Dry as Rain [Paperback]

Gina Holmes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2011

2012 Christy Award finalist, Contemporary standalone category.
From the bestselling author of Crossing Oceans comes a powerfully moving story that tests the limits of love’s forgiveness. Like many marriages, Eric and Kyra Yoshida’s has fallen apart slowly, one lost dream and misunderstanding at a time, until the ultimate betrayal finally pushes them beyond reconciliation. Just when it looks like forgive and forget is no longer an option, a car accident gives Eric the second chance of a lifetime. A concussion causes his wife to forget details of her life, including the chasm between them. No one knows when—or if—Kyra’s memory will return, but Eric seizes the opportunity to win back the woman he’s never stopped loving.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fans of emotionally packed domestic fiction will love it." Library Journal

"Adultery guilt, forgiveness, and, eventually, healing are exarnined in this well-written, compelling, faith-based novel." BookList

"a unique storyline about infidelity and what it truly means to forgive after betrayal."  Romantic Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (August 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414333064
• ISBN-13: 978-1414333069
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gina Holmes is the President and founder of popular literary site, Novel Rocket, and award-winning author of Crossing Oceans, Dry as Rain, and Wings of Glass. She resides with her husband and children in southern Virginia. She works too hard, laughs too loud, and longs to see others heal from their past and discover their God-given purpose. To learn more about her, visit www.ginaholmes.com or www.novelrocket.com.

Or find her on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorginaholmes

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Sophomore Novel August 12, 2011

By Kelly Klepfer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Dry as Rain is a completely different book than Gina Holmes's freshman release, Crossing Oceans, but it is as well-written as thought provoking as Oceans. Told in first person male voice, this story explores the theme of death, like Oceans, but the death is a slow, lingering death of a marriage. By the time the reader is introduced to the characters the marriage has crumbled into full separation, it is at the point where those who vowed to love til death do them part now revile the very faces that made those promises. Bitterness, blame, misunderstandings and selfishness have replaced all that was good and promising in the marriage.

These hindsight-wisdom tinged details all come out through the inner thought life and conversations of the husband, Eric. The wife, Kyra is in no position to share her thoughts with the reader because an accident has left her without memories of the rancor. Because she believes that their marriage is what it once was, the doctor suggests that the couple reconcile temporarily until her memory begins to return. Eric is given a chance at a do-over. But can he possibly win back his wife's heart before she sees the disaster of what their marriage has become?

Holmes successfully weaves in some story elements that would be soap-operish if not written with skill and capable hands. I was also impressed with the honest grit that Holmes realistically portrayed. The characters are an authentic mix of likeable and frustratingly selfish at times. Kyra is not as fleshed out as Eric because the story is written in his POV. There are themes in this novel that will make some want to avoid it as it hits heavy in areas that some Christian fiction sidesteps around.... There are also Christian themes of redemption and forgiveness that might push some folks away as well. Quite a bit of time is covered in the novel, so there are months covered with just a few pages, but as much as that takes away from the intimacy, it does help with reader emotions. If you are seeking stories that stick with you and leave you with hope. This is one of those. Tired of the sugar-coated, sit-com-simple style of inspirational fiction that falls flat and leaves you hungry for honestly drawn, broken, but forgiven people struggling through life's struggles by clinging to grace, then this is one to look into. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A meaningful look at marriage July 1, 2012

By Lisa Bartelt

Format:Paperback

At first, I was not excited about this book because I'd just read one by Susan May Warren with a similar premise: dying marriage, wife has an accident erasing part of her memory, husband tries to rescue marriage. I wondered why a publisher would release two books with similar themes so close together. The more I read, though, the more I realized they weren't as similar as I first thought.

Dry as Rain is written from husband Eric's perspective. Just after he has strayed from his marriage with a co-worker, he learns that his wife, Kyra, has had an accident. She hasn't forgotten him but she doesn't remember the problems they've been having or that he was not living in their house. As she showers him with the kind of love they shared early in their marriage, he begins to want his marriage back. Only he wants it on his terms and not God's. Eric hopes that Kyra will never remember the events that led to their separation or find out about his infidelity.

It's a painful and awkward journey at times because I just wanted him to come clean. And I didn't really like Eric. I thought he was shallow and a self-centered. His transformation, though, is worth the read.

I appreciated Gina Holmes' willingness to take on this topic in a novel. Forgiveness and infidelity are not easy subjects, and she handled the story and characters with grace.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Review: Dry as Rain October 16, 2011

By CarolM

Format:Paperback

I read Gina's freshman novel, Crossing Oceans, several months ago and was very, very impressed. I didn't review, and can't honestly recommend it, but that's ONLY because of the subject matter [Mom with young daughter, Mom dying of cancer] and how it hit WAAAAAAAAY too close to home for me [Mom died of cancer when I was 10; had I realized what the plotline was, I would have steered clear - but all I saw was friends I trusted gushing about it so read it without reading the back cover - by the time I realized I probably shouldn't have started it, Gina had sucked me completely in, which says scads about the quality of the writing].

But the writing was so good, that when Gina put out a call for influencers for her sophomore offering, Dry as Rain, I jumped over to Amazon to check it out.

The topic was quite different and something I thought I'd find interesting. A marriage in shambles, but then she [Kyra] has a car accident leaving her with partial amnesia - mainly that their marriage is little more than a farce by that point. In fact, Eric isn't even living at home anymore.

Everyone in Kyra's life goes along with the doctor's orders not to tell her what she doesn't remember but to let her remember on her own. To an extent that feels almost plot device-y to me, but I'll give Gina the benefit of the doubt - that a doc really would say that [especially since my experience with amnesia is mostly on TV - where it's rarely more than a plot device ;)].

So no one tells Kyra what's going on. The whole book is written in first person from Eric's point of view, so we never really see what Kyra is thinking or feeling about the whole matter. But in Eric's mind, he's getting a second chance to fix everything that was broken - if he can truly figure out what it is....

Dry As Rain is just as well written as Crossing Oceans. I was sucked in and didn't put it down until I was finished.

I think this is classified more as Women's Fiction [though the main character is male] rather than romance, but I still expected a happily ever after, which I got. I don't, as a general rule, read tons of WF, but I enjoyed this one and would recommend it to friends who like more serious tones in their reading.

Overall: 8 out of 10 stars
Thanks to Gina and Tyndale for a free copy in exchange for influencing. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Appreciate What You Have August 14, 2012

By Semmie

Format:Paperback

"Guess they didn't realize what they had." - Eric Yoshida referring to the unhappy faces of Christ's disciples in "The Last Supper"

As "Dry as Rain" begins, Eric and Kyra Yoshida are separated and Eric is cheating on his wife with a younger co-worker, Danielle. Waking up from his tryst, he receives a call informing him his wife has been in an accident and is currently in a psychiatric hospital.

After her accident, Kyra "wakes up" at a time when the two were still deeply in love, but she believes Eric is dead. The book never really explains why she believes this - one can assume she believes he dies in the relatively mild car accident. Kyra has no memory of their bitter fights, accusations of cheating or separation.

Eric struggles with whether or not to be honest with Kyra about his flirtation with Danielle that ultimately led to infidelity. Her doctor encourages him to let Kyra remember in due time, but friends and family push him to be honest with her. In the meantime, he also hopes to woo Kyra back as he realizes his mistake.

This book also deals with some other hard-hitting issues: Eric learning to allow his son, Benji, to follow HIS dreams and not Eric's dreams; giving advice to teen-age Angelo, with a pleasantly surprising ending to Angelo's story; and dealing with control issues and being a workaholic, and therefore figuring out life's true priorities.

Overall a good read. I'd give this book four out of five stars.