A very special thank you to the author, Lake Union and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also my July "Kindle First" Pick (e-book). 4.5 Stars
Kerry Lonsdale delivers a riveting debut EVERYTHING WE KEEP, a woman who attends her fiancé’s funeral instead of her wedding. From intrigue, mystery, secrets, and betrayal; being true to oneself. Aspiring Dreams. Second Chances. From letting go, to healing, forgiveness, and love.
Sous chef Aimee Tierney has been planning a perfect wedding and perfect life with her childhood sweetheart James Donato (Donato Enterprises -import/export business). James had made promises- they would grow old together. They had been together since they were eight years old as best friends; inseparable.
They each had their own dreams. Aimee’s to open her own restaurant. James' passion was art. However, his family would not hear of this career from an early age. Aimee helped him hide in her own house as a child, to find solace, offering a place for painting without his parent’s approval.
Claire the mother had wanted James and Thomas working at the dad’s company, when they grew up, and James painting pictures was not part of her plan. However, James disappears while on a trip to Mexico, right before the big wedding day. A tragic boating accident. She never saw the actual body. When he returned they had decided he would quit Donato Enterprises and pursue art. Painting was his passion. If she had insisted he stay home, they would be married and on their honeymoon in Saint Bart’s.
Aimee is devastated and many answers still unsettled. In addition, she receives more bad news when her parents sell their restaurant (The Goat) due to financial reasons, and she had planned on buying it. She had worked with them for years, and had envisioned buying it when they retired. They owed too much money on the business.
Over the years, while she helped her mom craft new recipes for the restaurant, James painted, and his talent and their friendship flourished turning into much more. Sous chef and restaurant manager, Aimee is at odds with her life and cannot figure out why her husband was taking off at the last minute; and the events leading to the death. She had so many memories connected to both.
Things become even more complex , when a psychic named Lucy (Lacy) shows up at the funeral and says James is alive. An enigma, she remains a mystery to the very end. Readers cannot imagine how she is connected.
Thomas, James brother (his beneficiary) shows up with money saying she was entitled. The check was dated the same date as James’ funeral. With no job and no restaurant, she is tempted to take the money. Are these two connected? Should she use the money to start her own restaurant? Something was drawing her to Joe’s, a special place she and James frequented, to find it for lease. Joe’s Coffee house was closed. The café was empty. Gone forever. Just like everything else in her life.
Five months later, Aimee’s designer friend, Nadie wants her to attend a gallery opening for Wendy V Yee Gallery (international photography). The photographer was Ian Collins. Nadie had created a beautiful space for the artistic talent. They soon become friends.
She also starts thinking about turning Joe’s into "Aimee’s Café." James had even suggested the name. A place where they spent their Sunday mornings. Her friend, Nadie had told her she needed to move forward. Now at age twenty-seven could she be the proud owner of a business with no plan, no employees, or no product? A boutique coffee shop and gourmet eatery.
Aimee receives many clues through paintings that leaves her wondering if James may still be alive. She does not want to tell anyone-they would think she was crazy. She has to find out. She had buried her fiancé and mourned him. She missed him something fierce, and that longing only fueled the seeds of doubt Lacy had planted. Until those went away, it wouldn’t be fair to let Ian assume she wanted anything more than friendship.
After fourteen months since James left for Mexico and one year since she buried him, Aimee’s search leads her to Mexico, with clues from the mysterious psychic, and the art gallery post card from Mexico. Ian Collins whose wife died five years earlier, comes along- he too has suffered a painful past. Aimee’s heart reached out to him, as she knew exactly how he felt. Hollow and incomplete. Loss left an empty cavity in the chest.
If James were alive, it meant something bigger and more sinister had been going on around her and she had been too naïve to see it. However, when Ian’s sister opens up to Aimee, she learns he too has suffered a great loss and this journey with Aimee may be what he needs, and at the same time capturing his photography.
Lonsdale takes readers on a suspenseful and emotional journey, to an intense mystery of the past about James’ childhood, his accident, and how each character is a connecting puzzle piece.
Part Two takes us to The Emerald Coast to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to a boutique beachfront resort, and a gallery to meet the artist, Carlos at this mysterious gallery. Did the postcard and painting prove James was alive, or was she wasting her time, looking for answers for the last nineteen months.
As the Belize Sunrise, true artists elicit an emotional response through their work, whether art or cooking –could Ian be the man for her, to catch her, or can she give up James’ ghost? Aimee’s heart was divided from James to Ian.
“The worst feeling in the world is never to be remembered by the one person I can’t forget.”
Does Aimee know whom she can trust? Was she losing her grip on sanity? From James, Imelda, Thomas, Lacy, James missing paintings, a death, and now Ian; opening her heart to him. It was all to to much. Who were the victims? Can perfection be an illusion?
A splendid debut, complex, multi-layered mystery and suspense, keeping readers glued to the pages to learn the dark family secrets, and the whereabouts of James’ missing paintings.
“The pain of rejection, the pain of betrayal, and the pain of everything that had been lost to us.”
When you reach the halfway mark, there are many unexpected twists, 75% intense, and the best part is the Epilogue- Twisty and surprising (Loved it)! Contemporary fiction, mixed with suspense, romance, and intrigue. Not only a physical journey traveling thousands of miles, also an internal journey.
From mental illness, DID dissociative identity disorder, fugue, emotional trauma, assault, and forgotten memories—being true to oneself. When life cannot be forced upon someone, against their will. Discovering the truth about the ones we hold dear, and the lengths they will go to protect. Would make for an entertaining movie.
Can’t wait for the next two books: All the Breaking Waves, Dec, 2016 and What We Leave Behind June, 2017! An author to follow. Amazon Kindle First (Prime) readers, you can read this title early, before, August 1 release date. BTW, it is 3:06 am just finishing. After reading, dying for a delectable scone and an espresso! When reading, you will relate.
For all you fans of (2015) James Hankins
The Prettiest One: A Thriller
, you are going to love this smashing new name in contemporary domestic suspense!
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I wondered if he was noticing from the photo how the thickly applied makeup hid the cuts on my cheek and the bruise on my chin.Highlighted by 891 Kindle readers- “Feeling guilty is natural. Just don’t hang on to it as long as I did. You’ll only get depressed and there isn’t a damn thing you can do to change the past.”Highlighted by 857 Kindle readers
- My heart reached out to him. I knew exactly how he felt. Hollow and incomplete. Loss left an empty cavity in the chest.Highlighted by 549 Kindle readers
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Everything We Keep is symbolic of internal emotions, feelings and struggles.
The opening line of Everything We Keep grabs Kerry Lonsdale's audience's attention, and the first paragraph rivets the reader's eyes to the page."On our wedding day, my finance', James, arrived at the church in a casket.""For years, I'd dreamed of him waiting for me at the altar, wearing that smile he reserved just for me. But instead of walking down the aisle toward my best friend, my first and only love, I was at his funeral."This fiction story has twists and turns that bring its characters to unexpected places - from Los Gatos, California, to the Emerald Coast of Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Lonsdale's description of the settings adds flavor without over-seasoning.She explores the raw emotions that young and beautiful Aimee Tierney feels when she loses her beloved and finds a new love. Aimee hates the sense of her own betrayal toward her deceased finance', but keeps it locked deep within. She can't bear to remove the engagement ring.Aimee keeps James' clothes hung in their closet, his paint supplies in his studio and the engagement ring on her finger. The title, Everything We Keep, is symbolic of the internal feelings and emotions that Aimee Tierney struggles with letting go until the emotions nearly destroy her and any chance of making a new life.While in Mexico with her new lover, Ian, Aimee is desperate to find answers to the disappearance and death of James. Drama builds when she discovers the truth of his death and the dark secrets of the family she almost married into all the while keeping her own muddy secret.Flashbacks are strategically placed throughout the story giving just enough information to add a depth of intrigue. Lonsdale follows four themes and weaves letting go, healing, forgiveness, and love in a masterful way.Kerry Lonsdale does a great job of characterization and a superb job of knitting her characters and events together in such a way as to draw her audience into the intrigue of the story. However, I did lose empathy and respect for the main character, Aimee Tierney, when she was portrayed using vulgar language, taking God's name in vain, and getting drunk. Lonsdale used unnecessary and explicit intimate details in several scenes. Nothing was left to the imagination.This novel has a good story line with a fast pace and intrigue. But, because of the sporadic vulgarity, swearing, getting drunk, and the explicit intimate details, I give it a 4-star rating.Kerry Lonsdale graduated from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo, CA. She is founder of the Women's Fiction Writers Association. She resides in northern California with her husband and two children. This is her first novel.Review is submitted by: Rita Kroon, author of "Kiss Your Mommy Goodbye."
Top reviews from other countries
GTozzi
Mai farsi fuorviare dai giudizi degli altri...
Reviewed in Italy on June 6, 2017
