THOUGHT-PROVOKING!

For twenty years Grace Bennett has been the perfect navy wife to her husband, Steve, traveling the globe with each re-station and raising their three children.
There is conflict between Grace and Stephen that serves as a reminder of how much family members sacrifice also, so that their loved ones can serve in the military.
Steve knows that his navy career puts a strain on his family.
Grace is almost 40, has gained weight, and is still WAITING to get started with her life. She wants to settle down, start a career of her own.SOMETHING!
Steve is bewildered by Grace's sudden change of heart towards him, when he believes that his career proves how much he cares for his family and his country.
Their children are dealing with issues. Their son is rebelling against his father's pressure to attend the Navy Academy; their older daughter is dealing with her sexuality and gets caught in a dangerous situation; the younger daughter is shy, a curse in a family that is forced to move every few years and must make new friends.
A past secret rears its ugly head amongst the naval suspense thriller background and the emotional struggle drama that is thought-provoking and keeps the reader spellbound!

Another one that kept me absolutely spellbound was EXPLOSION IN PARIS!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The ocean gives life, sustains life and takes it away...It's all here in this book...

I wasn¿t sure how I was going to feel about this book, An Ocean Between Us, as I knew it was not a historical romance (which is my preferred genre of love stories to read) and that it contained the story line with many characters (I was worried I might get lost along the way with too much going on) and that it was a book heavily on the military life of a Naval family (I knew little about this way of life so, unsure if I would find it interesting or too different and a bit boring). But¿.true to form, SW writes another great one. Let¿s face it, real emotion, real conflicts, real life surpasses time and space so, when an author brings you into the heart of the story line you can¿t help but be interested and fascinated all at one time. I was impressed that SW had so many characters in live action in this book yet, no one got lost along the way. That included the main characters of Grace (mother/wife), Steve (husband/father/military man), kids Emma, Katie, Brian(their teen-aged children), Josh (Steve¿s unknown first child/military man), Lauren (Josh¿s love interest) and others such as Patricia/Officer Riviera, ex-wife Cissy, and others. As the book went on, I noticed each new chapter dealt with a different person and their view point/perspective and life event was profiled and then a new character would arrive and a switch would occur again. Eventually, you got to know everyone and back and forth it went and of course, the inevitable happens, the story life comes full circle and show why everyone is tied together. The difficulty Naval and other military families go through in service to their nation was a powerful and moving story to tell. Life apart is more common than life together. Sacrifice to a thankful nation is critical element to these families but, so is the impact of living apart for a life time when it comes to husbands, wives, kids and relatives. This book showed what can happen to even the best families when distance and time take their toll. Who do you become? What do you do? What do you hope, wish and desire? Who follows who? Who stays behind? How does life go on while loves ones are away? And all the difficulty to patching up a family due to the affects of distance and duty. I found all the twists and turns in this book enjoyable. The most important of course being, the soul searching Grace did as a middle aged woman with grown kids, a duty bound Naval man moving up the ranks of his profession and trying to figure out who you are in mid life with no career, no house, no set place to call home and a lost identity. Her journey of self ¿discovery was powerful and important ¿ I¿m sure many, many women can relate. Grace¿s story re-affirmed that you teach people how to treat you so¿treat yourself goooooood! Of course this book ended up being pretty thick and long. There was some elements that could certainly have used more time and expansion but, book can only get so big. This book over-all is a great read. Pick it up soon, read it and add it to your Susan Wiggs library. You won¿t be sorry you did. If you enjoy honest and real love stories and seeing the human spirit prevail, then this is the one for you.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Simply superb

For two decades Grace Bennett has been the perfect navy wife to her beloved Steve while traveling the globe when her husband gets restationed and raising their three delightful children. So why is the devoted family matriarch feeling worthless and dissatisfied? Perhaps it is simply that her youngest is in ninth grade and like her older siblings needs mom less, but Grace thinks it goes deeper as she believes it is her identity that she lost....................................... Steve is bewildered by Grace¿s sudden change of heart towards him, as he believes that his career proves how much he cares for his family. Now deployed, he knows his marriage is in jeopardy especially since Grace has established a communication black out. He refuses to accept that he lost her without going down fighting as he loves his wife and children, but panics that Grace will not be there when he redeploys. When Stephen¿s ship is in troubled waters, Grace may not have a choice whether to remain a sailor¿s spouse with the overseas danger to her husband and the rest of the sailors on board.................................... THE OCEAN BETWEEN US excitingly plays out on two levels. There is the conflict between Grace and Stephen that serves as a reminder of how much family members sacrifice so that their loved ones can serve in a military that constantly ships out to hot spots (whom else but the military and their family have really sacrificed anything for the Global War on Terrorism?). The second theme is an action subplot that shows how dangerous the world is. Both the relationship drama and the naval suspense thriller combine to make a terrific thought provoking tale......................... Harriet Klausner

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Just wonderful!

I picked up this book at the library even though I'm not a big reader of romance novels. Well, I stayed on the beach until 6 p.m. so I could finish it in one day! Just loved this author and can't wait to read them all.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book. Susan Wiggs is an awesome writer!

Susan Wiggs at her best. This is a great book. Hard to put down.

Loved this book - what a great way to showcase the military family!

As a Navy brat growing up, seeing my dad go on several deployments to a Navy Wife watching my husband leave as well, this book brought everything together for me. Not only did it show the thoughts and feelings of the military man that was deployed and what he had to endure, but it also showed the children and wife he left behind and what they went through without him. I truly bonded with this family and highly recommend this book! You will cry, laugh, etc along with the characters as Susan Wiggs really opens up each one of them for you to see into their hearts.

Loved it!

If you are a mom, you can relate to Grace in this book. It is a great story of Grace finding herself again.

Great book!

My book club read and all the ladies enjoyed this book.

Highly Recommend

Loved it!!

Great Book

This is a great book, I would recommend it to anyone. Each chapter brought something new and different and kept you interested in the characters from beginning to end. This was my first Susan Wiggs book and plan to read more from her.

good read

Enjoyed this book

Great Read

This book was about a wife/mother learning to live her life. It points out that life is a series of transitions and growth and within a marriage it needs to be recognized that we grow and our partner needs to be aware of this also and to embrace the changes.

romantic

great book

Thrilling But Very Sweet!

I could relate to this book. My extended family is in the Navy. Susan you did it again! Once again all of us can't put your books down until the last page! Keep us captivated with your stories. This book is thrilling but very sweet. I loved Gracie & her courage.

Avid reader by grandmother and retired R.N.

This is the first novel I have read by this author and I couldn't put it down.When it comes back to me, after lending it to two friends, I'll donate it to our local, small library. Keep up the good books Susan.

WOW!

Wow! This book was almost 500 pages so I thought it would take awhile to get through it. I was so mesmerized it only took me two days. It was an eye-opening look into the lives of military families, in particular officer¿s families. Grace was an amazing woman who had given her all for her family for 20 years. Then one day she realized that she¿d lost herself and she got the courage to pursue some of her dreams for a change. Steve was rather self-involved. He expected his family to make any sacrifice for his career which he made clear was first in his life. And his idea of what spouses should and shouldn¿t tell each other about their past was a little screwed up. It took almost losing everything to make him realize what was really important and how quickly things can slip away if you take them for granted.

LOVE IT!!

im 16 years old, and i am not the person who actually grabs a book and reads, but this novel is such a wonderful and captivating story that touches your heart. You laugh, cry, feel every bit of whats happening in the story. I truely would love for all women to read this novel, not only because its good but because it shows how realistic Susan Wiggs was.

Best Read of the Summer

This was my first Susan Wiggs' novel and I can't wait to buy another. I was blown away by the storyline.....couldn't put it down! This is the BEST beach book of the summer!

Outstanding

I read this book while on vacation - WOW. It described my life as a Navy wife for 23 years. Thru all the trials and tribulations of basically raising our children while my husband protected our country it was still an absolutely wonderful adventure. Thanks for your indepth research to provide such a detailed account of Navy life.

I loved it !!!

Wiggs showed the truth of the Navy life and adventures. I could'nt put this book down for one mintue.