|
||||||||||
|
Subscribe to the Absolute Write Newsletter and get the Agents! Agents! Agents! report free! Click here.
|
Win a 1-year subscription to Writer's Digest by subscribing to Absolute Markets-- all paying markets for your writing. Click here. |
|
| |||||||||||||
|
|
Inside The Cover
Book Reviews Paper Roses As
Paper Roses opens, skilled microsurgeon Dr. Jennifer Maxwell has
physically recovered from the brutal rape and assault that cost her her job as
Chief of Microsurgery at a prominent Atlanta hospital, but she is still reeling
in her attempts to achieve emotional recovery.
Competitive
by nature, Jenny focused all her energies on getting out of the poor
neighborhood of her youth and left her family behind to pursue professional
success and personal happiness as the fiancé of fellow microsurgeon Dr. Peter
Arnett. In seeking to find the men
who attacked her, and hoping that justice will put her on the path to emotional
healing, Jenny ends up back in her old neighborhood one day, near where she was
found after the attack. Reconnecting
with her family after ten long years, much to the dismay of the ever-more
controlling Dr. Arnett, Jenny is surprised to find that even her sorely damaged
hands can be useful at the free clinic run by friend of the family and doctor,
Riley Thomas. Finding
herself torn between trying to regain the life she had before the attack and
making a new beginning, and torn between the man who stood by her and the man
who wants her to stand on her own, it takes the exposure of a shocking secret
for Jenny to find the strength within herself to decide how she wants to live
her life, and whom she wants to share it with.
Joyce
and Jim Lavene’s Paper Roses is an engrossing, character driven romance
novel. Frequent insight into
Jenny’s frame of mind as she tries to put her life back together creates a
realism that is affecting to the reader. It’s
clear when reading through the details of Jenny’s actions and reactions in
certain situations, especially her anxiety in attending a women’s empowerment
and self-defense class, that the authors have invested considerable research in
creating this character and exploring how she might find her way back to feeling
confident and sure of herself after feeling victimized and vulnerable.
The Lavenes make excellent use of dialogue, using it to reinforce the personalities they’ve created for each of the major players in the story, especially the three main characters, Jenny, Peter, and Riley. Never sappy or trite, the dialogue moves the narrative along nicely. The pace is consistent and contributes to keeping the reader positively engaged in Jenny’s story. Paper
Roses has a
solid plot that effectively manages multiple characters while maintaining the
primary focus on Jenny. Like all
good romance novels, the love scenes are evocative yet tasteful. While the book is a little heavy on the foreshadowing,
the Lavenes do still keep a few surprises up their sleeve to be revealed in
dramatic ways. With a satisfying conclusion, albeit brief but wonderfully
appropriate, Paper Roses is sure to please romance readers everywhere. Available through Southern Charm Press, http://www.southerncharmpress.com/.
Amy Brozio-Andrews is a freelance writer and book reviewer. She brings more than five years' experience as a readers' advisory librarian to her work, which is regularly published by Library Journal, The Imperfect Parent, and Absolute Write. Her reviews have also been published by The Absinthe Literary Review, ForeWord Magazine, January Magazine, and Melt Magazine. Amy is also the managing editor and an international markets columnist for Absolute Write. Visit her online at http://www.amyba.com. |
Sponsored links 
Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer! How to find a book publisher |
Text on this site Copyright © 1998-2007
Absolute Write, all rights reserved.
|
