As soon as she turns 25, Roxanne (Roxy) Burke takes the inheritance she receives from her grandmother and flies first class from her home in Boise, Idaho, to Nashville. She takes along her guitar and life-long dreams of a singing career. Her father and sister Elena try to dissuade her, but Roxy stubbornly ignores their objections. 

Seven years later, Roxy is forced to return home – not first class this time, but on a Greyhound bus. She has learned that her talent is not enough to guarantee her success. Without money and desperate, she even pawned her dead mother's guitar.  

Her father welcomes her home without recrimination, but Roxy still feels guilty and ashamed. Learning that her sister is engaged to her former boyfriend Wyatt increases the household's tension. As for Elena, although she loves her sister, she is jealous and resentful of her return. 

Hatcher, a prolific and award-winning author, retells the well-known Biblical story of the prodigal son as a prodigal daughter. Themes of forgiveness, redemption, and grace are strongly, yet gently, articulated in this novel. This book would make an excellent gift or addition to a church library.

Reviewed by Marie DisBrow for The Road to Romance

February 21, 2008