Refining Josie by Carolyn Miller

What’ll it take for the prodigal daughter to share her deepest secrets… and her heart?

Josephine Green returns to the islands in an attempt to reconcile with her family, but with a cloud over the family business, and little in the way of gardening skills, Josie’s painful past and flaky ways prove less than endearing for Greener Gardens’ hardworking crew.

Stuck without any other options, Josie is forced to accept her sister’s offer of a job that takes her to Breakers Head where she encounters Aussie teacher, Lachlan Jones.

A long-lost relative might’ve brought Lachie to a tiny music recording studio on the Independence Islands, but it’s also brought questions about how to care for someone he barely knows, especially considering he’s the last family she has. Questions regarding his future soon pale when he encounters the vibrant-haired Josie, whose sass and attitude takes some getting used to.

Neither imagined more until they began to bond over music and environmental causes. Both discover that first impressions need not be lasting ones.

But with the future of Gardens Gardens looking shaky, and Josie’s faith and self-worth just as tenuous, can deepening a friendship into something more ever work? And what happens when Lachlan’s work means he has to return to Australia after Christmas? What’ll it take for two hearts to heal and make a future possible?

This Breakers Head novel is Carolyn Miller’s final book in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.

Release Week:

Can you believe this is the last time we’ll do one of these blog hops for the Independence Island series? It’s been such a wonderful adventure, and I’m sad to see it end.

Carolyn gave us a difficult question to answer, and it’s taken some deep diving into my heart to come up with an answer. She asked: When have you seen God redeem a mistake or misunderstanding in your life?

There are so many occasions when misunderstandings have happened in my life. Some of the biggest and most extreme happened between me and my husband. Even though we’ve been married for 20 years, there are times when I still can’t read him and vice versa. We each bring our own baggage and perceptions to every conversation, and sometimes, those old hurts color our current situation.

Not long ago, I walked away from a conversation feeling certain that he was upset at something I’d said. No matter how many times he said the opposite, I just knew that he was trying to spare my feelings. I spent all day trying to get him to tell me what was wrong. Turns out, he was telling the truth, and it was my own hurt that made me think I saw emotions in him that were not there.

God is always there in those moments to help us see through the pain of old perceptions and seek the hidden truth.