by Kimberley Freeman
Book: Stand Alone
Publisher: Touchstone
Pub Date: April 15, 2014
Genre: New Adult
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
A riveting story of secrets and scandal
1890: Orphaned as a small child, Tilly Kirkland found a loving, safe home with her grandfather in Dorset. But nineteenth-century England is an unforgiving place for a young woman with limited means and as her grandfather's health fails, it seems perfect timing that she meets Jasper Dellafore. Yet her new husband is not all he seems. Alone in the Channel Islands, Tilly finds her dream of a loving marriage is turning into a nightmare.
2012: Bestselling novelist Nina Jones is struggling with writer's block and her disappointing personal life. Nothing is quite working. After a storm damages Starwater, her house on Ember Island, she decides to stay for a while and oversee the repairs: it s a perfect excuse to leave her problems behind her on the mainland. Then Nina discovers diary pages hidden in the walls of the old home. And a mystery unravels that she is determined to solve.
Though the two women are separated by years, Starwater House will alter the course of both their lives. Nina will find that secrets never stay buried and Tilly learns that what matters most is trusting your heart.
My Review: Woop so when I got this in the mail I was excited! I love reading about the later years and then jumping into today's world. Most of the time, its about one person thinking back into the years, but here we have two ladies with two stories to tell. Now as much as I love going back and forth with times, it needs to be a smooth jump into another time, and Kimberley does a pretty good job going back and forth.
Tilly marries a man just as she is about to become an orphan. Jasper is this great dressed guy and has appears rich. So you think that Jasper would sweep Tilly away to a lovely home. Well he takes her home, it just happens to look run down. This whole rich thing was just a charade and he really has no respect for her. I feel for Tilly, she already had to deal with losing her grandpa and now this guy tricked her, like give some kind of respect. Good thing Tilly is smart. She realizes that the best thing would be to leave him and go off to a new life. Now with a new name and new career, Tilly begins her new life on Ember Island.
Now in 2012 we have Nina goes to her home on Ember Island in hopes for creating a sequel to her book. Nina found pages within her home and hoping it will inspire her to create another best selling book. Nina hires someone to fix up the house because of damage. The man and his son are creeping into her heart, but can she let them in completely? I hope so, after all she will be in that house to finish her book. Plus she is being asked way too many questions and so will continue to stay in her home until she have written the very last word.
So I really loved these two characters and they were written so well, it just made you want to dive in and help these girls. Tilly and Nina had two different stories but the home connects them making the story even more lovable. I wasn't sure how I would like learning about a character and then jumping into another year with a new character. I've read some books similar to this, and yet this one was slightly more unique than the rest and I ended up loving the way this book went.
I'll be looking for more books by Kimberly! This book kept me reading until the very last page and I sort of want to see this continued in some way, then again it worked well as a stand alone. So I guess I'll stick to her other books for now!
I give this book 5 stars.
A riveting story of secrets and scandal
1890: Orphaned as a small child, Tilly Kirkland found a loving, safe home with her grandfather in Dorset. But nineteenth-century England is an unforgiving place for a young woman with limited means and as her grandfather's health fails, it seems perfect timing that she meets Jasper Dellafore. Yet her new husband is not all he seems. Alone in the Channel Islands, Tilly finds her dream of a loving marriage is turning into a nightmare.
2012: Bestselling novelist Nina Jones is struggling with writer's block and her disappointing personal life. Nothing is quite working. After a storm damages Starwater, her house on Ember Island, she decides to stay for a while and oversee the repairs: it s a perfect excuse to leave her problems behind her on the mainland. Then Nina discovers diary pages hidden in the walls of the old home. And a mystery unravels that she is determined to solve.
Though the two women are separated by years, Starwater House will alter the course of both their lives. Nina will find that secrets never stay buried and Tilly learns that what matters most is trusting your heart.
My Review: Woop so when I got this in the mail I was excited! I love reading about the later years and then jumping into today's world. Most of the time, its about one person thinking back into the years, but here we have two ladies with two stories to tell. Now as much as I love going back and forth with times, it needs to be a smooth jump into another time, and Kimberley does a pretty good job going back and forth.
Tilly marries a man just as she is about to become an orphan. Jasper is this great dressed guy and has appears rich. So you think that Jasper would sweep Tilly away to a lovely home. Well he takes her home, it just happens to look run down. This whole rich thing was just a charade and he really has no respect for her. I feel for Tilly, she already had to deal with losing her grandpa and now this guy tricked her, like give some kind of respect. Good thing Tilly is smart. She realizes that the best thing would be to leave him and go off to a new life. Now with a new name and new career, Tilly begins her new life on Ember Island.
Now in 2012 we have Nina goes to her home on Ember Island in hopes for creating a sequel to her book. Nina found pages within her home and hoping it will inspire her to create another best selling book. Nina hires someone to fix up the house because of damage. The man and his son are creeping into her heart, but can she let them in completely? I hope so, after all she will be in that house to finish her book. Plus she is being asked way too many questions and so will continue to stay in her home until she have written the very last word.
So I really loved these two characters and they were written so well, it just made you want to dive in and help these girls. Tilly and Nina had two different stories but the home connects them making the story even more lovable. I wasn't sure how I would like learning about a character and then jumping into another year with a new character. I've read some books similar to this, and yet this one was slightly more unique than the rest and I ended up loving the way this book went.
I'll be looking for more books by Kimberly! This book kept me reading until the very last page and I sort of want to see this continued in some way, then again it worked well as a stand alone. So I guess I'll stick to her other books for now!
I give this book 5 stars.
