In the Distance There Is Light

I was a bit skeptical of this book but Harper Bliss delivered per usual! Age gap never bothers me, but the mom or stepmom/daughter-in-law dynamic had me feeling a bit apprehensive. But Harper wrote this love story so thoughtfully, she changed my mind on the topic. I found myself rooting for Delores and Sophie because, at the end of the day, love is just love. Who am I to judge two human beings who find themselves deeply in love with one another? Despite being fairly short, this book is so thoughtful and emotional. I felt like I was right there going through the grief with the MCs. The romance was well-developed, starting off innocently, each MC seeking platonic comfort from the other, and slowly, but surely, desiring more over time. I was glad that Sophie allowed herself some time away from Delores to get herself back together, before returning to date her properly once she was more healed. But I would have liked to see Sophie take some more time away. Maybe some months rather than some weeks before she returned to Delores. It could have made for a more emotional reunion and would have assuaged my lingering concerns that Dolores and Sophie are more trauma bonded than in love. I’m very excited to read the sequel to this and I may go back to Our Secret Summer since I believe Sophie and Delores are referenced there.

I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I mean, I love anything by Harper Bliss generally, so I had no doubt that it would be well written and with a good storyline. But I do not usually enjoy age gap romances much where the gap is this wide (26 years, with one of the MCs being my age!) so I had some reservations going in - especially given the nature of the relationship between the MCs. I'm not sure what I expected in terms of the story development but I really liked both characters from the start. They were both well written and I found myself rooting for them. I wasn't sure whether I expected or wanted them to end up together, or whether I would have been just as happy if their relationship was more something necessary to help them through the hardest period in their lives and afterwards they would part ways romantically (or something like that). I think whatever the outcome, the way it was written, I would have been okay with it. Emotionally, it did not pull at the heart strings as much as I would have thought (there were no tears). But I still felt what the characters were feeling and where they were coming from, even if the story was from Sophie's point of view only. Overall, this book was everything I was looking for and more. I would definitely recommend it.

I was reading Harper Bliss’s Our Secret Summer and came across a reference to Dolores Flemming, owner of one of the premier art galleries in the country, in Chicago. The name sparked a memory and I searched my library to find this book, In the Distance There Is Light, which I first read a few years ago. At the time, I found it unsettling that the accidental death of 36 year-old Ian was the catalyst for the relationship between his widowed stepmother Dolores, and his partner, Sophie. In their grief, the two women turn to each other initially for comfort and support and find their feelings intensify into a romantic relationship — despite Sophie’s nearly being the daughter-in-law of Dolores, 26 years her elder. I returned to Dolores and Sophie’s story when Bliss released their sequel, The Light Between Us. I appreciated their startup more when rereading Distance followed by Light, which chronicles the continuation of their relationship four years later. But it wasn’t until I began Our Secret Summer and it referenced Dolores that I opened In the Distance There Is Light for the third time. Having read in the meantime two other sapphic novels featuring mothers falling for their child’s best friend, I’d adopted the viewpoint of “love is love,” especially when such a complex and sensitive pairing is presented as delicately and capably as Bliss does.

Why did I wait so long to read this beautiful book! It was on my TBR shelves. This is a FAVORITE! We follow Sophie and Dolores as they mourn Ian's accidental death. Sophie being his partner and Dolores being his "adoptive" mother. Both women are having a hard time with their grief. They rely on each other. They soon fall in love. Harper handles this unusual relationship beautifully. We see it through Sophie's eyes and thoughts. But Dolores has her thoughts known too. I absolutely LOVE this book! Deserves way more than 5 stars!

I enjoyed this book, I like their journey after this young women lost her partner and found peace with her partners Mother. It was a good book.