Monday, September 14, 2015

Return to Me by Carolyn Menke & GIVEAWAY


New Release....
Eighteen-year-old Sadie Stark, raised by the governor of Pennsylvania, has the world on a string. She doesn’t need the mother who left her any more than she needs the fiance who promises to change. What she needs is to finish college, and keep her wits about her. 

When war-bound James Pasko returns her stolen clutch, and shows her what’s missing in her life, she gains the courage to search for the truth about her past.

What Sadie uncovers rattles her to the core. But James’ steadfast love gives her hope for the future—for the first time—even as the war tears them apart.

When James disappears over enemy lines and Sadie makes a startling discovery, she must decide to follow in the footsteps of the mother who gave her away, or face a life of hardship like she’s never known.


My Thoughts...

World War II is my favorite era of all times.    It is nearly impossible for me to pass up reading anything from that time frame.   

Return to Me is a different style of writing than what I am use to.   It almost seemed like I was reading James’s journal.    The two main characters took turns telling their points of views of the happenings of their lives.   I loved this style.    It was wonderful to hear how Sadie perceived a certain series of events or what had happen while James was gone to war and then hear James perspective on the same set of events and what he was experiencing in war.   There were times throughout the book that I felt sorry for them both, but through it all I kept cheering for them to find their happy ending. 

I struggled with Sadie’s relationship with her fiancé.   The same fiancé that was a drunk, that he  took advantage of Sadie’s connections with the Governor, and the same fiancé that kept pushing Sadie into situations that she was not comfortable with.      While I understood that times were different, women were expected to act a certain way, I was thrilled with how Sadie repeatedly stood up to him.   She was nice, tactful, but persistent on what she wanted in life and what she was willing to give up. 

Return to Me is a great sweet story.   The setting, the storyline, and the characters are exactly what I was hoping for when I picked up the book.    I recommend checking it out.  




Available to buy from....

“A sweeping, romantic debut that brings the war-time forties to vivid life in this Titanic meets Philomena tale—fast-paced, tender, and real.” —RITA Award-winning Author Gwyn Cready

 “Menke’s writing is so lovely, you will want to wrap yourself in her words and savor each moment you spend in Sadie’s story. Return To Me will tug on your heart strings and take you on a journey back in time.” —Dana Faletti, Author of the Whisper Trilogy 

 “A timeless tale of love, loss and sacrifice that will equally break and warm your heart, as you cheer for the beautifully complex characters until the very last page.” —Lori M. Jones, Author of Renaissance of the Heart

About the Author
Carolyn Menke is the author of "A Little Known Truth" and "The Survival Guide to Mommy-hood," both published in "Beyond the Diaper Bag." Her flash fiction piece "Full Circle" took first place in the Writer's Type literary competition in July 2012. "Baba's Bananas" also placed first at Writer's Type in March 2011, and was later awarded first runner-up overall for the yearly competition in the same category.

A storyteller with an entrepreneurial spirit, she started a marketing communications business with clients ranging from local start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to that she worked as a marketing communications specialist for high-tech companies. She gained valuable public speaking experience while leading corporate and educational training workshops. Recently, she was a guest speaker at Wexford Elementary, and has been invited to share her latest novel, Return To Me, with area reading clubs.

The author earned a bachelor's degree in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University and a master's degree in marketing communications from Duquesne University. She is a member of Pennwriters and two writing critique groups.

Find the author on the following sites...
Website    Facebook    Twitter    Pinterest    Goodreads 

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I received this book to review through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, all the opinions above are 100% my own.
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7 comments:

  1. I think she should definitely keep the baby. I don't have my own family memory of WWII, only told that my grandpa died during that war.

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    1. I think giving up the baby was the hardest thing she did.

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  2. This sounds like such a wonderful story to read.

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  3. My family doesn't talk much about WWII - they lived through it and the great depression but talked more about that. My husband;s family lost a son in the Pacific, had another stationed in Iceland and his father was a Quartermaster in the UK. I went through all his mom's papers after she died and found wonderful stuff about her brother who was featured in Parade Magazine as a model Marine.

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    1. My Grandparents never talked much about the war either. It was not until they were in their late 80's that they were willing to. I believe it is such a hard time with so many horrific memories that they do not want to share the hell they went through.

      That is so cool about her brother. What a great history to know about.

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  4. This was such a great read. My grandparents never talked about the war, that I remember. Times then were so different than now.

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  5. My parents didn't talk much about WW2 but I know my mom had a friend from Norway who was part of the resistance movement against the Nazis.

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