#NewReleases: December 2014
Contributor: Allie The Look of Love by Sarah Jio – November 25, 2014. This book sounds mystical and enchanting. Jane was born during a Christmas…
The Look of Love by Judy Astley
I received a copy of The Look of Love in exchange for an honest review. Summary: Bella has given up on men. Happily divorced, her…
In My Mailbox: Week of December 25
In My Mailbox: Week of December 25
Title: She Tells All
Author: Judah Lee Davis
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Her magic stilettos ensure that she will get lucky tonight, while her big mouth ensures she will stay in trouble. This sleepy little southern town just isn’t big enough for the adventures of mischievous Madison Miller. But when tragedy strikes, she is forced to learn important lessons about life, love and why she should NEVER sleep with strangers.
Title: The Baby Trap
Author: Sibel Hodge
Received: From Sibel Hodge
Synopsis: Based on her own experiences with infertility and two attempts at IVF, Sibel Hodge’s latest novel The Baby Trap will have you laughing and crying at the ups and downs of modern baby-making…
When Gina turns thirty-three her body clock unexpectedly begins clanging in her ear with annoying persistence. The only problem is, having a baby isn’t as easy as she thought. Whether she’s feng shui-ing the house to death with fertility symbols, throwing out her husband’s tight boxers in favour of baggies, swapping wine and chocolate for green tea and yams, popping fertility drugs like M&M’s, or having sex so precision-timed it makes international warfare manoeuvres look unorganized, her life is turned upside down. And when nothing seems to be working, her quest for the B-word turns into an obsession.
Can Gina stay sane, get pregnant, and keep her marriage together? Or will her baby trail become a baby trap?
Title: The Look of Love
Author: Judy Astley
Received: Unsolicited
Synopsis: Bella has given up on men. Happily divorced, her latest boyfriend just omitted to tell her about his current wife, so she’s back on her own again. Then her ex-husband turns up, wanting to sell the family home in which she and their two teenage children are well settled. But all their lives are changed when a television company rents the house for a reality TV fashion makeover programme.
Against her better judgment Bella finds herself taking part in the programme, and while she learns a little bit too much about what really goes on behind the scenes, she also discovers that love can appear in the most unexpected places….
The Look of Love by Jill Egizii
Anna has spent twenty years in a marriage from hell, locked in with Erik because of their children and politics. Erik is a successfully trial attorney with ties to equally successfully politicians, and each time Anna has tried for a divorce, Erik is quick to put an end to it. Anna finally realizes she has no choice but to get away from her tainted marriage for her own safety and the safety of her children, but once they are separated everything begins to fall apart for Anna. Erik starts using his powerful connections with the law to keep Anna away from her children, and using his manipulation skills to deteriorate the once strong bond between a mother and her kids.
The Look of Love by Jill Egizii was a touching story, yet I found it difficult to read at times. The brutal honesty and eyes wide open look at parental alienation, psychological devastation, and manipulation of the justice system was hard to swallow at times. Egizii is an advocate for parental alienation awareness, serving as a board member on a number organizations to educate about the devastating effects, and the knowledge readers can gain from this novel is profound. The story that surrounds love, family, and a mother’s quest of well-being for her children is heart-warming and compelling.
Rating: 4/5
Author Profile: Jill Egizii
Author Name: Jill Egizii
Website: http://www.thelookoflovebook.com/index.html
Biography: Jill Egizii is an advocate for parental alienation awareness. She is politically active, serving as an Alderman in the city of Leland Grove, Illinois. Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan appointed Jill to the Illinois Family Law Study Committee, whose mission is to revamp state divorce law.
Jill is also a board member of Children Need Both Parents, a not-for-profit organization emphasizing shared parenting, and the Parental Alienation Awareness Organization (PAAO), whose mission is to educate people about parental alienation. Jill also serves as an advisor to the board of The Institute for the American Family.
For fifteen years, Jill has served as a board member for United Cerebral Palsy and hosts their weekly television program, Life Without Limits. Each year, Jill facilitates and hosts the United Cerebral Palsy Telethon and is a powerful voice for all people with disabilities.
Currently: Jill is married to an electrical contractor and is the mother of four children. In her spare time she runs and spends quality time with her husband and their Bernese Mountain Dogs, Coco and Jack.
Titles: The Look of Love
In My Mailbox: Week of April 25
In My Mailbox: Week of April 25th
Title: The Journey Home
Author: Michael Baron
Received: From Michael Baron
Synopsis: Joseph, a man in his late thirties, awakens disoriented and uneasy in a place he doesn’t recognize. Several people are near him when he opens his eyes, all strangers. All of them seem perfectly friendly, but none of them can explain to him how he got there. They offer him a delicious meal and pleasant conversation in a beautifully decorated room. This would be a very nice experience if not for one thing: Joseph doesn’t know where he is and he has no way to contact his wife, who he is sure is worried sick over him. Thanking the people for their hospitality, he leaves to make his way back home. The only problem is that whatever happened to him has stripped him of most of his memories. He knows he needs to get back to his wife, but he doesn’t know how to find her. He sets out on a journey to find his home with no sense of where he’s going and only the precious, indelible vision of the woman he loves to guide him.
Antoinette is an elderly woman in an assisted living facility. She’s spent the last six years there since her husband died, and most of those years have been happy. She enjoys the company of others in her situation and her son comes to visit often. But in recent months, she’s had a tougher and tougher time leaving her room. Her friends seem different to her and the world seems increasingly confusing. She spends an escalating amount of time on a journey inside her head. There, her body and mind haven’t betrayed her. There, she’s a young newlywed with a husband who dotes on her and an entire life of dreams to live. There, she is truly home.
Warren, Antoinette’s son, is a man in his early forties going through the toughest year of his life. His marriage ended, he lost his job, and in the past few months, his mother has gone from hale to increasingly hazy. Having trouble finding work, he spends more and more time by his mother’s bedside. But her lack of lucidity both frustrates and frightens him. With far too much time on his hands, he decides to try to recreate his memories of home by attempting to cook his mother’s greatest dishes using the rudimentary appliances available in her room. He finds the challenge surprisingly rewarding, especially because the only time he feels his mother is truly with him anymore is when she is eating the meals he prepares for her.
Joseph, Antoinette, and Warren are three people on different searches for home. How they find it, and how they connect with one another at this critical stage in each of their lives, is the foundation for a profound and deeply moving story.
Title: The Look of Love
Author: Jill Egizii
Received: From Jill Egizii
Synopsis: Anna, the wife of a prominent local attorney, has decided enough is enough. After nearly twenty years of marriage, she realizes she must get free from her controlling spouse. In the process, she loses the only thing that made escaping worthwhile–her children. Despite their joint custody agreement, her ex uses his wiles, wealth, and legal experience to exile Anna from the family. Her once “normal” relationships with her son and daughter mysteriously sour. The system, the law, and her faith in herself all seem to fail her at the same time. While facing the fight of her life, Anna realizes the true meaning of friendship and love.
