Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren is a beautiful, heart-wrenching novel that explores the complexities of love and the power of words. The story follows Macy, a successful doctor who seems to have it all – a loving fiancé, a successful career, and a bright future. However, when she unexpectedly runs into her childhood best friend, Elliot, everything changes.
The novel is told through two timelines – the present day, where Macy is engaged to her fiancé, and the past, where we see her relationship with Elliot unfold. As the two timelines intertwine, we begin to understand the depth of Macy and Elliot’s connection, and the devastating event that tore them apart.
What sets Love and Other Words apart from other romance novels is the depth of emotion that Christina Lauren imbues into her characters. Macy and Elliot’s relationship is not just a typical love story – it’s a complex, layered connection that is rooted in their shared love of words and books. Throughout the novel, we see how the power of language can bring people together, but also how it can be used to push people away.
The novel also explores themes of grief, family, and the difficulties of growing up. Macy’s struggle to come to terms with her past and her future is something that many readers will be able to relate to.
Overall, Love and Other Words is a beautifully written novel that will tug at your heartstrings and leave you thinking about its characters long after you’ve finished reading. Christina Lauren’s writing is lyrical and poignant, and her characters are complex and relatable. If you’re looking for a novel that explores the power of love and the impact of words, this book is definitely worth reading.
Looking for an exciting and engaging read that will keep you on the edge of your seat? Look no further than Lola Jaye’s latest novel, The Attic Child.
This heart-wrenching and inspiring story follows the journey of a young girl named Ruby, who is sent away to live with her strict and abusive grandmother in Nigeria. Despite the challenges she faces, Ruby remains determined to find her way back home to London and the family she left behind.
The Attic Child is a beautifully written and deeply moving novel that tackles themes of family, identity, and resilience. Jaye’s prose is both lyrical and poignant, drawing the reader in with every turn of the page. You’ll find yourself rooting for Ruby and her quest for freedom and self-discovery.
One of the things that makes The Attic Child such a standout novel is the way it seamlessly weaves together elements of historical fiction and magical realism. Jaye expertly blends the real and the imagined, taking readers on a journey that is at once both familiar and fantastical.
Overall, The Attic Child is a powerful and inspiring novel that is sure to resonate with readers of all ages. If you’re looking for a book that will transport you to another world and leave you feeling both uplifted and moved, look no further than Lola Jaye’s latest masterpiece.
This book was good. I ended up staying up to 5 am reading trying to finish this book. I was like one more chapter, one more chapter came to another until I was done. This book was about 4 female friends telling their story: you have a single friend, an engaged friend, a marriage friend and a divorce friend.
Serena– is the single friend, she is 40 years of age and looking for her soul mate. She is dating this guy but let him know that she is celibate and waiting for marriage. She and her friend decide to go celibate until marriage. They are trying something new. They have been going to church and now is the time to get right. The guy she had been dating was hoping that he pops the question or hope he will be the one she marries. When she finds out that he is not the one and gets hurt in the process. She knows she has to lower her standards so when she meets another guy, she can be more open-minded. She also holds on to her past with her sister that still hurts her to be close to her sister.
Michelle- Now Michelle is the engaged friend she is engaged to Dr. Christopher; she loves him and is happy. Let’s go back Michelle loved her high school sweetheart Steve. Now Steve was her soulmate, they always had a connection, they were supposed to be together forever, but her parents broke them up. When she was young her parent’s thought Steve wasn’t good enough for their daughter. They didn’t care about her being happy. They let her know if she marries him, they will cut her out of the will and disown her. So now she has a great guy and is about to get married until she sees Steve. It’s been years since they broke up and she runs into him in the grocery store. The spark was still there, and all her feelings were still there. She still loved this man. Ever since she ran until Steve, that’s all she could think about was him. She been celibate also like Serena until marriage but then she decided to break that, and things just get crazy from then. Michelle wants to be with Steve and now she is older she wants that happiness but does not want to hurt the guy she is about to marry and his family. What happens next you will have to read.
Kenya– She is married and happy with their two kids. The man she is married to was married before and has a child by his first wife. The first wife cheated, and he left her. He didn’t really love her, but he married her when she told him she was pregnant. She was a bitter ex wife; she didn’t want him to be around his son. Told the son bad things about them so he could think he didn’t want him. She was cruel. She wanted his child support money but didn’t want him to spend any time with his son. He took her to court for visitation rights. She still didn’t go by that. So finally, he gets fed up and is ready to take her for full custody. He wants a relationship with his son. He threatens her to let her know he will cut off the child support and go into full custody or she can start letting him talk to him and spend time. He also hires a private investigator. What happens next is a must read. It’s a twist and a turn. All I can say is women in the world can be cruel to people. The things these women do to men is just sad. To be bitter and have the kids involved is just crazy.
Lynette– The Divorce one. Now Lynette is smart. She went to school and had everything going until she met this man which at first, she thought was great. He got a promotion making great money, so he wanted to marry her and for her to be a stay at home mother and wife. She was a good wife. Her husband wasn’t. He was mean to her and cheated on her a lot. He barely spent time with his kids and did whatever he wanted to do. Things turned and he told his wife he was leaving for another woman and the other woman was pregnant. Lynette was hurt so she told him she wanted half of everything and for him to leave. He left and they got divorced. He ended up marrying the other lady and she had a set of twins. Lynette has a talk one day and meets her ex- husband to tell him he needs to spend more time with his kids. He looked sad and kept saying he loved her. She knew something wasn’t right but it’s never greener on the other side. She knew she was no fool and not going back to him. Well in between things she meets two men get their number, one she dates for a while until something happens that makes her finally decide to call the other one.
The things these women go through are a lot when they are just trying to be happy. I love that they have been friends forever and they meet up and talk to each other for support, advice and more. You never know what God has instored for you. I love when a group of women can become friends and it turns into sisterhood. I think all friends need that. Someone to vent too and to look for advice.
Check out this book and let me know what you think. I loved it. Make sure to Join Cece Book Club
Had a chance to read this great book. I love a great love story. The book was about Kamilah Vega and Liam Kane. They were best friends when they were young, but they drifted apart as they got older. Kamilah wants to run their family restaurant and enter into the Fall Foodie Tour. Liam, his uncle, wants him to take over the family’s distillery. The uncles want Liam and Kamilah to get together, but they have to come up with a plan to get them together.
The uncles come up with a plan that they will sell the companies unless they get married. So, they decide to be in a fake engagement. As they get in this fake engagement, they get back close and realize they can’t control how they really feel about each other. Kamilah feels like she has to prove a point to her family. She feels like she always messes up and she wants to show them that she can run a business. She is a great friend and motivator to Liam. She tries to be there for him the best way she knows how. Every time she feels like she gets closer he pushes her away.
Liam has been hurt by death in the family when he was young and just feels like he can’t get over it. He pushes away anyone who gets too close to him. He is scared and really needs some counseling to deal with his past. He loves Kamilah but just doesn’t know how to open up and really tell her. They work together to help push each other in the direction of making them better people.
Finding true love and true friendship is rare these days. I always say that your best friend is your soulmate and real life. Everything started with a proposal. Liam and Kamilah go through a lot of trails and still happen to go through it together with family support. This book has humor, love and more. I love how real Kamilah was and her character and glad she found her own wave. She seems to be a nice girl that loves cooking.
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This book here was good. It tells you about the different stories on how to secure a seat at the table. It teaches you to ask for more. Know your worth. The book speaks on women of color getting paid what they deserve. You could have the same title and job as others and get paid less money and take it because you think it’s enough even if it’s not enough for all the work that you do.
This book is an eye opener. I have been a full-time entrepreneur for a year now. It’s hard but it’s worth it. To be investing a lot of time in my business and not someone else’s business to get them to the top. If you want more and want to do it, better take the leap and jump. Every entrepreneur starts off rough, but the finish line is what matters. Make a plan and execute it.
Also in this book it tells you to go to networking events and even if you are tired still go to those social events. Those social events open doors. I read before that hanging at the golf course and happy hour is great to really get your feet in doors.
This book came right at a good time because sometimes I just don’t know what the next step is or where it is going to come from. I pray and then write out a plan and go for it. Check out this book and tell me what you think. It’s not a big book but it’s a great book to read. I really needed this book.
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Book: How To Be Fine (What we learned from living by the rules of 50 Self-Help Books)
Author: Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer
By: Cece Hymes
This book was about two ladies that share their thoughts on what they got out of the 50 self-help books that they read. I read a lot of books, and some are self-help books. I am going to take some time out to read some of these self-help books that they have listed. Everyone gets something different out of a book they have read.
I think self-help books help in different ways. It really makes you open your eyes and when I read these books, I feel more uplifting and positive. I enjoy reading self-help books. I like that these 2 ladies are honest about what they got out of the books and honest about what worked for them. They both have different opinions on the books they have read. That’s a good thing because everyone does not think a lot about what works for one person and does not work for the other. I also liked that they can be funny and seem like they have great conversations about these books.
We all need those kinds of friends we can enjoy and talk to. I love that they both love to read. I am a bookworm and love to read but my friends are not into books like I am, they more into T.V. and other things. I did read some of the 50 books they name but I look forward to reading more of them and sharing more thoughts.
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This was the first book I have read by this author, and it was good. This was a book about Josephine Evans, who was an actress who had been on the stages for 30 years establishing her career. Josephine had been acting in her career and then they counted her out. She went back home to see about the property her mother left for her and to also check up on her granddaughter. Her granddaughter Zora had been through a lot and just kept being in the blogs. Her life has just been different since her dad passed away.
Josephine goes to check on the property and she finds out that the area has turned bad, a lot of robberies, drugs and homeless people have taken over. She checked on the house that has been vandalized and unkept. She goes to the company who has been keeping up with her home. Come to find out the company wants to take over all of their homes in that area. They are trying to buy the elder people out and give them less money to sell. They do things you wouldn’t even imagine.
Josephine talks with Zora, her granddaughter and friends to fix the place up. As they do that Zora decided to video and share to the world what they are doing. It seems like every time they get far in cleaning up the place something else happens to the home. So, they have to start all over. They cannot get a break. They all will not give up and so many people saw on the internet what they were doing and wanted to help them and also wanted them to travel to do more in the different states.
While the team cleans up I think they all bond and share different stories with each other and they all came together at the right time in their lives. What they needed the most was encouragement, inspiration and a team. I love Josephine’s character. She is a strong, independent, smart woman and glad she doesn’t let people run over her. She is human though, but her granddaughter gives her the same push that she gives her.
This book makes me think, lately I have been volunteering to do more in the community, and I would love to do what she does and inspire more women and help more elderly people and that’s what I plan to do. We have to empower each other and inspire one another we go through so much in this world. We are scared to talk about it as a whole. We need that outlet; we need those stories. That will help people be more open to speak. We try to put those moments back in a dark place and hide those feelings. I just watched the luckiest girl alive that I think us women need to watch.
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Finally got a chance to read this book. It’s been on my list for awhile now. This book was about Nina. She was the only child to her mom who was always on the go and traveled the world so she was raised by her nanny. She never met her father; her mom told her she didn’t know who he was. She worked at a bookstore and loved doing trivia games and book club meets for the youth. She would always go by agenda.
One day A man came into the bookstore to let Nina know that her dad had passed and left her something in his will for her. She is now in her 30’s to find out about her dad and that she has brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews. Nina also likes this guy Tom, and he likes her too but they are both too shy to tell each other. They do trivia against each other on trivia game nights.
Nina is not used to a lot of things going on all at one time she will get anxiety. Having a guy in her life, work problems, a family she just now meeting seem to be a lot for her. Could you imagine having all these thrown at you at one time? Do you think it’s time for change for Nina? Do you go by an agenda every week? I know I do an agenda to try to stay on task but it’s fine for things to pop up. It helps me to not forget meetings and things I need to get done. I think Nina is a nice person and has a big heart. I definitely could hang with her because I love to read books. It also made me think of opening a bookstore and how it would be.
Check out the book and let me know what you think about Nina and Tom? Nina’s new family? Things always happen at the right time when you unexpecting it and it comes right on time. It seemed like everything came at the right time for Nina just all at once was too much for her. I liked the book. Hope it’s a part two. I would love to see what she does next.
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