SERIES: La Flor Series
SERIES PLACEMENT: #1
AUTHOR: ML Rodriguez
AGE GROUP: New Adult/Adult
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2015
PUBLISHER: ML Rodriguez
PAGES: Approx. 220
COPY PROVIDED BY: Author
MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 3.5 Stars
CLIFFHANGER: No
BOOK BLURB:
I met Jake when I was seventeen and at eighteen, I became his wife. The years that followed were enchanted, like a fairy tale romance.
Then, in the blink of an eye, my perfect world unraveled—I lost a part of myself and my dreams shattered around me.
At twenty-five, I was left a widow, pregnant, and mother of two.
Fast forward almost five years—I exist but I don’t “live”. I had to learn to live without him, with only our memories and my tears. I raised our children, and I lived his dream, without a thought to myself.
That is, until the day at the stoplight, when a pair of violet eyes stared back at me. In that moment, the numbness started to disappear, and lightning hit, changing my world once again.
This is a contemporary romance and book one in La Flor series. Each book will be able to be read as a STANDALONE, and some material is NOT suited for people under 18.
REVIEWERS NOTE: I received this eCopy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 Great Start Stars!
The Review:
I really enjoyed this novel. We essentially get two romance stories in one and by the end of it, I had experienced an array of emotions that left me captivated by the main characters, the story itself and the hint of what’s to come. For me, there were a couple of problems areas with the book but overall, this is a great debut novel.
The book starts out with Jake getting some rather mysterious and foreboding news through the revelations of a fortune-teller. The first chapter gives us some intriguing foreshadowing and instantly hooked me. Jake is a wonderful character. You can really feel the love and devotion he feels for his wife and child through his inner thoughts and his desperate hope that what the fortune-teller told him is untrue.
Through flashbacks and time jumping we get a story of love, beauty, honor and devotion with Jake, Faith and their daughter. I really connected with how they met and fell in love, how they were determined to conquer their obstacles and how when tragedy struck, Faiths world fell apart.
Then we have the love story of Faith and Zane. It’s almost an insta-love kind of deal and I’m not too fond of those kinds of reads, however, when we learn later on why Zane’s feeling were so strong, why he was so adamant about having Faith and her kids in his life, and how his life changed the moment he sees her, it was like an A-Ha! moment and I totally got it.
Their story was romantic and lovely and I loved the paranormal or spiritual aspect the author throws in to tie it all together. It was a perfect way to lay out a theory of soulmates and destiny and how love can truly transcend.
But...
Like I said, the story, it’s plot and the way it was presented, were fantastic. What I found hard to read, was most of the dialogue and some of the inner monologuing. It felt overdone and long winded and in some instances, made the characters seem much younger than they were. I think it could have been culled down to read better and not make the characters look so overzealous. Their proclamations of acceptance or love were drawn out and incredibly wordy. They felt like speeches instead of declarations. I think with the aid of a good editor, this read could have been perfect. And the ending, when we find out what Faith’s job is within the company, felt forced and added last minute, maybe to add some unnecessary strength to a character I already found strong. Whatever the reason, it felt ... off.
Overall, I enjoyed this read. I melted over the love stories and even got teary-eyed in a couple of the emotional scenes. I grinned like a loon over some of the funnier parts and laughed out loud at some of Faith and Zane’s interactions. Those two were destined to be together and the author did a wonderful job showing that even when you think your life has given and taken the best there is, wonderful surprises can be waiting and life and love won't give up on you if you don’t give up on it.
Leap of Faith was this author's first book but it certainly won’t be my last read by her. I can’t wait to see what new adventure and new romance she has in store for us in book two and I look forward to watching her grow as a writer.
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