Sea Cliff: Mary Deal

Sea Cliff: Mary Deal

Children grow up in many different environments with parents with various ideologies in ways to bring them up. Rachel and Brandon are products of abuse both physical and mental which left marks on both of them as adults. Brandon did not do well in school and was more than hurt and made to feel inferior to others. Rachel never lived up to expectations even though she was smart and a great student. Always wanting to please their father, it never quite happened.
Working to help her father with his books and other areas did not give her any hugs, thank you’ s or kindness. Brandon became a rebellious teen and life in the present has left its mark on how he lives his life as opposed to Rachel. Rachel is authoring her own book called Sea Cliff based on her childhood and the characters both have qualities of herself and her brother. Sad but true relationships and trust are hard for her to commit to and when Matthew meets her in the park and seems bent on taking her time, learning about her she at first thinks he is being intrusive.

As Rachel and Matthew share their pasts and each one processes what they are being told, you realize that both have issues from the past that might hamper the present. Taking her to the Rahab to watch the kids play basketball, meeting some of them and then deciding on a date night. The evening was unusual, and the questions asked by both very comprehensive as Matthew tells her about Linda who wanted to see him at the basketball games and was barred leaving notes in his car. The conversation heats up and he delves deep into her past, present and thoughts about many areas most would not share at first. He wants to know her from top to bottom, learning about Linda, her lies, drug habits and the ring she refuses to return, its hard it seems for him to let go no matter how difficult the person is and Rachel explained two of her relationships and it appears the conversation is intense and he has a road map or booklet for what he feels a relationship should be.

Then Matthew invites Rachel to spend time with his parents on their boat and go sailing where she gets to understand his feelings more and his parents treat her as part of the family. Rosa her maid is my favorite who keeps her house spotless, gives her advice about her life and dealing with Matthew and Rachel reflects on her time at Lisbon House and focusing on those that call in , are abused and need her help and guidance. Memories of her childhood flood back and then more time with him and his parents but he is bent on getting a thirty-thousand-dollar marquis ring back from Linda and the end result is horrific as they crash, she’s on drugs and he is flown into the hospital she is torn apart, but will he survive, and Rachel is falling apart. Telling more before the accident about what her father did to her and showing him the horrible scars and more brings out the anger in him and then why is that ring so important? A matter of what’s right, how to have closure or something else?

Then the unthinkable happens and Linda’s mother comes to the hospital demanding that someone pay for what happened to her daughter and Rachel sees the ring that Matthew wanted back on her finger. Unconscious for two months, hooked up to so many machines, surgery, legs in cast, arm in sling, speech impaired and more, Rachel and his parents bonded but then when he leaves the hospital its as if she no longer counts and is now focused on her new novel Sea Cliff with characters that are really her and Matthew. Then her company has a party and an earthquake hit what is next for Rachel? Author Mary Deal takes us deep inside Rachel’s mind, her despair and frustrations and helps readers realize the gravity of his injuries and the research done in order to show how he was hurt and the treatments and more needed.

Relationships take time and work plus understanding in this case as Matthew goes through distinct phases of frustration and fears that he won’t get well but Rachel is right there, and his parents consider her one of their own. Things go up and down, they separate for a time, the holidays are stressful, and her brother does not really want her there with his friends. Christmas Eve and Christmas day plus now New Years and an elaborate party and repairs needed from the earthquake and Christmas gifts that are different, expensive and heartwarming. But Rosa and her crew supply the food, decorations and more as she explains in her own way why Rachel needs to move it ahead with Matthew, but will she get the message. Repairs are needed everywhere and tensions at times rise but New Year’s Eve might change it all for Matt and Rachel but in what direction the pressure is on for her to complete Sea Cliff her newest title and two more.

Misunderstandings, or wrong impressions can change the course of their relationship and when Matthew is completing the changes in her house, she is asked to do commercials for his business and then things heat up as she pulls no punches and acts quite interested in the men along with her in the commercials and dealing with her book not realizing she is being foolish and not really grasping the situation and how he feels. He is still not one hundred percent, using her book to create the scenes for Melissa and Hunter that portray her relationship with Matthew just what will happen in the end, and will she realize that she is ruining something perfect and special? Sometimes childish behaviors and not getting angry make the world you were once in hidden from truths.

Life changed, her titles published and Sea Cliff soaring to the top but what about her relationship with Matthew and the fact she had misunderstood something? Time passed and then the incredible happened and Matthew explained the time was now and her father could no longer belittle her, betray her, abuse her or make her feel unworthy of love. Some endings are unique, and others change the tide as Rachel needs to reconcile her feelings for Matthew, decide where she wants to be and know that sometimes people change and sometimes you have to accept who they are as a wedding start, the party walks down the aisle and Rachel gets a special surprise.

Families are precious, people change and imagine the beauty of Sea Cliff where she lives, the neighbors she just gets to know and the fact that Rachel understands in her own heart the meaning of perfection as author Mary Deal combines Rachel’s real life with that of Melissa and Hunter in this heartwarming, heartfelt novel that will embrace your understanding of love trust, betrayal, love and what’s the definition of relationship and hope. This title defines the true meaning of everlasting love!

Fran Lewis just reviews