Ashes of Life by Erica Lucke Dean with Laura M. Kolar

Married for just three months, Alex Barrett is stunned when her husband, David, dies in a tragic accident. And the absolute last thing the pregnant young widow wants is to take on responsibility for his teenage daughter, Maddie. Reeling from loss, Alex struggles to deal with her grief and her troubled stepdaughter, but one question haunts her: why was David with his ex-wife when he died?
All Maddie Barrett wanted was for her parents to get back together, but an icy road took that dream away. Afterward, Maddie is riddled with guilt that she can’t share with anyone. Feeling angry and alone, she lays all the blame on Alex. 
Alex and Maddie must find a way to move past their pain—shared, yet separate. Thrown together in an untenable arrangement, they fight through a frozen landscape of sorrow and redemption while redefining love, forgiveness, and family.

Review:  I was given a copy of Ashes of Life from NetGallery for an honest review and this is my review.
I absolutely loved this book. At first I wanted to slap the spit out of Maddie because she was such a big brat but as her character evolved throughout the book and she grew up and learned how to deal with her grief she became a very strong character that reader had no choice but to respect. Alex was also another character that the author was able to grow throughout the book so the readers could feel a true connection to her and feel her pain and her happiness.
This book was well written and the depth of the characters was outstanding. I loved the storyline and the characters interaction and how real it felt. This book had bit of everything from romance to parenting drama. I would highly recommend it and am giving Ashes of Life five out of five stars.