Always Orchid

by Carol Van Den Hende

Overview

Shortlisted for the Hawthorne Prize for Fiction

He almost let her go. Her past could tear them apart. But a love like theirs is worth fighting for...

Phoenix Walker will never be the same. Nine months after a heroic act leaves him forever changed, he refuses to hurt Orchid Paige ever again.

Orchid is ready to forgive. Convincing her guy she still loves him, no matter his injuries, she works to rebuild their intimacy. But their move to her family's ancestral country unveils China's superstitions against people with disabilities. Worse, their friend's life has been upended by those prejudices.

Will Phoenix and Orchid find a way to beat the odds and turn discrimination into acceptance?

Always Orchid is the riveting third book in the Goodbye, Orchid contemporary fiction series. If you like relatable characters, surprising twists, and stories that pull on your emotions, then you'll love award-winning author Carol Van Den Hende's journey to unconditional acceptance.

"Carol Van Den Hende never disappoints. Her books are full of rich characters, real challenges and deep emotion."

- Kristan Higgins, New York Times, USA TODAY, Publisher's Weekly bestselling author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781958223048
Publisher:	Azine Press
Publication date:	10/24/2023
Pages:	346
Sales rank:	1,037,216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Carol Van Den Hende never disappoints. Her books are full of rich characters, real challenges and deep emotion."

- Kristan Higgins, New York Times, USA TODAY, Publisher's Weekly bestselling author

"An engrossing, inspiring depiction of traumatized individuals growing amidst challenges."

- Kirkus Reviews

"Profound and redemptive, Always Orchid made me understand the power of forgiving each other and ourselves."

- Rebecca Rosenberg, award-winning novelist of Champagne Widows Novels

"Always Orchid hits it out of the park! The lovers may be fictional, but the emotions and physical challenges are genuine. The anguish, the black humor, and the subtleties of how couples support, protect and love each other are spot-on. I couldn't put this book down."

- Dr. Linda Olson, author of Gone a Memoir of Love, Body, and Taking Back My Life

"Always Orchid is an important book that will help people. Every detail of Phoenix's reaction to his injuries is authentic. Reading the interactions, his thoughts, his actions, and reasoning behind them takes me back to my initial recovery and daily challenges a decade after injury. All-around excellence."

- Doc Jacobs, Bronze Star with Valor and Purple Heart-decorated Navy Corpsman, author of MaCoven and There and Back Again

"Always Orchid is a heartwarming tale of love and resilience that reminds us of the power of forgiveness, the strength of the human spirit, and the unbreakable bond that can withstand any obstacle."

- Sgt. Noah Galloway, Purple Heart decorated veteran, author of Living with No Excuses

"Honest and stirring, Always Orchid holds a piece of my heart like no book since American Sniper. This story inspires hope for every wounded veteran. Always Orchid earns 5 Purple Heart decorated stars."

- Purple Heart-decorated Sgt Bryan Anderson, actor American Sniper

"Always Orchid explores the power of love and perseverance in the face of trauma and discrimination. A heart-warming story with compassionate connections. Fans won't be disappointed."

- Rachel Barenbaum, author of Atomic Anna

"Propulsive and richly detailed...Absolutely gripping!"

-Jeannée Sacken, award-winning author of Behind the Lens

"Phoenix and Orchid's journey explores what it means to be a whole person, in body and in heart. It questions what it means to be fulfilled, whether alone or with another. Theirs is not an easy story, but Carol Van Den Hende tells it with kindness and care."

-Jeffrey Dale Lofton, award-winning author of Red Clay Suzie

"A compelling story of sacrifice, resilience, and acceptance, Always Orchid crosses countries and cultures to stir emotion and self-reflection."

-Robert Gwaltney, award-winning author of The Cicada Tree

From the Publisher

2023-07-06
Trauma survivors reunite and pursue a future in this concluding book of Van Den Hende’s contemporary romance trilogy.

In a prologue set in the New York City subway system, Roy, who has “slid too easily from military veteran to unsheltered,” is pulled back from a suicide attempt by a stranger (entrepreneur Phoenix Walker) who is then trapped on the tracks himself. Nine months later, Chinese American marketer Orchid Paige, who is about to leave for a job in China, is asked by Phoenix (now with a prosthetic arm and prosthetic leg due to the subway incident) if they can “try again.” Orchid was traumatized by the death of her parents in a car accident when she was 12—Phoenix connected with her following his deceased jurist father’s directive to “bestow a good deed on one of my long-ago cases.” The couple developed a budding if skittish romance as they worked together on an ad campaign about veterans suffering from PTSD. After his accident, Phoenix “abandoned” Orchid to deal with his trauma and protect her from being triggered anew about her own. Now reunited, the couple advances toward a committed relationship as Phoenix goes with Orchid to China, where she creates visionary new products and a marketing campaign featuring the disabled. Concurrently, Roy emerges from his despair to cultivate new skills to help him locate the stranger who saved him. The author adeptly alternates between chapters focused on the points of view of Roy, Orchid, and Phoenix to convey three compelling journeys of post-traumatic recovery. The Orchid/Phoenix romance, featured in the previous two books of this trilogy, is the appealing main attraction. Van Den Hende beautifully dramatizes how this couple attains maturity in managing the new circumstances of their relationship by embracing positivity, resilience, and humor. She also weaves in various suspenseful subplots, perhaps setting the stage for a new series.

An engrossing, inspiring depiction of traumatized individuals growing amidst challenges.

Kirkus Reviews