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Crossing Oceans

by Gina Holmes (Goodreads Author)

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 · rating details · 1,461 ratings · 315 reviews

2011 Carol Award winner for Debut Author from ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers)Jenny Lucas swore she'd never go home again. But being told you're dying has a way of changing things. Years after she left, she and her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, must return to her sleepy North Carolina town to face the ghosts she left behind. They welcome her in the form of her...more

Paperback, 290 pages

Published April 26th 2010 by Tyndale House Publishers

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Apr 26, 2012 Sherri Huntley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I enjoyed this book which I won from goodreads. It was a sweet story about a dying young mom and her struggle to reconnect with her family and the father of her child in order to secure her future. The story is sad throughout but it does us the favor of not dwelling exclusively on the sadness of her death but focuses on relationships and rebuilding those relationships that get lost along the way.

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Jan 11, 2013 Nina Mcpherson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jenny Lucas did not have an easy life. Cancer took her mother when Jenny was a teenager. On the night she planned to tell her boyfriend that she was pregnant, he broke up with her because he didn't want a family. When she called to tell him that his daughter was born, an answering machine let her know that he was married. Five years later, Jenny is a single mom who has found out that she has stage four cancer and she is dying.

The story begins with Jenny returning to her father's home, a home tha...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Sandy Farmer rated it 5 of 5 stars

I might be stepping out on a limb here, but I’m going to give Crossing Oceans 5 Stars.

This was a different type of book from the genre I’ve been reading regularly, but no one can say I’m not willing to step out into a different genre. Sometimes I’ve found that the books I’ve like the most are the ones I have the least to say about in my blogs (that’s not always the case). Sometimes I just feel like the reader needs to experience the book for themselves. Just take my word for it. This is one of t...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an amazing novel for any author to have written, but the fact that it's Gina Holmes' debut novel makes it that much more incredible. Just be sure to have one thing by your side at all times as you read it, a box of tissues! I am not kidding you. I have never had a book break my heart like this one did, nor cause me to mull over it so long after finishing it. (What is a reader to do when she longs to pray for and hug the neck of fictional characters?!) Not that it is morose in its telling...more

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May 28, 2011 Cecelia rated it 3 of 5 stars

http://ceceliadowdy.blogspot.com/2011...

Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes
What would you do if you found out today that you had less than one year to live?

Jenny Lucas left home years ago, pregnant and alone. Now a life-altering medical condition brings her back to her hometown. Her childhood house brings back painful memories - including memories of her deceased mother. As she struggles to connect with her estranged Dad and becomes reacquainted with her oxygen-tank-dependant grandmother, she makes...more

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May 08, 2011 Renee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: christian-fiction, favorites

Maybe all of us have asked the question at one time or another, “Is there more to life than this?” One of my favorite country songs says it this way, “You know I’m more and more convinced the longer that I live that this can’t be–No, this can’t be. No, this can’t be all there is!” (from Believe)

A book I read recently brought this strongly to mind. It put me through an emotional wringer (for reasons I might share in a future post) and sent me to my Bible to soak in some of God’s familiar promises...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Serena Chase rated it 5 of 5 stars

Book Review: Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes
Reviewed by Serena Chase

Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes is one of those rare novels – a book that gouges itself into your heart so completely – and in so many different ways – that you ache with the desire to put it down, but can’t seem to rip yourself away. If you finally do manage to pull yourself away (you must, after all, sleep!) you hesitate to pick the novel back up because you’re not sure you have anything left in your emotional reserves to give....more

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Aug 22, 2010 Martha Cheves rated it 5 of 5 stars

Crossing Oceans – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Remember that night in the car, David? I started to tell you, but you broke up with me first. You said things could never work for us. You told me our fathers would never get along. You told me you didn’t share my desire for having a family. How could I tell you you were going to be a father right after you said you never wanted children? When she was born, I called you from the hospital as I held her in my arms. I could...more Crossing Oceans – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

‘Remember that night in the car, David? I started to tell you, but you broke up with me first. You said things could never work for us. You told me our fathers would never get along. You told me you didn’t share my desire for having a family. How could I tell you you were going to be a father right after you said you never wanted children? When she was born, I called you from the hospital as I held her in my arms. I couldn’t wait to show you what we’d created, but your answering machine picked up and I heard “David and Lindsey Preston aren’t here to take your call…” I didn’t know you’d gotten married. It had been less than a years since we broke up. You wouldn’t believe the shock I felt, the betrayal, the pain… I didn’t want to cause trouble for you… I couldn’t….’

Jenny Lucas is the Prodigal Daughter returning home after walking away six years ago. David Preston had thrown her away when she needed him the most. When she was pregnant with their daughter Isabella. Now she’s bringing her daughter home to meet the family she’s never met, including her father. But Jenny isn’t renewing the relationship with her own father as well as David for old times’ sake. She’s doing it out of necessity. She must find a home for Bella because she is dying with cancer.

The Lucas', as well as the Preston family, have a lot of baggage to overcome. Jenny’s dad insists that David’s father killed her mother by misdiagnosing her illness. And her death is something that he’s never been able to get over making it difficult for him to get close to Jenny. So, hating the Preston family as much as he does, he insists that Bella should be raised by him. David, as well as his family, have to overcome the fact that Jenny has done something that he and his wife Lindsey haven’t been able to. She has given him a child, which has made him determined to have full custody of Isabella no matter what it takes. Bella, on the other hand, has to learn to give to others something she has only had to share with her mother… love. And while wading through these obstacles, everyone has to accept Jenny’s dying. Can they all put aside their differences and help Jenny and Bella make their transitions as comfortably and positive as possible?

I’ve never read a book quite as touching as Crossing Oceans. The characters are all written very strongly. Their courage, and sometimes lack of courage, is something that I think will stay with me for a long time in hopes that if I’m ever put into either of their positions, I can remember their strength exposed in Crossing Oceans It is one beautiful book.

Tyndal House Publishers
2010
390 Pages
ISBN# 978-1-4143-3305-2

Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com Stir, Laugh, Repeat

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Jul 13, 2010 Fran rated it 5 of 5 stars

Crossing Oceans
Author Gina Holmes

Life dealt Jenny a bad hand. Returning home with her five-year-old daughter, she is greeted by a father who is about to meet his granddaughter for the first time. Knowing that time is of the essence and major decisions have to be made, Jenny needs to choose a caregiver for her daughter before it is too late.

A bright and shining star, Isabella enters a world that will forever change her life including her natural father. Knowing that the decision she makes now is...more

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Jul 09, 2010 Tamela Quijas rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 15, 2010 April W. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Death has a way of forcing one’s hand, which is the only reason Jenny has come home. With her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, in tow, she re-enters small town life with the hopes of setting things right with her dad, the world’s most stubborn man. David, Isabella’s father, is another challenge she’d rather not face, but who else will care for her daughter after Jenny’s gone?
Arrogant and controlling, David hasn’t changed one iota since he got her pregnant just out of high school. When he lear...more Death has a way of forcing one’s hand, which is the only reason Jenny has come home. With her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, in tow, she re-enters small town life with the hopes of setting things right with her dad, the world’s most stubborn man. David, Isabella’s father, is another challenge she’d rather not face, but who else will care for her daughter after Jenny’s gone?
Arrogant and controlling, David hasn’t changed one iota since he got her pregnant just out of high school. When he learns he has a daughter, nothing will stop him from full custody—starting immediately.
And why must true love show its face now, of all times? What’s a dying woman going to do with a man who proposes months before her predicted date with the coroner?
Crossing Oceans gripped me from the get-go. Author Gina Holmes masters the art of angst. I had no idea I was in for such a gripping ride. If you’re a reader who shuns a tear-jerker, this one isn’t for you. But for everyone else, you’ll cherish it. Sometimes, a girl just needs a good cry.
Don’t get me wrong. Crossing Oceans not all doom and gloom. It overflows with themes such as hope, restoration, and beating the odds. The odds are certainly stacked against Jenny, which creates perfect literary tension. To be honest, Holmes didn’t always resolve the tension in ways I would have liked. Several times, I nearly threw the book across the room. “What mother would do that?” I’d scream. But then if I was dying, maybe I’d do that too…
Crossing Oceans forced me to think in a way rare to womens fiction, and I admire the author her boldness. She strips away pretenses and exposes us all for who we are—temporal, selfish, proud. The last book to leave me this raw was Jenkins’ Though None Go With Me, a book (as heart wrenching as it was) I never want forget.
I turned the last page, set Crossing Oceans down, and--after giving my nose a good blow--went through the rest of my day carrying Jenny in my heart and mind. Will I ever forget her? I doubt it. Will I forget the lessons she taught me? I certainly hope not.
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May 12, 2010 Molly rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: EVERYONE!!!

Recommended to Molly by: CFBA

Shelves: book-review

Wow. Simply wow. What more can I say about a story that is as heart-wrenching as this one? It's beautiful. It's heart-breaking. It's real. It's life. Period.

Gina Holmes brings a wonderful story full of heart ache and pain. It's also a story of forgiveness, family, and love. Not to mention a bit of humor from time to time. But above all it's about leaning on God's ways and trusting Him to know what's best for everyone. I literally read this book in less than a day. I couldn't put it done. More t...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Nora St Laurent rated it 5 of 5 stars

Time! There never seems to be enough time to do the things that matter! Knowing you only had months to live, what would you do? Thanks to the publisher for the review copy of Crossing the Oceans. I have to be honest I didn’t think I could read this book because I had lost my dad to cancer a short time ago. But Gina Holmes pens a brilliant story of love and sacrifice. It’s one I wont’ soon forget!

Gina Holmes’s story reminds me of A Walk to Remember and The Notebook both written by Nicholas Spark...more Time! There never seems to be enough time to do the things that matter! Knowing you only had months to live, what would you do? Thanks to the publisher for the review copy of Crossing the Oceans. I have to be honest I didn’t think I could read this book because I had lost my dad to cancer a short time ago. But Gina Holmes pens a brilliant story of love and sacrifice. It’s one I wont’ soon forget!

Gina Holmes’s story reminds me of A Walk to Remember and The Notebook both written by Nicholas Sparks. This author has an amazing gift to masterfully blend together a memorable story filled with a special tenderness, hope, love, forgiveness, mixed with a sense of well timed humor, throughout her book that touched my heart deeply. It ignited warm feelings of love and hope inside I can’t explain.

Isabella’s mom, Jenny is sick. Jenny is on a mission to go to North Carolina, to make peace with her family and her past. She knows what it’s like to lose a mom at a young age. She was going to do everything in her power to make this journey easier for her daughter.

Six year old Isabella is the common denominator between two families not fond of each other. She looks to her mom, Jenny, for an understanding to the change taking place in her world. Jenny reaches out to God for the strength to do the impossible. I could only hope God would give me the strength to be like Jenny when my time is near.

I anxiously turned the pages of Crossing the Oceans, as I read of Jenny’s last days and remembered my dad’s. As I finished the last page, healing tears slid down my cheeks and a knot formed in my throat; forever touched in my heart, mind and emotions by the words I had read.

This author gave me a peak into how it might be to have my heavenly daddy and my earthly daddy waiting for me when it’s my time to run into their loving arms! Home at last! God prepares us for this passage if we let him. Gina gave me a glimpse into a young woman’s crossing to the life after this one—a journey all of us must take.

Gina Homles, this book is a gift to me and I suspect it will be for many others. I had no idea you could write like this. I’m excited at what God can do through your obedience to Him, your writing and this book. I’ll be waiting in line to read your next book for sure! Yes, there will be a line :D

Nora StLaurent
ACFW Book Club Coordinator
Finding Hope Through Fiction
www.psalm516.blogspot.com
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May 12, 2010 Jennifer AlLee rated it 5 of 5 stars

How far will a mother go to protect her child? Gina Holmes delves into this question in her debut novel, Crossing Oceans. When Jenny Lucas returns to her childhood home – something she swore she'd never do – she comes face to face with the consequences of the choices she's made over the last six years. Jenny and the people she left behind must repair relationships and put aside their own feelings in order to see to the needs of Jenny's daughter, Isabella.

Holmes takes a storyline that could easil...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Emily Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-star-books, kindle-books, books-i-will-review

This book was great to read. I enjoyed every bit of it. It is sad, moving, breath taking all at the same time. I have to admit that this is the second book that almost made me cry.

Spoiler starting here****
This story starts out with woman named Jenny who goes back to her old town. She recently finds out that she has an illness that is slowly taking her life away. She knows that she does not have that much time left, and wants to make things right between her and her father who never got along. Je...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Jenny Courville rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book a lot. I thought it had some real thoughts to meditate on. I did feel like some of it was unbelievable and that the author overdeveloped things that shouldn't have been and didn't develop other subjects that should've been.

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Jan 15, 2011 Rachael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 13, 2011 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although this book starts and finishes quite sad, it is a beautifully told story about one woman's journey as she copes with dying. Following a diagnosis of a terminal disease, Jenny and her 5-year old daughter Bella return to Jenny's childhood home to a family that has never met Bella in an attempt to reestablish a family bond for the sake of her daughter. Upon finding out she was pregnant years ago with the child of a boy her father disapproved of, Jenny fled her father's home and hasn't been...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Annika rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another free download for Kindle...and worth it. I wasn't sure how I'd handle this, because just the synopsis was pretty emotional...a woman is diagnosed with cancer and is dying, and she accepts this. She returns home to her estranged father and grandmother, to face her past and make amends. She also has a five-year old daughter, Isabella, whom she needs to prepare for the inevitable, and to find someone to raise her.

The story is written in first person, Jenny's point of view, as she deals with...more Another free download for Kindle...and worth it. I wasn't sure how I'd handle this, because just the synopsis was pretty emotional...a woman is diagnosed with cancer and is dying, and she accepts this. She returns home to her estranged father and grandmother, to face her past and make amends. She also has a five-year old daughter, Isabella, whom she needs to prepare for the inevitable, and to find someone to raise her.

The story is written in first person, Jenny's point of view, as she deals with her diagnosis of cancer, her acceptance that death is upon her, and how to tie up the loose ends of her life and have a safe home for her daughter once she is gone.

Very sad stuff.

However, there were bright spots. I loved this author's writing style and quirky little facts thrown in without bigger things being center stage. I'm not real sure what Jenny was supposed to look like, but just little details here and there were enough for me to form my own image of her. I absolutely LOVED the character of Craig. I wish the author would write a second book for him. His own story in this was terribly sad, and I'd say there is enough there for his own story to take flight.

I liked the character's grasp of God and Heaven and Jesus. I loved the imagery of "walking on water" and "crossing water" (oceans, hence the title) and the tie-ins with water.

About halfway through this book I realized that I had no clue how it was going to end. I could not predict this book until about 80% in, then I started guessing. The author kept making loops and twists, and I did like that. She did it well without leaving the reader going "Huh?"

I can't recommend this to everyone, it's pretty sad. It has that Jodi Picoult sadness feel, which is okay if you are a Jodi Picoult fan. It's not overly heavy or bogs you down with depression or medical jargon. It's more of a "coming to terms with my demise" story. Jenny doesn't spend the novel fighting her cancer diagnosis or denying it. She's past that stage now.

I'm not sure who to recommend the book to. It's not a feel-good story, it kind of leaves more questions than answers. But hey, that's life, right?(less)

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Jul 19, 2011 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars

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Jan 20, 2011 Kati rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: on-kindle

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It grabbed me from page one and held on tight. Be prepared with Kleenex though, it has its sad moments.

Although this one was already on my TBR list, the main reason I read it right now was because I saw a post on a blog I follow "The Overweight Bookshelf" and decided I'd join in the discussion for this month's book club. I am supposed to answer one of the discussion questions listed. I have chosen #3: "Was Jenny right to keep Isabella's exi...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Sarah Weathersby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle

How do you prepare for your own death? It's a sad coincidence that I finished reading this book the same day that Elizabeth Edwards died. The heroine of this book had less time than Mrs Edwards to prepare. She had been diagnosed with cancer, and given less than a year to live. Jenny Lucas returned home to the father she had not spoken to in almost six years, and to the ex-boyfriend who didn't know he had fathered a little girl now five years old.

I bought this book because DailyCheapreads.com bl...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Becky Doughty rated it 5 of 5 stars

Honestly, at about halfway through the book, I actually wrote to a friend who asked me how I liked it, "It seems a little slow to me. I love Gina's voice, I love her style, I even connect with the first-person POV (not my first choice), but I feel like I'm just waiting, like things are moving too slowly. Shouldn't life feel short [in these circumstances] and like there's too little of it?"

But then, like a flipped switch, Jenny Lucas began to say 'yes' to things. She began to live. And I realized...more

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May 05, 2011 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book really moved me. As in sobbing in the car like a lunatic in the doctor's office parking lot for a half hour after my appointment because I couldn't stop reading until I finished the book and got some closure. The story is incredibly thought-provoking and really took me on an emotional roller coaster. Beautifully poignant interactions between the mother and daughter. Those were my favorite parts of the book. I felt like the descriptions of the mother's emotions and physical pains were r...more

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Jun 11, 2010 Che'lyssa Mae rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gina Holmes wrote this book with her heart on her sleeve, and that's just an understatement because of my lack of finding a better explanation of how much love this story poured out.

This was one of those "finish in 2 days because you can't put it down" kind of books. The love I felt while reading a heart wrenched story of sorrow and death was unexplainable. The author put such an authentic and genuine touch on the loathing and gruesome truth of death. I don't know if experienced what she wrote,...more

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May 29, 2010 Staci rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who enjoys a gentle read

Recommended to Staci by: Goodreads Ad

Shelves: 2010-reads

I was immediately drawn to this story: young woman loses her mom early in life, find "true" love (she thinks), ends up pregnant so she flees from home, only to return five years later because she doesn't have long to live and she needs to make things right with her father and the father of her daughter. This is an impressive debut novel by Holmes, one that took her ten years to bring to completion. I enjoyed this one very much and only found myself being upset a few times at certain characters b...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Alycia Morales rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-reads, fiction-reads

I have only a few things to say about Gina Holmes' incredible story-telling in Crossing Oceans:

1. It is a must read! I highly recommend it for your summer reading list.

2. I don't want to tell you the story line, because I couldn't do it much justice today (bad case of writer's block). Please read the back cover copy to find out about the book. Amazon will allow you to peek inside, if you please.

3. Her prose is amazing and down-to-earth understandable. I found myself nodding, giggling, and noting...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In this book Gina Holmes creates a world where a mother’s love and a child’s innocence join forces to twist, pull and tug at every emotion. Jenna learns she has one year to live. As a single mother, estranged from her family this means one year to establish a future for her five year old daughter. The story sounds sad but it’s really thought provoking and inspirational; one that will resonate with women in particular. As Jenny prepares for her daughter’s future she makes some tough but realistic...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Katya rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 06, 2012 De'Zsa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: 4-stars, survival, romance, read-2011, contemporary

"Crossing Oceans" was an inspiring book. It had me screaming, crying, and laughing at the pages. I wasn't going to read it, but I didn't have anything else to read and I do not regret it. I had to give it 4 stars; everything went by a little too fast (book should be a bit longer). Other than that, I enjoyed it.

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About Gina Holmes

Gina Holmes is the founder of Novel Rocket.com. Her debut, Crossing Oceans, was a Christy and Gold Medallion finalist and winner of the Carol Award, INSPY, and RWA’s Inspirational Reader’s Choice, as well as being a CBA, ECPA, Amazon and PW Religion bestseller. Her sophomore novel, Dry as Rain, released in 2011 and was also named a Christy Award finalist. Her upcoming novel, Wings of Glass, releas...more

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“The true meaning of life is to plant trees whose shade you never expect to sit under.” — 5 people liked it

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