In Susan McBride's charming and magical new novel, THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE AND LIGHTNING, a storm filled with lightning and tornadoes brings a man crashing to the ground amid a hailstorm of walnuts, and brings life back into Gretchen Brink's lonely life. But will all her lies, little and white as they may be, come back to haunt her when it turns out the mysterious man might be the love of her life returned?

Gretchen had been friends with Sam Winston all their lives, but when she made a tragic mistake back in their teens, Sam left the family farm and disappeared. So Gretchen told a tiny lie to Sam's parents, that her baby was his, and they welcomed her and baby Abby with open arms, leaving the farm to her upon their untimely deaths. Now, forty years later, the tornado drops a man in the walnut grove, and he doesn't know who he is or how he got there. To Gretchen's amazement and disbelief, he looks just like Sam Winston. Could the storm and lightning have brought him back to where he belongs, and how is she going to explain to him why she is there?

To top off all the surprises, daughter Abby returns home to tell her mother that she is unexpectedly pregnant and she is thrilled to find "The Man Who Might Be Sam," could possibly be her long-lost father. And then there is Sheriff Frank Tilby, who just can't believe that "The Man Who Might Be Sam" could actually be Sam, and who insists on wiggling his portly self right into the middle of the action -- just because he used to be (and still is) sweet on Gretchen. Oh what a tangled web Gretchen finds herself in!

Susan McBride brings her trademark style of enchanting writing to this intriguing story that is full of fun, wonderment, sparkle and love. The characters of this tales are simply amazing and personable -- I especially enjoyed Gretchen's twin sisters Trudy and Bennie. Blind since birth, they use their senses, both tactical and common, and their wry sense of humor, to bring a certain amount of levity to the entire story. McBride also takes readers back into the lives of Sam's family, tracing back the magic and gifts that make the men of the Winston family so fascinating. And Gretchen and Abby's relationship as mother and daughter is so endearing and special.

THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE AND LIGHTNING is a beautiful novel that will leave readers with a feel-good sense of well- being afterwards. This is certain to be a novel that readers will find themselves returning to again and again for repeated enjoyment.

Book Summary

The Truth About Love and Lighting is a deliciously emotional story of family, forgiveness, love, and magic from Susan McBride.

A lie that Gretchen Brink told 40 years ago comes back to haunt her when a tornado brings together Sam, a mysterious man who can’t remember anything, and Abby, her newly pregnant daughter who is convinced Sam is her long-lost father. Though decades old, when Gretchen’s secrets are revealed, the ramifications will affect them all in ways they never could have imagined.

A mesmerizing study of family and love, The Truth About Love and Lightning is touching and observant, reminding us that we never know when our lives are on the precipice of change.