Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How I Came to Sparkle Again: A Novel
    How I Came to Sparkle Again: A Novel
    How I Came to Sparkle Again: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    How I Came to Sparkle Again: A Novel

    Written by Kaya McLaren

    Narrated by Tanya Eby

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Jill Anthony spent her youth in the ski town of Sparkle, Colorado, but more than a decade has passed since she left. Then a devastating tragedy, coupled with the worst kind of betrayal, makes her want to run away, but the only place she knows to go is home: Sparkle.

    Lisa Carlucci looks in the mirror one morning and realizes that she no longer wants to treat her body like a Holiday Inn. She’s going to hold out for love. The only problem is, love might come in the form of her ski-bum best friend, who lives next door with his ski-bum friends in a trailer known as “The Kennel.”

    Cassie Jones, at age ten, has lost her mother and no longer believes in anything. Her only solace comes from the messages she believes her deceased mother is sending her through the heart-shaped rocks they once collected in the streams and hills of Sparkle.

    Three people at the crossroads of heartbreak and healing. Three lives that will be changed one winter in Sparkle, Colorado. One tender, funny, tear-jerking novel that you won’t soon forget.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateOct 2, 2012
    ISBN9781469220253
    How I Came to Sparkle Again: A Novel
    Author

    Kaya McLaren

    Kaya McLaren is also author of On the Divinity of Second Chances and Church of the Dog. She lives and teaches third and fourth graders on the east slope of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington State. When Kaya’s not working, she likes to telemark ski, sit in hot springs, moonlight hike, and play in lakes with her dog, Big Cedar.

    More audiobooks from Kaya Mc Laren

    Related to How I Came to Sparkle Again

    Related audiobooks

    Contemporary Women's For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Top 10 Books

      Jun 16, 2023

      Top 10 Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      Romantic Entanglements Bring Humor And Heartache To Small Town

      Jun 21, 2021

      Katherine Heiny’s novel transplants readers to Boyne City, Michigan, through the keen eyes of the town’s new schoolteacher.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Home Before Dark

      Apr 2, 2020

      Home Before Dark
      1 min read

    • Article

      A Life For a Life

      Jul 7, 2022

      A Life For a Life
      3 min read

    • Article

      Healing

      Apr 8, 2020

      Healing
      9 min read

    • Article

      Australia Reads At Home

      May 18, 2020

      Australia Reads At Home
      7 min read

    • Article

      Healing

      Apr 15, 2020

      Healing
      9 min read

    • Article

      Summer at BEACON BAY HEIGHTS

      Aug 16, 2023

      Summer at BEACON BAY HEIGHTS
      9 min read

    • Article

      One Carrot

      Jul 2, 2020

      One Carrot
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Family Plot

      May 7, 2020

      The Family Plot
      10 min read

    • Article

      Share a Coke With…

      Nov 24, 2018

      Share a Coke With…
      5 min read

    • Article

      Drawn to THE MOORS

      Feb 8, 2022

      Drawn to THE MOORS
      11 min read

    • Article

      Perfect

      Nov 17, 2021

      Perfect
      6 min read

    • Article

      Summer at BEACON BAY HEIGHTS

      Aug 30, 2023

      Summer at BEACON BAY HEIGHTS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Sandy, Come Home

      Jun 25, 2019

      Sandy, Come Home
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Duplex

      Jun 9, 2020

      I moved to Los Angeles to sing. When was this? August? June? I was twenty-nine, and those were shapeless months, when the days blended together and I refused to pull them apart. My landlord was unusually close to her adult son. His name was Jeffrey,

      21 min read

    • Article

      The Way Things TURN OUT

      Jun 3, 2020

      The Way Things TURN OUT
      7 min read

    • Article

      Rediscover THIS DAY

      Apr 1, 2021

      Rediscover THIS DAY
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Last Friend on Earth

      May 4, 2023

      It was as if Doreen Saunders had been waiting for me, passing the time until my arrival. She might as well have been sitting in a rocking chair, knitting needles clicking, jam tarts cooling on the side, the door wide open, waiting for the next visito

      6 min read

    • Article

      A winter WEEKEND

      Dec 22, 2020

      A winter WEEKEND
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Gentle STIRRING

      Mar 13, 2024

      A Gentle STIRRING
      6 min read

    • Article

      Sounds Like FUN

      Jun 23, 2020

      Sounds Like FUN
      6 min read

    • Article

      A WINTER weekend

      Jan 2, 2020

      A WINTER weekend
      6 min read

    • Article

      Summer Reading Guide

      Jan 2, 2022

      Summer Reading Guide
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Double Life

      Feb 6, 2020

      A Double Life
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dirty John: The Real Thing

      Oct 2, 2017

      LOS ANGELES - Their first date was at Houston's, a restaurant in Irvine where he opened the door for her and put her napkin on her lap. Candles flickered along the polished-mahogany bar; jazz drifted from speakers; conversation purred. Debra Newell h

      10 min read

    • Article

      Secrets From The Past

      May 18, 2022

      Secrets From The Past
      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How I Came to Sparkle Again

    3.5/5

    37 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Chick lit -- but kind of fun...setting is in Colorado Rockies, so a bit like Roslyn. Includes positive reference to an immigrant child and family.
    • 3/5
      Love the title of the book; it sounds like it should be an inspirational story. I don't know anything about skiing but this was an ok background in spite of my ignorance of the sport. The skiing stuff was kept simple enough for it to make sense to me. Rather a large cast of characters and it was definitely difficult to keep some of them straight. Especially since many of them didn't really add to the story. While I probably wouldn't deliberately seek out this author again, I would consider reading additional books after reading their descriptions.

      I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      I characterized this book as "light" when I first received it, then reconsidered (the themes of death, recovery,longing, etc are pretty strong throughout), and finally think...yes, it is a light read. Not that it is bad at all; it is in fact a very engaging book with characters one cares about and some very funny episodes amongst the tears. It is light because...you just know that everything is going to turn out okay, in the best traditions of light reading. No worries; good will find good, hearts will be healed, beauty will shine through the world. In that way it is a feel good book. But..it's not all fluffy; it is one of those books that engages the heart (and tells the mind to go sit in a corner and behave itself).

      Now, I've received communications from family members in my life much like those our heroine gets (via email in this book, cause it's modern times now). Mine were letters. Not the same denomination, but the same theme of "oh, we are so sorry you are gonna burn in hell" (or in this case, not be in the same special rank in heaven as the good family members). But I was a little uncomfortable on behalf of anyone who might pick up this book and might belong to the church our heroine's parents are part of. It's not a church I know much about, but my fair-play obsession was going "well, surely not everyone is as bad as that".

      Loved Uncle Howard, who talks just like my own philosophic strange partner (and reminded me of Jane Langton's Homer--you know the guy who is obsessed with Thoreau and such? Though Howard is more obsessed with Hesse). Loved the dogs. Loved Cassie, though I'm not sure she is a fully believable 10 year old...but hey, I was having my mind go sit in a corner, so I didn't have to fuss about such things.
    • 4/5
      For the 30 something female crowd
    • 4/5
      How I came to Sparkle again is a really heartwarming book. Not the typical type of romance book or even contemporary fiction novel either. The characters all feel like real people~ they are funny, goofy, and sometimes sad. The story is more about finding yourself when everything in life has gone wrong. I'm more of a horror reader myself, and I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, but I am so glad that I did. This is a really good book. It's a sweet novel that warms the heart. I look forward to reading more from Ms. McLaren in the future.**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review, only an honest one.**
    • 5/5
      I am so lucky to have won this book on goodreads from firstreads, because it was by far one of the best books I have picked up in years! The story is about a woman named Jill who catches her husband having an affair, and so retreats to her home town called sparkle. When back in her hometown Jill takes up a couple different jobs that snowball her through some pretty emotional events with a girl named Cassie and her father Mike who recently lost Cassie's mother. The story also tells of an old friend Lisa and her own personal relationship issues. Basically this story is one about how fate can bring certain people together at just the right time in their life, helping them all heal in different ways. The writing was awesome and had a very smooth flow to it, and there was quite a few chapters that were hilarious, I actually laughed out loud so many times. This book is a must read, however for adults only there were some parts that are only age appropriate for adults. So if you are thinking about reading this and aren't decided, take my advice and read it! I promise you will not regret picking this book up it was a fantastic one.