Love that dares write its name
592376
Only published after E. M. Forster's death (by his own request) this a classic no one should be allowed to miss while going through life. Set in Edwardian England it's the story of a young man's sexual awakeness, a journey of self-discovery that brings him to face the social mores of the day and eventually reject them - at a time when a happy ending could still be possible even if only by a return to nature. The characthers of Maurice, Clive and Alec are fully rounded, but on another plan they stand for the divisions of class and how the establishment could entrap you but love could liberate you from class altogether. It's been a life-changing experience for me to read this novel. Dismiss any prejudices you may have against gay love or Forster or 'classic literature'. You probably will find it a very pleasant, refreshing and poetic surprise.
1843109
Imagine Dragons Believer is the song that kept running through my head as I read Fred Feeleys latest, powerful novel about love and pain and cataclysm: When Heaven Strikes. So, when they make the movie about this, I get credit for choosing the theme song, ok?

Not everything is a phase, remember that.

A loving grandmother speaks these words to her terrified seven-year-old grandson as she rocks him in the aftermath of a terrifying brush with a tornado in the books prologue. It is an odd message, meant as much for the boys parents as it is for him, but It is a message the boy, Anderson, carries with him into adulthood. It is through the same grandmother, thirty years later, that Anderson meets Ted, a painter with a substantial local reputation, whom his grandmother commissions to paint a portrait of her garden in Indianola, Iowa, outside of Des Moines. The two men, in their late thirties, form an instant rapport, but each of them needs to negotiate the emotional hurts of his past. Both must be willing to risk the self-imposed, if comfortable, isolation of their lives.

This is a book that cuts close to the bone for Feeley. Ive been waiting for him to write this, and I know something of its psychological and emotional roots. I was not disappointed, and once it gets past a little rocky writing in the beginning, the story pulls you in and ties you up in the lives of its three protagonists. A rich cast of secondary players amplifies the main plot threads, bringing them together in the narrative crescendo of the final drama.  Eleanor, Andersons grandmother, is the lynchpin in the narrative, a warm, nurturing presence that influences Ted as much as it does Anderson. I particularly liked the fact that Eleanor is rich and socially prominent, not because that matters in itself, but because it suggests that such socio-economic power in the right hands can make peoples lives better. Eleanor is a force for good, and her garden is a metaphor for her big heart and her emotional courage.

Did you notice I mentioned three protagonists? The third makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the story, but doesnt really draw our attention until the second half of the book. Jeffery is a Baptist preacher who first encounters Ted as he canvases the neighborhood with his teenaged son Josiah. Rigid and doctrinaire, Jeffery is all too familiar to Ted, whose own father was such an evangelical minister. But at first Ted knows nothings of who Jeffery is, not even his name: he merely takes note of the teenaged son and sees himself at the same age in the same predicament. It is Teds mildly silly brush-off of Jefferys door-to-door efforts that inadvertently triggers what will come later, when both Jeffery and Josiah become participants in the story.

Wild as the wind is love appears on the cover of When Heaven Strikes as a sort of subtitle. Love can be a violent thing; both as a strong emotion, and as a trigger for physical violence when it clashes with deeply-held prejudice or desperate fear. It takes no great mental leap to figure out that the wind, too, will play a part in this tale of love and its consequences.

I want Matt Bomer to play Ted in the movie. Just saying.
1286034
The book cover, simple as it is, has an alluring quality to it, coupled with the interesting title. The solitary bird under the glaring light from the street lamp post, featured on a sepia toned cover with a touch of color only for the title, makes this cover one of the most intriguing book covers I have ever seen. Readers could interpret it in many ways. The font of the title is beautiful. Also, the title is very cleverly formed. It has the word Murder in it since there is a murder in the story, but clearly it indicates a group of birds, particularly magpies, which is also a nickname, the protagonist of this story, Vayda goes by!

Vayda Silver is a girl with a lot of power that she herself underestimates. She can read minds, calm people down, feel what others are feeling or even burst overhead lightings when the feelings become too much to handle and the energy rises. Her twin brother, Jonah Silver is the opposite of her. He riles up people and push out his feelings, moving objects by a mere flick of his wrist. He is like fire while Vayda is like ice. Together they are like Ying and Yang, balancing each other. I love their relationship. It is imperfect and thats why I can relate to it. Their love is unconditional yet they do fight each other at times. Jonah always looks out for Vayda and protects her.

They both, along with their father, Emory Silver are on the run. Their mind games have earned them names like freak, gypsy and witch. So, they keep moving, always looking over their shoulders, afraid they will be recognized by someone from a previous place they have stayed at. Vayda is lonely, scared to commit to someone but that changes when along comes Ward, a damaged boy with a disturbed past of his own, who somehow calms Vayda down and makes her experience peace, which she rarely does otherwise.

The unspoken attraction between Vayda and Ward and then their love story as we move deeper into the story, is very nicely depicted. Its very sweet. Each chapter is written from either Vaydas or Wards POV. Other important characters in the book are Rain Killian, Vaydas and Jonahs godfather, Marty Pifkin and Chloe, who are their classmates and ones who are always looking out to fight Vayda and Jonah and, Sister Tremblay, someone who seemingly exudes hatred towards the Silver family.

Vayda and Jonahs late mother, Lorna was someone who quite enjoyed the power the mind games gave her over others. But that got her killed. Now, would her family too suffer and perish like her?. You got to read the book to know more!

The author has really created an amazing and powerful world, with her words!. I am in awe of her work. The situations all tie in well. There are certain situations though, which needs a tad more clarity / explanation. Thats the only fault I could find in the book. Otherwise, its an engaging read, which will have you craving to read all of it in one go!.
3419329
There is one story we, as a society, love to tell about love--the sanctioned kind of love.  Stories of men and women, who are unrelated, unmarried, are the appropriate age, and pursue a committed relationship with each other. But there are many spaces in between the official sanctioned love; the crushes, the yearning, the aching, the fantasies, and the self-delusions. The mind, as it tries to cope which loss, fantasizes about loves that are both tender and  taboo; sanctioned and illegal.

In NO ONE BELONGS HERE MORE THAN YOU, Miranda July explores  scenes and experiences of the spaces in between love. These stories are tender and illuminating, and at times, shocking and sexually explicit.

  In The Shared Patio, a woman, who has a crush on her married upstairs neighbor, gets wrapped up in a fantasy about their enduring love, while they sit together on the patio; she fantasizing, he, unconscious due to an epileptic seizure.

  In The Sister a man tells his friend, an elderly man, that he has a sister who he would like to introduce to him. This excites the elderly man who pictures the sister as a teenager even though he is long past of the age of being introduced to teenagers. He becomes empowered and reborn waiting to meet the sister.

  In Something that Needs Nothing,  a young girl resorts to working in the sex industry after a female friend and roommate, whom she loved in an unrequited way,  left their shared apartment to move in with another female. Working in the sex industry gives the heartbroken girl a new persona, and strangely enough, the roommate whom she loved is attracted to the new persona but still not to the raw person underneath.

  In Making Love in 2003, a special-needs teacher falls in love with her adolescence student, whom she believes already had a relationship with her, at least in the realm of fantasy. She becomes intimate with the student and is crushed when she hears he is dating another one of the students in the special-needs class.

  In Ten True Things, a woman who works as a secretary to a failed accountant, joins a sewing class to meet the accountant's wife who she feels she has an indirect relationship with due to the many messages she has sent back and forth between the accountant and his wife. The two women share a strange and tender moment.

  In The Birthmark, a beautiful girl who has a jarring red mole on her cheek, which she removes  surgically when she reaches adulthood.  She then marries, but the absence of the mole remains present and creates a wedge between the partners.

  In How to Tell Stories to Children, a woman loves a married man, and eventually grows to love the married man's daughter, sometimes more than the man's  wife does. The foursome -- mother, father, daughter, and father's ex-girlfriend -- go to a therapist to work out their dysfunctional relationships; alas, the therapist is so charming, he too becomes part of the love circle.

These stories share a common theme - people are searching for love and they usually do not find it. Many of the stories are meditation on the experience of  love and aching for love as the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred throughout.  Much of what happens in the stories don't happen in reality, but happen in fantasy, or  symbolic form.

There is much in the book that remains untold and incomplete, as life tends to be. I gave this book 5 stars because I kept thinking about the stories long after I finished reading the book.
4294065
Stolen Memories, the title of this novel by Darrell Standing, has not been casually plucked from the dozens of romantic phrases we absorb from the love songs that float in our heads.  Emma Wilson is dying, and her resultant memory loss causes her even more despair than the mounting pain and debilitation she is suffering.  By chance, an old and dear boy friend, Mark Bennett, who is a practicing psychologist at the Portland hospital where Emma is a patient,  has been assigned to her case.

Mark is the seminal figure in the story, a rather pedantic young man whose friends seem to encourage his role as a  walking encyclopedia.  This habit alone might account for there being no love interest in his life.  As the story opens, however, a beautiful colleague--Lea--is determined to do something about that.  Then, unexpectedly, Emma enters the picture.  Lea, too, rediscovers an old love and then there is Mark's sister Kate, Emma's oldest, dearest friend, who is in love with a concert violinist named Lucy.

These young Portlanders are really very well meaning, well educated, and well dressed young professionals, who seem to have gotten a lot out of reading Sophie's World and eating tasty food with the right wine, and the reader will soon become quite involved with their romances, butand this is no spoiler because the reader should be aware of it from the startthis book is the first of a series.

Perhaps I should have seen it coming, but a few minutes into a scene where something very traumatic has happened and  Kate tells us that The most important thing about love is to endure, I flipped my kindle page and read

  The story continues...

Had I read Standing's page on Amazon I would have known that this book is the first in a series, but unprepared, the abrupt stop was very annoying.

Romance novels require a lot of involvement on the part of the reader.  In this brave new world of serialized everything, bookreview.com warns the reader that Stolen Memories will require an enduring love.

.
4030967
I love the song LOVE, and how it trully defines how it is very used in vain, but I LOVE, LOVE.
4040162
Nadia grew up in a religious sect, raised by her mentally abusive grandmother. Her only moments of freedom were found in newcomer Jude, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy who didn't follow the devout Christian standard.

Saving her from an arranged marriage, Jude and Nadia ran away at nineteen and married.

Though Nadia loves Jude, the vibrant life she shared with her husband has sorrowfully faded, and the laughter that once filled their home has gone silent.

Nothing is truer than a guitar. You know why its hollow? It needs room to house the musicians soul.

Bo is an up and coming musician who doesnt believe he has the capacity to love after trying for years with his on-again-off-again ex, Ingela. He lives only for the dream of making music.

From groupie to groupie, Bo feels nothing. The only things that can stir emotions inside of him are the songs he createsuntil Nadia stumbles into the room. The wedding band on her finger should deter him, but the way she recognizes the sweet agony in his melody only captivates him.

Something like hope throbs in my chest, in that place where my love muscle should sit. Mine is just a heart. An organ. A blood pump.

How can Nadia choose between devotion to the man who saved her from a life of abuse and the overwhelming passion she feels for the man who saved her from herself?

How is one person afforded two deep loves in one lifetime?

Bo, Nadia, and Judes story is one that will have your heart breaking right along with the characters.

What are you doing?
 Memorizing how your face looks while I love you.
4464181
If you're really lucky, love grows out of a friendship, that you never want to lose, it brings colour and meaning to everything you do. Far from changing you, love takes the person that you already were and makes it into a better version of you

A direct quote from the book.

Oh, how can I not start my review with these beautiful lines. This is the line which resonates with all of us,  who believe in the magic of love. Some books are magical, meant to be read on those special moments when  life turns a corner, year turns anew, and the earth completes its journey around the sun.

I waited for the spark of magic of such a moment to begin my journey of reading Emmas book. And it began at the stroke of midnight when the world celebrated its New year, and I celebrated mine with Emma and her delightful characters.

In a land of literary thrillers and killers, Emmas book is a breath of fresh air, where love abounds, goodness fills the hearts, and there is peace all around. Life is difficult, but with books like these to escape into, they become an oasis in the desert of life, with happiness all around to regenerate the soul when going gets tough.

I can tell you about the head librarian, Lucys Book Club, consisting of shy nerdy guy Callum, the elderly gentleman Oscar, the single mother Hattie and the carer of her mother, Lia. I can tell you about them and their stories. I can tell you about the strife in their life. I can tell you their secrets. I can even tell you how Lucy finds a way But I wont.

Instead, I will tell you about the emotions I felt with each character, and how I decided on my New Years resolutions from each one of them.

Lucy brought me happiness and joy, she made me want to be generous and helpful. Callum made me want to be a better human being, he taught me that one can come up in life inspite of difficult circumstances if one has the will. Lia taught me to dance, to fly high, she made me hug my mother tight. Hattie taught me that sometimes hobbies can be a way of life, she made me to listen to my creative side. Oscar taught me love, he made me feel hope, that soul mates exist, that love is eternal and life has no time for regrets.

Emma is one of the few authors, who can write emotions using few words. She writes love, she made me laugh out with joy. She writes emotions, she made me cry and laugh. She writes moments, she made me enjoy each one of them in her book. She writes words, she made me feel magic in and out of the book. What a beautiful way to spend New Years Day!!!

To Emma Davies
Five of the best, you not only gave me their stories, you made me feel their stories.
3521527
Whew, this is going to a hard review to write.

Mena, now known as Andromeda or Andra, as Ace likes to call her, is fighting a constant battle with her heart and her body.  Her heart still belongs to Phoenix, but her body craves Aces touch.

Now bonded, she agrees to return to Las Vegas with him to meet his pride. The bond is driving them both mad.  Andra misses Phoenix, Ace wishes for her to forget about him and move onwith him.  But the heart wants what the heart wants.

The bond took that choice away from us, Andra, he said softly.  Im sorry that you're not happy here with me.  Im sorry that I don't have a perfect past.  Im sorry that Im not good enough for you.  Above everything else, Im sorry that you refuse to love mebecause I think that we could have a great love together, a love so great that people would talk about it for centuries.

Meanwhile, Ace is harboring a very dangerous secret that hes afraid if Andra finds out, he will lose her forever.  Andra knows that he is hiding something but he blocks her out of his mind before she ever has a chance to discover the truth.

There are several new characters introduced in this book.  Slade, Aces beta.  Clay, the lead singer of Salacious Limerick, Andras favorite band.  Clays sisters Embyr and Rainey and Deus.  Raineys mate.

I admit, I was distraught when she chose Ace. He was a straight-up dick to her at one point.  Sighbut he did mange to warm me oversome.

Insert Phoenix and her pack back into this equation and yep, you guessed it.  Trouble in paradise.

In the end Phoenix managed to screw up royally, in hopes to win Menas affections that even I had to question his motives. This one is a real nail biter.  I cant wait to read the next one!

Favorite Scene: Phoenix and the coffinhehe.
Favorite Quotes:

I feel I love with him before I met you, before you and I bonded.  True love never dies.  I believe that, and I believe what Phoenix and I have is true love.
4364188
This is an incredible love story that I found impossible to put down. Livia is a young woman who has lost a great deal in her short life. Her parents now keep her locked up at home often with her Mom as a chaperone when she does leave for activities. Blitz Craven is a reality show host who has made some bad decisions and is looking to redeem himself. These two find each other by chance and this is their story.
"I'm startled to the core to feel his fingers on mine. It feels so forbidden, so daring, like the love I once felt and lost."

"Every word out of his mouth feels like a sexual innuendo."

"Princess, you are a balm for my jaded soul."

"Blitz's kiss is the key that unlocks the secret diary of my past, every suppressed need, every hidden desire."

Beautifully written, sensual and adoring, this story is one that I will not soon forget.

I chose to read this book and the opinions stated in this review are my own and unbiased.
121992
This love story shows that you can love who you want to love no matter, race creed ans or sexuality, Nate and Roman are a fun loving couple who start off as friends but eventually morph into a couple. Their love is not over Bering or in your face and they don't push it on their teammate and I feel that is why teammates except them, Ashley Broom has an unique way of bring you the audience into a book without you realizing it.
1366179
Blair Babylon writes men that you can't help but love. Come meet Xan Valentine and the rockers of Killer Valentine. So strong, so sexy, so talented, and so broken. A woman can't help but want to fix them and protect them. The music is glorious and the hearts are wounded. They don't dare to hope and they only dream of the music. Watch what happens when two cynical people find one another. Georgie and Xan write songs about love but they are too broken to believe in it. When love begins to glue these broken people back together they make you believe in fairy-tales!
907411
Reviewed by Taryn for My Secret Romance

Say My Name reminds me of a treasure you find on the sand on the beach. It's hidden beneath the surface, it's so unexpected, and it can bring an indescribable amount much joy...and sometimes pain.

That's how I felt about this book. It was recommended by a friend and as soon as I read the blurb I knew I had to read it. My only issue is that it ended too soon.

Say My Name only a little more than 30 pages, but it was enough to hook me in deep, making me read each word, in each sentence on each page- literally right from the beginning. There's a sorrowful tone in the voice, but the story she tells is just...achingly beautiful.

I pretty much knew what to expect, but the power in the authors words hit me hard, bringing me to my knees. Just thinking about it brings tears to my heart. This author is very talented. I didn't expect this feeling one bit and I am shocked at my response to this novella after finishing it. It just goes to show that you only need a few short pages to prove the kind of gift one has. It comes through and shines quickly, like this one did.

I would love to see if the author does more with this story. I think it could be done and it would hurt me to read, but I would drop everything to read it, just like I did with this.

A story of what could've been...of a love that never weathered away...and of a heart that will never, ever, beat the same way again
4829021
This is not a sexy love story, but there is love and there is sex. There's also brutal sexual violence, drug abuse and a vileness that's deplorable. This is a story about relationships both good and bad, and above all it's a story of hope.

Lilith Bresson, famous artist, is given no choice but to reside at Albermarle Hall and paint a portrait for Lady Blaine Albermarle. Whilst there she meets Blaine's beautiful companion, Finn Strachan. At first glance, and to an untrained eye, everything seems perfect...... Things are not always as they seem and Albermarle Hall is witness to the utmost depravity. Lilith finds herself becoming deeply embroiled, both physically and emotionally.

Lilith is a girl with issues, shes tough, a realist who likes to be in control. I love her no nonsense attitude; she lives and speaks with a dose of reality and wit. I love her spirit, her courage and her heart. She has a gift of reading people, and if I'm honest, I was slightly skeptical about the 'gift.' However, I have to admit that it worked within the story as a whole, so I went with it.

Finn is beautiful to look at but inside he's being slowly broken apart. He's damaged. Drugs are his escape from reality, a reality created by Lady Albermarle, they make his life almost bearable.

He was made to do things.
Would Lilith be made to do things?

Lady Albermarle Blaine is a lady of class and style, always dressed to perfection, a beautiful woman but over the pages with her vile actions and words she became overtly grotesque to me. Shes evil personified. A twisted bitch. She looks for weakness and then she pounces like the devil. They dance to the tune of Blaine and it's not pleasant.

The Tied Man is written from the dual point of view of Lilith and Finn who, among the depravity and evil, develop a gorgeous friendship that's destined for more, it may be dysfunctional but I loved the reading experience. The girl swoops in with her painting tools and becomes the rescuer, just wonderful!

It's a carefully crafted story with a sprinkling of Britishness and I truly appreciated the experience. What I need now is to know their future. Could any of their past damage be healed? Can they find forever in each other? This is a stand alone story but I'm hoping the next book will give me that little bit more I crave.

The Tied Man is beyond disturbing but the brilliant writing carried the story and the characters to my book heart. It took me on a unique journey with Lilith and Blaine. A journey of brutality, hurt and grotesque evil, but with an overriding feeling of hope laced throughout. Sometimes, the darker a story goes, the more I feel the light at the end and that's certainly the case with this book. If you are yet to read The Tied Man and like a darker challenging read then pick up this book, you'll not be disappointed.
3452775
Ben and Gabe are two grad students, living one near the other but they have never met. Ben studies Computer Science and Gabe Art. Ben is friendly and a partyman, Gabe is shy and all work. But when Ben sees Gabe, he immediately thinks to an angel, and he doesn't know that, for real, Gabe has tattoed two wings on his back (his real name is Gabriel). When Ben knows about the wings, it's like a sign: Gabe has to be his and he will not stop in front of nothing to have this man.

Gabe is fragile and very artist like. He prefers to let it speak his art and not him or his body. But Ben is overwhelming, both physical then mental, and he coaxes Gabe in this relationship. Sometimes I was wondering if what Gabe accepts to do is really his willing or is only what Ben wants... but at the end, love is also this, try to build something together, accepting all of your lover.

A short but enjoyble reading, about young love, when all is possible and life is still simple.
1904713
A very special story of true love and it's meaning.
3323754
Such an interesting way to share accounts and tell a story -- through poetry. True love is hard to come by now-a-day. This book gives those who wish for such a love, hope that it can one day finds it's way into their lives. It also demonstrates the importance of fighting for what you love and believe in. I can only dream of having a woman who loves me 1/2 as much as this author loved her man.