Review: The Man I Love by Suanne Laqueur

Title: The Man I Love
Author: Suanne Laqueur
Series: The Fish Tales #1
Publication: June 16th 2014 by Cathedral Rock Press
Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 5/5

Review copy received in exchange for an honest review.

Erik "Fish" Fiskare loves the theatre, but his guarded nature prefers backstage to center stage. While studying stagecraft at college, his spotlight turns on a talented dancer named Marguerite "Daisy" Bianco. Soon, Erik is drawn into a first love as soulful as it is passionate. For two years, the romance thrives within a tight-knit circle of artists and friends. Then a newcomer arrives: James, a brilliant but erratic dancer with a misguided infatuation and a burning desire to belong.

Rejection sets James on a course for destruction and when the smoke clears, Erik's world lies in ruins. He soon discovers that in the face of heartache, grief and betrayal, love is not always enough to make you stay. And sometimes, it's the only thing that can bring you back.

Spanning fifteen years and following a man's thrilling emotional journey back to the truth of himself, Laqueur's debut novel explores the dark side of devotion and the futility of running from one's past. The Man I Love is an epic tale of love and forgiveness that will linger long after the last page is turned.

First of all I want to say that I'm really critical when it comes to contemporary books. It's never been a top favorite genre of mine, although I've read a lot of contemporary books that I adore so I'm very happy to say that The Man I Love turned out to be the best book I've read so far this year — it was that good. And I'm pretty sure nothing is going to ever top it. The book was beautiful, it was tragic and it was all-consuming for me. I loved it so much.

I also feel I gotta say that nothing I can say in this review is going to do justice to this book. And it's also been a while since I raved about a book like this but... it was everything and more! The Man I Love takes place over the span of fifteen years. And usually I'm not a fan of things like that in books, but with this one? I devoured it. It was perfectly written like that. 

And the story... Oh my gosh, it was hitting me so hard emotionally. Not a lot of books can do that. I loved Daisy and Erik, I loved their relationship and I loved their group of friends, before everything broke between them. And even then, I loved this story. I don't want to say too much about it all because I want people to just read this book and experience it on their own. Seriously people, read this book!

Even now while I'm writing this review I'm getting a little choked up thinking back to everything that happened to these characters, which is also very rare for me. But it shows how much of an impact this book had on me. 

The Man I Love by Suanne Laqueur was a very special book. The writing was absolutely gorgeous, the characters went through a lot and had flaws but that made this book all the more beautiful. It invoked so many emotions in me. Some good, some sad. It was truly larger than life. A top favorite of mine and one of the best books I have ever read. 

       About the Author:

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Suanne Laqueur’s first novel, The Man I Love won a gold medal in the 2015 Readers' Favorite Book Awards. Its other 2015 accolades include a gold medal for Best Debut Author from Feathered Quill Book Awards and being named a finalist with the Kindle Book Awards.

Suanne graduated from Alfred University with a double major in dance and theater. She taught at the Carol Bierman School of Ballet Arts in Croton-on-Hudson for ten years. She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and two chil-dren. An avid reader, cook and gardener, she started her blog EatsReadsThinks in 2010 and now blogs at suannelaqueurwrites.com