Emily Colin

I want a sequel.

Strong words when I've only granted it three stars -- but I was gripped by this (surprised me, too.) -- and by the end, I was sort of furious about what actually happened.

SO! Aidan (mountain climber) is married to Madeline (writer), with child in tow. They are a great big smooshy nest of love, but in a realistic way. If you happen to be a beautiful and woman with no need for a job who is married to a beautiful and rugged adrenaline junkie who loves poetry.
Which I am.
So it show more fit into my emotional landscape. Is what I'm saying.

And then Aidan dies. He dies alone, on a mountaintop, with his bff JC somewhere nearby.
And then JC moves in on his territory, and it's pretty goddamn fast, all things considered, but no big deal because grief and also I've been in love with you for years, Maddie and also Aidan said it was okay.
You know.
Before he was crushed to death in that avalanche.

And ... yeah. What about that avalanche. What about that rope Aidan was attached to, the rope JC was holding -- the one that was severed "like it was cut"? Well, they're on top of a damn mountain and there are winds and snow and things like that. It's tragic, but definitely an accident.

Except that JC has been into Madeline for years.

And their old friend Ellis died in a similar accident -- JC, rope, maybe a knife cutting the rope, grieving hottie widow to comfort.

HUH.

And when Maddie meets Nicholas, who is actively channeling Aidan, JC says: I'm gonna get a flight out there and I'm gonna kill him. Seriously, Maddie. I'm gonna kill him for thinking he can touch you.

But! But! JC's such a standup guy! He's so considerate! He mows the grass and goes out for milk. And when he meets Ellis' widow (who looks a little pissed to see him hanging on Madeline) he tells Maddie "she's just jealous, since I've never been interested in her."

JC seems like a major asshole, is what I'm saying. And I'm not saying he's necessarily a murderer, but ... he probably is. Cause it is more than bad taste to move in on your best friend's wife the evening of his funeral. It's sort of evil.

And here's where I would have given up on reading, if Madeline's emotions (turmoil; several layers of guilt; pleasure; grief) didn't ring so true to me. She doesn't want JC. She'll take him, because lust and boredom -- but she doesn't want him. She wants Aidan.

... and then Aidan comes back. (... sort of?)

I won't bother with reviewing that bit -- except to say that the woo-woo stuff also felt true to this grouchy atheist. (... mostly true?) The emotional response was real to me, at least, and that's the important part. The name-dropping (Smashing Pumpkins; Facebook) wasn't awkward and misplaced; it added to the life and reality of the characters, until I felt like I could look up and see them in my own life. Maybe they're shopping for new milk.

I enjoyed it enough to read it in two days and crave to know the end when I was in the beginning and to wish for a sequel, though it'll never happen. I enjoyed it enough to wait for more of her work. And that's enough.

(Now I continue with my ideas about a sequel!)

Five years later. Madeline and JC are married; she keeps in touch with the perpetually-confused Nicholas (he's gotten a little less confused in the intervening years, since Aidan is gone), much to the annoyance of JC.

JC continues to be a standup kinda guy, when he's not acting out in flashes of anger and jealousy. Maddie reassures herself that her ambiguity doesn't mean much of anything (did I do the right thing in marrying him? but he's such a nice guy. And my son needed a father. And he's never really hurt me.)

She keeps in touch with Aidan's old friends, and hers, but their relationships were strained since her quick re-marriage (accidental pregnancy; subsequent miscarriage) and they've all drifted apart a little since JC has stopped his mountaineering (too dangerous, baby).

Madeline mostly stays at home and writes and tends the house. And they don't need money from another income, but sometimes she gets so bored and lonely, and ... but JC says JC says JC says

And then spring comes; it's unusually warm. A couple of climbers stumble on Aidan's body. They bring it home. She goes to the morgue. Tears. Loss, again, startling her with its force. Do you want his affects? Of course -- of course --

She goes home and touches all his things again. Notepaper, that old photograph, sketches for her, notes to her, notes to himself. The rope he was tethered to when he fell loose. It wasn't torn at all -- that rope is formed to be untearable, how can anything tear that rope?

It was cut.

She stares at the end for a long time.

JC comes home.

Madeline doesn't confront him.

She doesn't do anything.

It sits in her closet for a long time, the rope. JC assumes it was lost. She doesn't argue with him. Instead she begins to contact their old friends again -- and she starts with Ellis' widow, the one JC said was "jealous". The one who tried to talk to her before the wedding; the one she brushed off. Beth? I know it's been forever ... do you mind meeting me sometime this week, maybe coffee? My treat.

Once the waitress has poured the coffee, Maddie brings out the rope. Do you know what this is?

Beth goes silent for a minute; then she reaches across the table to grip Madeline's hand. I've seen one of those before. One just like that.

They have nothing to say aloud after that, not for a long time. When one of them starts to speak her throat is dry; she reaches for the coffee. And it's already cold. It's practically ice. show less

The Dream keepers Daughter by Emily Colin
Gothic time-travel romance.
Eight years after the unsolved disappearance of her boyfriend Max Adair, archaeologist Isabel Griffin has moved on to rebuild her life with her daughter. But strange occurrences have Isobel wondering if Max is still around somewhere. A phone call the phone company can’t verify has her looking into not just his disappearance but also her mother’s when a necklace is found buried in an archaeological site in Barbados. How show more could it possibly be buried two hundred years in the past?
At a party in South Carolina, Max follows someone he thinks he knows into the woods and ends up in Barbados in 1816 right before a slavery uprising. He can’t stomach the atrocious things happening to the slaves but he also knows that the uprising will kill hundreds. And he still needs to find a way to get home.

Isabel has been raising her daughter on her own with the help of her father and long time friend Ryan, who fills a partial role of father for Finn. Ryan is supportive when strange things start happening but is also skeptical of Max and if his story could be true.
I found Finn very interesting with her ability to see thoughts and memories and able to straddle the time difference as a seer.
Lots of unanswered questions and contrary opinions via a bookclub conversation which improves the book in my opinion. It’s not a flat expected story. Lots of layers. show less

If you liked The Time Traveler’s Wife you’ll like this because the essence is very similar as it uses a time traveling theme to tell a poignant story. Using a dash of historical fiction as an overlay really added a cool dimension which was needed to make up for an ending that didn’t quite meet the level of great writing the author showed in the rest of the book. She uses a lot of detailed description so you feel like you’re right next to the characters watching all of this unfold show more which helped draw me in.

Emily Colin has an easy pace that lulls you in and keeps your mind wandering through the story as you become more curious by the page as to what she’ll show you next. Until you hit that ending then it’s like your mind got stuck in mud and you’re spinning trying to get through.

I came to a point where I really thought it was done and felt it was a gratified conclusion but then I realized it wasn’t. The last quarter feels like the author had some kind of sex quota for her book and she realized she was ending it without meeting that quota so she crammed every bit of sex, thoughts of sex, about to have sex, etc into those pages between the 3 main characters. It’s a whole lot of fun when you’re dealing with changing perspectives each chapter. When she finally gets done cramming it all in at the end, the story ends as if you’re walking through a forest then without realizing it walk over a cliff – you just don’t see it coming and not in a good way.

I felt conflicted when I finished because I enjoyed most of it but that ending kind of screwed with my “I love this” vibe. show less

First a warning. This is first and foremost a Romance Novel. I guess I saw what I wanted to see in the description. I saw a story about a man who died tragically, and another man who woke from a serious accident with memories not his own. Guess whose they were? Absolutely, Aidan himself the fearless mountain climber, now sadly deceased ( sort of ) has taken up residence where Nicholas memories were normally found.

Aidan's widow was devastated, ( sort of ) but with the help of a friend show more managed to overcome her grief and find what could become happiness again. The whole promising story of one man waking with another man's thoughts and memories was nothing more than a backdrop to a new romance for the Widow Maddie. Yikes.

I was very disappointed with the execution of the Aidan story. It felt hollow and stilted to me. I am not a huge fan of romance novels, but that part of the story, the relationship between Maddie and J.C. seemed to be without any depth. I honestly don't think that has to be the nature of a romance, as I have read a few that were quite well done. Also, I have known a few four year olds in my time, and Gabe's part in this might have been more believable to me if he were a bit older. I think that he was portrayed inconsistently as a typical four year old part of the time, and as an oddly wise version of himself at others. show less