How strong is a bond between sisters, even if they are only half sisters? I think through this book you find that sharing a mom is a bond that can overcome almost anything. Tara and Sky are half sisters who have lived through quite a few disappointments in each of their lives, but they don't realize what emotions each sister has had to live through until a true tragedy hits and they are on a road trip of sorts.

Being a sister this book hit real close to my heart. Although my sister and I have not faced the level of personal struggle that these characters have, I saw in them the difference that sisters can be affected by the same situation.

Ann Pearlman does a magnificent job of switching between the two characters to show the full story, at one point the characters describe the same fight and how intriguing to see how each one "heard" the fight. The descriptions of feelings, people and places were just spot on, it made me feel like I could really see it, but I wasn't overwhelmed by it at all.

A sweet companion novel to The Christmas Cookie Club. It was great to see a larger story come out of a book that I loved so much that I plan on rereading during the holidays again this year.

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Tara and Sky have the same mother, but different fathers. However, through tragedy, they both lost their father's and grew up without one. The seven year age gap between them didn't help much either. As the oldest of three, and all sisters, there is an eight gap between me and the youngest, so I can definitely understand that. When you're growing up, eight years or seven as in this case, can seem like twenty.

Now older, Sky has recently lost her husband and is raising her daughter. Tara is married to a touring Rap star and having her own problems with her marriage. When tragedy strikes, the two sisters, who haven't been close, along with their mother must take a trip together. On this trip, they begin to find that bond between them once again and understand what each other has went through and how to move forward.

A Gift For My Sister starts out as a slow read but eventually picks up the pace as the story unfolds, catching the reader unaware and snaring them in Tara and Sky's world and problems. Told from both sister's perspectives, it gave the 'full' story to the reader, which lended credence and believability to the tale. I haven't read The Christmas Cookie Club, so I can offer no comparison from that to A Gift For My Sister, but on it's own merit, it's an eloquent and moving novel.

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