Dancing On Broken Glass by KA Hancock ~ review

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (March 13, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451637373
• ISBN-13: 978-1451637373

Source for book: publisher provided for review

Book Description from Amazon.com:

Publication Date: March 13, 2012

An unvarnished portrait of a marriage that is both ordinary and extraordinary, Dancing on Broken Glass takes readers on an unforgettable journey of the heart.

Lucy Houston and Mickey Chandler probably shouldn’t have fallen in love, let alone gotten married. They’re both plagued with faulty genes—he has bipolar disorder; she, a ravaging family history of breast cancer. But when their paths cross on the night of Lucy’s twenty-first birthday, sparks fly, and there’s no denying their chemistry.

Cautious every step of the way, they are determined to make their relationship work—and they put their commitment in writing. Mickey will take his medication. Lucy won’t blame him for what is beyond his control. He promises honesty. She promises patience. Like any marriage, there are good days and bad days—and some very bad days. In dealing with their unique challenges, they make the heartbreaking decision not to have children. But when Lucy shows up for a routine physical just shy of their eleventh anniversary, she gets an impossible surprise that changes everything. Everything. Suddenly, all their rules are thrown out the window, and the two of them must redefine what love really is.

My take on this book:

"Dancing On Broken Glass" is the story of a marriage between Lucy and Mickey. The story opens during Lucy's eleventh year of marriage. She is at the doctor for her annual exam, and her husband Mickey is in the hospital. He suffers from Bipolar and what her doctor is looking for is any reoccurring cancer , because she was diagnosed with  cancer seven years ago when she was twenty-six. She has been cancer free for seven years and things look good again this year, but when she gets some news that she never expected Lucy and Mickey's lives will change forever.


I must admit I figured that this would be a sad, heavy book after all it deals with illness, but instead I was pleasantly surprised. I found myself liking the characters, and while parts of the story were sad, it wasn't depressing, it was quite the opposite, it was more inspirational and uplifting. It was a love story that went past the happily ever after, giving me a glimpse of a real marriage, where each partner is dealing with their own health issues. I felt like I got a bit of an education about the illnesses that both characters suffered from.The authors writing style made these characters seem very realistic, allowing me to experience their ups and downs. Overall this is a story that captured my heart, and had me thinking about the characters long after I finished the final page.