London Tides - A Book Review

by

Carla Laureano

SYNOPSIS

Irish photojournalist Grace Brennan travels the world’s war zones documenting the helpless and forgotten. After the death of her friend and colleague, Grace is shaken.

She returns to London hoping to rekindle the spark with the only man she ever loved—Scottish businessman Ian MacDonald. But he gave up his championship rowing career and dreams of Olympic gold years ago for Grace ... only for her to choose career over him. Will life’s tides bring them back together ... or tear them apart for good this time?

REVIEW

London Tides by Carla Laureano was a work that took this reader through a time of soul searching as I travelled with Grace, a crisis photographer (war), who was finally home from war.  But was she?  This story is the story of a young lady that had to find her way back home.  Though she had never carried a gun, or wore the uniform or any military unit, Grace had buried herself in war for the last twenty years. 

War does not limit its inflicted pain to what ammo can do.  Nor does it limit its victims to soldiers.  The victims are endless.  We have all seen the footage, the still pictures of the costs of war, but what about the costs of war to the eye behind that camera?  To the soul of the person trying to make sure that the world sees the pain, sorrow, and suffering that are happening a world away?

After twenty years, and losing so many of her colleagues who shared her visions along the way, Grace came home war-weary and with a severe case of PTSD.  She came back to see if she could pick up the pieces of the life she ran away from.  London Tides is a love story unlike many others that I have read before.  For as Grace tries to discover if she and Ian, her fiancé of twenty years prior, will be able to rekindle a flame, the love story has a second and third story intertwining beneath it as the back story for both Ian and Grace slowly unfolds like pages of an old book.  Each page revealing more and more interesting details that broaden the picture and provides the depth and understanding to the complex story we are trying to untangle and understand.

Though the love story, itself, seems to be a bit slow at times, the back story and side stories of some of the supporting characters bring it all back to, why?  It is all well worth the read and well worth the outcome as the pages bring all the bits and pieces together to a wonderful conclusion that leaves the reader with answers and a smile on their face.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carla Laureano is the author of the RITA® Award-winning romance FIVE DAYS IN SKYE, as well as the Celtic fantasy series The Song of Seare (as C.E. Laureano). She's an avid cook, an enthusiastic but untalented singer, and a thwarted world-traveler. She currently lives in Denver with her patient husband and two rambunctious sons.