Dear Birdy, Princess Birdzilla von MuffinStuff, Keeper of Dreams, Lover of our Fine Feathered Friends, queen of my life and light of my world, I hope this letter finds you well. If you are reading this then I am gone, and sweetheart, I am so sorry.
Chi-town professional Wren Riley is 25 and a rising star in the business world. She can eat a man alive and laugh about it to her girlfriends in seconds flat--and she does, on the regular. Behind the power suits and the flashing, flirty eyes, however, Wren has a secret, vulnerable side. Following a devastating loss and the discovery of a bird journal she and her father made together years before, Wren sets out to seek peace, closure, and something she just can't name. Is that something tied to the little paper cranes she keeps finding along the way?
Laurence Byrd grew up a lanky Hoosier kid with the good/bad fortune of having the same name as the state's perennial basketball legend. With a better affinity for dogs than sports or school, he ends up in the Army instead of the Chicago art school of his dreams. Still, his service to our country is something he can be proud of--until an argument with the girl who means the world to him results in a series of events that blows his life apart. With no one left to understand him, black sheep Laurie pours out his heart into letters and drawings he never intends to send--then he folds them into paper cranes that he leaves behind like messages in little winged bottles. He never dreams someone might be finding them.
God damn it, Sylvia, for a few moments I tricked myself into feeling really alive. I cut it off before anyone got hurt, but just for a moment or two, I really thought I might feel something again--something like trust. Something like love. Not the kind of love we had, but something new. Something like hope.
Spoiler alert: Wren and Laurie are going to meet. And when they do, their lives are never going to be the same.
When I first started reading this story, I didn't really know what to expect. I thought it was going to be intense, instead we get a more sweet story.
It all starts when Wren Riley returns to Birdseye, her hometown, to deal with her family's estate. She wants it sold as quickly as possible, so she can return back to Chicago. When she receives a letter from her father through the lawyer, it's a bit of a wake up call for Wren. She thought she had it all figured out, knew exactly what she wanted in life and when she meets Laurie it confuses her even more.
Lawrence Byrd has gone through some major pain in life himself. After loosing his fiancée and one of his army friends, he's just been going with the flow instead of really living. When he meets Wren, it's the first time he starts feeling hopeful again. The connection is obvious there between them and they care a lot about each other, but they live in totally different worlds. Wren and Laurie will have to decide what they really want from life.
I really liked the crane letters Laurie writes and leaves behind at random places. When Wren accidentally finds some of those birds, she unknowingly gains more insight to where Laurie is coming from. He really is such a good guy. His heart is in the right place and he's so sweet. You definitely root for his happiness.
Wren was also interesting, but I had more trouble connecting with her. She is very much focused on herself and what she wants, sometimes I even wondered if she really liked Laurie much as she wasn't really showing it. The words were there, but her actions weren't backing it up. Luckily she will see the error of her ways.
I also have not much an idea of time span during this story. Sometimes the transitions between scenes were so abrupt, I got the feeling weeks had passed as one moment they are fighting and the next scene they're all lovey-dovey.
Overall an interesting debut novel. The characters are what puts it apart from other romance novels and it had an unique plot. It was not an intense, fast read, but rather a more slower and sweet story. Besides the bird trivia you learn from this, are great random facts to impress your friends.
The Author
In 2014, Tash will launch two new fiction series for the contemporary romance and/or historical romance reader.
To read her acclaimed dark fantasy and horror works, look for “Red Tash” on the ebook retailer of your choice.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
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