One Chance, One Moment: Book One – the Mandy Story

Author: Judith Kohnen

Reviewed for the NABBW by Anne Holmes

Renowned singer/musician Garry Danzlo has decided to live a life of seclusion after a debilitating car accident destroys his musical career. Guilt-ridden and stubborn, he wants no part of the holistic nurse his sister has hired to rehabilitate him. He’s determined to get rid of her, just as efficiently as he has done when sending all the prior nurses packing…

But he hasn’t counted on the determination of spunky, fun-loving nurse Amanda Fields. She is determined to stay. Amanda is a woman on a mission of love. Readers soon learn that the love of her life is an eight-year-old, wheelchair-bound boy named Robbie. More than anything in the world, she wants to adopt him, but she needs to prove that she’s financially capable. And the pay she’ll receive if she can complete her mission here — getting Gary to stand and walk — will provide her with the funds she needs for the adoption.

But what she has to contend with is far more than just a difficult patient. There are unexpected obstacles that are out of her control.

Judith Kohnen’s first novel is intriguing, fun and hope-filled. It explores the many facets of the heart and shows how love can go far deeper than skin, sharing the importance of forgiveness to find true peace within. Quite a tall order for a first novel, but author Kohnen, in real life a teacher of mediumship and intuitive development, with a professional background in registered nursing, hypnotherapy and natural healing arts, is clearly up to the task.

In terms of recommendation, I’ll simply say that we can’t wait to read book two in this saga: For the Love of Mandy. (And yes, the book titles are an homage to Barry Manilow’s, 1975 hit song, but you’ll have to read the book to find out why.)