through infinity synopsis
When your past vanishes,
what happens to your future?
Candice and Jason Woodruff had everything going
for them: a strong marriage, the family they’d dreamed of, and successful
businesses. When they made their wedding vows, they promised to love each other
through infinity and beyond…but Candice doesn’t remember making that vow.
Candice doesn’t remember the last eighteen years.
After a medical emergency, Candice awakens to
find herself a married mother of four. She’s surrounded by a loving family of
strangers, but Candice struggles to claim an identity while learning to be a
wife and mother.
Candice is no longer the same woman Jason fell
in love with all those years ago. Can they learn to love each other in this new
reality?
Through Infinity is one woman’s journey as she
rediscovers the love of her husband and children. But will that new found love
be strong enough to carry them through infinity and beyond…
through infinity review
Through
Infinity is Libby Austin's debut novel and she knocked it out of the
park. Through Infinity tells the heartfelt story of Candice as she
reconnects with the life and love she's forgotten. It's a touching
rendition to the power of love to conquer all.
As Libby stated
in her disclaimer, if you are looking for a book with a ton of hot
steamy sex, then this is not the book for you. Don't let that
discourage you from reading this book. Through Infinity will pull on the
strings of your heart and have you falling in love with this family.
Through
Infinity flowed effortlessly and with every turn of the page, I was
left wanting more. I loved the connection between Jason and Candace.
Their relationship felt very "real" to me and I could totally relate to
them. With all the obstacles that Candace faces, her family never once
left her side. They were very supportive and that was one of the many
reasons why I loved them. I couldn't imagine waking up one day and not
knowing who I was, who my family was, not remembering by husband, or my
own children. Through Infinity melted my heart.
Lets not forget
about Candace's husband, Jason. I will scream that from the roof tops,
I absolutely loved him. Candace could not have asked for a better
husband. He was so compassionate, understanding, patient and loving.
Through Infinity is a MUST READ.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Heather
through infinity book trailer from
Libby Austin on
Vimeo.
thanks for the memories excerpt
“Mommy! Mommy! Waked up! Santa comed,” being yelled in my
ear jolted me awake. It felt like I had just fallen asleep.
“I’m awake,” I mumbled, ready to turn over and go back to
sleep, and then it hit me; IT WAS CHRISTMAS MORNING! Popping up in bed, I
almost head-butted Dawson, who had leaned over me in his efforts to wake me up.
“It’s Christmas morning,” I told him in my excitement.
He grabbed my hand and tugged. “I knowed! And Santa camed!
Comed on, get up, so we can see’d wha’ he bringed us!”
Reaching across the bed, I shoved Jason a little too
enthusiastically—how he was still asleep with all the commotion, I’ll never
understand—and shouted, “Get up, Jason. Santa’s been here and the kids are
awake.” Not waiting to see if he replied, I hopped out of bed and slid on my
slippers as Dawson pulled on my hand. “Okay, okay, let’s go see what the big
man brought this year.”
Dawson scampered out of the room and down the hallway to the
family room while I struggled to keep up. Reaching the family room with its
stacks of brightly wrapped packages, I was as overwhelmed as my little boy
standing beside me, and I had already seen it all. We both stood there with our
mouths agape until I realized Damaris, Sybany, and Xavier weren’t here. “Buddy,
did you wake up your brother and sisters?”
“Nope,” he said as he shook his head; his eyes never leaving
the colorful scene before us.
I turned him toward the stairs and instructed, “Go wake them
up, and I’ll drag Daddy out of bed, then we’ll meet back here to start
unwrapping presents.” Then I gave him a gentle push to get him going.
“I’m awake,” Jason said with a yawn as he walked into the
family room, scratching his chest. “I’m gonna go start the coffee while we wait
for the kids to come down.”
Dawson had taken off for the stairs, yelling, “Guys get up!
Get up! Santa camed! Get up so we can open presents!” I don’t think the kid
took a breath. He could be heard yelling as he went into one of his sibling’s
rooms. They should probably be glad he didn’t had a metal spoon and a garbage
can lid to beat.
I followed Jason into the kitchen. Based on the hour and a
half of sleep I’d had, I was going to need a lot of caffeine to make it through
today. He was standing in front of the Keurig, waiting on his ginormous cup of
coffee.
“I think I may have gone a bit overboard with Santa,” I
confessed.
“Ya think?” He quirked an eyebrow and grinned.
“For a second there, I was afraid he was going to short
circuit from being so overwhelmed.” I laughed, but it really wouldn’t be a
laughing matter if Dawson had an episode because this was all too much for him.
“Nah, babe, he’ll be fine. We’ll go slow and do all of the
normal stuff we do on Christmas morning.” I relaxed a little at Jason’s
reassurance. “The hard part comes when he has to leave it all to go to dinner
at my parents’ house.” Oh yeah, there was that.
“Hmph, just so you know, I blame you for this,” I told him
straight faced.
The look on his face was priceless; it was a cross between ‘I
can’t believe she said that’ and ‘should I risk arguing the point’. Arguing the
point won out. “How do you figure I’m to blame?”
Keeping the laughter out of my voice and pretending to be
serious, I said, “You could have told me to stop—”
“And hell could freeze over tomorrow, but I’m not placing
any bets on it,” he retorted.
I laughed, and said, “I know. I know. I just couldn’t
resist. I mean, it almost feels like I’m trying to catch up on the past
eighteen Christmases.” By the end, the laughter had dwindled from my voice, and
I began to pick at the cuticle of my right thumb nail.
Soon his arms were around me, squishing my hands in between
us until I pulled them across his stomach to wrap around his back. I turned my
head to the side and pressed my ear to his chest; the sound of his heartbeat
soothing the anxiety that had been building since my confession moments ago. I
felt him kiss the top of my head. Then he squatted just a bit to look me in the
eye.
“It’s all gonna be okay. The kids will have a Christmas like
no other, so we’ll all be creating a new memory—”
“Good morning,” Rissa said as she walked around us to get to
the Keurig.
“Merry Christmas,” we both said to her.
She looked back over her shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Momma
and Daddy.” Turning back around to the coffee maker, she moved Jason’s coffee
cup and told him, “Your coffee is ready, Daddy. I’m gonna get the hot chocolate
started. Do you want any, Momma?”
I stepped back from Jason and replied, “Sure, is there
anything I can get for you?”
Rissa finished a yawn and said, “You can get the
marshmallows if you don’t mind.”
“Sure thing, I’ll get them.”
We all went about fixing our drinks until Dawson came
running into the kitchen. “Everwee bodee is awake. Can we open da presents
now?”
“Hmm,” I said, as if I were thinking really hard. “Do you
know how to spell your name?”
His head began to bob up and down, and he said, “Uh huh, D‑A‑W‑S‑O‑N.”
“Awesome spelling, buddy! How about this? You can open one
present while we finish making our drinks,” he was already on the move, “but
you have to find one that spells your name.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he called over his shoulder.
“And you can’t shake the presents,” I said as an
afterthought. “Aww man,” came from the family room.
Before long we had all gathered in the family room, cradling
cups of hot chocolate and coffee, and organized chaos commenced.
While I worried over Dawson being overwhelmed, I should have
been worried about myself. Our family room was a flurry of flying wrapping
paper and ribbons, and someone was constantly saying, “Look at this!”
Rissa received a kiln and a pottery wheel. She’d expressed
an interest in learning more about pottery after taking a class for home school
credit. The class was over now, but we’d contacted another artist, who was
willing to give Rissa lessons around her ballet schedule.
Xavier got a new drum set and scuba diving lessons. Jason
had taken lessons when he was in Japan, but hadn’t kept it up when he came back
stateside, so we thought this could be something fun they could do together.
Sybany was pretty easy. After Rissa and I had gone to the
Experimental Kitchen, Sybany had wanted to go, so we did. Since then, her
interest in the culinary arts had expanded. She definitely didn’t inherit my
lack of talent in the kitchen.
They each got clothes, books, movies, games, charm bracelets
for the girls, and more stuff than could be catalogued.
I was really excited to give Jason his gift. Basically all
of the women in my immediate family and my in-laws got together and bought each
of our spouses the Two Day High Performance Driving Course at the Porsche Sport
Driving School in Birmingham.
When Jason opened the eight by ten envelope, his brow
furrowed as he flipped through the brochure and the other marketing materials
until he got to the booking registration. He looked up at me and said, “Are you
serious?” I nodded my head. “You’re not only okay with me going, but you
actually bought it for me?”
“Yep, I did. I’ve turned over a new leaf that says seize the
day.”
“I can’t believe it. This is so cool. Thanks, babe.” He
stretched up to give me a kiss on the cheek.
“It’s not just you. Your dad, my dad, Andy, Don, and Jeff
are all going, too,” I told him. “It’ll be a regular boys’ trip.”
“Wow, I just don’t know what else to say,” he said with a
big cheesy grin. “But now it’s your turn. I already gave you my gift, but the
kids have something for you.”
They had each made a shadow box that they had decorated with
items they held dear. At the back of each frame was their silhouette. Sybany’s
held her first gymnastics metal and the first Harry Potter book. Rissa’s had a
pair of tiny, worn ballet slippers, the logo from the experimental kitchen, and
a playbill to The Nutcracker. Dawson’s contained tap shoes and the high heels
he had worn during our performance in the Summer Showcase. Xavier’s included
the sheet music to “You Had Me From Hello”, a guitar pick, and a plastic
doughnut.
“I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry today,” I informed
them as I fanned my eyes with my hands, trying to dry the tears before I
started boohooing and couldn’t stop.
“It’s okay, Momma,” Dawson said me as he came to pat me on
the back. “Cryin’ doesn’t make jou a baby.”
I smiled at him. “Aww thank you, buddy. Hey, I think I see
one more present way in the back with your name on it.”
That was all he needed to take off for one last present. The
box was pretty big, so Xavier helped pull it from behind the tree. Dawson began
taking equine therapy in the fall. It was also a way for him to learn
responsibility and giving back since he helped do small chores for the horses. After
a couple of sessions, he was over the moon about this miniature horse named
Snuffles. Snuffles had been a guide horse for many years until his owner passed
away and the family couldn’t keep him. It was thought that he could become a
service animal for someone, but he never seemed to connect with anyone else.
That was until Dawson entered the picture. I don’t know if it was fate, or if
it was that Dawson didn’t give up, but somehow they formed a friendship. And,
well, I’m a sucker for a rescue animal.
Slowly, Dawson started pulling out pieces from the box; a
bucket, a brush, a harness, a feed bucket, a book on horses, and finally a
little tape recorder.
“It says, ‘Play Me’, Duck,” Xavier told Dawson as he pointed
to the play button.
A voice, making a desperate attempt to sound like a horse
neighed and said, “Hi, Dawson, this is Snuffles. Santa asked your Mom and Dad
if I could come live with you because you’re my best friend, and they said yes.
So last night, Santa picked me up in his sleigh—boy, was it scary to be so high
off the ground—and he flew me to your house, where I found a nice little horse
house that is just the right size for me. I even have my own little pasture to
play in. When you get done opening your presents, come and see my new house,
and maybe you could bring a carrot or an apple.”
That was all Dawson needed to hear. With eyes as big as
saucers, he dashed to the kitchen.
“Buddy, Snuffles’s house is out behind the garage,” I called
after him.
“Okay,” he yelled from inside the refrigerator. A few
seconds later, he slammed the refrigerator door and took off out into the
garage, saying to himself, “I gots a horse dat can talk!”
“I think he likes it,” Jason said.
“I’m pretty certain he does,” I agreed. “Now, who’s gonna tell
him Snuffles can’t really talk?”
Author Bio
One day some words came to mind, so I wrote them down. Soon
the words became sentences, which formed paragraphs, which, in turn, formed
chapters. Before long, those words had become a book.
When I'm not reading or writing, I'm a wife, mother, and
business owner. I've lived on the Gulf, East, and West Coasts, but as a born
and raised Southern girl, my favorite will always be the Gulf Coast. There's
just no place like home...
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