Take pity on a precious Amazon review
banished to the missing in action queue.
My sparkling five stars now long gone,
but on my blog the accolade lives on.
Hip, hip hooray for blogs and handbags.
Let’s celebrate and don our gladrags.
Alas, this rhyming has gone awry.
Authors will live to fight another day!
Relax, take a pew and celebrate a review.
Cheers, Jena for all that you do!
Jena’s Review of You Can’t Go It Alone
When you first see the cover of this book, I hope you like it as much as I did. Are you intrigued? A woman stands, alone and at a distance, surrounded by calm water, an expansive horizon, and a clearing sky. What does this tell you and what does the title, You Can’t Go It Alone make you think? What about the tagline- love, laughter, music and secrets…?
These features draw you into the story, don’t they?
Debut author Jessie Cahalin has created a lovely book world that blends good story telling with positivity and love. This book is what is called “character-driven”. These intriguing and captivating characters are ready to share their stories with you. The characters range from birth to the end of life. You will be drawn to their problems and secrets, hopes and dreams.
What ties them all together are two things: their village and the new arrival- Sophie, the main character. While Sophie has her own struggles, she is a caring and nurturing person and she becomes the “glue” for her family and friends.
“…join me in a toast to Sophie She is such a great addition to this community and has brought us together.”
The characters are well rounded; they do interesting things and they think about life in interesting ways. One of my favorite characters is the young neighbor girl, Daisy. She is about five years old and is at that magical age where an adorable little girl blooms and changes into a big girl. The author is spot-on with her depictions of Daisy- she abounds with energy, exuberance, and joy.
Readers will also enjoy the family of Rosa and Matteo. And I wanted to ride around the countryside with Jeanie and Max in their camper van Molly.
As an American, I enjoyed “spending time” in the village of Delfryn, in Wales. “Waiting patiently above the luscious green hills, the autumn sun looked down on the nineteenth century church.” Through the book, I “saw” the lovely scenery, mountains and historic sites, and I “visited” with friends at the charming local café. “Let’s go to the Olive Tree tonight”, was a frequent and happy exclamation. I even spent a day or two in Cardiff!
I highlighted many parts of the book and I am sure that readers will find their own favorite parts and they will bond with the characters just as I did. This book shows us the ups and downs of life. We see that family and friends can smooth the road by rejoicing in the good times and sharing their love in the harder times. I cared about the characters and I know readers will, too.
Love and romance waft their way into the story, too. The romance is mostly sweet, but there is a bit of spice, “The unmade bed became their island, clothes strewn on the floor as if washed up on the shore.”
This is the debut novel and it is a complex and vivid tapestry of a story. First books can be somewhat like the little girl Daisy- loveable, engaging, but with a few growing pains. Author Cahalin is on her way to becoming a gifted storyteller. It seems the author has planned more books so that is good news for the fictional folks of Delfryn and good news for readers! Enjoy!
Read the complete article at:
Visit Jena’s blog at:
Please see more at My Writing and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.
I have a Cunning Plan. Every so often I go into my books’ pages on the Big Zon and snip any new reviews which I then paste into a Word document. That way if the Zon eats them I still have them on file.
Good plan, batman!
As if by magic, my AWOL review is back. Thank you, Amazon. X
Well, thank goodness for that! Strange things happening with Amazon these days
So strange how it reappeared.