HIGHER LOVE
By JOANNE KUKANZA EASLEY
Women’s Literary Fiction
Publisher: Red Boots Press
Pages: 380
Publication Date: May 12, 2025
SYNOPSIS
Higher Love – the new release from Joanne Kukanza Easley, the multi-award-winning author of Sweet Jane, Just One Look, and I’ll Be Seeing You.
In 1986 Austin, Texas, sixteen-year-old Stephanie steps into sixty-two-year-old Lauren’s life, her uncanny resemblance cracking open a buried past. Claiming to be the daughter of the child Lauren gave up for adoption forty-five years ago, Stephanie upends Lauren’s life—already complicated by her remarriage to Brett after thirty-three years apart. Stung by her adoptive grandmother’s deception, Stephanie stays, her past of tragedy and self-harm forging a fragile bond with Lauren and Brett. When Stephanie’s trust fund evaporates, crushing her college dreams, Lauren sacrifices all to give her a future—only to face a bittersweet twist that echoes the past and changes everything. This heart-wrenching family drama delves into the enduring impact of secrets, the power of unconditional love, and the strength found in facing our pasts.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanne Kukanza Easley, a retired registered nurse with experience in both the cold, clinical operating room and the highly charged world of psychiatric hospitals, lives in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes fiction about complicated, twentieth-century women. Her multi-award-winning debut, Sweet Jane, was named the adult fiction winner at the Texas Author Project and shortlisted for the Sarton Award and Eric Hoffer Award, among others. Just One Look, Joanne’s second novel, was a May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick. I’ll Be Seeing You, her third novel, features characters from Sweet Jane. Look for her fourth novel, Higher Love, a sequel to her third book, in Spring 2025. Her prize-winning short stories and poetry have appeared in several anthologies.
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REVIEW
Having read and reviewed I’ll Be Seeing You by Ms. Easley, I was eager to return to the eighties and get an update on the fascinating life of Lauren Eaton. This sequel, Higher Love, retained all the elements I loved in the first book — the incredible support system that made up Lauren’s found family, the awesome sense of place in every location the characters visited, and the realistic and relatable portrayal of the protagonists in the story. I appreciate the balance of admirable qualities and understandable flaws that the author infused in Lauren, Brett, and Stephanie. They were utterly human, living a life of ups and downs. Real, but also an escape into another dimension with a guaranteed hopeful ending.
I enjoyed all the little details that firmly set the story in the mid-eighties and lent it so much authenticity. The descriptions of fashion, entertainment options, and mentions of historical milestones were familiar. They invoked nostalgia in this reader, who considers the decade of Rob Lowe and Stand By Me her favorite era. The scenes showing the generational gap between a grandmother and her teenage granddaughter were particularly entertaining.
This story of love managed to be light in places and deep in others, tackling issues such as alcoholism, death, mental health, and teenage pregnancy in a way that held gravity but did not descend into dark places.
Overall, an engaging story that will appeal to a wide range of readers.
To learn more about the book, look for #LSLLHigherLove on your preferred social media platform.
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Maida Malby 
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