The Second Half, Lauraine Snelling
The Second Half, Lauraine Snelling
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

The Second Half
A Novel

Author: Lauraine Snelling

Narrator: Joyce Bean

Unabridged: 10 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Faith Words

Published: 07/05/2016


Synopsis

Bestselling author Lauraine Snelling shares a heartfelt story of a couple who put their plans for a peaceful retirement on hold to assume guardianship of their young grandchildren.

Mona and Ken Sorenson are approaching the best years of their lives. Mona's greatest concern is that Ken will learn of the surprise party she's planning for his retirement from his job as Dean of Students at Stone University. They've already been making plans to travel, spend limitless hours in the garden, and Ken is looking forward to working on his woodworking and fishing with his grandchildren. It's what they deserve after years of careful planning.

But things begin to unravel when Ken learns that office politics are about to destroy his department. Can he really just leave, abandoning the work he spent a lifetime achieving? Mona is eager to build her event planning business with Ken's help, but rather than supporting her, he expresses concern that the stress of the work will send her back into the depression she struggles with. Then, just days before Ken's last official day of work, their son, a Special Forces officer in the Army, learns he's being immediately deployed on a six-month mission in Pakistan. Since his wife left him, the only people he trusts to care for his two young children are his parents. In an instant, everything Ken and Mona spent their lives planning changes, and they will need to find strength, both physical and mental, to become parents once more. This is not the second half they wanted, and when their son fails to contact them as planned, they struggle to trust that it is God's plan, not theirs, that matters most.

About Lauraine Snelling

Lauraine Snelling is the award-winning author of over fifty books, including Blessing in Disguise, Song of Laughter, and Believing the Dream. She won a Silver Angel Award for An Untamed Land and a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart for Song of Laughter. She also writes for a wide range of magazines and teaches at writers' conferences across the country. Lauraine lives in California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa on November 11, 2016

This was a really good book and I almost cried in the beautiful ending! I highly recommend this book!......more

Goodreads review by Eva on November 14, 2018

I actually did not finish this book. I read perhaps a third of it. I thought that the plot of the book would make it interesting to me, but the writing was too full of daily details to be interesting. I just really did not care what the characters had for dinner every night, or when she fed her pets......more

Goodreads review by Laura (kroosreadsandreviews) on January 30, 2019

This was a sweet book about grandparents being parents while their son is serving in the military overseasd......more

Goodreads review by Kristina on July 23, 2016

The Second Half is the latest novel by Lauraine Snelling. Ken Sorensen is getting ready to retire as Dean of Students from Stone University. Ken and his wife, Mona will now be to travel or do whatever they want. Ken has plans for fishing and woodworking. Mona owns and runs an event planning business......more

Goodreads review by Diane on April 25, 2025

Refreshing What a fine book. Grandparents—one retiring and one expanding a career—become guardians for Mellie and Jakey. Will their military dad come home? Or will the Sorensens become permanent “parents”? So real. All primary and secondary characters have challenges to overcome. Ken understands and fe......more


Quotes

"Awarm novel....The story is inspiring and hopeful. Snelling tells a wonderful tale of fresh starts, resilience, loss and love in this perfect summer read."—RT Book Reviews on Someday Home

"Snelling's story has the potential to be a big hit. . ..[D]iverse and well rounded. The premise of the story is interesting and the prose is very moving."—RT Book Reviews on Heaven Sent Rain

"Snelling writes about the foibles of human nature with keen insight and sweet honesty."—National Church Library Association

"Snelling (One Perfect Day) continues to draw fans with her stellar storytelling skills. This time she offers a look at smalltown medical care in a tale that blends healing, love, and a town's recovery. . .Snelling's description of events at the small clinic during the storm is not to be missed."—Publisher's Weekly on Wake the Dawn

"Snelling's fast-paced novel has characters who seek help in the wrong places. It takes a raging storm for the for them to see that the help they needed was right in front of them the whole time. This is a strong, believable story."—RT Book Reviews, ****, on Wake the Dawn

"Lauraine Snelling's newest novel will keep you turning pages and not wanting to put the book down.. . .Wake The Dawn is a guaranteed good read for any fiction lover."
Cristel Phelps, reviewer, Retailers and Resources Magazine on Wake the Dawn

"Inspired by events in Snelling's own life, REUNION is a beautiful story about characters discovering themselves as the foundation of their family comes apart at the seams. Readers may recognize themselves or someone they know within the pages of this book, which belongs on everyone's keeper shelf."—RT Book Reviews on Reunion