From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

Title: From Sand and Ash
standalone
Author: Amy Harmon
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Date Published: December 1, 2006

Italy, 1943—Germany occupies much of the country, placing the Jewish population in grave danger during World War II.

As children, Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco were raised like family but divided by circumstance and religion. As the years go by, the two find themselves falling in love. But the church calls to Angelo and, despite his deep feelings for Eva, he chooses the priesthood.

Now, more than a decade later, Angelo is a Catholic priest and Eva is a woman with nowhere to turn. With the Gestapo closing in, Angelo hides Eva within the walls of a convent, where Eva discovers she is just one of many Jews being sheltered by the Catholic Church.

But Eva can’t quietly hide, waiting for deliverance, while Angelo risks everything to keep her safe. With the world at war and so many in need, Angelo and Eva face trial after trial, choice after agonizing choice, until fate and fortune finally collide, leaving them with the most difficult decision of all.

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My Thoughts: 

Review: You Were Mine by Abbi Glines

Title: You Were Mine
Author: Abbi Glines
Series: Rosemary Beach, #9
Publisher: Atria Books
Date Published: December 2, 2014

From #1 "New York Times" bestselling author Abbi Glines comes a brand-new Rosemary Beach novel about Tripp Newark and his hidden romantic past with

Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher

Title: Mud Vein
Author: Tarryn Fisher
Date Published: April 5, 2014
Rating: 5...no. 6 stars.

When reclusive novelist Senna Richards wakes up on her thirty-third birthday, everything has changed. Caged behind an electrical fence, locked in a house in the middle of the snow, Senna is left to decode the clues to find out why she was taken. If she wants her freedom, she has to take a close look at her past. But, her past has a heartbeat... and her kidnapper is nowhere to be found. With her survival hanging by a thread, Senna soon realizes this is a game. A dangerous one. Only the truth can set her free.  



Wow. Just. Wow.

I am a huge fan of Tarryn Fisher's, Love Me With Lies series, so I cannot understand why I put off reading Mud Vein for as long as I did. There is something so raw and so honest about Tarryn's words, and you never know what her characters are going to say or do. Nothing is sugar coated or conventional. Therefore, I did not find myself rolling my eyes or bored. Not for one minute.

This book in unlike anything I have ever read. I don't really want to go into it too much, because it would really spoil the experience for readers. I can tell you that I was on the edge of my seat, biting my nails. I had to read this book in chunks, because I had to think about and absorb the parts that I had just read. There were things that just gutted me, and had me in tears. And I hate crying. I really do. I couldn't help it though. Sometimes I felt like I could relate to Senna. Other times, I felt like I didn't understand her at all.

Then there was Isaac. Everyone needs an Isaac in there lives. After reading Mud Vein, I believe we all do, somewhere in the world.

I cannot express in words how much this book touched me, and I highly recommend it. However, this is by no means a fluff or a happy read. It will make you think and feel, though. I stayed up until 1:00 am, last night finishing this book. I think I spent another hour (maybe two?) reflecting on what I had just experienced in Mud Vein. I just couldn't sleep because my mind was racing. Starting another book right away was out of the question for me. How can I after reading such and enthralling book like Mud Vein?

Review: Come to Me Quietly by A.L. Jackson

 



Title: Come to Me Quietly (Closer to You, #1)
Author: A.L. Jackson
Date Published: January 7, 2014
Publisher: NAL Trade


From Goodreads:

Aleena Moore is content with her life. She has goals and dreams and an easy smile. She also has a secret she holds locked inside.

Jared Holt believes he doesn’t deserve to love or be loved. He destroys everything he touches. Haunted by the mistake that shattered his life, he’s fled from the memory of that pain.

Jared doesn’t know why he’s compelled to return, but finds himself drawn back to the place where it all began. The exact place where it ended. When he runs into his childhood best friend, Aleena’s older brother Christopher, he agrees to share Christopher and Aleena’s apartment while he looks for a place of his own.

Aleena is no longer the little girl Jared remembers from his past and evokes feelings in him he never wanted to feel again. Terrified of destroying her, he fights to keep her away. But her touch is something he can’t resist—the touch that sealed his fate.

Their pasts are intertwined and their futures uncertain. The only truths they know are the secrets they whisper in the night.

My Thoughts:

Come to Me Quietly is told from the point of view of the two main characters, Jared and Aleena (Aly). Normally, I don't care for dual points of view, but this time, it worked well!  I think I actually preferred Jared's side of the story to Aly's. I admit I was really frustrated during the first half of the book, because I badly wanted to know why Jared was so miserable and why he would not allow himself to love or to be loved. I wanted to be able to sympathize with him better. Once I learned about his past, my heart really went out to him. He'd been carrying such a heavy burden for a long time, and couldn't bring himself to reach out to anyone, nor did he feel worthy to ask for help.

Aly is a sweet, and at times a naïve young woman.  She really understands Jared, and sees through all the walls he puts up time and time again.  She's been in love with him for as long as she can remember, and at times, it's almost like an obsession.  I wonder how she would've coped had Jared not come back into her life?

I thought that the first half of Come to Me Quietly was a little slow, but it really seemed to pick up during the second half. I liked the flashback scenes, especially as the trio- Jared, Aly, and Christopher got older. They really helped me to understand their dynamic and just how much they all meant to each other.

I am looking forward to the next book of this series! I really really hope we get more scenes with Christopher (or that he will possibly get his own book someday). I grew attached to his character, and would like to hear him tell his story.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Forever Innocent by Deanna Roy

 

Title: Forever Innocent

Author: Deanna Roy

Published by: Casey Shay Press

Published: September 26, 2014

Courtesy of Netgalley

 

 

From Goodreads:

 

"Our baby died on prom night, and nothing was ever the same again."

Corabelle doesn’t feel like any of the other college girls. On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.

Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.

When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.

 

My Thoughts:

 

Oh man. I knew when I read the synopsis for Forever Innocent, that I just had to get my hands on the book. That short blurb alone managed to clench at my heart in such a way, that I could only imagine what other things Corabelle had to go through. I knew this would be a difficult book to read,  but I felt like I had (and needed) to listen to Gavin and Corabelle's story. To be a listening ear of sorts. Sadly, so many couples have lost children. While I have lost people that I've loved over the years, I still cannot even fathom what it must be like to survive the death one's own child. What gives a mom or dad the strength and courage to go on? How do they pick up the pieces? 

 

When Corabelle and Gavin were only sixteen years old, their one week old son, Finn, passed away.  The couple had been there for each other and in love for most of their lives, yet after their son's death, Gavin left. Corabelle was of course devastated. They had made plans to spend the rest of their lives with each other, and she had believed Gavin would be there when she needed him the most.

 

One thing Forever Innocent teaches or reminds us is that we all deal with grief in different and unpredictable ways. Tie that in with guilt and it ways one down even more. Corabelle and Gavin were dealing with so much grief, anger, and pain, that they shut off from the world, and from each other for four years.  I admit that I was angry at Gavin for leaving her when they both could have helped each other heal. I was mad at some of the things he did during their time apart. However, I did not know the whole story, and I had to remind myself that they were both so young. Then I thought to myself- who am I to judge him when I've never been in his shoes?   Because this book was written from Corabelle and Gavin's point of view, we get a glimpse of what he had been going through emotionally and what he had been thinking. Then we learned about the secrets that they had both been hiding from everyone, and had eaten them up inside.

 

 I have to admit, I was very curious as to why Corabelle and Gavin did not ask each other what they had been up to during their time apart.  I know I would have wanted to know. It just shows what thin ice the two had been walking on, and how much time can change people. And when they did see each other again, it was like facing Finn's death all over again, as if it had just happened.

 

Once I started reading Forever Innocent, I had a hard time putting it down. The writing flowed as Deanna Roy took us to the past, as well as the present.  While this book dealt with some sad topics, it was also a beautiful love story, and showed us how some couples are just destined to be together, no matter what.  I was happy to see that there will be another book coming out called Forever Loved, where Corabelle and Gavin's story will continue.

 

 

 

 

Rating: 4 Stars