Review: The Lives Between Us by Theresa Rizzo

The Lives Between Us by Theresa Rizzo (July 1, 2015)
441 pages
Genre: Adult/Fiction/Family Drama
Source: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. Thanks Theresa!
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
My Rating:

Goodreads Summary: How far would you go to save the one you love?

Reporter Skylar Kendall has run from commitment all her life, pushing people away before they leave her, until her niece worms her way into Skye’s heart and settles in tight. Skye relaxes into a career she enjoys and relishes being a doting aunt.

Then her niece becomes gravely ill. Unable to bear yet another loss, Skye is determined to find a cure, but the girl’s only hope lies in the embryonic stem cell therapy Michigan Senator Edward Hastings repeatedly opposes. When Skye fails to find alternative treatment in time, she vows to end the senator’s political career.

Curious about the woman behind the scathing articles on his best friend, Mark Dutton pursues Skye. Dating Mark gives her access to Hastings’s life and secrets that would launch Skye's career and satisfy her need for retribution… Only she hadn’t counted on falling in love.

Can she avenge the lives lost to politics at the expense of her new love and friends?

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My Review

I have previously read two books by this author and liked them a great deal. I can honestly say that The Lives Between Us is another beautiful and heartfelt story by this author that I thoroughly enjoyed. Theresea Rizzo really knows how to write a complex and moving family drama.

The Lives Between Us captured me from the first page, and I wasn't freed from its grasp until the very end. I don't read a lot of books about politics or super controversial subjects, but I am glad I read this one. Its fast pace and interesting subject matter makes for a quick and interesting read.

The best part of this novel has to be the strong characters whose presences can be felt through the page. The MC, Skye, is probably my least favorite due to her sometimes very immature attitude, but she did grow as a character and watching her struggle between her career as a reporter and keeping that separate from her personal life was compelling. I appreciated every single character and what they brought to this story about family, love, and living life to its fullest. They were complex and unique in their own way. Mark is especially sweet and genuine and a character I really liked, even if he wasn't a bad boy, he was a good fit for Skye. 

The Lives Between Us is a pretty well written thought provoking piece on stem cell research and how far a person would go to save their loved one. I know that I would go to the ends of the earth if someone I loved was in danger of dying. Although I wasn't too shocked by any of the secret reveals in this one, I still appreciated the overall plot and the different family and relationship dramas.

If you like a good story that focuses on politics, family, a little romance, and what the struggle is like when dealt with having to make the right ethical choice for you, then you will enjoy The Lives Between Us. 

Review: Just Destiny by: Theresa Rizzo

Just Destiny by: Theresa Rizzo (March 31, 2014)

Genre: Fiction

Source: I received a free copy of the book from the author for an honest review. Thanks!

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon | Smashwords

Goodreads Summary: What would you do if your whole world fell apart?

Jenny Harrison made some poor choices in the past, but marrying Gabe was the best thing she’d ever done. They had the perfect marriage, until a tragic accident leaves Gabe brain dead and her world in ruins.

Devastated by grief, she decides to preserve the best of their love by conceiving his child, but Gabe’s family is adamantly opposed, even willing to chance exposing long-held family secrets to stop her. Caught in a web of twisted motives and contentious legal issues, Jenny turns to best friend and attorney, Steve Grant. Steve wants to help Jenny, but he has reservations and secrets of his own.

When something so private and simple turns public and complicated, will Jenny relent? What is Steve willing to sacrifice to help Jenny?

My Review

Just Destiny is a well written novel that focuses on some sticky ethical questions/situations that are handled with grace. If you choose to read Just Destiny, which you should, your heart will swell and deflate and race during the course of the novel.

The characters are very real, and even though they have problems outside of my knowledge/experiences I could still connect with them, all of them. I liked reading about the nice young Jenny who has to deal with the loss of her husband who she loves with all of her heart. I enjoyed reading about her best friend, Steve, and his issues just as much as Jenny, along with all the other complex characters.

Just Destiny shines a light on a controversial subject that I don't believe has a lot of press but is one worth reading about, and a very interesting topic at that. Jenny wants to have her recently deceased husband’s baby through insemination from sperm that she got doctors to extract from her husband when he was brain dead. The book also touches on other ethical situations (that I won’t say because I won’t give away spoilers), these different questions that arose throughout the novel really made me think about what I would do in these situations. No matter what my opinion, I thought Jenny's story was compelling. 

The court case was done exceptionally well and was my favorite part of the novel. I loved the questioning and the back and forth between the lawyers and whoever was on the stand. I actually think that I need to read more books that center around a court case because all the ones I have read I have enjoyed a great deal. The one other thing that I give the author high praise for is her ability to surprise me with one of the family secrets that was revealed, now not all of them were shocking, but there was one bigger one I didn't really see coming, and that is rare.

Just Destiny is a quickly paced novel full of heart. I enjoyed every minute of my time while reading it. It’s a good choice for those looking for a sad yet happy intense novel to read. It may not have been perfect, the synopsis made me believe this book was a little bit more drama filled than what it actually was, but it was still a strong novel.

Review: He Belongs to Me by: Theresa Rizzo

He Belongs to Me by: Theresa Rizzo (2013)

392 pages

Genre: General Fiction/Romance

Source: I received a free copy from the author for my honest review.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: He Belongs to Me is a love story . . . a tale of betrayal and deception and of a young mother's determination to recover what belongs to her.

Forced to leave her baby and tricked into relinquishing her parental rights, four years later Catherine Boyd is back and she'll do anything to regain custody of her son--even reconcile with the husband falsely accused of killing their son's twin.

All in the name of love for a little boy, generations of pain and tragedy are exposed in a courtroom drama.

My Review

He Belongs to Me will pull on your heart strings and make you boil with rage (in a good way), it’s a well written novel about family hardships and a mother who will do anything in her power to be reunited with her son once and for all. This is a strong first novel by Theresa Rizzo.

When I first started reading He Belongs to Me I was a tiny bit nervous, the plot just seemed to be really unbelievable. What woman would be dumb enough to accidentally sign away her parental rights to her child? Luckily, this question gets answered and actually made the story more unique than many other family drama novels that I've read. It works itself out just fine as the story progresses and makes more sense. 

There are so many family secrets and issues that pop up throughout the novel between both Catherine and Thomas, the parents of Drew, the boy who everyone is trying to get custody of, and Catherine's grandparents, the ones fighting them for custody. Although I could fill in some of the missing puzzle pieces of these secrets on my own while reading, there were many that I just couldn't put my finger on until later in the book when they were revealed. This made me curious and more invested in the novel.

Catherine and Thomas are great characters. They both have their flaws, but Rizzo brought them to life. Their story is hard, romantic, crazy and everything in-between. I really loved reading about their reconciliation, it was hard for them but still playful, and some of the scenes were so sweet and funny. They were super cute. The romance aspect of this book was done really well, along with the family dynamics. As for Catherine's grandparent’s, they are perfectly evil but semi-misunderstood villains. And the little boy Drew is darling, a real heart-breaker.

The part of the novel that took place in the courtroom was awesome. I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but this book did an amazing job at the back and forth questioning between the lawyers and their clients. I was on the edge of my seat.

This is a well written novel that you should not overlook. It touches on a lot of sticky subjects so you may need to be in a certain mood to read it, but when you get there you will be glad you did.

** A big thanks to the author for giving me a free copy of this book! This in no way hindered my honest review.