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Title: Give Me Your Answer
Author: Suanne Laqueur
Series: The Fish Tales #2
Publication: June 20th 2015 by Cathedral Rock Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 5/5
"What I feel has no name..."
Suanne Laqueur's award-winning debut novel The Man I Love thrilled readers with its memorable characters and depth of emotion. Erik Fiskare's journey of love, recovery and forgiveness captivated hearts but also left questions unanswered. Now Daisy Bianco has a chance to tell her story.
It's been three years since a single lapse of judgment cost Daisy the love of her life. Erik was a conduit to her soul but now he's chosen a path of total disconnection, refusing to speak to her or acknowledge her betrayal. Alone and shattered, Daisy attempts to take responsibility for her actions while building her career as a professional dancer in New York City. But Erik's unforgiving estrangement proves too much for her strength. Plagued by flashbacks to the Lancaster shootings, she falls into a dangerous spiral of self-harm, cutting into her own skin as a means to atone. Only the timely appearance of an old friend, John "Opie" Quillis, saves her from self-destruction and gives her a chance to love again.
Laqueur skillfully weaves flashbacks to the college years with Daisy's present life. Supported by John's patient affection, she works to separate her evolution as an adult from the unresolved guilt and grief of her youth. As her professional accomplishments lift her out of depression, Daisy learns to hold onto her accountability without letting it become her identity. Years pass and she builds a beautiful life filled with dance and friends. Lovers come and eventually go, leaving her on her own with the old thought: Come back to me.
In this parallel narrative, Laqueur peels open the beloved characters from The Man I Love to reveal new and complex layers of vulnerability. The scars from the shooting are deep and pervasive within this circle of friends. Like Daisy, they are trying to evolve without being fully resolved. But when questions from the past go unheeded, you alone must find and give your answers true.
Give Me Your Answer True was amazing! Although it waq the same story told from Daisy's perspective, I loved it just as much as the first book, The Man I Love.
I don't know what it is about this story but it keeps pulling me in. The storyline, the beautiful writing, the characters that are written in such a real way... it has quickly grown into one of my favorite stories of all time.
So this story features Daisy. I must say I never truly disliked her for what she did to Erik because they were all so broken at the time, but it was great to read about what she was thinking and how it defined the next years.
I liked how this book focused on what were the most important events for Daisy in book one. And I loved how Daisy found herself again after being at rockbottom. I admired her and her courage to work through it all so much. I also thought when she and Erik finally found each other again all those years later was the perfect time for it.
Overall, Give Me Your Answer True by Suanne Laqueur was just as moving, beautiful and totally unputdownable as the first book. I can't recommend this book and the first one high enough. Just go read them!
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
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:
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
