Book Review: Promises (New Beginnings, #2) by Michelle Lynn

Synopsis: 

Do you promise you’ll always be here for me? 

It was a game they played, only it wasn’t a game. Maggie Marks held on to Elijah’s childhood promises as a way of escaping a life that was far from perfect. Elijah Lugo was her neighbor, her best friend, her family. He was everything her parents refused to be, everything she needed. He was her first kiss and a witness to more of her father’s drunken rants than she could count. He was there at her wedding and then held her when it all fell apart. Elijah was in love with her, but she was afraid loving him would eventually mean losing him too. 

They were no longer kids, pretending everything would work out in the end. 

When Maggie’s father reenters her life in an unexpected way, revealing long held secrets, her world is turned upside down and she will need Elijah more than ever. 

A story of friendship and family. The promises you make and the ones you keep.

Review:

"Men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way...." 

-Harry, from When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Promises is the superior follow up to Choices, and it introduces characters from the earlier book seamlessly intertwining with the new ones.

And what characters they are. We are introduced to Maggie (Mags) Marks, and her beau Elijah. He's not supposed to be - in a clever bit of storytelling, author Michelle Lynn displays her command of the story by taking us into different times of the principal characters' lives.

In an early telling scene, Mags agrees to a kiss from Elijah, but it is intended to be a one-time kiss only, because they are friends, great friends, and she doesn't want that ruined. Elijah held a candle for Mags even when they were young, and in later scenes where the couple are older, and yes....tarnished, bruised and battered by life and the general life choices they made, the friendship still holds, even though Elijah's promise not to do any more than what was expected of him (essentially a boyfriend without the perks of being her boyfriend) jarred at him a lot.

It's a difficult balance for an author to get right, and yet Michelle Lynn achieved it because I could feel Elijah's frustration with Maggie....he even stays true to her even through her marriage to Jake. Often a friendship, especially between a man and a woman is tested because she may well just want him as a friend, and for him, he will often want something more. It's just the way people are engineered. 

Another layer to the story is Mags' inability to conceive. Now this is where the story really starts to hit home with some powerful messages.

Can a couple stay together if one wants a baby but one cannot be provided?

Is their love based on two people, or three?

Can friends who were asked to keep a promise, do that forever? Is it realistic or even fair to expect them to do so?

Promises has a number of layers that are enjoyable to read. Mags letter from her father is teasingly played out (we don't get the contents of the letter in one go and the story is all the better for it).

Often a friendship, especially between a man and a woman is tested because she may well just want him as a friend, and for him, he will often want something more. It's just the way people are engineered. 

Newcomer Kimberly is a darling little girl who might just provide some happiness for Mags. She instantly takes to Jah, as she so names Elijah, in a sort of playful rebuttal to him calling her Kimmy.

Promises works on almost every level for me. The only slight let down is the character of Chris, who I really liked in book one but was not so strong in this one. Maybe that's okay, as Promises is driven by the very strong characterisation employed in Mags and Elijah. Michaela makes a welcome return from Choices, but the stand out reason for reading this book is to see how the adult Elijah can keep the promise made by his younger self to Mags.

Read it and enjoy it, it is shaping up to be a great series.

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Book Review: To St Petersburg With Love by Mel Cormican

        Synopsis

"To St Petersburg With Love" is a quirky travelogue that proves that life is often stranger - and more fun - than fiction. This is the tale of what happened when the author attempted to cycle around most of Northern Europe in 40 days.

The aim was that of a cycling purist: to cycle on all land between Southend and St Petersburg, and back. The trouble was with just weeks to go, he learned of someone who took 2 months to cycle one way from St Petersburg to London. Had he bitten off more than he could chew?

With his friend Craig, an impossibly tight schedule, visa and ship deadlines, bear fears, mishaps and good fortunes, they set off on a life changing adventure to see most of Northern Europe. This is the story of triumphs and tribulations, challenges and compromises, of battling against all the odds and learning to let go of the rules to live the adventure.

What began as an adventurous cycle to St Petersburg became a romantic story of love in Kaliningrad.

"Sometimes charity really hurts."

Sylvester Stallone, as Rocky Balboa, from Rocky III (1982)

Review

Prior to 2003 I was an avid traveller. No sooner had I finished one trip, I would be off on another. Or planning another. Or thinking about it. Wherever I happened to be on the travel spectrum, I just wanted to be sampling another country as soon as I could.

Some places I loved so much that I visited them again and again. In Mel Cormican's excellent To St Petersburg with Love, we are taken on a two-wheeled journey (for the most part) and we see many European countries through Mel's eyes, but also through his co-cyclist Craig.

If you are a non-cyclist, you might think that there's not a lot on offer for you here. I for one found the book full of surprises and felt I was cycling along with Mel and Craig as they dodged European red tape, dodged cars on Russian motorways (it was a big road, who knew?) and dodged falling out with each other as they tried to reach their goal, for charity no less.

What might have turned out to be a dry diary is anything but. I suppose you would have to love travelling. I am huge fan of Michael Palin's BBC travelogues and like watching Michael Portillo's train journeys also. It's all about the unknown. Would Mel and Craig reach St Petersburg? Who would they meet along the way? What difficulties would they come up against?

Through another writer this project could have fallen on its face. It may have been well written, it may even pass as readable for an hour or two. But Mel Cormican is as engaging a writer as he is a determined cyclist. You really feel like you get to know Mel and Craig as you progress through the book.

The last third of the book takes a surprising turn that I did not see coming, and perhaps Mel didn't either. It rounds off an enriching tale that I would insist anyone would enjoy.

Craig smokes, Mel doesn't. One of my best friends is a Scot, and smokes like his life depends on it or paid by the tobacco companies to do so. It can be hard to deal with, though we all have our quirks. I felt that Mel coped with it well and Craig comes across as the perfect co-cyclist for the trip.

That's not all though. I like to read books that make me feel educated, and there's lots to pick up here - the beauty of the Polish language, for example. Mel includes many great phrases and even better than that, each new chapter that showcases a new country gives us the map and the route our two wheeled heroes are taking.

"Mel Cormican is as engaging a writer as he is a determined cyclist."

Add in a healthy smattering of photos taken with willing European locals (Latvia - I'm coming for you!) and you have an exciting read with a great heart at its core.

This is an accomplished work by a talented author. It takes a lot of determination to create a book. To do it based on this remarkable, life-changing bike journey is to be applauded.

Take a bow, Mel and Craig.

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Book Review: Fallen Angel (Prequel To Nathaniel Teen Angel - Ominous Book 0)

Synopsis: This book is aimed at older teenagers (New Adults) and adults. All characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older. When Devlin arrives late for the birth of Eloise O'Conner, he can't believe his best friend has taken over his position as her guardian angel. Though Devlin pleads with him to hand the child's guardianship back over to him, Nathaniel refuses. 

The two guardian angels have been friends for thousands of years, but after seeing how vulnerable and sick the baby is, Nathaniel isn't willing to risk her life with a tardy, irresponsible angel. Devlin's new obsession with fallen angels and sexy women seem to be affecting his judgement and Nathaniel believes he'll be too distracted to guard Eloise. Outraged, Devlin accuses Nathaniel of betrayal and threatens to take Eloise back, with or without his approval.

Review:

"But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." - The Book of Job, 1:11

The fantastically titled Fallen Angel is a story of mid-length that introduces us to three principle characters. Nathaniel and Devlin, who are two angels in the stewardship of the Archangel Michael. There's also Eloise, a young girl they are supposed to protect. Indeed, after a friendship that has lasted thousands of years, this girl is the catalyst that threatens to break the friendship apart.

An angel is supposed to advise, guide, protect. But what happens when an angel's feelings are compromised to the extent that he has feelings for the one he is supposed to protect? Add to this the question of rogue elements within the other angel (I'll let you find out who) and well...all Hell is literally about to be let loose.

I really enjoyed this story. There were a couple of things that niggled me, but perhaps this was a good way to display the characters quirks. For example, Nathaniel and Devlin engage is some rather bratty talk, more akin to being irksome teenagers than superior-than-thou angels. They use some mild bad language too. The more I got into the story, I began to understand why they were created this way by the author. For me, angels perhaps speak more regally and grandiose, but this is my imagine, and not my book. So I applaud the author for taking the more untravelled route with her characters.

I really loved the descriptions of the respective angel's powers. You could literally feel what it was like to be whisked at super-speed into the air. The threat of having an angel's wings burned off for any infraction was real and realised - the author literally put me in their place and that was an uncomfortable place to be.

At times, I wondered what kind of genre this book would fit. Sometimes it felt like a children's story, at others, very New Adult. It crosses genres like fantasy, paranormal romance and thriller.

Some of the best books I have ever read defy genre - and this is perhaps one of them.

I really loved the descriptions of the respective angel's powers. You could literally feel what it was like to be whisked at super-speed into the air.

Despite its relatively short length, there is a lot going on here. The soul searching that the angels literally do is brilliantly done in a long (but never overlong) seen where the soul - not just the life of Eloise is in peril.

For me, the introduction of Eloise is where the story really starts. She adds a dangerous component to the story (through no fault of her own, I might add) and it makes for an engaging read.

Fallen Angel is a prequel that feels like a full length novel. It is perfectly paced and is a great introduction to this author's works. 

4.5 stars.

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