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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The Bracelet by C.A. Deslauriers : A Review



BOOK TITLE: The Bracelet
ISBN: 9780989803915
AUTHOR: C. A. Deslauriers
GENRE: Contemporary romance - Fiction
NUMBER OF PAGES: 276 for Paperback
FORMAT: Paperback
SERIES / STANDALONE: Standalone
REVIEW BY: Dhivya Balaji
HOW I GOT THIS BOOK: The author sent us both copies for review, with a personalised message.
SUMMARY:
          From debut author, C.A. Deslauriers comes a stirring romance novel of a woman’s life, conquering the wounds of abuse, and rising above life’s struggles. This novel will bring you on a journey of survival and redemption. True love’s thread is woven throughout the novel and the emotions of this story will touch your heart and soul, moving you from warmth, through pain, sorrow, and then to joy. If you believe in a real-life “happily ever after” and the bond that links soul mates; then you will feel the emotion in the story of “The Bracelet”.
          Christine Fischer’s life had been poisoned with deep sorrow from memories of childhood abuse. This is her story of that life and, her strength to overcome her pain and survive. Three men shared a part of that struggle. One rescued her, one almost destroyed her and the third, Jay West, loved her through all the pain and sorrow. The bracelet he gave her symbolized her life and their love. The words engraved on the heart reflected more than just the sexual bond they shared, but how that bond lifted her desire for life from lukewarm to one on fire. This is the story of true love’s fire, which ultimately transformed Christine’s sorrow into joy. That love joined Christine and Jay as soul mates for eternity. Their bond was forever sealed by the bracelet she wore and the words engraved on the heart that hung from it.
REVIEW:
          This book was sent to both of us from the author personally for an honest review. I have to begin my thanking her. The best thing I liked in the book was the author’s signature and a personal message that said, ‘Life is seldom a straight line…’ written in the first title page, in lasting shiny metallic silver ink. *sigh* (and no, I have not already started sighing cause it’s a romance novel)
          Nothing could have drawn me into the book better. The book had another novelty. It was actually a person’s flashback narrative. Yes, the whole book (except for few pages at the ending) is actually a type of ‘I have crossed all these paths in my life’ flashback of Christine Fischer. Christine is now a bestselling author, and her book is selling like hotcakes. But Christine herself lacks warmth in her life and her mind keeps going back to the area where she was happy once. Jay West, the man who loved her through her pain and sorrow and the man who gave her a hot feel in her blood, is now not with her. For the how and why, I’ll let you read the book.
          For fans of romance, and the whole ‘love gives you all feeling and keeps you going’ theorists, this book is a must have on your shelves and this will be a dog eared copy which you will run to when you so much as get scratched by a stray cat on the street. For comfort, of course! And there are plenty of graphic scenes to put fodder for those who want a much – err- descriptive and physical exhibition of love. It is for those of you who want to read a book tucked in your love seat with a cup of cocoa and cocooned in a blanket.
          But fair warning to those free thinking radical women who don’t like or want your heroines to be Bella Swans, this Christine Fischer is one woman who is pining to get back to hot from her lukewarm state. You can’t blame her. If you hate the women who think love is the only emotion a woman can feel and love is the only way to bring people out of their pain and sorrow, you won’t sympathise with Christine. Learn what to expect before you pick this up. And for those of you (who am I kidding? Us… I meant those of ‘us’) who want a woman to be empowered and feel successful and enjoy love as a part of your life and not as a whole, this book gives other ideas that might, just some times, make you want to stop reading.
          The story of abuse and recovery is, of course, great. But the book does falter in one theme. The title and the description and of course, the book cover lead you to believe this will be a different story. The emphasis on ‘lead you’. For someone who stoically avoided reading the much ‘critically acclaimed and far more successful than Harry Potter’ Fifty shades of Grey series, (Hey, don’t stop reading. That is what the general statisticians say. Though I think there might be something fishy going on) this book is a slightly tangy reminder of that. You might call this a watered down version of that. (Or so learned people say!) If that is the case, I can only shudder to think what the concentrated version would be. In general, women who depend on men to straighten out their own lives are a big turn off to me personally and by reflection, I can’t actually sympathise with the lead in this book.
          One other thing that could have been better is the jumpy narrative of the flashback. Only a few disjointed scenes were woven into a narrative but when you look at them from a scientific perspective, there are things called as ‘memory flashes’ where the human mind is capable of replaying the scenes and memories it deems are most important and memorable. Oh wait. I am not talking about over thinking in bed at night. But one major disadvantage is that these flashes are most often perspective visions of the ‘Seer’. You only get one view. And if it is green coloured, blame your eyes. *I have to put down my pen – err- stop tapping the keys- here*
          If you want to know what is the meaning of the bracelet in the cover page, or if you actually want to know what happens to Christine (promise me that you won’t say ‘oh I knew this is what will happen) and if you really like the ‘I am so in love that I can’t actually stand on my own legs both physically and figuratively’ type of books, go for this one. This book can either be the best for you, or leave an aftertaste. This totally depends on your perspective of what love is.
          *True to the flashback mode of writing, this review is intentionally written in the order the points came to the mind of the reviewer. You can understand nothing in the start but if you read it till the end, you can get the general picture.*
WHAT I LIKED: The story’s flow and the beautiful Gibran quotes at the start of every chapter.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: The all too dependent woman protagonist and the whole emphasis on love as the central force.
VERDICT: This book is a make or break. Romance lovers go for it, whereas fans of other genres think twice.
RATING: 3/5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
          Ms. Deslauriers enjoys living in the sunshine of the Gulf coast of Florida. She has written poetry most of her life and now enjoys writing the novels that have been waiting to jump from her mind to paper at last. Her passions include gardening, orchid growing, reading, writing and “arithmetic” – actually taxes and accounting. She enjoys swimming and long walks with her retired greyhound racer.
          Her first name is Clarice – although the name often is connected with “Silence of the Lambs”, it was used many years earlier in the Christmas movie “Rudolph”. The name “Clarice” was used for the character of Rudolph’s girlfriend. It is a French name, and comes from a combination of the name Claire and Alice.
Her last name, although very romantic sounding, is a common French name which is pronounced without sounding the “s” – “Dah-lor-E-A”.
          She has fostered and adopted several greyhound racers and is now sharing her home with “Malwa Champ”, who is presently 8 years old and enjoying his retirement from racing in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. He enjoys resting by the swimming pool.

EDITIONS AVAILABLE: Paperback, digital, Kindle.
PRICE: Rs.188 for eBook


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