Eyes Like Mine by Julie Wright

William has been missing for two days. And even though the rest of the wagon company has decided they must continue on to Zion, Constance Brown refuses to go any farther until she finds her husband. All she can think about is the last time she saw him—he lovingly touched her face and then sang their baby girl to sleep. Will that memory be all Constance has to hold on to?

In a future time and place, Liz King is a teenager struggling to find her identity in the modern world. The embarrassment she feels because of her parents’ divorce and her family’s newfound financial problems turns to bitterness.

Through an inexplicable twist of fate, Constance and Liz are brought face to face. In this story of a family that transcends time, were these distant relatives brought together in order to help each other?

I admit, I read a couple of chapters into the book and put it down. I was annoyed with what I thought was another LDS time-travel-ancestors-will-make-you-see-the-light book. While Julie's book did have some of this aspect, there was much more to the story.

Julie is a gifted storyteller and was able to weave a story with with heartache, triumph and reconciliation. Not everyone got what they wanted but life isn't that way either.

Each of the characters had their own voice. I enjoyed the strong female characters!

I felt drawn into the King family through their trials. Not every family is perfect and sometimes singing about families being together forever is hard. People make stupid mistakes and broken hearts take time to heal. Support from loved ones is crucial in times of need.

The story took a few unexpected turns which helped heighten the stakes in the story and bring the changes needed in the characters.

The only downside for me was the how long it took the main character to admit she liked someone!

I think this is my favorite of Julie's books and the best one so far.