Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Well, as Kevin would have put it, "it's another Christmas in trenches"...or in our case, the stacks. You see, just because it's the holidays doesn't mean I'm taking a big break from the reading. No sir! In fact, I've sorta doubled up a bit this last part of the year and due to work demanding more of my time, that put my reading time at a severe premium. No worries...I accomplished it, but that's not to say that the hour you see this published at was anything less than me quite literally pounding away at the keys in the wee hours of the morning...because it was. Do I regret it? Nope...honestly, I wish I could fit more reading in before year's end, but I suppose that's a similar song sung by many a person. Which brings me to our first post...
Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming a Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tour starring a tearjerker of the utmost quality. It's an ebook that while small in page count (print is suppose to be about 140) was GINORMOUS in emotion...and controversy. Don't worry, all will be revealed. Ladies and gents, please join me as we welcome today's blog tour guest and ebook of choice...
by
Candis Vargo
Fifth Ink Publishing
About the book...
“Even though I was decaying, Amelia was growing. It was like some beautiful symphony the way both things were happening at once.”
Sacrificing your life for your child is one of the greatest ways a mother can show her love.
For Cara Michaels, that sacrifice was made. At ten weeks pregnant, Cara was diagnosed with a fast-acting cancer and was faced with the ultimate decision…
That decision, was to forgo life-saving treatment to ensure her child would come into this world unharmed. Cara shares with us the last months of her life as she prepared to give birth to her child and for her husband, Joel, to parent without her.
But a husband can only handle so much before he breaks…
Grab your tissues because you're in for heartbreak.
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From the moment we begin, we already know the inevitable end; I'm not spoiling anything by sharing that bit because Cara tells us as much in the Prologue. I bet you're wondering why on earth you'd want to read a story that you already know the ending to then...right? Because, my friends, it's the beauty of the journey taken along the way, detours and all, that make life (and the read) worth living (or reading).
As beautiful as this book was in places, I can also see it being rather controversial, a fact not shied away from within the text. What WOULD you do if faced with the decision that Cara had to make? If you were in the springtime of your life with a loving husband, new home, and baby on the way...what WOULD you choose if dealt such a harsh blow? For some, it's an easy, split second decision...for others, there's a lot more bargaining involved...but no matter your decision, it is simply that....YOURS. No one can tell you what to do. Oh sure, those you love and those you simply are acquainted with can weigh in, make their case, and the whole lot, but you have to live (so to speak) with your final choice...and don't think for a second that just because you've made a decision, you've won the game. Life does indeed have a funny way of sneaking up on you...
I gotta say, I was initially comparing the book to several others I've read with similar story elements, Stella Rose, Safe Haven, to name a few...but the author makes Amelia's journey her own in the details and moments shared. That's the thing. The story could easily be about a woman with cancer foregoing therapy to safe her unborn child...and it is, but there is so much more. It's about the affect news so mind-blowing can have on a person, the ripple effects as it hits friends and family, the short yet endless time between point A and B that needs to be filled, and ensuring that her memory, her legacy is not forgotten, but remembered with the fondest of thoughts. It is in those quiet moments when Cara is contemplating what sage words to film next for her baby (Amelia Rose, such a pretty name!), the specially selected teddy bear that will carry a piece of her forward, the dance in the rain, the night together, and even the meteor shower that wasn't meant to be....it is in those moments that we really connect with Cara and lose our hearts to her selfless love.
In the end, it's a wonderful story that will bring you to tears...nuff said.
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About the author...
Growing up on an old dirt road in the middle of nowhere, as a child Candis used her love for books as a way to escape reality (and her brother constantly trying to kill her--literally). She blames her love of all things Horror on being born on Friday the 13th and will always find joy in scaring her friends.
You will find a little piece of her in every book she writes. She loves a good happy ending but isn’t afraid to keep her stories real, even if that means telling the side of a story most people are afraid to tell.
Never caring for the norms or boundaries, Candis has written several genres from Horror to Erotica.
When she's not writing or reading, she can usually be found chasing her children around or binge watching Netflix. She currently lives in Rome, Pennsylvania with her husband and three children.
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Special thanks to Cami at Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours for the ebook for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, THIS TOUR, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now via Fifth Ink Publishing, so seek thee out a copy at your favorite online retailer.
Until next time, remember....if it looks good, READ IT!
