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Thursday, October 23, 2008

Faith & Fidelity by Tere Michaels

I'm not much for writing book reviews. That said, there are times that I read a book that has such an impact on me that I cannot just say one time what it was that got to me so much. But this latest book that I read ~ Faith & Fidelity by Tere Michaels ~ is so much more than just a story to me. I do tend to get involved in the stories that I read, some much more so than others, but there is the occasional story that takes my heart and my very emotions by storm and I want others to find the treasure as well.
Below is the review that I wrote up on my eHarlequin blog... but I really wanted to get the word about this amazing author out even further, so here it is:


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Tere Michaels ~ Faith and Fidelity ~ Loose Id, LLCSeptember 2008 [88K]

My reaction to the story from the beginning was far more involved than I ever expected, and while often very emotional it was also intensely invigorating.
The basic premise of the story, as I see it: Love ~ true love, romantic love, whatever you want to call it ~ is more than gender. Neither man, Matt nor Evan, had ever experienced attraction to another man. But finding someone that knew just how lonely and hurt the other was, was the basis for a friendship that superceded anything they had ever imagined, and slowly, eventually, they both came to realize that what they felt for each other was far more than mere friendship. And that shocked the heck outta both of them.
The process by which they came to terms with what they felt, both the emotional component and the impact it would have on their lives, reads as an extremely realisitic experience.
There were times that I seemed to experience emotional overload and had to take a short break, but I could never leave them for long. It wasn't only the beauty and strength of Matt and Evan's love that drew me deep into their lives; many of the other characters ~ Helena, Vic, Liz, Miranda, Kathleen & Elizabeth and Danny (Love those two!) ~ added so much life and realism to what I was reading. All I can say is is that I would read this story again... right now. And even for me, that is very, very rare! All I can say is that, for anyone that loves a romance that will leave a lasting impression, you will NOT want to miss Tere Michaels' Faith and Fidelity.

5 comments:

  1. Kathy, deah, you went and made me finally sign up with MySpace and I'll never forgive you for it. :-)

    Yet another time suck. LOL
    I'm under MB (Leah)

    Seriously, I've resisted until now. But then I had to see your family photos. What a nice looking family you all are!!!! And your children are really beautiful.

    Makes me want to post pics of me and my family, but DH would have a heart attack. He really doesn't want our pics up, but especially his, anywhere. So, I try to refrain. I still might sneak one or two in there.

    And why have you been holding out on us about your eHarlequin blog?

    This title of this blog should be, The Secret Life of Kathy K. LOL

    OK, now as to this book, Yowza! I totally want. I loved what you said about it and I really enjoy stories where people find out things, new things, about themselves that they would have never believed and then go for it.

    And it sounds like in this case the author was very sensitive around what these two guys find out. I will so read it. Totally.

    Nice review! You should do more. Reviews don't have to be fancy things, just the main info. What you thought. And you did that beautifully. :)

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  2. Leah,

    Um... sorry? (re: MySpace)... it is fun, right?

    Who knew that curiosity could be so problematical? LOL
    But I, even though quite partial, do agree about my family. And those four kids of mine, I tell my *funny* DH that obviously our genes worked VERY well together! And, to me, it's rather interesting in that our son and second daughter ~ Stephen and Meagan ~ both take after my side of the family whereas our oldest and youngest daughters ~ Lisa and Teresa ~ definitely get their looks from Joe's family. Neat how that worked out! As well they're definitely always making us proud of them... they're wonderful people in their own rights.
    As for the pictures... each of my kids has their own Facebook page (I do to, but I like MySpace better) and for a couple of years Joe was working on a webpage about changes we made to our house back in '01. So I figure all's good.

    "And why have you been holding out on us about your eHarlequin blog?"

    Um, I never really thought about it? I've been a member for two years now and, while I found doing the reviews hard at first last year, I've come to like putting down my thoughts. But I never seem to be able to write with the clarity that I've found in your reviews ~ and others among the bloggers on eHarl... I like reading the books a lot more than like writing about 'em. *grin*
    Thank you for your very kind words about the review.
    It's almost as though that, when a story affects me as strongly as this one did, the review really almost writes itself.

    As for the story... I was sure that I was going to like it, but OMG... it took my breath away. I still have such a strong reaction to it even just thinking about it ~ and I really could read it again... right now.

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  3. Um... sorry? (re: MySpace)... it is fun, right?

    Well, it was kind of fun to do my page, but I'm pretty sure I won't be there hardly ever. I've never really been that attracted to Myspace and don't even really go there for authors and other people I like. I find the set-up to be so noisy. I like clean and simple, which is why I like Blogger. But that's just me. You have a nice page though. Easy on the eyes.

    My two blogs already eat a lot of my time. I also signed up with Twitter but haven't used it once. There are just so many ways now to waste time. LOL

    But I never seem to be able to write with the clarity that I've found in your reviews ~

    Heh, this cracks me up. You know I wing it all the time, right? LOL

    Like you said though, sometimes a review just writes itself, but mostly NOT! I do it because I like the challenge in it.

    I really do enjoy the way you express yourself. You are very insightful and amusing many times. I'll have to figure out the eHarlequin system to find yours.

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  4. Tere Michaels here - I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful and kind words. It's a writer's dream to find out your story evoked something in readers!

    Best wishes and thank you again.

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  5. Tere,

    Thank you! It was such a wonderful, wonderful story and doing the review was so easy.
    I'll be waiting eagerly for another of your stories for sure!

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