A Review By Wendy
3.5 Intense, Destined, Did I say Intense Stars
* * * 1/2
There are people who we are destined to be with... the magnetic draw, the calling or whatever other intangible happens and these people cannot leave each other alone. Sometimes it can be for a moment, a young first love or in this book, a lifetime calling. Neeny Boucher gives us characters who are so connected yet have such crossed, missed opportunities to make things good for each other, it can be quite a journey to experience.
We meet the Martin family... they are musically talented, loving and somewhat dysfunctional in their quirkiness. They live in a small town not far from Seattle, live all the cultural experiences of the grunge period. The Dad, son Johnny, Christina and baby sister Gabby would do professional gigs. All were talented. As the kids got older, Johnny had a garage band and Christina would watch and wait for her opportunity to one day join it. Eventually, it happened and it became her turning point in her life at 16. She had to audition to qualify and the day she does...Riley,18, one of the band members watches her sing.... and promptly falls in love with her.
They are hit by it... and their journey starts... he fights it but cannot leave her be... he sent her pictures he had drawn with words which ripped her heart open with their beauty.... he threw rocks at her window after trying and trying to leave her be... and tells her she is his... from this point forward. They have that teenage passion.... hot, sweet, all of it... and then they both marry the day after she turns 18.
Parents on both sides are not happy. The only help given is a farmhouse so they have a roof over their head. She works; he is in the band with Johnny and it is taking off. Mistakes are made by both of them... he leaves her at home when the band goes on the road... she wants more than just a small town and is scared that this is all there is going to be.
Her mother had goals for her children, with extra pressure on Christina to "make " something of herself and go to college... and this would be a constant conversation. What makes this even more serious then just a push from a parent is when her mother dies from Cancer. This becomes the catalyst with critical turning points for this couple.
There is so much covered in this book about relationships between married people, fathers with sons and daughters...women as friends, women as young wives and women lost not knowing their place in the world and their own families.
It is told artfully with past and present entries, much humor, detail and dialogue. There are multiple POV's without redundancy. I did fell the pace slow in the first part of the book and I really was not loving either of the main characters... they both had some serious anger management issues... and were combustible in both their sexuality together and with their cutting remarks... if they weren't touching or fucking... it was very difficult for them to be civil with each other. It was understandable in this story, however, it did sometimes wear on me.
The second half of the story moved quicker and I was very intrigued with the secondary characters which had been fleshed out. There are possible couples brewing and they have very strong personalities .... I would be interested.
If you are open to a couple which is destined to be together, have chemistry and love for each other which is tested and comes through in the end... then this will not disappoint. There is an ending which is sort of positive...yet is left open for more....
Arc provided in exchange for an honest review
Neeny Boucher is a nom de plume because her real name sounds like a 19th Century suffragette. She is a lover of the weird, the outcast and those on the margins of society. An appreciator of music, art, film, television, popular culture, social encounters and the human condition. Originally from New Zealand, she is a strong supporter of the All Blacks, has lived all over the world and is currently a trailing spouse in a picturesque village in Switzerland with two wonderful children.
Her employment history is varied and has ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, not to mention, the messy. The sublime: teaching. The ridiculous: tour guide on a gondola when she has an irrational fear of heights. The messy: cleaning out turkey houses in Israel waiting for the European winter to pass.
She has done all sorts of things she wouldn’t allow her children to do, including hitchhiking around southern Africa in her wild youth. All the experiences, however, provided the opportunity to par-take in her favorite past time of people watching. A collector of amazing stories, Neeny decided it was time to put them in fiction, allowing readers to enjoy them as much as she did. Please feel free to contact the author on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Pinterest.
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