A Review – When Time Stands Still (Second Chance Romance Book 1) by Sara Furlong-Burr

 

When Time Stands Still

(Second Chance Romance Book 1)
by Sara Furlong-Burr
A Review

My eReader is packed to overflowing with books. So many that it is getting slower and slower by the day, and now takes a full minute to turn on and at least ten seconds to process what I'm asking it to do when I want to open a book (it turns pages fine, so that's a relief!)

Sometimes, I will click on a random book and start reading, with absolutely no idea what it is I'm reading, what the story is about or how long it is. Generally it is book 1 of a series that I do not have the rest of the books for.

This one was fairly near the top of my eReader library, so it just so happened to be the one I clicked.

Let me introduce the book and then I will get onto talking about it!

Award-winning romance that recently earned acclaim from the prestigious Next Generation Indie Book Awards and gold at the 2020 Independent Publisher "IPPY" Book Awards.

It’s been nearly a decade since Elle Sloan last saw Luke Hutchins. Close to ten years since she broke up with him over a single phone call, providing him with little explanation. Since the end of their relationship, Elle has done everything she could do to move on, marrying, proceeding forward with her life, almost allowing herself to completely forget about Luke.

Almost.

Out of nowhere, Elle receives a phone call from Luke’s mother. Luke has been in a horrific car accident and, a month later, has just awoken from a coma. However, instead of celebrating, his family is stunned to learn that Luke is suffering from amnesia and only remembers his life as it was before his breakup with Elle. Not wanting to tell Luke that he and Elle aren’t together anymore for fear it may compromise his recovery, Elle is asked by Luke’s family to come to the hospital to see him. Their hope is that she will slowly be able to jog his memory and cushion the blow.

Guilt-ridden over how their relationship ended, Elle readily agrees, finding herself transported back in time with Luke to the life they once shared and the future they could have had together.

Amazon UK • Amazon US

Now, my review!

I don't tend to read too many romances (although they've been growing on me a little lately). Generally, I think that they all follow the same sort of storyline (couple meet, fall in love, have an argument and break up, only to make up and end with a happily ever after). So this was a bit of a different read for me.

Elle Sloan had finally managed to move on from Luke Hutchins. She was married, had a house of her own, and a stable job. It had been ten years since she ended the relationship, ten years since she last had contact with him. So when she gets a phone call saying that he has had an accident, has amnesia, and can't remember the last ten years, she agrees to travel to see the boy she loved, to try and help him remember. The only trouble is that his limited access to his memories means that he still thinks he and Elle are together.

This novel is a dual timeline story, which surprisingly didn't pull me away from each storyline as much as I thought it might. One timeline is that of 2007, when Elle and Luke meet, when their relationship forms. The other is 2018, when Luke cannot remember anything much past this period. The timelines meant that while each story is that of the same people, you get a wonderful rounded sense of the relationship Elle and Luke formed, of the bond that tied them together. In a sense, you can almost imagine that you are getting the story of the life Elle is living, in 2018, and the one Luke thinks he is living, in 2007. 

While both Elle and Luke are pivotal characters, this story follows Elle. She clearly has some issues, for she had a distant mother growing up and an abusive relationship in the past. When she meets Luke, she is not looking to date, she is looking to find herself. Elle was an interesting character to read about, because she craves love, but she doesn't see herself as worthy of it. She doesn't want to pull anyone down, to be the cause of them not reaching their potential, so she pushes people away, no matter how much it may hurt her to do so. Reading about Elle's past, and how her upbringing has led to the formation of such characteristics, was saddening, and I found myself feeling sorry for her and hoping she could see herself as worth just as much as she thinks others are worth.

I read a majority of this book sat outside in the sun, which was extremely pleasant and was the reason for the freckles on my nose to start appearing (they only come out when I have a tan). I read the end of this book in the bath. Now, I will point out once again, I was reading this book on my eReader. I am clumsy as it is with paperbacks in the bath, but I like a bit of risk every now and again and my eReader is broken enough – a little water couldn't do any more damage... right?! Luckily I did not drop it, or get any water on it, so no harm done!

Okay, I think that's it from me. It is very late at night and I was planning on going to bed a while ago, but I had too much to say. I have also bought book 2 of the series, and am looking forward to reading it (if you're interested in reading this and don't want to commit to a series, I think both books stand alone – book 2 is the story of one of Elle's friends.)

Bye!

My Relationship With Movies – prepare for a rant!

My Relationship With Movies

 

I'm not entirely sure what this post is going to end up like, but we'll see.

Basically, I want to talk about movies. Yes, those wonderful little things that you sit down and force your eyeballs to stare at for two hours, processing the lives of other human beings at a much faster rate than if you read a book.

Now, I am not saying that movies are better than books, because they both have their pros and cons, but this post isn't about books, it's about movies, so I don't really know why I brought up books in the first place.

I don't know when exactly I started loving movies as much as I do. Last year, I wasn't a fan. I had too much going on in my head and I couldn't sit still or keep my concentration on the screen for long enough to finish watching a movie. I could watch series, as the episodes are generally under an hour, but movies were a no-go.

This year, however, movies have wormed their way into my heart. Somehow, an entire story has been condensed into two hours of screen time, and put in front of me with music that will go unnoticed, special affects that make perfect sense and actors who can make characters come to life in front of you. One thing I love is that a movie has certain things that are absolutely necessary to be good, but sometimes they are given no notice at all. The music, for one. No one really listens to the music of a film (except from during the credits, but those are generally skipped or turned off). Take the music away, and the film is flat and it is much harder to create emotional build up (in my opinion). It doesn't matter how ignored something is, because without it, the movie wouldn't be as good. (Do you get my metaphor here? No? It's about people in a community. Get it? Good.)

Two Hour Time Slots

I am no Dawson Leery, I don't know every director, or what goes into making a movie and I am not patient enough to sit through all the credits of a movie to give credit to everyone involved in making it, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate movies.

Sitting down to watch a movie is giving yourself a two hour time slot to forget about your life and who you are, and immerse yourself in someone else's life. Depending on what genre you choose, the problems will either sort themselves out of grow infinitely worse, ending in death and gore, but you don't have to deal with the issues, or your own, for that two hour time slot. (Yes, I'm aware some movies are longer or shorter than two hours, but a majority of them are around that time mark).

The Movie List

I have a notepad that holds my Movie List. I have yet to decide whether this is genius or really lame.

My Movie List is a list of movies (surprise, surprise), which I add to every time I watch something new. If I like it, it goes onto the list. I write down the title, the age rating, and the genre. The genres are colour coded, with a key at the front. The whole plan is that if I ever don't know what to watch, I can open the Movie List notepad and pick one, depending on what genre I want. Also, it's really easy to pick out the genres because of the colour coding.

The more I talk about the Movie List, the more lame it sounds. I promise I'm cool! I just like pretty colours and being organised!

Actor Phases

The whole reason I created the Movie List in the first place was because I have a really tough time deciding what to watch. Sometimes I will flick through Netflix for hours, trying to decide what to watch, by which time I have used up my two hour time slot and don't have time to watch a movie anymore. My list on Netflix is filled with things I might watch, at some stage, but don't feel like watching right now. This is why I go through Actor Phases – my most recents were Tom Holland, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Jake Gyllenhaal (in that order).

An Actor Phase generally starts because I watch a movie with said actor in. If I liked said movie, I will look for more movies with that actor in, and so on and so forth. Sometimes, I will burn through an Actor Phase and run out of movies with that actor in that I have access to. I will then find something random to watch, which I will hopefully like, and do so until I stumble into a new Actor Phase.

Let us be clear – just because I'm in an Actor Phase doesn't mean that I will only watch movies with that actor in. It just means that if I'm looking for a movie to watch, I will search for movies with that actor in first.

I am just now realising that I have used the word 'actor' many times, and not once have I used the word 'actress' in this post. An Actor Phase can include actresses, but I have only had one Actress Phase as of date, and many Actor Phases, so they stuck out to me more.

The more I write, about the Movie List and Actor Phases, the more silly I sound. I agree, I am a strange human being, who makes titles out of things that are not necessarily in need of a title, and colour codes the stupidly organised lists she makes. I DON'T CARE!

This is the wonderful thing about every type of storytelling, everyone can have their own opinion, their own way of seeing or understanding the story, their own way of consuming that story and every single one of these is absolutely fine! It doesn't matter if the only time you have to read is just before bed, or you only watch ten minutes of a movie at a time during your daily morning commute. It doesn't matter whether you sit down with a group of friends to turn the TV on, or curl up by yourself.

Stories are universal, they are not meant to be consumed in one particular way.

And that is why I love them so much.

I went on a little bit of a rant at the end there, but I got really into this post and was writing it for a solid 40 minutes, so I think a rant at the end was necessary.

Also, I have Netflix (that much is clear if you read the post), and I love action/thrillers. I'm not opposed to horrors, nor will I turn away anything with a bit of crime. Give me suggestions! I am always looking for movie suggestions! Books, not so much, because my to read pile is slowing my eReader down, but throw movies my way!

Okay, I'm done.

Bye!

Story Time – The time I almost got locked in a library and forgot to panic

 My Library Adventure

I think this classes as something semi entertaining. Therefore, I am going to tell the story of the time I was seconds away from being locked in a library.

If you've read some of my posts before, you might have figured out that I generally have no plan. I spend a lot of the time with no idea what's going on and can be incredibly air-headed at times. I am the type of person who freaks out over nothing and is incredibly calm in situations when I should probably be freaking out. Whether this is a blessing or a curse, I am not yet sure.

I was meant to be meeting my friend. The same friend who I'm always talking about (I only have one. I know, poor me.) We live quite close to each other, and used to meet up halfway between our houses quite often (pre-lockdown). This halfway point is where there are a couple of shops – a corner store, a florist, a sweet shop... and a library.

It's not that I walk quicker than she does, but I am always more prepared to leave and leave before she does (also this halfway point is not exactly halfway, and I live closer to it than she does).

So I arrive first. And instead of just hanging around outside the shops and both looking like a weirdo and feeling awkward, I decided to do the thing any sane person would do – go into the library.

Now, I think this story is a testament to how little attention the people in that library pay to people coming in and out. It also doubles as a cafe, so I walked in and the person behind the counter glanced up at me. I walked on past, to the YA section, just to grab something to pass the time. I didn't want to check anything out, because I couldn't be bothered to bring anything back. I picked up Four (from the Divergent series) because I had read it before and I wouldn't feel the need to continue reading, as I already knew the story. Smart, right?

I texted my friend, letting her know I was in the library in case she arrived and couldn't find me. Then I sat down on a beanbag and started reading.

I was at about chapter three when the lights went out.

And no joke, I thought to myself "oh, that can't be good. I should probably leave" in the most calm, carefree sort of way. I then took the time to put the book back in the right place before walking over to the doors.

Luckily, the person locking up and gotten distracted in a conversation with someone, and was twiddling the keys in her hands as she talked. I walked by, my head down because I am an awkward carrot. As I passed, I heard one of them whisper to the other "oh, there was someone in there." Yeah, there was.

Everything was fine, I met my friend (who still hadn't arrived yet) and we had a lovely time.

I had a contingency plan. If I had gotten locked in, I would've phoned the police and let them know I was stuck in the library, then phoned my friend to let her know I probably would be a bit late, and finally phoned my parents to let them know so they wouldn't worry. The police would show up and get me out, and everything would have been good.

I must admit, this was not the initial plan. This was the plan I formulated much later. The plan I formulated immediately after was much more preferable and almost made me wish I had stayed where I was. This plan included visiting the cafe, eating sandwiches and cake, reading late into the evening and sleeping on the beanbags. There was a toilet, running water, food and entertainment. What could be better? And technically they wouldn't have been able to complain that I ate their food, as they had locked me in a library.

Nevertheless, I never had to carry out either of those plans, because I escaped at the last moment. I probably made this sound a lot more exciting than it was.

Honestly, though, it's two rooms, the library/cafe and the toilet. Not all that big. It would take a maximum of thirty extra seconds to check the whole building for people before turning the lights off and locking up. If the person had just looked around the corner of a bookcase, they would've seen me and they could've asked me to leave.

Not that I'm complaining, the experience means I have another kind of cool story to write about.

Okay, that's it.

Bye!

A Review – Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

 
Me Before You
by Jojo Moyes
A Review

You may or may not know that I received a lot of books for Christmas. As in a lot. It has been taking a while to get through them, and this one is particularly larger than some of the others, so I put off reading it for a while. One evening, I picked it off my shelf, and opened it.

Before I continue, let me introduce the book! (Like always, I'm having formatting issues, so the layout is a little different from past reviews.)

Will needed Lou as much as she needed him, but will her love be enough to save his life?

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun teashop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Amazon UK • Amazon US

Now, my review.

I read a couple of chapters each night, and I finished reading it within a week. It didn't take long to be sucked into the story, and I was utterly enthralled.

Lou is a whirlwind of what I would call chaotic, nervous energy, and she is certainly a bit of a chatterbox – I am much the same. Will, however, is the opposite. He is quiet, one might say brooding, and much more refined than Lou. They could not be from more different backgrounds, Lou coming from a small house having never really left the area, and Will from a wealthy background, having done more than Lou can imagine.

A man such as Will is the type of person who isn't meant to sit in an office all day, the type of person who needs action, to be constantly on the move, on the way to the next big adventure. Therefore, it causes unimaginable frustration and unhappiness when he is paralysed in an accident, leaving him a paraplegic with only a small amount of movement in one arm, and none in his other limbs.

When Lou comes into Will's life, she isn't quite sure what she is getting herself into. She needs a job, to support her family. With her and her father bringing in most of the money, and a household of six to support, when she loses her job she becomes desperate. Despite having no experience as a carer, she accepts the position out of necessity...

And proceeds to spend most of her time, to begin with, avoiding Will as much as possible.

He is rude, he makes her feel uncomfortable and inferior, and he does not seem grateful for the endless cups of tea she presents him with.

This is understandable, of course. Will's life has been changed so drastically that it is hard to look at people enjoying themselves, to pretend he doesn't see the pitiful stares and to try not to feel utterly humiliated whenever someone helps him with something that he used to be able to do himself. He has no control over his life, barely any control in what he does and where he goes and certainly doesn't have any plans for the future. His parents hover over him, the freedom he had as an adult is gone, and he is a helpless child once more.

While I truly felt for Will, I related to Lou. She grew up as the child compared to her sister, for her sister is smart and the kind of person everyone believes will succeed in every way possible. Having to grow up surrounded by such thoughts and opinions means that Lou doesn't tend to put herself first, she worries about how her actions will affect her family and she makes sacrifices so that others around her don't have to. When she meets Will, she has the challenge of her life to try and get him to like her, to at least recognise that she is trying to do something good, and maybe, just maybe, to put a smile on his face once more.

With Lou having spent her whole life in such a way, Will tries to push her to do something different. He tries to get her to travel, to pursue education, to do things she has never done before. While he may come across as arrogant as he is doing this (For example, 'The play you're referring to. It's Pygmalion. My Fair Lady is just it's bastard offspring.') he generally turns out to be right. She may be uncultured, but he can right that.

He may be quiet, reclusive and miserable, but that is something she will try her damnedest to right.

I spent a large majority of this book wondering whether I would end up crying happy tears, or a snivelling mess. Either way, it was bound to include tissues.

I won't give away which one it was, because it is technically a major spoiler, but tissues were required and perhaps reading it in the sitting room wasn't the best idea, because I got some strange looks from various family members for my reactions.

I am aware I have written quite a lot in this review, but I think this book deserves it. If you are after a read that will not only pull at your heartstrings, but rip said heart out of your chest, throw it to the ground and stomp on it, only to pick it back up, kiss it better and try to put it back in, then this is the book for you.

When I went online to find the blurb and cover image, I found that this is Book 1 of a series... WHAT?!, I hear you cry. While I have insufficient shelving for the books I currently own, my poor shelves will have to take the extra weight because I need Book 2 .

UPDATE (honestly, it's only five minutes later) IT'S A TRILOGY! THERE ARE TWO MORE BOOKS FOR ME TO GET!

Bye!

Writing Prompt Stories, Mini Stories That My Mind Cooked Up – Part 4

 

"There's blood."

I turned to look at her over my shoulder, to see where she was looking. Annie had always been one to jump to conclusions, and since we had become friends as kids, I had always been the one to assure her that things were okay.

"I'm sure it's not, it's probably just paint or something," I walked over to her, my torch pointed at the floor to see where I was going.

"June, I assure you, that's blood," her voice was quivering and the beam of light from her torch was shaking. I reached out and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, offering her some support as my torch light joined hers, pointing at the wall. Maybe exploring an abandoned house in the middle of the night wasn't the best idea, but Annie's car had broken down about a half mile down the road and this was the first place we had come across.

The splattering of red across the wall was too dull to be paint. Red paint was always bright, it would've stained the cracking white paint of the wall already. This wasn't paint.

And it wasn't dry.

We both watched in horror as it dripped down the wall. As a child, I had loved watching rain on the window of the car when my parents had to go somewhere. I would watch the little droplets, pretending they were racing to the bottom, and make bets with myself as to which ones would win.

I couldn't help but stare as one droplet raced ahead of the other, but stopped when it reached a bump in the paintwork, the second droplet making it to the ground first. I followed it with my torch, watching as it joined a little puddled on the floor, amongst the grass and weeds.

"I think we should go," Annie whispered, her breath coming out in a little white puff and I nodded, the cold making the tips of my ears throb.

"Yeah, let's go back to the car." We both turned around, and Annie grabbed hold of my arm, squeezing it tight in her hand, although the layers of my coat and jumper meant I barely felt it.

We both jumped when a branch snapped to the left, and hurried whispers between us plunged us into darkness as we turned out torches off, holding onto each other as our breaths came out shakily.

A beam of light fell down upon us and we both screamed, the light blinding me and making my vision swim as my hands tensed up around Annie's, the both of us gripping the other's hands as tightly as we could.

"Are you two okay?" the voice was deep and he lowered the light, pointing it at our feet so we could see better. The first thing I saw was his uniform.

"Thank God," Annie sighed, turning her torch back on. "Officer, you have to help us, our car broke down and-and–"

"There's a house back there that has blood on the walls," I pointed, finished Annie's sentence for her.

"I know."

I frowned, glancing at Annie, the relief I had felt before melting away and the fear creeping back in.

"What... what do you mean?" Annie asked and he smiled.

"The problem with your car was that it had run out of fuel, but the battery has also been disconnected due to..." he paused, searching for the right word. "Unfortunate circumstances."

"You disconnected my battery?" Annie asked, her voice barely audible.

"Couldn't risk it," he shrugged, reaching towards his waistband. I gasped, trying to pull Annie back, but she didn't move and I felt something hit the back of my foot. I tripped, falling backwards and pulling her down with me. His laughter chilled me to my bones.

"Didn't running seem too much of an easy option?" He asked and I started to crawl backwards, begging Annie to run, to get up, but she could do nothing but stare up at him in shock.

His torch caused a glint of light to reflect off the knife, and I screamed, trying to back away. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to watch as the knife came down on me, but behind my eyelids I saw the area light up and forced my eyes to open again. Annie's torch was shining up at him, directly into his eyes, and as he tried to escape the beam, I pushed myself to my feet, moving as quickly as I could over to Annie.

"Let's go!" I pulled her to her feet and we both took off running, heading down the road, away from her car. It was useless anyway.

I heard heavy footsteps behind us. His legs were longer than ours, he was faster, stronger. There was no way we were escaping and the tears in my eyes were blinding me as I used my grip on Annie's arm to guide me, hoping she knew where we were going.

Two lights came around the corner in front of us and the footsteps behind us stopped and retreated. Annie led us up to the car, which had pulled up to a stop, and the window rolled down.

"Please help us," she sobbed and the person in the car told us to get in. Annie opened the back door and we collapsed into the car. I fumbled for the handle and slammed the door shut.

"He was chasing us and my car is broken and there was blood and there was a knife and–"

"It's okay, we're going to drive away," the woman said, interrupting Annie's franticly gasped words. The car started moving and quickly built up speed as the lady dialled on her phone. I clutched Annie's arm closer to me, not wanting to let her go.

"Hi, I have two girls in my car who say they were running from a man threatening to stab them," the woman said and I felt a sob rise in my throat.

"I don't want to stop driving, where should I go?" Annie looked over her shoulder through the back window and I buried my head in her coat, squeezing my eyes shut as I tried to quiet my sobbing.

"Yes, there's a fire station about five minutes down the road. Can you stay on the line?" I heard an indicator ticking and the car turned a corner.

I only lifted my head and opened my eyes when the car stopped and I looked out of the windows at the red exterior of the fire station. A police car pulled into the car park behind us.

"Yes, they're here. Thank you." The lady opened her door and waved to the police car. A policeman climbed out and started walking over.

"It's okay, you're safe now," the lady turned to say to us as the policeman approached. Her smile turned to a frown, her face crumpling and a gasp leaving her mouth as the policeman grabbed her shoulder to hold her still. He pulled his arm back and she slumped to the ground, leaving behind a bloody knife in his hands.

"Hello again, girls."

Yay, another creepy story.

I like being creepy in these, it brings me great joy.

I hope it brings you as much joy when you read them.

Actually, I take that back. I hope it makes your skin crawl. That's what it's meant to do.

I'm not mean, just honest.

That's all, then.

Bye!