Ideal for readers of Nicholas Sparks, Forever Friday is the heartwarming and captivating tale of an unlikely couple, a weekly gift of devotion, and a heartbroken man longing to discover the secret to lasting marriage.
After a devastating divorce leaves Adam Colby heartbroken, he is not sure how he can put the pieces of his life back together. He wonders if even God can make sense of the mess that remains-until a package of mysterious postcards that direct Adam to the story of Gabe and Huck Alexander. Drawn by her desire to find a true soulmate, Pearl "Huck" Huckabee breaks a turbulent engagement with her fiancé to marry Gabe Alexander, a man she's known just a few short weeks. Wanting to celebrate and protect their love, Gabe mails her a meaningful postcard every week-beginning in 1926-for the next sixty years. Designed to arrive on Fridays, each postcard not only contains an original poem, but holds precious truths, the sum of which answer the universal question: what makes a marriage last? As Adam begins to uncover the Alexanders' secret, he records Gabe and Huck's extraordinary romance. It's a process that will change his life forever.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
TIMOTHY LEWIS is an author and playwright. He has authored more than twenty plays/musicals. In addition, he teaches a beginning novel writing class at West Texas A&M University and co-directs a summer writing academy. Timothy is also a professional speaker, cowboy poet, actor, and songwriter. He drew inspiration for Forever Friday from the postcards sent between his great-aunt and great-uncle over a period of sixty years. He lives with his wife near Amarillo, Texas.
This book typifies why I am thinking about phasing out reviewing "Christian fiction". Putting the label "Christian fiction" on a book does not make it so. There's nothing "Christian" about this book. Smoking, drinking, immoral behavior, a so-called "guardian angel" while almost no talk of God Himself, much less anyone even TRYING to live a godly life makes for a very poor book indeed.
The story line itself had some great promise, and there are some very sweet moments, but these are cheapened by the lack of any type of real Christianity, the selfishness of the two main characters--especially Huck--and a gratuitous attempted rape scene (which wouldn't have even happened if Huck had just been honest with her husband!). This is supposed to be a grand love story, but it falls very short. Huck and Gabe are so wrapped up in having a deep, loving, lasting marriage that is really becomes to the exclusion of all others. I also had an issue with the fact that their first "date", which was really all day and night, occurred while Huck was engaged to another man!
If you're looking for a secular love story, this might work great for you. If you're looking for a Christian love story, I'd advise you to look elsewhere.
I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Press through "Blogging for Books" in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is one of the best romance books I think I have read and it has been sitting on my shelf for years. It is a story about the power or love and marriage. After being married to the same man for 58 years, I can tell you that there is a lot of truth in this book about how to keep a marriage alive. What a treat it has been to read this book.
Do soul mates exist? Or is a good marriage derived from faith, sacrifice, and a commitment to one another? For Gabe and Huck it's finding in each other a soul mate and the ability to choose each other over their own selfishness. Throughout their sixty years of marriage, each Friday Gabe sent Huck a postcard with a poem. What's more romantic than that? The story of Gabe and Huck is told by Yevette, the daughter of Gabe's and Huck's housekeeper, to Adam, who runs estate sales. Adam had discovered the postcards and was compelled to know the story behind them. In discovering the love and romance between Gabe and Huck, he found the hope he had lost after a bitter divorce. A story that makes you believe in "true love".
I liked this book, it was a good love story. My only issue is that this is supposed to be a christian book and it's really not much at all. This book is easy and Interesting to read though.
2.5 stars Pros: Huck and Gabe are likable characters who display their deep love for God and each other. Knowing very little about Texas history myself, the book seems well-researched. Cons: It seemed, with the exception of 3 or 4 very brief incidents with elements of risk and danger, a mediocre tale of two average, middle-class Americans who were faithful to their marriage. The evil Clark seemed inhuman, almost a classic 'evil villain' from the Vaudeville era. How could he be that mentally ill and Huck, a lifelong friend and fiancé, not suspect problems?? For another reader this might be a wonderful book. For my interest, a book needs to be based on a more worthy story.
This book took me FOREVER to finish because there wasn't much excitement that happened in it to make me not want to put it down. The book was just alright, cute story but not much of a climax. I did however like how it ended around the theme of hope.
"Some great romances worth telling are never told, their lovers slipping silently between life's timeworn cracks only to be pitched with yesterday's trash. As owner of a small estate-sale business, I'd witnessed evidence over the years of various couple's love lives. So I'd learned to sift through the piles of forgotten memories. Learned to appreciate a second look...and perhaps ease my pain.
That was how I discovered the postcards.
Bargain hounds and treasure hunters pushed through the heavy front door of Gabe and Pearl Alexander's beloved home early before rushing away to their next classified find. Antique buyers, who were more savvy, missed the cards because they were camouflaged among several dozen identical photo albums. Inside their vinyl maroon covers, these albums held not the usual faded family snapshots, but hundreds of colorful postcards revealing six decades of married passion recorded in rhyme beside canceled postage stamps.
Surprised to find postcards poems instead of photos, I began reading them in between my dealings with customers. As a thirty-eight-year-old man who had once committed to "forever," I was intrigued. What was this couple's secret? In a fast food world of abbreviated relationships, what supernatural love potion kept Gabe and Pearl enamored with each other for more than half a century? I'm not sure I believed in love anymore, especially married love, but found myself becoming more entranced as each minute passed. Even though the Alexanders had lived together in the same house, the postcards were sent over the years from Gabe to Pearl, beginning in 1926. Each unique card was signed "Forever, Gabe," the poem connecting an episode of their love to the picture on the front.
My guess was Gabe died in the mid-1980's, because that's when the cards stopped." (pg. 1-2).
Move over Nicholas Sparks!!! There is an incredible new author I can't wait for you to pick up his debut novel, Forever Friday. For those of you that love "The Notebook," then you will love this one without a doubt. I was completely captivated and mesmerized by this heartwarming love story that spans across sixty years of a man who vowed to do what he could to show the woman of his life, his wife, just how much he loved her by sending her postcards with a poem penned from his heart every single Friday til he died. Now Adam Colby, who happens upon the postcards tucked away in a photo album while going through an estate sale feels that he has stumbled across something more, perhaps the secret to making love and marriage last through the story he uncovers researching Gabe and Huck Alexander.
I received Forever Friday by Timothy Lewis compliments of Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable one. This book takes the readers back to the life of Gabe and Pearl, who you will learn loves to be called Huck instead, as they meet and spend sixty years of love together. You will learn the secret to defeating The Long Division that claims so many marriages today and how one man's undying love captivated not only Pearl's heart but also the reader's heart as well. I only hope this is the start to something wonderful with Timothy Lewis and I can't wait to see what comes next in his novels. By far, one of my favorite love stories this year and one that has a new-found permanent home in my personal library. Well worth every single one of the 5 out of 5 stars!!!! You won't want to miss this one!
Forever Friday is a very unique way to tell a love story. The author sets the story up by introducing us to Adam, a man who does not know if it is possible for true love to last. He is disheartened by his wife leaving him two years earlier. After discovering a set of postcards with love poems on them that spanned sixty years of a couple’s marriage, Adam set out to learn the secret to this now deceased couple’s lasting romance.
The first portion of the book moved a little slowly for me. However, after the initial introduction of the main characters and beginning situations in the book, things really took off. The story jumps back and forth between the present (2006), the recent past (2004) and the distant past (1926 – 1986). I did not feel this was confusing at all, as the author did a good job of beginning each historical chapter with one of the poem postcards and then going on to explain the situation that the postcard referenced.
The main love story in the book, spanning sixty years, is the story of Gabe and Huck’s romance. It is truly a romance to take your breath away. The author did a great job of creating characters that touched my heart and I really enjoyed reading their love story. I admit that I would have liked more of a love story between Adam and Yvette, the young woman who was very close to Gabe and Huck and helped fill in the blanks for Adam. However, I understand that giving them a big love story would have detracted from the main romance.
I think this story will stay in my mind for quite a while. Gabe and Huck discovered the way to keep romance alive for sixty years of marriage. Very sweet story. (4 stars)
I received a complimentary copy of Forever Friday from WaterBrook Press in exchange for my honest review, which I have given.
This struck me as a very different novel from the norm, but at first I couldn't figure out why. After some thought, I decided it was because of the instant, intense 'love-at-first-sight' theme between Gabe and Huck, the two main characters. I'd just finished reading a string of novels in which the romantic duo were antagonistic toward each other until the plot drew warmer feelings out of them. As that scenario may be what we come to expect from romances, I was wondering why 'Forever Friday' seemed to work. I've heard stories of love at first sight in real life, but would have expected it to come across as a bit bland in a story context, without the emotional drive to keep us wondering how they will end up together. In a way, we had it handed to us on a platter. Boy meets girl when he serves her at a fish market, and wow, sparks fly. What's the fun in reading that?
It's very well written as a historical story. The details of life in that 1920s flapper/jazz period made me feel drawn straight into that decade, especially its colourful, fun aspects. In some ways, it's more like reading the fond biography of somebody's grandparents rather than a novel.
Perhaps our interest is maintained by the other main character, Adam, whose story takes place in a later time period. He's a recent divorcee, still caught up in sadness and regret, who discovers a pile of old postcards which reveal Gabe, Huck and their love story. The intrigue comes as we wonder what he's going to do with this historical find, and how he'll let it shape his life. I was definitely wondering what he was going to learn from this old couple.
I'm certainly glad I read it, as it challenges me to think outside of the box when it comes to the appealing factor without relying on normal story structures we may be accustomed to.
3.5 stars
Thanks to Net Galley and Water Brook Multnomah Publishers for my review copy.
There are really no words to fully describe this book. It is one of the most well written and beautiful books that I have ever read.
When I first saw this novel, I wasn't sure exactly what to think. It sounded interesting, but I feared it might turn into another rambling romantic tale that really had no depth and didn't go anywhere. I was wrong. I am happy to report that this book captivated me in every way reading material can.From the first page to the last, I wanted to know more. Ever read a book and wished it would never end? This is that book.
The main character has recently gone through a divorce, which has not only tested his willpower and ability to move on, but also his faith. When he stumbles upon a series of postcards between two people who were married for many years, he begins to uncover the secrets to a happy marriage and realises that there is always hope for a brighter future.
The exchanges between partners in these post cards are incredible. There were many times when I had tears in my eyes whilst reading and other times when I wished I could have thought of something so beautiful to write to the person that I love.
This book is mostly about life, love and second chances at happiness. When you read this, you get the opinion that the author not only knows his subject matter, but this book was of great importance to him. You can literally feel the power of his affection for this writing through his words.
I would strongly recommend that you check out this book, whether you are in love, have been or intend to be someday, there is something here for us all and a valuable lesson about partnership.
*You should also read the author's afterward...it makes the book even better.
This review is based on an ARC copy from Waterbrook Multnomah Press as part of the Blogging for Books program. My opinions are my own.
In a gripping love story that transcends time, author Timothy Lewis' new title, Forever Friday: A Novel, is the narrative of the intense fire between a man and wife, and the fervent devotion crucial to fanning its flames.
Set within duel timelines, smooth transitions take us from present day Texas, where estate-sale specialist, Adam Coby, unearths a collection of sixty years of postcards hidden inside several photo albums. Not having recovered from the devastating heartbreak of a divorce two years ago, his brokenness stems not only from the loss of his future with his wife, but in what he sees as the staggering futility of love. As he casually reads through them, he experiences a flicker of hope that hidden in these postcards is the secret to maintaining a rich and long lasting love.
Falling into easy nostalgia with imperceptible seams and a graceful entry into a bygone era we learn the story of Gabe and Pearl Alexander beginning at the genesis and the birthplace of their love, 1920's Texas Coastal Bend. Tenderly chronicled within each missive is the story of a lifetime of a love not taken for granted, but nurtured and cultivated with the meticulousness that can only come from mutual devotion, unchanging and reaffirmed throughout the decades. Forever Friday is truly a beautiful and inspiring read, and resplendent in its telling, making this title one you'll want to read and re-read as you invest in your own love story.
A physical copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author for purposes of review.
Forever Friday reveals the secret to a lasting marriage in its portrayal of Gabe and Huck Alexander's sixty years of love and devotion from the 1920's to the 1980's. In the present day, Adam Colby, nursing a broken heart, finds several postcard albums at an estate sale and longs to know the story behind these postcard love poems written by Gabe and mailed to Huck every Friday for sixty years. With the help of the postcards and a family friend of the Alexanders, Adam learns the story and the secret of the Alexanders' marriage and in the process, mends his own heart and begins to believe in love again.
Based in Houston, Huntsville, and Galveston, this story is seeped in Texas history and even brings historical figures to life. I'm a fan of magical realism, so I loved the character of Mister Jack, a guardian angel, who watches over Huck and intercedes when necessary. Huck is a spirited woman, unpredictable at the best moments, and gets herself in trouble just often enough to be a lovable, perfectly flawed human. Gabe is a true gentleman and isn't afraid to reveal his romantic nature (both qualities are so rare these days.) AND he buys beautiful clothes for his wife. How can you not love the guy?
This book has to be one of the most beautiful tributes to love in the modern era and I would recommend it to anyone who wants or needs to soften their jaded views of love, for those who wonder how anyone can stay married for that many years, or for those simply looking for a well-written, entertaining, and heartwarming story.
When I read the back cover of this book I was really excited to read it. It sounds Nicholas Sparks-like and used to enjoy Nicholas Sparks but I stopped reading him because of too many steamy love scenes. So I was hoping for something similar but cleaner.
I hate to write about a book when I am disappointed but I need to be honest. I didn’t connect with this book at all. This is my opinion only and I am sure many other readers will love this book. Actually, this book as a lot of great reviews.
I felt like I never got a chance to connect with any of the characters. There was a lot of hopping around and I couldn’t get a grasp on who the characters really were.
There was a lot of narration in the beginning, just the character taking in the surrounds but not really moving the story forward. The dialogue that was there felt forced to me.
Also, Huck (the heroine), gets so angry at one point she cuts some of her hair off in the middle of a restaurant. Even though I didn’t have a good grasp in her personality I still felt that was a bit impulsive.
Like I said, I am sure many other people will like this book but it wasn’t for me.
A copy of this book was given to me by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to fall in love with this story. It combines so many elements that I love in a great novel. Past and present. A dynamitic love story, the tumultuous era of speakeasies, the depression and love at first sight. The first chapter hooked me and the premise kept me reading, but I failed to truly “fall in love” as I thoroughly expected to.
It wasn’t that the story wasn’t any good or wasn’t worth my time in reading. But I think too much of the story was “told” to me. Too much description tended to fill up sections between dialogue (which did improve towards the middle to end of the book) and the characters were a wee bit flat. With a bit more refining the book would be there, because like I said, it combines many, many facets to create a fantastic story.
But I don’t want my review to focus all on the negative, because it certainly isn’t a book not worth the reading. It’s one of those love stories you watch in a Hallmark movie come to the pages of a novel. It’s a story that touches the heart of the hopeless romantic in every reader.
This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.
I heard the author speak about how he came to write this book at a regular meeting of the Caprock Writers’ Alliance in Lubbock and won a copy of his book as a door prize! How can you fail to read a free book? Besides, he claimed that the novel was NOT a romance but a love story.
The novel is a story within a story, a narrative that washes over itself many times from present to past again and again until the story is told. The frame of the narrative is about a Adam Colby, a small-estate sale business, who comes across a large collection of postcards that one man has committed to sending his beloved wife every Friday of their sixty-year marriage.
Adam, recently divorced, is both fascinated and puzzled by the love and devotion that the couple, Gabe and Pearl Alexander, have for one another. Author Lewis makes sure that the reader experiences every high and low of the couple’s marriage, painting realistic and romantic views of their marriage.
Even so, the novel is a bit too sentimental for my tastes.
This is the story of Huck and Gabe, who meet when he is selling her seafood, fall in love while she is engaged to another man and marry and have sixty blissful child free years together. (You would be blissful without kids. Just saying.)
My problems with the book:
1. Cheesy plot worthy of a Nicholas Sparks book. 2. Stilted dialogue and jokes which would sound funny only to drunks (fortunately, our h/h are heavy drinkers.) 3. Public Service Announcements - every once in a while the author had to interrupt our regularly scheduled story to preach on a subject. 4. TSTL heroine - too stupid to live and almost died once thanks to said stupidity. 5. False advertising - unless you count the presence of "It's a Wonderful Life" style angels, this book is not an Inspirational. I don't count that. I also don't have a problem with it. I read lots and lots of books that aren't Inspies but I like to get what I paid for.
Early in the book, this story had elements reminiscent of the famous scene from Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," specifically the dialogue between George Bailey and Mary Hatch as they walked home from the dance after they had fallen into the swimming pool as it opened up beneath the basketball court. That walk home together was when they shared their hopes and dreams and George promised to "lasso the moon" for Mary.
That night was when George and Mary first realized that they were meant for each other. In Timothy Lewis' Forever Friday, Gabe and Pearl (Huck) have a similar conversation during a walk on the beach near the end of the night after their first date together. Thus began a lifelong relationship between them that stretched from the late 1920s until the the mid 1980s. Their story takes place in East Texas.
With the chapters alternating between the most significant moments of Gabe and Huck's life together and present-day scenes involving two people who were acquainted with them, this story is also similar to Nicholas Sparks' "The Notebook."
In the present-day portions of the book, the story focuses on Adam, a man recently divorced, and Yevette, the daughter of the housekeeper and caregiver of Gabe and Huck in their later years. After Gabe and Huck have passed away, Adam discovers their story by reading Gabe's postcards to Huck that he finds in an album during the estate sale. Later, Adam connects with Yevette to learn more about the secret to their long and happy relationship.
The strength of the story, however, was in the chapters dedicated to Gabe and Huck. The best parts of their story were when they first met at the store where Gabe worked, and Huck gave him the cold shoulder. It was weeks before they would meet again. In the meantime, Huck's relationship with her fiance Clark was beginning to sour. Clark had become possessive and demanding and there was some foreshadowing of an aggressive temper. As Huck saw his true colors, she began to think more about her initial encounter with Gabe, who was a gentleman. When she next met Gabe, their future together was quickly determined. As a result, Huck's break-up with Clark was anything but smooth and civil.
Although I enjoyed reading Gabe and Huck's story and how they determined to keep their relationship strong, some parts of the book seemed too far-fetched to believe. For example, the scene in which Huck first sees Clark again is not believable. It was years after their violent break-up, and he somehow convinces her to travel in a car with him, alone, for several hours to surprise Gabe while he is across the state, working. Based on the dialogue in the book to that point, the actions of each of the characters, and the era in which the story was set, this was a very unlikely, if not impossible, event to imagine happening. It didn't fit in with the rest of the plot.
From that point, the story began to speed up quite a bit and each chapter jumped ahead years at a time. As a reader, the satisfaction of the steady development of the beginning of the story didn't match the pace of the remainder of the book. It felt rushed at the end, which was not as enjoyable, even though there were still some endearing chapters along the way. That it felt rushed plus that the modern-day portions of the story between Adam and Yevette were not as interesting weakened the story overall. With that said, this is still a solid four-star book. Gabe and Huck's story was that strong.
I enjoyed this okay. It was written by the husband of a college friend. One thing I liked about it was the historical setting in Houston, Galveston, and Huntsville, and tying in to actual places and events. A nice little romance, not too deep, and the story moves along okay, while keeping the focus on the plot. The plot mechanism is unusual, based on selected postcards with poems sent from the husband to the wife on Fridays, and describing what was happening in the relationship that led up to the poems. The story includes some Christian aspects, but this is a minor part in the storytelling, except for a few occassions described as divine interventions. There were two relationships in the narrative, and I would have enjoyed more on the second couple.
It's been on my shelf for a long time and I just hadn't got to it yet. The storyline has a little bit of Hallmark romance, but also some dramatic situations that are next to impossible for actually happening. This book is labeled as a Christian fiction, but there is nothing Christian about it. There are vague references to prayer a couple of times but other than that no biblical standards or Christian lifestyle. Ends on a happy note-not one I will keep in my library.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Loved it. Couldn't put it down. I will read it again. I have a copy in my library. I save this rating for my absolute favorite books. ⭐⭐⭐⭐: Enjoyed it. ⭐⭐⭐: Liked it. ⭐⭐: Finished it, just ok. ⭐: I didn't like it, don't recommend it. Probably didn't finish it.
No. Non mi ha convinta. Troppo di tutto. Troppa speranza, troppo romanticismo, troppa esuberanza, troppa dolcezza, troppa tenerezza, troppa bontà. Troppo di tutto. Tranne che di realtà e coinvolgimento. L'idea è quantomeno interessante e la trama ben sviluppata, ma ho fatto fatica a seguire, quantomeno all'inizio, gli sbalzi temporali. Il titolo italiano carica il romanzo di aspettative, a mio avviso, successivamente deluse. Credevo che la storia di dipanasse molto più intorno alle cartoline, come è scritto in quarta di copertina. Non vedevo l'ora di finirlo! Peccato.
This is a wonderful story! What an amazing couple. And Gabe Alexander is a delightful husband. The fact that he writes a letter to his wife, Pearl, every Friday from the week they get married is astonishing.
And Adam Colby gets sucked into this wonderful love story of the Alexanders. The fact that the story goes back and forth between the time Gabe and Pearl first fall in love to today keeps you interested. The story flows and you never get irritated when you are suddenly drawn back to the present day and Adam's search for answers to his questions about Gabe and Pearl's relationship.
I highly recommend this book. It's a wonderful story of love, hope, strength, relationships, forgiveness, and adventure.
At first I had a hard time switching heads—story starts out first person and switches throughout; I’m not a fan of this. Keep me in one head while I read.—but I came to an acceptance as the story itself grew on me. Adam is writing Huck and Gabe’s story as he discovers his own. Adam is in estate sales and he finds an album of postcards written by Gabe to his wife Huck every Friday for their sixty years together. Through Gabe and Huck’s story Adam discovers hope himself. I enjoyed traveling with Gabe and Huck and seeing Adam find hope.
How do you build a marriage that lasts a lifetime? That's the secret Gabe and Huck discover. By intentionally choosing to avoid long division, their marriage lasts for sixty years. That doesn't mean there were no major roadblocks in their way, but it was a decision made from the day they met. As Adam unravels their story, he dares to dream and hope that he too may come to know that kind of a marriage. He also discovers that maybe God is not the fairytale he'd always believed, but worth considering.
While I am definitely not a fan of what I label "hanky books", this was an uplifting story of love that lasts. It certainly brought on the tears as well as emphasizing hope in all situations. I would not label this a Christian fiction necessarily, but it is inspirational in that it encourages a willingness to mutually think of the other person's happiness first in sustaining a long term relationship and the consequences of what happens when secrets are kept from each other.
I have been reading some excellent books lately and this one is included. It is about Adam who works with an estate auctioneer. It is afternoon and he is deciding of the things that didn't sell what goes in the dumpster. Usually the photo albums are one of the first to go. However, among them are albums of postcards. He becomes intrigued with them and notes each have a postmark of Friday. So now we have Adam's story and the story of Gabe and Huck.
Sarò sincera, se non l'avessi pescato dal mio barattolo di lettura non l'avrei mai letto, ma sono contenta di averlo fatto. Questo libro racconta di un amore profondo e toccante, racconta il segreto per un amore duraturo. I difetti sono sicuramente i buchi di trama e gli eventi raccontati senza un filo logico, inoltre c'è un punto particolarnente trash vicino a pagina 200 che ho fatto fatica a reggere. Bella l'idea delle cartoline.
An enjoyable love story of two people who honestly love each other. How the each met each other and knew each was the one. Life gets complicated while still being married and not making each other a priority. Many couples give up when it gets hard. Believe me it does get hard, but continue to hope and trust in each other. A reminder of true love no matter the storms of life throws at you, but do it together and marriage becomes stronger.