Although separated after high school graduation, three women maintained a close communication through the years until, forty years later, a twist of fate reunited them in a tiny Missouri town.
Sandra Johnson's husband deserted her after thirty-five years of marriage. Left with no job and no money, she arrives in Missouri searching for a new life.
Lily Davies was living in New York,working as a legal secretary. After a visit to an art gallery, Lily quit her job, changed her name, and followed her dream to become an artist. Traveling to Missouri to surprise her friends, the surprise is on her when she loses her heart to a innkeeper in the small town.
Cathy Roberts – a bitter divorcee who had no desire for a man in her life – had built a home and opened a business in this same town. She welcomed the arrival her friends to her hometown. She preferred her independent, single lifestyle until a handsome cardiologist made her heart beat faster and wonder if she should give love a second chance.
Share the experiences of these women who will always be the Dearest of Friends.
Sample Chapter can be read at http://www.margarethodappbooks.com
Professional Reviews
A Touching Story . . .
Sandra Johnson's husband is controlling and obsessive about money, but she didn't except him to leave her after 35 years of marriage.
Heart broken, she leaves her home in Southern Indiana and heads to Missouri to her high school friend Cathy to find herself.
Once there, Cathy tries to help her friend start a new life. She helps Sandra get a dream job as manager of a resort in Crystal Lake.
Sandra decides to go back to Indiana to divorce her husband only to find she is suddenly a widow.
Cathy Roberts is very bitter toward men since her divorce years before. She is happy being an independent woman with no man to tie her down. She tells her friends and herself she doesn't need any man, until she meets a handsome cardiologist. Can he change her mind about giving her heart to another man?
Brenda Anderson had gone to New York after graduation to become a Lawyer, only to realize one day when she visited an art gallery, that she was meant to be an artist instead of a Lawyer. So she changed her name to Lily Davies, quit her job and began training to become an artist.
As a surprise Winston, the owner of the resort where Sandra works, finds Lily in New York and brings her to Crystal Lake to be reunited with her two friends of forty years.
Margaret Hodapp brings these women to life as they struggle to find their true place in the world.
Dearest of Friends is a very touching story that will hold you captive until the very end.
Hodapp has a way of making you feel all the laughter, tears and love these women have to offer.
I recommend this book highly; it is an awesome read.
Reviewer: Donna Laird
Author of Romance 'Forever Yours'
website: http://donnasbook.bravehost.com
Beginning of a Three Book Series -
Dearest of Friends, Book One of the Crystal Lake Series, is the beginning story of a three book series.
Having read another of Margaret Hodapp’s books, I already knew I was in for a special treat. Her stories have charisma, charm, and a wonderful storytelling quality all their own.
Our main character, Sandra Johnson questions her life after her penny-pinching husband, Clint demands she get a job and take care of all the bills.
His sudden change frightens her and she questions her own independence. In all their years of marriage she hasn’t needed to bring in the income, but out of the blue she is expected to pay rent or risk the loss of their home. She soon learns of Clint’s plans to leave her without so much as a word and things look like they are going to go from bad to worse.
Fortunately her close friend Cathy steps in and invites her up to stay with her at Crystal Lake.
From reuniting with an old friend Lily, to watching the ever-single Cathy go stir crazy over a handsome doctor, to losing her beloved father, nothing ever seems to remain calm for Sandra for long.
Once again Margaret Hodapp delivers an amusing and sentimental story with intrinsic characters and a breathtaking setting.
Her talent for turning out a story is ever present and I look forward to the next book, “The Friendship Circle” in the “Crystal Lake Friends” series. There is obviously some magic at the lake that I would like to read more about . .
Reviewed by Nancy Jackson,
Dream Forge Webzine
The Bond of Friendship -
After reading "Dearest of Friends", I was struck by how well the author portrayed the deep bond of friendship...how this bond can be more powerful at times than that of family. When everything fell apart in Sandra's life, her friends were the ones that stood by her and picked up the pieces.
What would you or I do, when our world falls apart if we didn't have someone to stand by us and help us through it? Thankfully with "Dearest of Friends", Margaret Hodapp gives us even more 'friends' in our lives, by making characters so rich and real that they seem like they'll call us any moment.
This is definitely a stay-inside-sipping-coffee curled up under a blanket Fall Classic.
It is that realistic; it is just that good.
Tina Samuels, author of "A Nonsoutherners Guide to Southern Food"
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Reviews for "Dearest of Friends - book one of The Crystal Lake Friends"
Looks interesting, especially the part about Clint. If I had been Sandra, I would have exploded in a rage to see Clint living like this, after he'd denied her material comforts, to see him living like this. I'd think: After all you denied me, and it didn't do you any good. At least if you were comfortable, it might have made some sense I went withou.denying her the would have been angry, in the same situation as his ex-wife, after all her years of financial deprivation
Sarah Thompson has ten days on Maui to find her lifetime after lifetime soulmate. She is certain he is waiting for her there on one of the last remaining land masses of Mu still above water.
