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    All Is Bright: An eShort Story
    All Is Bright: An eShort Story
    All Is Bright: An eShort Story
    Ebook62 pages43 minutes

    All Is Bright: An eShort Story

    By Sarah Pekkanen

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    AN ORIGINAL SHORT STORY FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE NOVELS THE OPPOSITE OF ME AND THE UPCOMING SKIPPING A BEAT . . .

    Thirty-year-old Elise Andrews couldn’t bring herself to marry Griffin, her childhood friend turned sweetheart, so she let him walk away. Eight months after their breakup, she arrives in her hometown of Chicago on Christmas Eve and hears a voice from the past calling her name in the grocery store. It’s Griffin’s mother, Janice, who invites Elise over for a neighborhood gathering of eggnog and carols.

    Walking into Janice’s house sends Elise tumbling headlong into memories of her relationship with Griffin—and with Janice, who exudes the kind of warmth Elise ached for after her own mom passed away when she was six. But Griffin has moved on, and suddenly Elise doubts her decision to give him up and lose her chance at being folded into his wonderful family. Confused and reeling, she goes in search of an answer to a universal question: How do we say good-bye to people we’ve loved without losing everything they’ve meant to us?

    Heartwarming and witty, All Is Bright is a charming story about coming home for the holidays—and finding gifts in the most unexpected of places.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWashington Square Press
    Release dateDec 21, 2010
    ISBN9781451642575
    All Is Bright: An eShort Story
    Author

    Sarah Pekkanen

    SARAH PEKKANEN is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of four novels of suspense including The Golden Couple and The Wife Between Us, and the solo author of the thriller Gone Tonight. A passionate volunteer for rescue animals, she serves as an Ambassador for RRSA India and works hands-on in India to heal and vaccinate street dogs. She lives just outside of Washington, D.C., with her family.

    Read more from Sarah Pekkanen

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    Reviews for All Is Bright

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful short read. While I was left wanting more (in a good way) Sarah Pekkanen wove enough emotion, backstory and details into this story to give us a good picture of how it all ties together. In such a short amount of time we are drawn into the life of a woman who lost her mother at a young age, the connection to a woman who filled that gap, love lost, leaving home, the aging of multiple generations and the multitude of emotions that go along with all of those things. It was very well put together and I would definitely read another by this author. Well done!
    • 4/5
      This is a sequence book to the author's book "Love, Accidentally"; It is great to read the story from another character's perspective and I did enjoy it way better than that one. Its beautifully written and the cover is amazingly good!This story is about how Elise been together with Grif for so long and given a glimpse memories of their past events together. The most the story is about having a family, a feeling of having whole family, not being together with guy but loving his family, especially mum, as her own. Being apart from her, missing more than actual bf and never feeling that crazy about him. Growing up together, being together and knowing that everyone has always thought you will stay together, but crystallizing own feelings...not everything feels that way..
    • 4/5
      it was short but was interesting. wished it continued it left me wanting more.
    • 4/5
      All is Bright by Sarah PekkanenWhat first attracted me to this book is the cover with snow and a woman just sitting enjoying the quiet of the snow falling.Have read and enjoyed Sarah's other works.This one is about Elsie and she's home to tend to her grandmother because her father and his new wife are traveling and it's Christmas and she doesn't want her to be alone.Griffin and her had dated many times over the years and when they broke up she was more sorry to end it with his mother than him.She does pay his parents a visit and is there when he calls to inform them of his engagement to Ilse. It breaks her heart even more as she arrives at her grandmother's assisted living facility andthe others in her group help her get over the loss. Best of Us is also featured with a sample at the end.Loved the story and wanted it to last a lot longer...
    • 3/5
      Short story I downloaded for the nook. I enjoyed it but wished it was longer.
    • 5/5
      Loved it. But again, like with another short story I read, I'm left wanting more. I feel like the story just stopped. But this was about a girl returning home for the holidays to visit her grandma and got news about an old flame that crushed her. It also showed how we develop relationships with certain people for specific needs. Great story. Off to read Love, Accidentally.
    • 4/5
      A well written short story, Elise has broken up with her college sweetheart and wonders if she made the right decision. Her grandmother is a hoot, one of the 'seven widows of Windham' at her assisted living home. Though the story is short, Pekkanen makes it easy to feel for Elise and her confusion.
    • 5/5
      I adore e-short stories! Sarah is a wonderful author (I just discovered with her new book “The Best of Us” (a 5 star), which I read first, so diving into reading her other previous books. (I usually start with new ones which pull me into the author and then start backwards).

      Being in the online media world, front covers are a big draw as well as reading works of my favorite authors---especially with e-books, as the crisp colors are so appealing since you do not have the typical print front cover to view. All Is Bright has a feel good, rich front cover just as Love Accidently) especially if you live in South Florida where you never see snow. E-stories are very short-- you can start at midnight, get teased and a “preview” of what is to come, plus they are inexpensive.

      The story grabs you from the beginning as Elise who still thinks about her childhood sweetheart Griff, a guy she has dated most of her life and chose not to marry him when he asked as she felt the spark was just not there.

      Now eight months later she arrives in her hometown Chicago on Christmas Eve and hears a voice from the past (Griff’s mother) while at the grocery store. (she loved this family and has presents for them). She is so nervous and worse she invites her to their home and gets the news, Griff is engaged to someone else (Isle from Love Accidently, e-short story).

      She is in town to see her Nana (love this woman), as laughed so hard---she is in a senior home and there are all sorts of humorous women friends. Elise has a heart to heart with her Nana about how disturbed she is about Griff marrying someone else. (You read about Isle in Love Accidently).

      Stepping into Griff’s parents’ home brought back all her memories of her past love. A charming story about coming home for the holidays and discovering all sorts of gifts. Look forward to reading more from this author!!!
    • 3/5
      Elise hung out with Grif almost all her life, but it was really his mother Janice who made her feel welcome. After she and Grif breakup (and he gets engaged in Love, Accidentally), it appears that Elise and Janice may be able to continue to be friends.
    • 5/5
      I am usually not a huge fan of short stories but when I recently got a Kindle Fire and saw how many great authors have short stories to inexpensively download I thought I should give a few a try. When Sarah Pekkanen announced on Facebook that she would be giving away her new short story, Love, Accidentally, to her fans as a Thank You I was really excited. Since All Is Bright is a prequel of sorts to Love, Accidentally I thought I would go ahead and buy it and read it first. I am SO glad I did!This short story is so touching. It is a twist on a typical love story, with our heroine, Elise, still in love after her long term relationship comes to an end. She isn't still in love with her ex boyfriend, Griffin. No, she is in love with his mother, Janice, who has always been a comforting influence and a surrogate mother to her since Elise's mother died when she was young. Now that Griffin and her or no longer together, and now that he is moving on without her, how will she still fit into Janice's life? How can she stand to see another woman someday become the "daughter" to Janice?I am amazed at how much heart can be put in such a short amount of pages. We get the heartache of Elise, relatively alone and trying to find her new place in the shifting world around her. We get Elise's Nana and the other "Seven Widows of Windham" which give a wonderful humor to the goings on in Elisa's life. And we get a touching conclusion that lets us know that Janice will always be in Elise's life, no matter what. I am excited to find out that Love, Accidentally continues the story from a new perspective. I will be reading that in the next few days since I am dying to read what happens next!

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    All Is Bright - Sarah Pekkanen

    textbreakornament.ai

    I was rounding the corner of a grocery store when my cart almost collided with one coming the other way.

    Sorry! called a voice from my past.

    I froze, gripping the cold metal handle, as Griffin’s mother’s sweet, crisp voice conjured a series of memories that swept through my mind like flashcards: her giving me a lime-flavored lollipop and bandaging my skinned knee after I tripped on a rock during a game of tag in her backyard. The expression on her face—pure disappointment; so much more potent than anger—when she caught Grif and me sharing a Marlboro Light, purloined from his aunt’s purse, at the age of fifteen. The tears she didn’t try to hide the night of my senior prom as she snapped photos of her son and me, our dark straight hair, blue eyes, and the bright red of my dress and his cummerbund all forming a pleasing match.

    Elise! What are you doing back in town? Janice cried now as she hurried over in her parka and puffy down boots—a far more sensible ensemble for the Chicago winter than the Levi’s and brown leather boots I’d pulled on before my flight in from San Francisco. Your dad and Clarissa are in . . . India, is it? Or could it be Iceland? They send postcards, but it’s hard to keep track! Does Griffin know you’re here?

    Another Janice memory: Her questions tumbled over one another like socks in a spinning dryer. But the habit had always soothed me. Janice’s chatter wasn’t demanding; you could pick which questions you wanted to answer, and she’d skip ahead to new ones without backtracking over the ones you ignored.

    Indonesia, I said into her auburn-tinted hair, because her arms were wrapped around me. Janice always hugged like she meant it. They’re in Jakarta right now. I came home because I didn’t want Nana to be alone on Christmas.

    Of course. How is your grandma? Your dad said her arthritis hasn’t worsened much, thank goodness. But you’re staying alone in that big old house? Janice asked. Her eyes widened. Unless you brought someone with you . . .

    Oh, no way, I blurted. I’m not seeing anyone. That had come out wrong. "I mean, not that it’s bad to be dating already—I’m happy Grif is. Truly."

    Smooth, my inner critic threw into the conversation.

    Did you just get in today? The house must be so chilly. And nothing in the fridge, of course, after all these weeks . . . If I’d known, I would have dropped off some milk and bread. But that’s what you’re taking care of right now, isn’t it?

    I nodded. I took the red eye in, ran into the house and blasted the heat, and headed straight back out for coffee and groceries. We were delayed on the runway for three hours and I sat next to a guy with a bad head cold. I’ve never been happier to walk off a plane in my life.

    Poor thing. Janice reached out and rubbed circles on my back. I swallowed against the lump filling my throat. Janice was small and thin, with quick birdlike gestures, yet she managed to be all soft edges. How could I have imagined she’d hate me? I thought as her brown eyes smiled up at me.

    I hadn’t talked to Janice in more than eight months—since the night I sat next to Griffin in his bottle-green Jeep as we drove away from a sushi restaurant, tears staining both of our cheeks. Seeing Janice again made my heart constrict with the realization of how much I’d missed her. Not Grif—her. That encompassed the reasons why Grif had broken up with me, and why I hadn’t been able to end things with him long ago. The truth was, I was more afraid of losing his mom than of losing him.

    Griffin and I had dated on and off since our sophomore year of high school—taking a long break during college, and another, longer one when we were twenty-five. After we got back together for the final time, he moved to Los Angeles for a new sales job and I went along, hoping things might finally work out for us. But over a carafe of cold sake at a restaurant in Huntington Beach, a week after my thirtieth birthday, he asked if I wanted to

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