Since You’ve Been Gone is the third and final book in the Restoring Heritage Series.  Tari Faris has really captured the heart of a small town and its unique characters.  Readers can read this as a standalone novel, but some of the town’s characteristics are developed in all three books.  I would say of the three, this book is the best of them. 

The author made the relationship between Jon and Leah, the main protagonists, believable.  The main characters suffer from all of the classic emotional insecurities and misunderstandings, but rather than resorting to emotional and verbal abuse at every turn, they choose other methods to handle their frustrations.  Don’t misunderstand, the characters are not kind and sweet all the time, but they just seem to have a different way to deal with their issues.

The book focuses largely on developing the romance between Jon and Leah, but it also invites readers back to the small town of Heritage.  One can almost picture how the town looks and the people one might expect to see.  Readers will find renewed hope and faith in the goodness of others in this book. All in all, this was a good end to a series set in an idyllic small town.

Review of an Advanced Reader Copy provided by Revell

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore:  A character recalls being beaten by a father, no details.

Sex/Nudity:  Female calls a man sexy; a woman is pregnant with a clear implication that she was unmarried, she doesn’t know who the father is; a character mentions that he would like more than kisses, no implication of premarital sexual behavior; a character reports that a woman was considering abortion; non-married characters kiss and embrace.

Mature Subjects:

Death of parents, unmarried pregnancy.

Drug/Alcohol Use:

A character says her father was a drunkard; a character reports being drunk at a party.