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Contemporary - novel
TBR Reviewer: Luta Wolf
TBR Reviewer: Luta Wolf
Review
Marshal Sullivan has reach a land mark in her life, the mark of a young woman becoming an adult. She has graduated college and is now embarking on the real world. It’s bittersweet when reality doesn’t meet expectations but as she moves forward she finds that opportunities will arise if she only takes the time to reach for them. It means leaving the past behind but that’s part of the growing up process. As she embarks on this future she meets Gabriel Somers and for the first time she is learning what a real relationship is like.
I was a little taken back by this book, at two hundred and thirty-nine pages, I wasn’t expecting such a thought provoking heartwarming story. I maybe shouldn’t have been surprised as the plot leans towards an almost coming of age theme with a secondary plot of romance. It’s immediately apparent from the beginning that the author poured her heart, soul, passion, blood, and sweat into this book and it completely shows. You can literally see where the author probably experienced some of the life lessons that are in this book, it lent it a feel of honesty that I rarely see.
I enjoyed the characters on so many levels. There are many different character connections found in this book and they were written so in-depth that you felt them all. It was hard to end the book and leave them. The best way to describe Marshal is to talk about a scene from the book, She is in full feminine regal and she is drinking a beer. She is just that kind of gal. Gabriel is ever the gentlemen and though there wasn’t any imperfections to the leading man like I normally like to see, the author did a good job of making him feel real with adding touches of mystery.
The book is a five star all the way but here is a warning to those that prefer a more polished story, this book isn’t it. The pace is a bit choppy at the beginning and reads more like a Journal, were you start off at one point have a good dialogue and rhythm then it ends and your at another entry. However, this polishes off before you even really get into the meat of the story.
I highly recommend this story to young women as it has a sweet romance but also some solid advice without coming across preachy. For those of us that are a bit on the older side, it’s still a recommended read if only for the nostalgic feel it invokes.
I was a little taken back by this book, at two hundred and thirty-nine pages, I wasn’t expecting such a thought provoking heartwarming story. I maybe shouldn’t have been surprised as the plot leans towards an almost coming of age theme with a secondary plot of romance. It’s immediately apparent from the beginning that the author poured her heart, soul, passion, blood, and sweat into this book and it completely shows. You can literally see where the author probably experienced some of the life lessons that are in this book, it lent it a feel of honesty that I rarely see.
I enjoyed the characters on so many levels. There are many different character connections found in this book and they were written so in-depth that you felt them all. It was hard to end the book and leave them. The best way to describe Marshal is to talk about a scene from the book, She is in full feminine regal and she is drinking a beer. She is just that kind of gal. Gabriel is ever the gentlemen and though there wasn’t any imperfections to the leading man like I normally like to see, the author did a good job of making him feel real with adding touches of mystery.
The book is a five star all the way but here is a warning to those that prefer a more polished story, this book isn’t it. The pace is a bit choppy at the beginning and reads more like a Journal, were you start off at one point have a good dialogue and rhythm then it ends and your at another entry. However, this polishes off before you even really get into the meat of the story.
I highly recommend this story to young women as it has a sweet romance but also some solid advice without coming across preachy. For those of us that are a bit on the older side, it’s still a recommended read if only for the nostalgic feel it invokes.
Excerpt
“Marsh!”
Sam’s voice rose distinctly above the electric current of noise that lit the packed bar. I shook my head and smiled. My name is my blessing and my curse. God love my parents. They consider my name a tribute to my grandfather in Ireland. Or so they tell the relatives.
The truth is my parents expected a boy. The sonogram confirmed that indeed, a boy would finally grace the Sullivan family. I landed in my mother’s arms to a chorus of shocked “Holy Jesus!”. My father obstinately refused to consider another name. Marshall C. Sullivan.
Etched in writing. Since that day, I have learned to handle the variations of my name, as well as the shocked expressions of many of my teachers, not to mention male peers.
I strained my neck over the shoulders of the people around me. A grin spread over my face as I caught Sam’s signature Princess Leia ‘do. The first time we went out as roommates, still dopey freshmen, Sam wore her hair that way. Four years later, she still insists on wearing it à la Princess Leia when we go out for special occasions. She claims it leaves an impression.
Sam embraced me and handed me a beer. “Where did you go for dinner?”
“Oliver’s.”
“Oo-la-la. Très chic.”
I raised my bottle for a toast. “To four years of slave labor and the sheepskin to prove it. May the future give us all we desire.”
“Hear! Hear!”
Sam downed a swallow of beer and gave me an appreciative look.
“We’re looking good tonight, Marsh. Do you think we’ll finally find the big fish in this little pond?”
I shrugged. “We are the big fish.”
We both laughed. I scanned the room for anyone I knew. Cat’s Eye was one of many bars lined up along the main strip of Elmwood Avenue. The Elmwood Strip, as it was known, offered a funky mix of boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and bars. Like a lot of other college students, Sam and I lived in the area in one of the old houses that had long since been
convertedto flats. The area was one of the colorful spots in the largely gray area of Buffalo.
“I put us up for some pool.”
I groaned. “You know I suck. Besides, I feel like I accomplished something today. Don’t ruin the streak.”
“Just one game until I can find someone else,” Sam pleaded. “I think James is coming up later.”
Sam read the flicker of interest on my face. James was our mysterious neighbor. He was a bit older than we were, lanky and handsome in an artsy way. Not my type, but Sam had expressed an interest since the day he moved in two months ago. He remained very elusive.
“I saw him in the hall when I came back from the ceremony,” she explained innocently. “I invited him to come and celebrate. He said he would be up later to buy us a round of beer.”
Sam’s voice rose distinctly above the electric current of noise that lit the packed bar. I shook my head and smiled. My name is my blessing and my curse. God love my parents. They consider my name a tribute to my grandfather in Ireland. Or so they tell the relatives.
The truth is my parents expected a boy. The sonogram confirmed that indeed, a boy would finally grace the Sullivan family. I landed in my mother’s arms to a chorus of shocked “Holy Jesus!”. My father obstinately refused to consider another name. Marshall C. Sullivan.
Etched in writing. Since that day, I have learned to handle the variations of my name, as well as the shocked expressions of many of my teachers, not to mention male peers.
I strained my neck over the shoulders of the people around me. A grin spread over my face as I caught Sam’s signature Princess Leia ‘do. The first time we went out as roommates, still dopey freshmen, Sam wore her hair that way. Four years later, she still insists on wearing it à la Princess Leia when we go out for special occasions. She claims it leaves an impression.
Sam embraced me and handed me a beer. “Where did you go for dinner?”
“Oliver’s.”
“Oo-la-la. Très chic.”
I raised my bottle for a toast. “To four years of slave labor and the sheepskin to prove it. May the future give us all we desire.”
“Hear! Hear!”
Sam downed a swallow of beer and gave me an appreciative look.
“We’re looking good tonight, Marsh. Do you think we’ll finally find the big fish in this little pond?”
I shrugged. “We are the big fish.”
We both laughed. I scanned the room for anyone I knew. Cat’s Eye was one of many bars lined up along the main strip of Elmwood Avenue. The Elmwood Strip, as it was known, offered a funky mix of boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and bars. Like a lot of other college students, Sam and I lived in the area in one of the old houses that had long since been
convertedto flats. The area was one of the colorful spots in the largely gray area of Buffalo.
“I put us up for some pool.”
I groaned. “You know I suck. Besides, I feel like I accomplished something today. Don’t ruin the streak.”
“Just one game until I can find someone else,” Sam pleaded. “I think James is coming up later.”
Sam read the flicker of interest on my face. James was our mysterious neighbor. He was a bit older than we were, lanky and handsome in an artsy way. Not my type, but Sam had expressed an interest since the day he moved in two months ago. He remained very elusive.
“I saw him in the hall when I came back from the ceremony,” she explained innocently. “I invited him to come and celebrate. He said he would be up later to buy us a round of beer.”
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