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Healing Springs

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Falling out of love is one thing, but purposefully forgetting it is another.

Selene McAlister is a successful author who had it all. Best selling novels, a beautiful beach house, a fast car and perfect health…until one rainy night that changed her life forever.

Selene had to be cut from the wreckage of her sports car, and despite horrific injuries, she survived. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she couldn’t decide…not when she had to deal with the aftermath of her injuries every day after that. Broken and battered, scarred and in pain, she was a ghost of her former self, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The accident had taken something more important from her than physical health…it had robbed her of the ability to write…and taken huge chunks of memory along with it.

Now, at forty years old, she’s being forced to move back to Healing Springs and return to the small family Inn her mother owns. Returning to her childhood home was never a part of her plans. On top of everything else that happened, it only served to convince her that her life was a total failure, and that she had nothing left to look forward to other than a lifetime of pain and isolation.

Amy Fontaine is a successful businesswoman and photographer. She is also Selene’s best friend and has been since before High School. She’s not the type to let Selene retreat from life and succumb to self-pity, not if she has anything to say in that matter. Maybe that’s why Amy was the last person Selene wanted to see when she returned to Healing Springs. Fortunately for Selene, her friends and family were having none of it. They would find a way to reach Selene and show her that she still had worth…and in Amy’s case…that she was still worthy of love.

This novel is dedicated to all the strong women out there that wake up every day and struggle with disabilities, both visible and invisible. Your fight is what inspired this novel.
You ladies rock.


*Loosely based on the short story, The Potter’s Wheel.

358 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2018

104 people are currently reading
83 people want to read

About the author

Rhavensfyre

26 books136 followers
Rhavensfyre is the collaborative pen name used by two writers, Roxanne and KL, who have been partners since 2000 and were finally legally married in Washington D.C. in 2012. They have a small farm in Pennsylvania where they raise and breed horses. KL is a horse trainer and has shown western pleasure in the past, now her focus is more on pleasure riding and breeding. She is an avid cyclist, and when she is not on four hooves she is on 2 wheels. Roxy works as a nurse by night and an artist by day. A military veteran, she has seen a good bit of the world and now enjoys the quiet country life immensely. “Switching Gears” is their first book.

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5 stars
119 (43%)
4 stars
70 (25%)
3 stars
60 (22%)
2 stars
13 (4%)
1 star
9 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Agirlcandream.
755 reviews3 followers
January 4, 2019

3.5 stars

This one is high on the angst meter. Selene, post accident suffers from a great deal of pain, memory loss and spends a lot of the book sleeping or rather losing times in dreams.

She returns to Healing Springs where her mother runs a B&B catering to those wishing to enjoy the natural springs and their mysterious restorative cures. I had assumed she too would recover spending time in her own private spring waters, working in her grandmothers pottery studio and having her mother close and caring. Turns out there are unseen forces at work here and to say more would be to give the mystical side of the story away.

The pace is slow and easy and the authors do get carried away from time to time with their flowery prose but I did enjoy spending time with these entertaining women. If you don’t mind a main who is a major Debbie Downer for the majority of the tale, then this is the book for you.

Profile Image for Luce.
521 reviews
April 27, 2018
3.5 Stars.

This is a story about Selene, a successful author who is one book a way from really hitting it BIG. Caught up in her success, she spent money on things like a beach front home and a Charger muscle car. Unfortunately, one night her car brakes failed. She was left with significant injuries, constant debilitating pain, bills and the inability to write. After 3 years, she had no choice but to sell her beloved beach house and return to live with her mother in her childhood home. Her mom owns their family resort called "Healing Springs", with natural hot springs. Selene moves into her Grandmother's bungalow, with her abandoned ceramic studio and its own private spring. Salene has happy memories with her Grandmother. Eventually, she visits the studio and begins to throw pots as her grandmother taught her. She also reconnects with her childhood best friend, Amy. Amy also left Healing Springs, but returned 3 years prior, leaving her successful business job and opened up a successful coffee shop/bakery and a yoga & metaphysical store next door.

Much of this book is about Selene trying to cope with her pain and loss - both physical and mental wellness. I can really relate to Selene. A few years ago I went in for back surgery. Lets just say it didn't go as planned - 6 surgeries and 4 months later I was able to return home from the hospital. So I can sympathize with the constant pain Selene was suffering through.

“I’m sorry. Are you hurting badly this morning?” Selene snorted. “I hurt every morning.” And afternoon, and evening. If I’m awake, the pain is right there dancing with my consciousness...

But she is also dealing with memory loss.
"Memories of her grandmother, even the most bittersweet ones, were the easiest to find. But every time she reached for an important point in her life, the cards stuck together, stubbornly refusing to budge and threatening to draw blood if she tried to slip her finger between the cards."

There is also a stray that visits Selene that she names Amok.
"She needed someone to share her grief with, even if it was just a short, stocky gargoyle of a dog that may or may not be a figment of her imagination."

But she does have Amy. Amy who was more than just a best friend to Selene if only she remembered. Amy who is also hurting.

Then there is a paranormal, mystical element in the book that unfortunately I could not fully embrace. But it may just be me.



Profile Image for Lexxi Kitty.
2,060 reviews477 followers
August 19, 2018
I'm definitely the outlier here - most of the people I am friends with and/or follow who have read this book came to a very different conclusion than I did. At best they seemed to tolerate it, while I seemed to have rather enjoyed myself with this book.

Was my knowledge of how others thought of the book impact me in any way? Considering I confused myself and thought I was reading a different book (I picked up 2 different books via Kindle Unlimited - accidentally thought I was reading the other one when I marked it 'reading' on here - but had been reading this one here) . . . no, I had no clue what others thought of this book until I completed it. heh.

This is one of those books wherein I can give a very rough vague 'this is what occurs' but only up to about half way, and what I would say would be . . . . necessarily wrong. There very much is a . . . crap, I forgot the phrase now. Unreliable narrator. Not because the main character is trying to lie to others or to themself, but because they do not have the memories they need to properly know the full story of their own life.

Three years before the start of this book, famous author Selene McAlister was in a horrible car accident. The accident took her ability to write (more in the 'took her muse' kind of way), made it difficult for her to walk (she needs a cane), made it difficult to live without drugs, and took away her self confidence about her body (her body is covered with scars, etc, and she doesn't think anyone would want her now).

The book opens with Selene depressingly starring at the ocean - packing up her beloved beach house that she can no longer afford (she's an author, she lost her ability to write, she has now run out of money - plus all the debts from the accident, etc). She's going to moving in with her 'hippie' mother Marion (there's reasons why she calls her mother by her first name) in the small town Selene attempted to escape from . . . something like 20 years ago (she's 40 now).

Most of the beginning of the book is from Selene's point of view, and as I noted she is an unreliable narrator. A few other point of views poke in here or there, though (well, at least Marion's thoughts poke there way in in the beginning half of the book).

In terms of POV - other important characters include Selene's fellow small town survivor, and best friend growing up, Amy Fontaine. Amy gets some control of the POV in the second half of the book. But I cannot really say much about what unfolds from her point of view, nor about anything that happens after she pops up, physically, in the book. For reasons.

I found this book difficult to stop reading, and . . . 'enjoyed' might be the wrong word to use, liked that I got to read it.

Rating: 4.67

August 18 2018
365 reviews42 followers
June 19, 2018
Healing Springs is like a long walk through a dark forest. It's no picnic.

Selene McAlister survived a horrific car accident. Her old life died and her new life consists of debilitating pain. No longer able to support herself as a writer, her finances and disability force her to move back to her childhood home in Healing Springs. Her mother Marion provides a source of unwelcome caregiving. Selene, at forty, feels little if anything, but her pain and disfigurement. Her bungalow sits at the edge of the McAlister family Inn by the Healing Springs. The waters of the Spring offer hope to the hopeless and health to the failing. Selene wants nothing but a hideout as she sinks into seclusion. With her mother's meddling, her renewed connection to her best friend Amy Fontaine from high school and her gargoyle like dog Amok, she rebuilds her broken life. Big chunks of memory elude her and emotional pain haunts her. She starts spending time in her grandmother's pottery workshop and she walking out, via her private access, to Healing Springs.

Selene and the other ghost like characters of Healing Springs aren't easy to grasp. Pain and desolation force her to keep everyone at arm's length. She finds joy with her adopted dog, purpose at her grandmother's potting wheel and divine inspiration at the Healing Springs. Amy and Marion remind her of the rich, happy and successful life that's gone. Amy's back home for her own complicated reasons and she suffers her own loss of Selene. Marion never left home like Selene and Amy, but she spends nearly every waking minute running the busy Inn. At its core, this novel is a second chance lesbian romance, but it's peripheral to most of the story. It is both fundamental and tangential. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and story, but I really liked the writing in this novel. Ghost stories are difficult to pull off and in Healing Springs the ghostly Selene isn't even dead. She is described as a sleepwalker or as a sleeping beauty. I'd rate the book somewhere between 3 and 4 stars.
Profile Image for Loek Krancher.
1,042 reviews66 followers
March 7, 2018
A breathtaking read!

Wow, what a breathtaking read! It touched my heart in every possible way. The pain, the desperation, the love, all the emotions felt so real. The characters have so much depth and intensity. Now I can’t get them out of my mind. A story that kept me turning the pages late into the night. The photobook, the introduction, the letter, they were another highly touching moments. Oh boy, I wish I could see that photobook! The story is beautifully and movingly written and I can't find words that do justice to this book of this caliber. It is so worth the wait and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Profile Image for Bugs.
250 reviews58 followers
April 25, 2018
Blimey! This book was nothing like I expected when I first started after reading the synopsis. Not. At. All!! And it should be this way because the impact of the reveal absolutely stunned me senses as I devoured page after page! So, do not read any spoilers if you can help it.

Anyway, I was absolutely riveted by this gripping story about survival, pain, fear, isolation, healing, and second chances. Selene's story was written with such conviction that you could literally feel not only her pain & suffering but also her eventual awakening...a rebirth, really, both physically & psychologically. Everything that she was experiencing, be it alone, or with her ever-supportive mum, her best mate & Amok....intensely raw. But it was not all angst or depressing or sad. As Selene went through her journey of self-discovery, soul-searching, second-life (so to speak!), there was humour, wit, some adventure, and ultimately love and hope as her future became more solid and certain to her. Her relationship with Amy, her best mate since childhood, was uniquely explored and a joy to uncover as we followed their journey.

"Healing Springs" is a very different take on the human psyche, relationships, it's utterly original, and it leaves you pondering about life, what it means to one's body, mind & soul. It is mystical, whimsical, magical, it is delightful & utterly, positively heartwarming. Rhavensfyre's sensitively emotional style of writing in telling this unorthodox story was poetical. Genuinely heartfelt.

Can't really say much more without giving anything away so what I can allude to is that this book is brilliantly written and told, an enlightening piece of fiction. A bloody inspiring read, indeed! READ. IT.
Profile Image for susan.
416 reviews3 followers
March 14, 2018
Different but awesome

Ok I have only read switching gears from this author and this was a 360 from that book. I wasn't sure about the book at the beginning but the more I read I fell in love with the storyline. Well and the characters to. This book can speak to Everyone in different ways. I definitely recommend this book.
Profile Image for Ameliah Faith.
859 reviews43 followers
November 3, 2019
Curiouser and Curiouser
Oh how I loved this book. I adore stories with a touch of the supernatural and this book teased so well. I found the tale captivating, mesmerizing, compelling and more than a bit mystifying. Even though I wanted to race to see where the story would take me I also had a need to go slowly so I could savour each and every word.
I could totally relate to Selene. My pain, while not as drastic as hers, still at times, makes me bitter, angry and in too much agony to deal with day to day activities. I can understand her frustration, I also find myself angry with the forces that brought me to this new reality. Its nice to read about a lead character who is so much like me, less than whole physically.
This book is beautiful and haunting, sweet and harsh and full of things that will make you think. It is a wonder and I feel richer in spirit for reading it.
Profile Image for Megan.
294 reviews8 followers
March 28, 2018
I real all the positive reviews for this book, and thought I would give it a try. I did not enjoy this book as much as all the other reviews. I thought this book dragged a lot. I did not really ever get into it. The supernatural theme running through the book did not appeal too much to me, as I just thought it was a little over the top.

It was a beautiful story about someone who has scars and a disability and is afraid of looking at herself or anyone else seeing them. Selene had been in a bad car accident 3 years ago and has scars and could not deal with losing her ability to write books anymore. Selene has to move back home after she runs out of money from being unable to write. Amy, her best friend, tries to assimilate her back into the world. Selene has gaps in her memory that prevent her from remembering the whole story with Amy.

I would not recommend this book, I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Profile Image for Angel.
334 reviews23 followers
March 25, 2018
Such an enthralling story!

This is the first book I've ever read from this author and it would not be the last! I really enjoyed all of the twists and quirky turns that kept me captivated. Amy and Selene are such sweethearts but my heart really went out to Selene because she lost so much but she was able to enjoy new beginnings with the love of special people by her side.
Profile Image for A.L. Butcher.
Author 71 books278 followers
February 25, 2019
Healing Springs by KL Rhavensfyre is a tale of homecoming, revelation, loss, love and determination.

When writer Selene is forced to return to her childhood town of Healing Springs, after an accident which robbed her of health, a career she is reluctant, plagued with pain and self-pity and a shell of who she was. Yet the mysterious healing springs cared for by her family for generations hold secrets and power.

The book begins with Selene being forced to sell her house and return to her Bohemian hippy mother's inn - and the bitterness that brings. Selene finds it hard to see past her pain and loss, particularly the loss of her ability to write. We meet Amy - successful businesswoman, but an outsider in the small American backwoods town. Amy is black, gay and feisty and runs a metaphysical store and coffee shop. So where is the fantasy in this tale?  We learn of the town's history and the strange old witch woman whose house Amy buys. The old woman's ghost still lingers and as the story progresses we learn the secrets of the town, it's springs and the curses and blessings they bring. Amok, a strange and possibly supernatural dog appears and plays a crucial and slightly comical role. And then we have Minerva...

The fantasy aspect is subtle, slow to build but integral to the tale. It burns like the romance between the two women. Selene cannot remember the love affair between herself and Amy and believes no woman would want her battered and scared body. Love will find a way, even if it has to call in supernatural forces.

This is a slow burn story, which builds and builds until the exciting conclusion. I have to say I shed a tear.

Well-written, packed with emotion, and full of surprises - this is a great tale. The narrator is easy to hear, and well-chosen.

Recommended - 5 stars.
Profile Image for AC.
340 reviews5 followers
March 25, 2018
Interestingly enough, it seems that I was as drawn to finish Healing Springs, as Selene was to the Springs herself. I love that a book (in truth, an author) can surprise me with unexpected turns. Great concept, marvelously developed cast of characters, superb writing, and a setting that is just perfect for the story. This is a story about so much...so much pain, so much love, so much of that which we cannot explain. Can we go back home again? If so, what exactly do we want to find there, and can we accept what we do find? Amy and Selene return to their home, Healing Springs for different reasons, but as a result of the same circumstance of Selene's injuries due to her car accident. No spoilers here, just a recommendation to read it and enjoy the time you spend in Healing Springs. Yes, I found a couple of editing errors, but none that took away from the scene, so you will not be disappointed here.
Profile Image for Pam.
424 reviews
November 22, 2023
This story has so many things going for it. A healing for so many but coming home to oneself is pri

Ghosts, spirits and heal8ng waters. What more can you want. Selene recovering from here horrific accident has let the memories of life be lost. Her body aches keep healing at a slow pace but loving herself is key. Marion just her mom just wants her to be better. Amy just wants her to remember their love. Oh the story that unfolds is full of the history of the springs and the town of Healing Springs. I loved all the spiritual touch of this delightful story of healing for this tender heartfelt journey.
373 reviews
March 7, 2018
Love, loss, scars and healing

I enjoyed reading this story about love, loss, scars, and healing. It was a unique mix of hippy vibe, paranormal, and some mystery. I couldn't give the book more than 4 stars though since the beginning was slow in catching my interest and there were several grammar and spelling errors in the book.
1 review1 follower
March 17, 2018
Every time I read one of your books I tell myself that they can not get any better and then you out do yourself again. Loved this one, can not wait for the next one. I felt like I was living right there with them.

I will tell everyone I know that they would be out of their minds if they don't read this book
Profile Image for Ceh131973.
554 reviews5 followers
April 14, 2018
This was an amazing love story about growth and acceptence. It is not a smack you in the face with sex love story. It has an important messege of loving yourself and not missing what is in front of you.

The characters are amazing and fairly complex. The plot rolls at a good pace. Overall it leaves you with the warm fuzzies.
1,149 reviews15 followers
March 11, 2018
Excellent!

I loved Healing Springs. I loved the way the story line was plotted out. I think you finish reading it, then you need to set it aside to simmer. Then I think when you read it again, you will notice all the little hidden gems you didn’t get the first time.
Profile Image for Michele Howell.
207 reviews
March 24, 2018
Mystical

This was different from the other books I have read by Kris. It had spirits at work in Healing Springs. It shows that true love is patient and sees beyond physical appearance. To truly love another person you need to love yourself.
Profile Image for Patricia OHara.
437 reviews4 followers
September 1, 2018
Nice story

This was a very lovely story about two women who were victims of an accident. One involved in the accident and the other in love with the accident victim. Sweet enough that I didn’t want to put it down and read the whole book in one sitting.
233 reviews5 followers
September 2, 2018
Interesting

I enjoyed this book.It is very different from most that I have read in a good way no spoilers.
The story unfolded and took you on a very different path i enjoyed this very much.I highly recommend this book.read and enjoy.
Profile Image for Nic.
68 reviews7 followers
January 19, 2024
Rich: everything in a story

Characters made with humanness. Flawed, perfectly human and relatable in their disbelief and beliefs. This series is well written, the magic of mystical unknowns and the magic of love. Depth, amazing storyline. Very well written.
Profile Image for Heather Henkel.
1,404 reviews23 followers
March 6, 2018
Good book

I enjoyed reading this story and I loved how the spring was worked into the story. Scars really are something to be proud of.
Profile Image for J.
67 reviews1 follower
April 21, 2018
HEALING SPRINGS

Read this novel using Prime Lending. It was enjoyable and entertaining, a touch of super-natural and a dog named Amok.
52 reviews
May 6, 2018
Fantastic

What a fantastic well-written book! Couldn't put it down. Well worth reading in fact I'll definitely read it again. Awesome!
Profile Image for J. Robin Whitley.
Author 9 books38 followers
June 11, 2019
Great book. As a disabled person am also glad to hear about the feelings of a disabled person battling feelings.
Profile Image for Kath.
230 reviews
October 20, 2019
It took me a while to finish this book, the first part took me a long time, maybe it’s because the main character is a bit of a downer, but looking back it did make a great listen.
816 reviews8 followers
March 21, 2020
Kept me interested to find out what was the mystery, what was really going on. Thought it was a bit late in the story for everything to finally gel to understand the what happened in the beginning.
93 reviews4 followers
September 8, 2024
Great reading

A somewhat mystical novel. I enjoyed reading it very much. Loved the way the author created the dog, made him so unattractive but so necessary to the story.
Profile Image for AL.
684 reviews6 followers
September 27, 2018
Strange book....I am not sure if I like it there were moments that I felt the book that is dragging the story so much. I had to pass some pages as it was adding so many unenessary information about myths and urban legends. So I can say an ok book but not 100% for me.
Profile Image for Louise.
14 reviews
Read
May 5, 2018
Loved it 1st half then it lost me a bit second half good characters.
I’d love a Mum like Marion. Happy ending as well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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