I find a great theme of forgiveness throughout the novel, one that by the end, I find myself feeling forgiven and refreshed along with the characters. I feel their pain and their trauma as they live through it - Ms. Thacker deserves all the credit for making these families live through some events that are very real, hitting very close to your heart. Way to go, Ms. Thacker. Keep it up!

Rating:
Summary: Moving forward
Review: Sam McCabe and his five sons have been at an emotional standstill from the moment his wife died of cancer. Kate Marten, a grief consultant, knows that the suppression of his grief has rendered his sons incapable of finding a healthy way to work through their own. In one last effort to convince Sam to let her counsel the six of them, she arrives on his doorstep and somehow manages to convince him to become his new household manager. Sam isn't happy with the arrangement but he needs all the help he can get. His sons' determination not to let any woman fill their mother's shoes has resulted in the resignation of ten housekeepers in six months. Kate is the only woman who has actually volunteered for the position and no one is more surprised than he is when she lasts.

Kate has not led a charmed life. She is not a consultant who practices in theories or who demeans her patients with lofty ideas. She is familiar with grief due to the tragic death of her brother Pete years ago. A death her father, Laramie's football coach, blames on Sam McCabe, Pete's best friend. So her decision to help the McCabes meets with disapproval from her father with his high expectations, her mother with her need for peace, and her fiancé who was once her father's protege. Her concern for them is at war with her love for Sam McCabe and his five sons who are struggling so hard to come to terms with their loss.

Cathy Gillen Thacker has written a heart-wrenching story about two people whose pasts are intertwined but whose futures are in jeopardy. "Texas Vows" contains a number of stories that work together to create a whole and at the center of it all is Sam and Kate and how they work and interact with her father and his sons. Kate is a woman who is juggling a great deal professionally but is not quite content on a personal level. She thrives on the challenge of her job as a consultant and is determined to help because she understands, firsthand, the extended devastation that occurs unexpectedly as a result of unresolved grief. She also deals with the expectations her father has for her and her growing disenchantment with her fiancé. Sam, on the other hand, relies on Kate to deal with all the things he never had to when his wife was alive. And for the most part, he doesn't have to worry about them aside from a few misadventures. But when it comes to Will, his oldest son, Sam, Kate, and her father discover that there is cause for concern when it comes to how he has been dealing with his sense of loss. Thacker has written a wonderfully well-rounded story about the McCabes and this is an emotionally fulfilling story fails to disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Buy an extra box of tissues...
Review: We were introduced to Sam McCabe in "The McCabes of Texas" series. He was the gruff and grieving cousin trying to hold his family of 5 sons together. Now we have the opportunity to read his story.

Cathy Gillen Thacker offers us a warm, compelling and thought provoking story about a husband and his sons who are struggling to deal with the death of their beloved and "perfect" wife and mother. We feel the hurt, anger and grief that has crippled these males lives with the loss. Brilliantly written, we are swept along with the story and the character's denials, guilt and ultimately their forgiveness and understanding of some of life's curveballs.

Expertly woven within the main story, we discover other themes and intertwined stories with the supporting characters. Although the subject matter is heavy hearted, the author does a wonderful job with interspersing humorous adventures and balancing what would become maudlin with the powerful theme of forgiveness and faith.

I laughed... I cried.... I rode the emotional roller coaster along with Sam and his family. They were real life people, dealing with real life concerns and tragedy. Cathy Gillen Thacker takes us through a vast range of emotions but leaves us with the sense of fulfillment and peace.

Rating:
Summary: Buy an extra box of tissues...
Review: We were introduced to Sam McCabe in "The McCabes of Texas" series. He was the gruff and grieving cousin trying to hold his family of 5 sons together. Now we have the opportunity to read his story.

Cathy Gillen Thacker offers us a warm, compelling and thought provoking story about a husband and his sons who are struggling to deal with the death of their beloved and "perfect" wife and mother. We feel the hurt, anger and grief that has crippled these males lives with the loss. Brilliantly written, we are swept along with the story and the character's denials, guilt and ultimately their forgiveness and understanding of some of life's curveballs.

Expertly woven within the main story, we discover other themes and intertwined stories with the supporting characters. Although the subject matter is heavy hearted, the author does a wonderful job with interspersing humorous adventures and balancing what would become maudlin with the powerful theme of forgiveness and faith.

I laughed... I cried.... I rode the emotional roller coaster along with Sam and his family. They were real life people, dealing with real life concerns and tragedy. Cathy Gillen Thacker takes us through a vast range of emotions but leaves us with the sense of fulfillment and peace.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling -- Very highly recommended
Review: When the tenth housekeeper in six months quits, a retired lady-marine-turned-house-keeper, Sam McCabe still refuses to admit he and his five boys need the help of a grief counselor, and especially the help of Kate Marten. Kate confronts Sam, stating that what is happening in the aftermath of Ellie's death is not routine, but Sam won't listen. He's always "sucked up" and gotten through emotional times by controlling his emotions, and that is exactly what he and boys will continue to do. In one last effort to help, Kate insists upon becoming their temporary housekeeper, hoping to create opportunities for healing.

Kate understands grief. Her brother Pete, Sam's best friend, died in a tragic accident when she was twelve. Her parents coped with the loss much as Sam does -- by stoically keeping their chins up and not confronting the pain. Healing for Kate came in college when she began taking psychology classes. Now Kate pursues the career path she loves through grief counseling. Defying her parents' advice and the harsh words of her fiancé, Kate moves in with Sam's brood for five weeks, determined to bring healing to this hurting household of males. She doesn't expect to have to confront her own needs as well, including the lack of passion in prospective marriage and a wish for the kind of passion Sam shared with Ellie.

As TEXAS VOWS unfolds, the humor of the five boys, ages five to eighteen, carefully balances the weightier subject matter. Even the secondary characters are carefully drawn and richly embellished with detail to give them vibrancy. Indeed, TEXAS VOWS is a surprising gem -- with its multi layered plot and multi faceted characters, it sparkles with freshness and depth. The subject of grief and the tragic loss of important characters within the novel result in a compelling read that is heartwarming and "real." Rather than the typical escape from reality most genre romance novels provide, TEXAS VOWS escapes into reality, confronting our fears of loss and need to live beyond death of loved ones. The characters, including the children, are believable, even allowing teens to be belligerent, angry, and dangerous to self. TEXAS VOWS comes very highly recommended.