Jeffrey Stepakoff

Married for just a few weeks before her husband Drew left to go overseas during the war, Lily Davis Woodward, daughter of a wealthy Coca Cola executive, has waited three long years to take her place in society. Now just a few days before his scheduled return, she meets Jake Russo, war veteran and pyrotechnic engineer. He is preparing a huge fireworks show to honor the returning servicemen.

When they meet, love happens-- slowly, tentatively, tenderly and then with same explosiveness of Jake's show more fireworks.

In understated, elegant, exquisite prose, Stepakoff presents us with a painful, tragic, gorgeous, affirming love affair. The character development of Lily and Jake, as well as the presentation of Lily's parents and other supporting characters, gives us a picture of longing, duty, relationships, and heartbreaking honesty. Lily's dad for instance says to her when he suspects she's conflicted about her husband's return:

"I have been married to the same woman at least five times. Marriage comes in phases. Some good, some not so good. But you work through things, and you grow, and you change, and you stick by the decision that you made, even when you were seventeen. That is your duty." (pg. 178)

The searing anguish of these star-struck lovers reaches its peak when Lily must choose whether to leave her home and roam the world with Jake shooting fireworks, or stay with her husband. The resolution of her dilemma is heart rending but almost inevitable. I will not spoil it for other readers.

This is simply one of the best love stories I've read in my adult life. show less

Short but light, Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff is a nice novel and a quick read. Opening in 2007, grandmother Lily recounts the story of a love affair she had in the summer of 1945, days before her husband was due to return home from the war. Having only been married for a short time before her husband was sent overseas, Lily feels as though her privileged life has been missing something. Unhappy with her restrictions, yearning to break free from society’s expectations, Lily show more follows the tail of a firework and finds Jake Russo, young, handsome, damaged, and passionate. During their brief time together they explore the boundaries and battles of true love. But Lily’s familial and domestic duties bound her to Toccoa, while Jake’s life expects him to leave.

One could say this was a pleasant sort of novel. The writing was not bad, the character voices were realistic, the setting was perfect, and the images were lovely. But if I’m to be perfectly honest, the flaws that I found outweigh the nicer parts.

Lily seems quite happy with her life before her husband is sent to war. We are told how they met, how he loved to watch her, how she was different from other girls, brash and bold, and basically how she charmed him and they were happy together. Yes, they were only married a brief time before he was sent away for years, but I found inconsistencies in Lily’s narrative about how she had always felt unhappy in Toccoa. If that’s how she truly felt, why was she written so happy before? Why not show us in the beginning that she was unhappy, instead of making it a later excuse for her to fall for the Fireworks Man days before her husband is due to return? It seems to me like the reasons we’re given to justify her love for Jake are thrown together as the novel progresses, instead of being constructed in the beginning. I was glad when Lily’s father told her to pull it together when he figured out she was up to something, since, to me, she was being selfish and unrealistic. We’re told she talked to her husband frequently during the years he was away, so why now? Why this unexpected (convenient) emotion that she’s supposedly had all along?

Additionally, the similarities to other works of fiction were too obvious to pass up. Take the beginning of the movie Titanic (old lady sees news article about a recently found artifact that used to be hers which brings up memories of old love affair), and add it to the middle of The Notebook (including a slow-motion run-toward-each-other-in-the-rain scene), pick one of the few available endings, and you’ve got Fireworks Over Toccoa. Now, none of these works are bad per se, but they’ve all been done before, so reading them in a new novel is a bit redundant. I’m always piqued when I feel like an author is assuming I’ll be okay with gross similarities such as these.

I was a little surprised to see that Stepakoff has been a television producer and screenwriter for some years, as it would seem to me that the number one rule you should never break is having your work be so similar to another that readers are annoyed. I find it hard to believe editors wouldn’t notice. The back cover says Fireworks is “The next great love story.” But really, the love stories in this novel have already been told. If you like these types of books, you will like Fireworks Over Toccoa, as I said, it’s not bad. But if you really are looking for “the next great love story,” I might pass by this one.

3 stars

(I received an advanced copy from the publisher) show less

Lily Davis was only 17 when she married a boy she had known for a short time. He was shipping out to WWII soon as a supply man for Coca-Cola and it seemed like the thing to do before he went away. Three years later, her hometown of Toccoa, Georgia has scheduled a big homecoming party for all the returning soldiers, including parades and fireworks. Lily stumbles into Jake Russo, the fireworks man, as he's setting up his show and he opens up a world of possibilities for her.

This just isn't my show more kind of book. I love the cover, I love that it's set at the end of World War II in a town that isn't that far from my own. I was a little afraid that it would have more in common with a [a:Nicholas Sparks|2345|Nicholas Sparks|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1273850585p2/2345.jpg] novel than I would like, but I took a chance on it anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, it could have been written by Nicholas Sparks. Not that there's anything wrong with this book or anything that Sparks has written, it's just not my taste. Tell me that a book was "so good you cried for the last 50 pages," and I will avoid that book like the plague. Not for me. And that's the kind of book this is.

I did like Lily. She's a headstrong woman living in a time and place where her opinions and actions are frowned upon. Her mother is trying to mold her into the perfect Southern matron, but Lily is chafing against that lifestyle. It's probably telling of my taste in books and Lily's character when I say that my favorite scene involved Lily assisting a black soldier passing through town.

I liked Jake too. What a hottie with surprising depths! There's so much to him that I kind of feel bad calling him a hottie, but he is. He's only returned from Europe recently himself, and his experiences there have of course changed him. He's become quieter, more reflective, and more appreciative of this moment in time, because who knows what the next moment will bring.

Their story aggravated me to no end. I won't go into why and spoil anything, so I'll leave it at that. The pacing irritated me too. Lily tells the story when she's 82-years-old and just when I thought I might find out what happened, the action would break and we'd move back to present-day Lily for a few pages. That feels like a cheap way to sustain suspense. One scene taking place in the pouring rain had me rolling my eyes and flashing back on the movie version of [b:The Notebook|15931|The Notebook|Nicholas Sparks|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415NH98AT1L._SL75_.jpg|1498135], something I only watched under duress, but that I actually liked in the end.

Like I said though, there's nothing really wrong with this except that it's not my taste at all. If you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks, you will definitely love this one.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me this book for review. show less

Fireworks Over Toccoa reminds me of Bridges of Madison County mashed with the movie, Titanic. If your first response to this description is that this is not a good combination, you are 100 percent accurate. In my opinion, Fireworks Over Toccoa is what gives romance novels a bad name.

The truly sad part is that it could have been quite beautiful. The entire story hinges on how much the reader cares about Lily. Unfortunately, she comes across as a poor, little rich girl that is forced into a show more choice between love versus responsibility. Antonio is more interesting a character, but the disjointed vignettes that are meant to expose his secrets are misplaced and distracting. The imagery is absolutely horrible. (My personal favorite mentions how her skin was like butter melting on hot grits.) What was meant to be beautiful turns out to be clunky and awkward.

Fireworks Over Toccoa could have been gut-wrenching and passionate. Instead, it is cliched, predictable and just plain cheesy. The best part about the novel is that at 260 pages, one can finish the entire novel in a matter of a few hours. No more time is needed to experience this example of bad romance. show less