The Sand Bar by Rebecca Bryan
Published By: Outskirts Press
Release Date: March 24, 2012
Format: Paperback - 282 pages / Kindle - 397 KB / Nook - 784 KB
ISBN: 1432788272
ASIN: B007OM82YI
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women's Fiction / Time Travel
About The Author:
Lover of books and movies and all things that leave me feeling better about this world we live in. I have five kids and a great husband who put up with all my zany ideas. I write women's fiction/romance and have recently dipped my toes into acting again after many, many years. Besides singing, hula hooping, and chopping onions, I also enjoy zumba-ing with all the other moms who think they can dance and baking things I should not partake in. My latest adventure is self-publishing. It should be exciting.
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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review, and for hosting a virtual book event on my book review blog site.
Virtual Book Event: On Sunday, May 27, 2012, author Rebecca Bryan participated in a virtual book event with an Author Interview on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/05/author-interview-rebecca-bryan-author.html
The Sand Bar Book Trailer
Book Description:
With nothing to show for the last eight years but a dusty diploma, a failed marriage, a lot of emotional baggage - Gucci, thank you - and a really great collection of designer shoes, Marlo Leavitt has come home again.
With her marriage annulled and her emotions in tatters, Marlo returns to her hometown of St. Anthony, Idaho, to care for her sick father and get back on her feet. She runs into Brandon, the boyfriend whose heart she broke before she left town, and finds him unhappy in his marriage and his life. Marlo fears she has not only ruined her own chance for happiness, but that of a man she once loved. When she meets an old woman who offers her a chance to make things right by going back in time, Marlo feels she has nothing to lose. She accepts the elixir and soon finds herself not in the past, but two years in the future, married to Brandon and living the life she had always dreaded: stuck in a tiny town with a toddler she doesn't know or love.
Things get more complicated when she begins to suspect that Brandon had a part in his first wife's mysterious death. With the help of handsome Luke Dawson, an old classmate and now a police officer, Marlo must solve the mystery of what really happened the night she took the elixir, and fix her broken relationships before she can return to the present and truly have a second chance at happiness.
My Book Review:
Twenty-six year old Marlo Leavitt comes home to St. Anthony, Idaho after her four year marriage has failed, to help care for her father who is recuperating from a quadruple bypass surgery. She left her hometown eight years ago to attend Stanford, and to seek a better life in San Francisco, California. She had what she thought was a great life with her wealthy husband, until she found him in their bed with her tennis partner. Now with her life turned upside down, she feels like she doesn't belong anywhere, not in St. Anthony or San Francisco. Marlo has a chance meeting with a strange old lady, who says she can help Marlo fix everything. The old lady tells her to take a swig of an elixir that smells like black licorice and peppermints, and instead of going back to the past for a "redo," she is transported to two years into the future. Not exactly happy with what she sees as her future, Marlo begins to question what happened the night two years ago when she drank the elixir. Marlo is determined to make things right and solve the mystery. Can Marlo and Luke solve the mystery and return Marlo back to the present? Can she have a second chance at happiness?
The Sand Bar is a fast-paced romantic mystery story that draws the reader in and engages them to help Marlo and Luke solve the mystery. The author does a great job of providing a storyline that is full of mystery and intrigue. The chapters easily flow from one to the next with enough descriptions that are like puzzle pieces, encouraging the reader to guess what will happen next with every dramatic twist and turn. The author provides complex characters whose lives are intriguingly intertwined, and I really enjoyed trying to figure out each one of them. The author's detailed description of small town life in St. Anthony was fantastic, I could actually picture the one stoplight, the older buildings, the rodeo, the park, the Sand Bar and the roar of rushing water from the Snake River. The message of the story is clear: life is all about choices made, lessons learned, and knowing and accepting who you really are. When Marlo stated that she's made wrong turns in her life, Kale Brady said it best: "Sometimes wrong turns are like taking the scenic route." That's some powerful words that provides the reader with some food for thought!
I would recommend The Sand Bar to anyone who loves to read a good romantic story with a twist of mystery and suspense. You won't be disappointed!
RATING: 4 STARS ****
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