When 11-year-old Andrew Tollson's parents moved him from Texas to Maine, he had to sacrifice more than the only home he'd ever known. He had to leave the most important person in his life, next to his parents, behind.
Drew and 9-year-old tomboy JoeBeth Wythe lived in each other's pockets. They shared everything, including their first on-the-lips kiss. It tore them both up to be separated. And then the sun blew up, turning the Earth into a cold, barren wasteland. For years, neither knew if the other had lived through the apocalypse, but they never forgot each other, to the point that neither could make a go of a romantic relationship with anyone else.
After 17 years of training in lethal hand-to-hand combat, Drew has finally decided he has no other choice than to go back to Texas to find Jo. Or her grave. Mute, after the trauma of the vicious murders of his brother and parents by raiding scavengers, the pudgy little Drew has grown into a six-foot-two inch, muscle-packed killing machine versed in all the skills he'll need to travel by foot halfway across the country and arrive there alive. Along the way, he strikes without warning, to defend both himself and the innocents he encounters, and somewhere between Maine and Texas, people begin calling him the Silent Wraith. But to Jo – when he finally finds her, living in the hidden cave-compound of Promise, Texas – he is still her Drew.
On the day these two childhood sweethearts reunite, the sun catches fire again in their own private sky, but when Drew's violent night terrors threaten Jo's safety, he knows he has to again leave her behind. However, Jo isn't about to let him off the hook a second time. Setting out after him, she encounters more danger than the snowy cold. Scavengers have been raiding the Promise food stores, and when Jo stumbles into their path with no help in sight, where is Drew? Only if his heart turns him around, will Jo have a chance to survive at the hands of thieves who can't afford to leave a witness behind.
Having gone through several would-be publishers who dropped the ball – which is to their loss, I must say – on getting this wonderful book out to readers, I'd venture a guess that Linda Mooney's A Different Yesterday is a very different kind of love story than you've ever read before. Due to the sun going supernova – which isn't caused by “global warming” as one reviewer postulated – childhood best friends Jo and Drew believe they will never see each other again. On the surface, the string of events that lead Drew back to Jo after 17 years seem contrived, but as you come to know these two, you know that their relationship couldn't have evolved any other way. It goes to the premise that when destiny holds your future in its hands, what is meant to be will be, even under the most dire of circumstances.
I love Ms. Mooney's writing. I've read most of her books, and they've all been truly wonderful, but none of them has been, from cover to cover, as good as this book. A Different Yesterday will tear you apart and put you back together again. It will make you cry, so be sure you have some tissues on hand. It will make you smile and warm you all the way to the very bottom of your soul. It will even give you hope if your own future seems hopeless. It's simply one of the best books I've ever read, with one of the most touching endings imaginable. Don't miss it!
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You can buy it here, or at Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Barnes & Noble, BookStrand, and Fictionwise!)
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