Exploring an undiscovered world of a new book can be daunting – would the shoe fit or not? But every time it does, you can’t help but tell everyone about it.
When we send our subscribers a surprise box of four amazing books, we love to find out if they were perfect fits. Here’s what our wonderful subscriber, Molly Shepherd, had to say about A Place to Remember by Jenn J McLeod, a book she received in her first box:
“A Place to Remember is the very first (adult) romance story I have read and it has completely opened up this gene for further exploration. I’m normally sidetracked and drawn to crime, adventure and murder mystery so when this book fell through my letterbox, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to the end but the illustration and my commitment to A Box of Stories begged me to give it a go. I know ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ but for some reason the subtle brightness of this cover grabbed me as soon as I open the box. I’m glad I decided to read this one first because I was faced with something I couldn’t put down, I’m not sure if it was the lockdown or the fact Jenn J McLeod is an insanely skilled writer. The way she pieces together this story of ‘life’ but once I begin this book I read it in a matter of days. The whole rollercoaster that we are faced with; love, loss and heartbreak all within the 500 pages, was written to make me feel attached to each character. I was hooked from the first moment the characters were introduced and suddenly and heartbreakingly I fell in love with them, especially John. In which I spent the entirety of the book by his side lost along with him when 5 years of his life was stolen and I felt equally cheated. I was sat in the corner of my room, coffee in hand begging him to remember what he had lost.
Not only has this book confirmed for me that love doesn’t fall and crumble after 30 years instead it thrives in defiantly but showed me that romance stories can be intense, scary and indeed a little adventure within the pacts of love. Ava Marchette the cook and the forbidden woman that John Tate had fallen in love with, is a powerful main character. As we follow her through two different time frames, we face the trauma and heartbreak head on that she has endured during her lifetime. I was drawn to Ava immediately with her harsh childhood and father’s dream playing at the back of her mind, she had a lot of decisions to make on her future which sadly was chosen for her, leaving her running across the world in an attempt at escape. When she returned 30 years later she was a women who had achieved grave things and one who was fearful she’d leave the world without knowing what had happened to John Tate sparking everything that she had left behind that day.
I thank Jenn McLeod for not leaving me with any questions about the life of Ava and John like I may have been inclined to do, I thank her for creating a story I can love and reread with the same enthusiasm as the first time I opened the cover. A Place to Remember created a new excitement about reading romances and energy into trying new books that I wouldn’t normally begin. A Place to Remember is a book I would highly recommend for feel good love and life with a splash of heartbreak thrown alongside.”