London Tides by Carla Laureano

As I reflected back on this book and the title of the book, the phrase "when the tide changes" kept coming to mind. Grace made a choice earlier in life and followed down a path that she thought she wanted. But "then the tide changed." Life happened and some unfortunate events occurred. A new possibility has made her want to change paths again. The tide has changed in her life, but has it changed in the life of one person she's hurt?

Grace is no stranger to conflict or to pain. In fact, you might say her career has been built around that. I thought a lot about grace long after I closed this book. I'm not certain why I liked her so much other than there was something about her that was so easy to relate to.

This novel is the second one in the MacDonald Family Series. I did not read the first one in the series, but now I definitely want to and plan to do so. Other than being slower at realizing the connections between people (simply because I didn't know the characters from the MacDonald family), I don't feel that I missed anything. The book could easily stand alone. However, I'm sure it built on the first novel and provided updates to those who had read the first one.

Carla Laureano has endeared herself to me because she is a writer of detail. It's not the boring, get-on-with-it detail. It's the just-the-right-amount-of-info detail that made this book enjoyable to read. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series and catching up with the first one.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I studied literature and criticism at Pepperdine University and earned a degree in English in 1997. Since then, I’ve worked in a number of different industries as a salesperson, marketing manager, copywriter, and small business consultant. In addition to my work for corporate clients, I wrote for publications produced by the World Health Organization.

I love the history, culture, and mythology of Ireland and Scotland, which form the settings for most of my work. I also enjoy incorporating my background in martial arts and fencing into the action elements of my stories.

I’m a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). I was selected as a finalist in ACFW’s 2012 Genesis contest in the speculative fiction category. My debut novel, a contemporary romance entitled Five Days in Skye, was released by David C Cook in June 2013 and went on to win RWA’s 2014 RITA Award for Inspirational Romance. My three book young adult fantasy series, SONG OF SEARE, is being released from NavPress in 2014 and 2015.

I live with my husband and two sons in Denver, Colorado.

ABOUT THE BOOK

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?

If you would like to read the first chapter of London Tides, go HERE.

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I received this book free from David C. Cook Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.