9. Do you think you would have chosen to stay in Hanover Falls after your spouse’s death the way Olivia did? What motivated her decisions?
10. Olivia falls in love with Reed, her employer. Put yourself in her place and discuss what issues you might deal with under the circumstances and how you would handle them.
11. When she sold her house and got her old job back on the same day, Olivia believed it was too amazing to be mere coincidence. Does God sometimes move through coincidences? Should we trust such coincidences as God’s “method” of guidance? What other confirmation might we seek when we decide a coincidence is a “God-incidence” instead?
12. Talk about Reed’s affirmation of Olivia’s talents and how that compared to the way Derek had treated Olivia’s artistic endeavors. Do you feel your spouse or other loved ones encourage you in the areas where God has gifted you? Do you find it easy to affirm their talents in return? Why or why not?
13. Talk about the conclusion of the novel. Did you like the way it ended? Would you have made the same decision Reed made? The same decision Olivia made?
About the Author
DEBORAH RANEY dreamed of writing a book since the summer she read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and discovered that a Kansas farm girl could, indeed, grow up to be a writer. After a happy twenty-year detour as a stay-at-home mom, Deb penned her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, which won a Silver Angel Award and inspired the acclaimed World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Since then, her books have won the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, ACFW Carol Award, National Readers' Choice Award, as well as twice being finalists for the Christy Award. Deb teaches at writers' conferences across the country. She and her husband, Ken Raney, recently traded small-town life in Kansas ––the setting of many of Deb's novels––for life in the (relatively) big city of Wichita. They have four children and a growing brood of precious grandchildren who all live much too far away. Visit Deb on the Web at:
www.deborahraney.com
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