A Review – When Stars Collide (Second Chance Romance #2) by Sara Furlong-Burr

  

When Stars Collide

(Second Chance Romance #2)

by Sara Furlong Burr

A Review

I have read book one of this series (you can read my review HERE) and I said at the bottom of my review of book 1 that I was pretty sure both books stood alone, and that you didn't necessarily have to read book 1 to understand book 2. I'm going to start off by saying that this is completely true. You can read either books without reading the other and you will not be confused in the slightest (although there are some small things, like the relationships between some of the characters, that you might miss a little if you haven't read book 1).

Now that's out of the way, let me introduce the book!

When Stars Collide is a standalone sequel to When Time Stands Still, a multi-award-winning second chance romance.

Mena Straszewski has always lived life on her own terms. After graduating from the prestigious Cogsworth University, she landed her dream job as an editor at a publishing company in Queens, leaving her life in Virginia behind. Years later, having established herself in New York, a turn of events reunites her with her former boyfriend and partner in off-color commentary, Peter Monroe, now a single father still living in Virginia. Everything seems to be falling into place for Mena, until one by one, the dominoes of her life begin to fall.

Heartbroken after their long-distance relationship forces Peter to break up with her, Mena’s life is thrown off course in ways no amount of planning could have prepared her for, and straight into the path of Phineas Drake. Phineas Drake is handsome, charismatic, and one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. He also happens to be the founder of Drake Publishing and Mena’s boss.

Between red carpet events and luxury penthouses, Phineas shows Mena a life she could only imagine before. But just as she’s beginning to move on, Peter finds his way back to her, and for the first time in her life, Mena is rendered indecisive; torn between the life she always wanted and the one she never knew she needed.

Amazon UK • Amazon US

My review...!

I bought this book as soon as I had finished book 1, which was a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, I never got around to reading this one until this week. This book was one that I have been waiting to get around to reading for ages, so I decided I would start reading it before I went to bed, that I would dedicate a little time to it each day so I would have time to read it. This lead to some late nights because I didn't want to put the book down.

Book 1 is focused on Elle – this book focuses on her sarcastic and loud best friend, Mena. Mena's snarky comments and witty remarks, however, act as a shield for her to hide behind. She had issues, problems, and she is largely unhappy with many aspects of her life. Her boyfriend, Peter, lives far away from her and the long distance thing doesn't seem to be working too well. On the other hand, her job is going phenomenally, and her boss, Phineas, does not hold back on compliments about her work.

With Elle's happiness on the rise, with her boyfriend proposing and therefore a wedding to plan, Mena's seems to take a downward turn. Her relationship issues go from bad to worse, and she finds herself with difficult decisions to make, with life changing outcomes.

Unlike book 1, this book is not a dual timeline novel, but it didn't need it. Mena's life is very different from Elle's, and their problems stem from different things. This book, like book 1, has themes of illness and recovery, as well as realisation about what is going wrong in Mena's life as she tries to figure out how to fix things and make her life whole again.

Naturally, I am a very sarcastic person, so Mena's personality was one that I really enjoyed reading about. In addition to this, Peter is also someone who, on the surface, doesn't take things completely seriously. Peter was one of my favourite characters, and throughout everything that happens, I kept finding myself rooting for him and Mena. They fit each other perfectly. Another character I absolutely adored was Jackson, Peter's son. Jackson is a small version of Peter, and putting a young, sarcastic child in the vicinity of Mena, who has no control over the words that leave her mouth, many of which are not child friendly, may be the recipe for disaster, but Mena clearly adores Jackson, and the feeling is mutual. Despite not being good around children, Jackson takes to Mena like a duck to water, and their relationship was absolutely lovely to read about.

I can't say much about this book without giving away a lot of the plot, as there are a lot of twists and turns, and talking about some of the relationships would completely give away different aspects of the story, which I don't want to do. What I will do, though, is say that I recommend you grab both a copy of this book and book 1, and give them both a read, especially if you're a fan of romances!

And done!

For some reason, I started writing this review and stopped half-way through (I'm pretty sure I left to watch a Marvel film) and when I came to see the post, wondering why it was a draft and not scheduled, I realised I had also stopped writing half-way through a sentance.

Why am I like this?

Anyway, it's finished now, and that's all I have to say!

Bye!

Short Story – The Dark Maple

It's an intriguing title (at least, I think so!) but as of yet, I do not know what story goes with it. Let us venture on and find out where this dark maple takes us!

THE STORY

Outside the old school, there is a maple tree. It's trunk is a little twisted, and it bends to the side, but it's been there for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, I would walk with my father to pick up my older brother from school, and I would watch my brother and his friends playing around and in the tree. I remember being scared for the branches, as they bowed with the weight of my brother and his friends all dangling from it, seeing who could hold on for the longest.

I don't see my brother anymore. He had a massive argument with our father, and stormed out of the house with a bag over his shoulder. I've tried calling him, but he never picks up. I text him every morning to ask how he is, or to tell him about some crazy dream I had, and every evening, to tell him about my day. Every so often, I might get a reply, but they are few and far between.

The school has closed down now, and the building is derelict. The gates are chained up, enclosing the tree in by itself. There are no children hanging off it anymore, no laughter, no sound except for the faint rustling of the wind blowing softly among the leaves.

Of course, it is not completely alone. When my brother left, he didn't just abandon me, he also abandoned the tree. I visit it sometimes, because I know it's pain, I know the feeling of loneliness it must feel. It reminds me of my brother, and maybe I remind the tree. When I sit under it, I can almost hear the sound of laughter when someone lets go and lands on the ground, the shouts of 'I'll get you!' when one person ran after another, using the tree for protection in the game of chase.

I remember my brother when he was younger, when he went to this school and played those games with his friends. I don't think about what happened after he left this school, moved on to the school up the road. After a while, he stopped playing those sorts of games, and made new friends. He argued with our father, and spent less time with me. I was only a child at the time, but I always remembered walking up the hill with my father, hearing my brother's voice and running the last few meters to find him.

Climbing the fence is easy, more so now that I'm older. I'm older now than my brother was when he left. The tree seems much smaller now than it did when I was little. It has not grown with me, but rather stayed the same size, the same old tree by the old school.

I often sit down at the base of the tree after school or work. When my brother doesn't reply, I feel disconnected from him, and I don't want to forget him like he seems to have forgotten me. I sit in the shadow of the maple, and pull out my sketchbook. I can't draw, I know that, but I remember sitting in the sun outside with my brother when we were younger, trying to draw each other. My drawing was little more than a stickman with hair, but his – his was a masterpiece. He never took the credit that was due for his drawing. I wonder sometimes, when I'm sat under the tree, with my sketchbook open in front of me, whether he still draws.

I look down at the empty page, and put my pencil to the paper. I can't draw real life, but I can draw pretend. I can draw monsters and creatures, tall buildings with turrets and tiny fairies with wings. None of my drawings are very good, but with make-believe, you can pretend that the mess on the page is what you meant to put there. That it's meant to look like that.

Every time I finish a drawing, I take a picture of it and send it to my brother, telling him what it is, and asking if he still draws. He's never responded to those messages, so I've come to the conclusion that he doesn't draw anymore.

As the sky, and the shadow the maple is casting over me, darkens, I start to pack up my things, and make for the fence, sending my brother a picture of my drawing as I walked. My message ends the same as usual: Do you still draw?

I hop over the fence and look up at the dark clouds. I shove my phone into my back pocket, and bury my hands deep into my hoodie pocket. When my phone buzzes, I ignore it, assuming it's the group chat I'm in with some friends, and someone's started a conversation.

It's not until I get back, shouting into the emptiness that I'm home, in case my father is there to hear, that I pull my phone out of my pocket and look at the message.

Of course I do. Here's my most recent.

The pencil lines were flawless, the shading perfect. It was a replica of an old picture of us, I couldn't have been more than eight, he no more than sixteen. He's holding me around my middle, dangling me upside-down, smiling down at me as I laugh.

I smile down at my phone, and type back.

Here's a recent picture of me. Can you draw an updated picture?

I put my phone down on the kitchen table and grabbed a drink. I didn't expect a reply, so when it came, I almost spilt my drink reaching for my phone.

Sure. But I'm not making it up, I need something to copy. We'll have to take a picture together.

I stared down at the message. Was he being serious? I hadn't seen him for years, hadn't got a text conversation out of him for just as long. Now he was proposing we meet up and take a picture?

When?

I didn't want to get my hopes up, and set my phone down again. The doorbell rang, and I put my drink down to go and answer it. The neighbour kid had probably kicked his ball over our fence again.

I pulled open the door, and was faced, not with the small, scrawny, messy-haired child from next door, but with a man, taller than me. His hair was shorter and his face more matured than I remembered, but I couldn't mistake him.

"How about we take it now?"

Run the credits!

Okay, so The Dark Maple doesn't really have much to do with the maple. Initially, I thought there was going to be a ghost or a murderer or something. What a turn of events!

I quite like this story. It's much longer than my previous ones on here, but I think it's fine.

Let me know what you think!

Bye!

Movie Review – The Talented Mr Ripley – 99% compatible with my movie preferences

 

Movie Review

The Talented Mr Ripley

I watched this movie yesterday evening (from when I'm writing this) but I needed a little time to process it before I started writing about it. After it finished, I was speechless, and would've sat watching the credits if Netflix hadn't immediately tried to force another movie on me.

I'll introduce the movie, and then get into the review.

Side-note, why is it so difficult to find a movie cover, and why don't they have proper blurbs like books?

In 1958, the charming but penniless Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is hired by a wealthy magnate to travel to Italy and rescue his son, Dickie (Jude Law), from a life of indolence. Upon arrival, Tom discovers that Dickie has it all - including a beautiful girlfriend, Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow) - and begins to covet his luxurious lifestyle. Although Tom is sexually attracted to Dickie, the latter soon tires of him, and when Tom begins to find himself excluded from Dickie's coterie, his envy takes a murderous turn. Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel which also provided the inspiration for the pre-New Wave French classic 'Plein Soleil' and Wim Wenders' 'The American Friend'.

Amazon UK

(Or it's on Netflix. And you can rent it on Prime Video.)

My Review

If you know me at all, or have read any of my reviews before, because I mention it quite often, I am a massive fan of thrillers. In particular crime thrillers, but I don't think I've mentioned that detail before. Anyway, I was seeing this movie everywhere, it was popping up on Netflix all the time, Prime Video kept showing me trailers to it, and, according to Netflix, it was 99% compatible with my movie preferences. Obviously, I got so intrigued by seeing it everywhere, I had to watch it.

So, the movie premise – Tom Ripley is an adept lier, and one little white lie is what sends him down a hole of pretending, learning and disaster. He fills in for a friend, playing the piano when his friend has hurt his wrist, and wears his friend's Princeton jacket to complete the role. Unfortunately, in the audience is a couple whose son, Dickie Greenleaf, went to Princeton, and Tom pretends to have known him. A conversation ensues and, upon meeting a second time, Mr Greenleaf asks Tom to go to Italy to bring his son home, offering him $1000 to do so.

Considering he is broke, Tom accepts, and starts to create his role. He knows Dickie loves Jazz, so he grows accustomed to Jazz, learns the songs and the names of the artists. He arranges meetings to go the way he wants, but when he actually meets Dickie and his girlfriend, Marge, Tom's determination wavers. He double-crosses Mr Greenleaf and grows close to Dickie and Marge. While outwardly considering Dickie to be a brother, it is clear Tom's feelings go deeper than that.

I must say, I wasn't sure whether I should like the characters. At the start, you can't help but like Tom, and even when events happen wherein you should turn against him and start to hate him, you can't help but feel sorry for him in a way. It seems that he gets easily overwhelmed when he gets scared, and lashes out, but it's his actions afterwards that make you feel sorry for him. I don't want to spoil anything, but those of you who have seen the movie know what I am talking about. He seems to lose who he is, the web of lies he has created extending from lying to others to lying to himself. He is a spider caught in his own web, with no way to escape.

Tom backs himself into many corners, although he seems to be an artist at managing to get out of things. There are times when you think this is the end, this is where he gets caught out, but in a twist of events, something else has happened to turn people's heads away from him.

I really liked Marge and Peter. Peter doesn't feature until nearer the end of the film, but he is such a lovely person, and if you've seen the film, you'll know why I was so shocked at the end (intriguing, right?! Go watch it!). Marge genuinely loves Dickie, even if he is unfaithful, and his interest in her comes and goes. To begin with, Tom is a wonderful friend to Marge, and the two get along well, but as the movie progresses, and events unfold... let's just say things take a bit of a concerning turn.

I don't want to spoil this movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, and I think everything I've said so far only skims over the surface, rather than delving into what's buried beneath. Netflix was right when they said this was 99% my type of movie. If you love crime thrillers (and/or Matt Damon...) then you'll probably love this film. There is certainly suspense, a sprinkling of death here and there, and a pinch of a guilty conscience. All the ingredients for a perfectly crafted thriller.

Also, I found out that this film was based on a book. Which means I need to buy a book. Yay!

I think I'm done!

I honestly recommend you find this film somewhere (preferably legally) and give it a watch. It certainly has the feel of a 1999 movie, if you know what I mean. If not, watch it, and then you'll understand.

If anyone cares, or knows what I'm on about, this movie was number 70 on the Movie List.

Okay, that's it.

Bye!