The Things We Do for Love by Kristin HannahMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Kristin Hannah may be the most uneven novelist I have ever read. At her best, she's fantastic, but one never knows which way the wind is going to blow. The Winter Garden started out okay and then the second half was stunning, amazing, unforgettable. Night Road started out fantastic, but the second half was so grim that I found it hard to stick with it because it hurt my heart. Firefly Lane started out really well and then devolved into a trite Lifetime Movie, complete with someone nobly dying of something. So, when I picked up The Things We Do For Love, I wasn't sure what I would be getting into.
For me, this was a beautiful, satisfying, marvelous book that instantly became one of my all-time favorite novels. It never flagged; it was nothing but wonderful from start to finish. It's chicklit, but I happen to like good chicklit. Lauren Ribido is a seventeen year old girl from the wrong side of the tracks, whose mother is good for little else but drinking and hooking up with a series of losers. Nonetheless, Lauren is a good kid who works hard and gets a scholarship to a good school. She's making something of herself, but there's a hollow place inside her that won't leave her alone. Enter Angie DeSaria Malone, a good heart who has tried everything to have a child, but it just never has worked out for her, taking a big emotional toll and ruining her marriage to Conlan Malone. She comes home to West End to manage the DeSaria family restaurant, and to try to get her bearings. Lauren and Angie's paths cross, and each has something to offer that the other desperately needs. When Lauren's football hero boyfriend gets her pregnant, a lot of dreams--as well as old heartaches--hang in the balance.
I can't even say how much I loved this book.
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Thanks!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
As always, you make the book come alive, Shay.
ReplyDeleteShay--You hardly EVER give 5 out of 5 stars.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm going to have to check this out. (And you were the one who got me onto Kristin Hannah's trail in the first place. ;)
Wow, I never read fiction any more, but this sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteBecause you are giving it 5 stars it's something work checking out. I just don't like sappy novels but this one sounds promising.
ReplyDeleteSounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteThis definitely sounds like something I would like!
ReplyDeleteJust finished reading your poems
ReplyDeletein Gemini/Scorpio/Capricorn, Shay:
Your first poem, "The Girl Who Liked Hemingway," knocked me out. Your girl is beautifully described; exotic, rebellious, real. She reminds me of a character in the film with Jennifer Jones & Gregory Peck,
"Dual in the Sun" and yet, very distinct, of course, created by your fertile imagination and spinning of words.
"Strippers" is another in which a world of grasping, longing, loving is so beautifully written and engaging. I fell in love with the characters and their stories.
Congratulations on your book and continued success, Shay!
Petra :))