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The Other Way Home #2
After All These Years
Popular fiction author Sally John’s first series The Other Way Home (more than 65,000 copies sold) comes to life with a fresh, new cover for a new audience of readers.
In After All These Years, the second book of the series, Isabel Mendoza’s past is just a memory...until Tony, her boyfriend from college days, arrives in Valley Oaks. Romantic sparks fly again, but Isabel is a Christian now. Can she share her love for Jesus with Tony while keeping her painful secret?
Meanwhile, Lia Neuman arrives in town as new owner of the pharmacy. Isabel befriends and welcomes Lia, but vandalism threatens the pharmacy and Lia’s life. Officer Huntington, Valley Oaks’ deputy sheriff, investigates the crimes against Lia, and love unlooked for, begins to bloom.
After All These Years demonstrates how God’s redeeming grace can touch the past and bring healing to the present.
In After All These Years, the second book of the series, Isabel Mendoza’s past is just a memory...until Tony, her boyfriend from college days, arrives in Valley Oaks. Romantic sparks fly again, but Isabel is a Christian now. Can she share her love for Jesus with Tony while keeping her painful secret?
Meanwhile, Lia Neuman arrives in town as new owner of the pharmacy. Isabel befriends and welcomes Lia, but vandalism threatens the pharmacy and Lia’s life. Officer Huntington, Valley Oaks’ deputy sheriff, investigates the crimes against Lia, and love unlooked for, begins to bloom.
After All These Years demonstrates how God’s redeeming grace can touch the past and bring healing to the present.
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2002
21 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Sally John
34 books97 followersSally John is the best-selling author of twenty novels, including the Side Roads series, the Safe Harbor series (coauthored with Gary Smalley), The Other Way Home series, The Beach House series, and In a Heartbeat series. A three-time finalist for the Christy Award, Sally writes contemporary stories that offer hope to readers in their own relational and faith journeys. She enjoys teaching writing workshops and spending time with her husband, adult children, and grandchildren. An Illinois native, Sally and her husband, Tim, live in southern California. Visit her Web site at www.sally-john.com.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 17, 2018
Awesome, memorable read. Sally John strikes the heart with her homespun town in After All These Years. The book centers on 3 characters Lia, Isabel and Cal: One is very new to town only having been there a few months. A strong woman who buys the town pharmacy with apartment above it to give her and her neice Chloe a fresh start after her sister's untimely death. Lia is impressively independent and wants to keep it that way.
Isabel has been in town for a few years now and knows most of the church members. she puts down roots and is very involved with things. Then old flame Tony shows up. She thought she had buried that part of her life but he opens the wounds that she thought was healed. or were they/
Cal Hunnington , the town deputy lives next door to Lia and after helping her in the rain one stormy night, the attr4action is immediate. but, he has an aversion to kids and she is bent on caring for her niece to honor her sister's memory. Meanwhile, things are riled up in the town of Valley Oaks. Someone has it in for Lia. Who is her much needed pharmacy a threat to? what is their motive for giving her trouble. and Why is Isabel's ex out to destroy the town's famous Christian author. . A good read, as always, by author Sally John.
Isabel has been in town for a few years now and knows most of the church members. she puts down roots and is very involved with things. Then old flame Tony shows up. She thought she had buried that part of her life but he opens the wounds that she thought was healed. or were they/
Cal Hunnington , the town deputy lives next door to Lia and after helping her in the rain one stormy night, the attr4action is immediate. but, he has an aversion to kids and she is bent on caring for her niece to honor her sister's memory. Meanwhile, things are riled up in the town of Valley Oaks. Someone has it in for Lia. Who is her much needed pharmacy a threat to? what is their motive for giving her trouble. and Why is Isabel's ex out to destroy the town's famous Christian author. . A good read, as always, by author Sally John.
October 6, 2019
Back in Valley Oaks Isabel Mendoza, the town radio hostess, and Lia Neuman the new pharmacist in town are good friends. Off in the wings is the deputy sheriff, Cal Huntington. Both women have pasts that follow them throughout the story. Tony Ward, the newspaper reporter from Chicago, enters the picture with his own load of baggage from the past and something to prove to Christians...and not in a good way. A very good story line and good characters. A very good read.
April 13, 2022
I am a big fan of Sally John's books and this one did not disappoint. I love the various issues she addressed..prejudice, premarital relationships, forgiveness (giving to others and accepting for self), letting go of the past, salvation.. to name a few. I love all the characters.. this is book 2 and several rolled over from book 1, so it was like visiting old friends. Looking forward to the other 2 books in this series.
February 27, 2023
This is definitely a book where I say STICK IT OUT! It took about 100 pages for me to actually enjoy it and then I started to really fall in love with the book. The romance is so so sweet and I am 100% in love with Cal.
June 19, 2018
Two love stories in one book with appearances by my fave charters from the first book in the series, it doesn't get too much better than that.
March 31, 2019
Toooo many characters and not always identified when mentioned in story.
January 5, 2020
It was a good book
September 2, 2024
I have decided not to continue with this series. These are cringy and uncomfortable. I really hated how Cal called Lia "China Doll." The whole story was cryptic and choppy and I did not enjoy it.
March 20, 2017
this one was even better than the first one! it was so good I can't wait to read more from this author!
June 4, 2009
"After All these years" by Sally John is written for Christian's with the hopes they are affected by it (in my opinion). It contains a lot of already Christian characters and language. I think a non-Christian reader would have a hard time identifying with this book, but I really like that about this book because it's hard sometimes to relate to fiction books when it's aimed at only non-Christians, kwim? I like to think these people could be anybody in my circle of friends. I love that Sally places her characters in "anybody's town" .. they could be your neighbors. This book is meant for women like me!
In the past I haven't been a big fan of contemporary romance, but it's growing on me. Sally definitely makes me want to read more, and I'll be looking up her books in the future for sure! I read it in less than 24 hours as well.. couldn't put it down!
What is "After All These Years" about?
There are two leading ladies in this book.
Isabel who was doing just fine until her ex boyfriend shows up and tries to uproot her "Christian" values while doing a local interview. Has she really forgiven him for the past? And can she tell him the secret she's kept all these years?
Lia on the other hand is in Valley Oaks to start new with her niece and escape some of the pains of her old life, but she finds that she can't run from somethings -- love included.
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I will mention this book is very somber... or at least it was to me. There were a few funny parts, but definitely a heavy read with a lot of information to process. I'm not always in the mood for these books, but it definitely had a heartfelt and yearning notion in this book that drew me right in! If you're looking for something you can curl up and cry with, this is a great book!
"After All These Years" is a good learning tool. I love that I can pick up this book and learn a few things about my own Christianity and how issues are handled. The message of forgiveness is a hard one for us to grasp sometimes and yet Sally makes it very clear through out her book that we need to be doing this. She pulls out the characters past heartaches and how they've handled forgiveness and how it challenges their faith. I found myself feeling the anguish the characters faced as my own past issues surface over forgiveness and appreciated how she showed a realistic portrayal of how her characters handled it. I like that the characters relied a lot on prayer and that they worked through the issues. It gives me encouragement and peace that i"m not alone!
In the past I haven't been a big fan of contemporary romance, but it's growing on me. Sally definitely makes me want to read more, and I'll be looking up her books in the future for sure! I read it in less than 24 hours as well.. couldn't put it down!
What is "After All These Years" about?
There are two leading ladies in this book.
Isabel who was doing just fine until her ex boyfriend shows up and tries to uproot her "Christian" values while doing a local interview. Has she really forgiven him for the past? And can she tell him the secret she's kept all these years?
Lia on the other hand is in Valley Oaks to start new with her niece and escape some of the pains of her old life, but she finds that she can't run from somethings -- love included.
----------------------------
I will mention this book is very somber... or at least it was to me. There were a few funny parts, but definitely a heavy read with a lot of information to process. I'm not always in the mood for these books, but it definitely had a heartfelt and yearning notion in this book that drew me right in! If you're looking for something you can curl up and cry with, this is a great book!
"After All These Years" is a good learning tool. I love that I can pick up this book and learn a few things about my own Christianity and how issues are handled. The message of forgiveness is a hard one for us to grasp sometimes and yet Sally makes it very clear through out her book that we need to be doing this. She pulls out the characters past heartaches and how they've handled forgiveness and how it challenges their faith. I found myself feeling the anguish the characters faced as my own past issues surface over forgiveness and appreciated how she showed a realistic portrayal of how her characters handled it. I like that the characters relied a lot on prayer and that they worked through the issues. It gives me encouragement and peace that i"m not alone!
August 12, 2016
Of the four books in this series, reading this book was the more pleasant and my favorite of the series – so far. I loved the rapport between the characters and both couples individually. BUT Cal and Lia were my favorite blossoming friendship and two of my preferred characters to get to know. Their friendship is one that jumps right off the pages of the book. Cal is so kind, patient and considerate with Lia. It was nice to find Lia an independent woman who still found out it didn’t hurt to allow another to lean on and help carry a burden – to take pleasure in a “white knight.” On the other hand, I grew a little weary of the constant references to Cal’s personality quirks or the things that made him who he was (i.e. comparisons to his being a teddy bear because of his stature). In this book everyone except Tony is a Christian; he is struggling with faith because of a past involving his sister.
All the characters do go through changes of heart and questions about their convictions and relationship with God, but they all rely on His strength too, which, in part makes the book an easy read. There is romance, there is a little bit of danger and a fair amount of Christianity. Characters turn to God in prayer when they are feeling alone or as if life is dealing them an unfair hand. It is interesting to read how Sally weaves multiple stories into one novel. Normally there are secondary characters but they aren’t at the forefront as much as this series has done. In the end, I really liked the story. Isabel and Tony have a lot of baggage but through a conversion and discussion, they are able to reconcile that, in the process giving up the burden to God.
Simple things like a young girl’s first dance or a fiancé winning his love’s heart all over again are what this novel is made of – and it is a touching journey.
Originally published on Copyright © 2014 • Dreaming Under the Same Moon
All the characters do go through changes of heart and questions about their convictions and relationship with God, but they all rely on His strength too, which, in part makes the book an easy read. There is romance, there is a little bit of danger and a fair amount of Christianity. Characters turn to God in prayer when they are feeling alone or as if life is dealing them an unfair hand. It is interesting to read how Sally weaves multiple stories into one novel. Normally there are secondary characters but they aren’t at the forefront as much as this series has done. In the end, I really liked the story. Isabel and Tony have a lot of baggage but through a conversion and discussion, they are able to reconcile that, in the process giving up the burden to God.
Simple things like a young girl’s first dance or a fiancé winning his love’s heart all over again are what this novel is made of – and it is a touching journey.
Originally published on Copyright © 2014 • Dreaming Under the Same Moon
December 23, 2014
I think I like this book better than the first one. I liked the characters, I liked it wasn't all about the romance between 2 people. It was a little difficult to keep up with all the characters and remember the back story for first book. I would have liked to see more of the time they spend together as friends. Some time the book came a cross and now they are in love without looking at the process. I loved cal.
The book would be for those interested in christian romances, it is has lots of reflection on characters personal relationship with God.
The book would be for those interested in christian romances, it is has lots of reflection on characters personal relationship with God.
November 3, 2016
Here is my standard blurb for a book that I've read to my wife: Another book that I read to Diana. We can't do much anymore after her stroke, so I read to her to spend time together. Diana has always loved to have someone to read to her - and I like to do just that.
Again, this was not great literature, but entertaining. We pretty much knew the ending after the first few chapters when the characters were introduced. It was easy reading and Diana enjoyed the entertainment and gave it four stars.
Again, this was not great literature, but entertaining. We pretty much knew the ending after the first few chapters when the characters were introduced. It was easy reading and Diana enjoyed the entertainment and gave it four stars.
April 19, 2016
This was an enjoyable read involving Christian characters with integrity. The one drawback, I felt, was one commonly seen in Christian fiction, where a Christian character falls in love with an unbeliever, then that person becomes a Christian and immediately all their relationship problems are ironed out.
Still it was an enjoyable read that had many good things to say in it.
Still it was an enjoyable read that had many good things to say in it.
February 7, 2010
This was a fun story and a fast read - also large print font, which I love. It had many elements, three relationships, a child, a new community, and a mystery. Overall a fun story, and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Want to read
July 8, 2008The Other Way Home series / book two
March 2, 2009
While I enjoyed reading this one, I wasn't able to get into it as much as I did the first in the series.
Read
September 29, 2011Loved it. Just enough mystery to keep you turning the pages and wanting more. The transformation of lives was fun to watch. The love story was awesome.
August 28, 2012
amazing book I loved it.Alot to learn from. It teaches us not to run from out problems, but face then with Gods help.
January 21, 2013
My first book read on my kindle. It was just a good book where people have issues but everything turns out good.
September 13, 2016
Omg! I loved this book. Its a great book for Any Christian. I highly Recommend It.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews