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Red is a character that made me want to dye my hair red.  She’s sweet but has had a past full of worthless men.  Then enter her grandchildren and new boyfriend and they break through her rough exterior.  Its a sweet story but not so sweet to make you roll your eyes or ever question anything. One thing I really adored about this book was the conversations.  Many books are great but then the writer doesn’t know how to write realistic dialogue and then you’re left thinking “who talks liket this?”  This writer writes her characters conversaions seemlessly and very realistically.

I adored this one, absolutely adored it.  Do you like books that are character driven, where the characters are fleshed out so well you can just imagine the person walking through your front door and speaking to you. Do you love the type of book that has great characters that you’ll never forget involved in realistic life events that put them to the task? 

If you answered yes to all of the above, then you have to get this one.  Red is forty “something” year old woman dating a much younger man in Cam.  Cam is every women’s dream guy but this is not apparent to Red or you the reader at first.  As pages turn and characters develop and life situations are written into the mix, you are hooked.  This one kept me up two nights in a row as I smiled along with the story and nodded my proverbial head along with Red’s trials and tribulations.  And Cam, who could ask for a guy with more patience?  Not I say I.

Then there’s not just Red and Cam, there’s her grandchildren and they are interesting as well. In an ongoing series of emails that her granddaughter writes to her mother we get to know Olivia from her own perspective.  This viewpoint into more than one character is fantastic.

Lastly, I’ve never been to San Antonio, the town this novel is set in, but now I want to go!

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Summer is a sweet girl you get to know through two womens diary style entries. I thought it was a great read, albeit a bit sad.  Almost too sad.  I think the focus got lost somewhere in the middle of this novel and while I trudged on, because I’m used to reading this style of writing because I spend hours reading blogs, if you don’t like short chapters (in the form of diary entries) this may be a consideration on whether or not you will like this one.

I am a mother and this one hit a bit too close to the mother bone within me. Thankfully my son is 16 and not 4 like the victim in this novel.  The lost child. It’s tough to read at times.

While I would not call this a beach read, but I read it while sitting in on a teleconference between Tampa and Phoenix.  That long 3 hour conference flew by because I was so thoroughly engaged in this novel.  I look forward to more from this author.  I wasn’t fully thrilled by this one, but it was able to entertain me.

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I’m pleased to announce that I am now a member of Amazon’s Vine program and will be cross-posting my book reviews for your reading pleasure. My reviews will remain honest, that’s the only way I can be regarding books I read.

Veronica is a character that feels all too real. I feel as though I could pick up my phone and call her up and discus her experiences with her. I realize I cannot do this but the line between reality and fiction is very blurry because Moriarty does such a fantastic job painting her life for me.  Veronica is in college, a pre-med student struggling with Chemistry.  That’s all she should be worried about at her age.  But then her mother screws up and her parents are headed for divorce.  Before it’s all over her mother’s situation will turn the tables on Veronica, who is the child, to place her in a position of providing for her own mother. 

The details of this story are so dead on.  I’ve been in some of these situations and this author seems to have been as well, or she’s just a damn fine writer of real life scenario’s.  Either way, she’s got largely likable characters sprinkled throughout this story.  Save for one creepy dude with an even creepier disposition.  But that guy balances out all the other nicer characters well.  Another reviewer stated that this would make a good movie, and they are right. I could totally see this up on the movie screen.  This book does a fine job of detailing what divorce does to the entire family and how even the worse events make us stronger, better, more aware of who we really are.  I read this one in two day’s because I just couldn’t stop thinking about Veronica and her dog loving Mother and the nature of their interactions. I could also appreciate that these characters made mistakes, but then again don’t we all. This is not a “problem happens” and then “problem solved” story. It’s more of a life story. One that makes a lot of sense and touches on a lot of the harsh realities of life but does so with humour and the truth of humanity as well.  I loved these characters and hated for this story to end.  

There is a man painting the walls where I work right now.  He cut his own hand off with a scroll saw (by accident of course) 11 years ago in his home.  His 10 year old son saved his life by getting a towel and sitting on his arm to stop the bleeding. 

He’s using that hand to paint with. He cannot bend it certain ways, but he can use a paint brush with it.

He was a professional painter before the accident, he remains one long after the accident.

He’s making it all look so easy and there’s not a speck of blue tape anywhere! (just like Mike!)

He’s also a diehard Steeler’s fan and he win’s mucho points for that!!

Not surprisingly my sister has not responded to my last email. I really don’t expect her to.  This is the pattern in my life. I open up and tell someone how I really feel and I tell them I disagree with their take.  And they largely reject me, or at the very least, they don’t respond.  And I suppose it is possible that for her, her little emotional crisis has ended as Leah is recovering well, and now she will close herself back off.  I’m ok.

Really and truly I am ok.  I’m finally ok with it.  I am not the one missing out on a sister, she is.  I am not the one closed off to life, she is.  I also said what I wanted to say, I spoke MY truth and that’s what really matters.  It matters to me that I did not just “let it go” or ignore something that truly bothered me.  My sister and I are not close because of my mother, not because of “actual” distance.  And I had to say it finally.  I’ve for too long, let this go and did the proverbial nod of the head when it’s untruthful.

To answer a question…my niece had steel rods inserted into her back to keep her spine straight.  They will remain a part of her for life.  I am positive her experience will make her stronger, better, etc.  I almost wish everyone adversity, it is the stuff of building guts, inner strength and gratitude about life.  I have learned that life does that to you.  It knocks you down, but when you get back up you are steadfast in your stance thereafter.  

Family….it’s the ever illusive thing for me.  I’m finally ok with that not being my lot in life.  My life is blessed in so many other various ways.  I have finally learned to see the wealth in my life and it is massive in its own ways.  Had my mother loved me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.  Sometimes I think I gathered my pain early and I’m now dropping it later in life as I am blessed blessed beyond measure now.  I spent last weekend in Daytona Beach and I was happy.  I stood on the beach and felt overwhelmed by just how happy I was on the inside and outside.  I felt bathed in it, and it was bliss.  I have rarely had that experience.  Daytona Beach in August is now my happy place.  I lay on a bed in a room full of arches, and I was cozy.  I was blissful standing at an outside bar, the wind dancing in my tangled hair.
All throughout last weekend, my heart was soaring like a bird in and out of the open doors at the street bar, across the boardwalk, inside the Harley shops, always dreaming of new experiences, new memories.  I stood in a bathroom reading the text scribbled across the walls, knowing that I was a mere speck, a moment in time.  And it was ok.  It was an emotional waterfall of joy.  I stopped and took memory pictures to review later on a rainy day in my heart.  They come, but oh when the day is bright blue and cloudless…it’s a keeper in the soul. I have learned to feed my soul, I have learned how to sustain all that is good and keep it tight.  I have learned to weather the storms and shield myself with all the love I am blessed with.

I read something today “An employee without a goal is just a worker.”  This is a statement that a fellow student in my current Project Management course stated.  It has stayed with me.  I have long been a human without a dream, a human without happiness, a human without wings.  

I have so much now and my flight, it is glorious. I encourage you to dream.  It changes everything.