Eichin Chang-Lim

Violet and Dylan first met as children during a difficult time when Violet lost her twin sister to leukemia and Dylan lost his mother to cancer. They reconnected in college and developed a deep relationship that appeared headed for marriage. However, a few years later, Violet is on her own, trying to make as an actress in Hollywood, while Dylan is halfway around the world, working with the Peace Corps. Will they be able to overcome the event that upended their lives and the continuing obstacles that fall into their path of refinding each other and reconnect the true love they had? The path of the plot builds interesting characters that empathetically draws the reader into their emotional journey, while the time jump creates a strong mystery into the psychological disruption of that journey, which finds a resolution with a paranormal touch at a climactic point. However, some of the unconnected obstacles in the journey do feel more like manipulative plot devices, and some readers may find the resolution of the mystery to be very dark. If the reader can get past these elements, this mystery romance full of internal psychological drama will lead the leader to a satisfactory HEA journey.… (mais)

I read this book via an Amazon-US KINDLE download.

While this book fits this genre quite well, I feel it also might be suitable for the more mature YA reader as well.

Young lovers who seemed to be smitten by each other from time to time make errors, errors which can and will have a profound effect on their lives. The biggest of these is when the young woman and high school senior winds getting pregnant by the guy she’s apparently in love with. In this book by the author, Eichin Chang-Lim, Kayla O’Neill is the young woman and Russell Mancini is the guy.

Given his age, I loved the fact he accepted his responsibility for having given into temptation, violating his Catholic faith in causing Kayla to become pregnant because of the premarital sex they had engaged in.

Fate as a way of making things happen, which is how Russell wound being in the wrong place and at the wrong time, and winds up being incarcerated in federal prison for seven years. Seven years is not bad when you consider it might have been much longer. He had gotten the shorter sentence because of the saving factors which came out during the trial, which the judge had thoughtfully taken into when he pronounced Russell’s sentence:

“Mr. Mancini, although you have been found guilty on all charges, in light of the fact that you are a first-time offender, your gainful employment, and your apparently sincere remorse, the court has decided not to sentence you to maximum term proposed by the prosecution.”

Kayla had a hard time in staying committed to her marriage, but due to her love for Russell, and her desire to keep their family together, she succeeded.
As would be expected, Russell had an extremely difficult time in finding work so he could be the husband and father he’s determined to be.

Love might be a splendid thing, but being a child of the 1950’s, the song “Young Love, First Love” by Sonny James came to mind my mind as I read this book:

They say for every boy and girl
There's just one love in this whole world
And I know I've found mine
The heavenly touch of your embrace
Tells me no one could take your place
Ever in my heart

Young love (young love), first love (first love)
Filled with true devotion
Young love (young love), our love (our love)
We share with deep emotion……..

Fate had thrown Russell a curve ball which landed him in federal prison for the past seven years. Did fate have an ultimate reason for allowing this to happen? Will fate now come back and set things for Russell and his reunited family, so he can provide them with everything a good husband and father should? I’m not saying. But I am giving Ms. Chang-Lim the 5 STARS this book deserves.… (mais)

When JonSun, a farmer’s son, is able to connect with SuAnn, the daughter of a wealthy doctor, while attending classes at the National Taiwan University, love quickly builds between them. However, when SuAnn’s father seeks to end their relationship in order to have his daughter follow his plans for her, Jonsun and SuAnn marry secretly and find a way to immigrate to the United States and find a new life in California. This life turns positive when JonSun stumbles into the world of flipping houses during the real estate boom in the Los Angeles area. Despite a tough birth, Elliana and Mitch are happy to have their new daughter, Christa. Yet, their new family grows when a Taiwanese exchange student Elliana and Mitch hosted tells them about her unplanned pregnancy and convinces them to adopt the child, so she can hide the shame when she returns to her family back in Taiwan. The adoptive daughter, Jadelynn, proves to be a wonderful sister to Christa, especially when it is discovered that Christa is nearly deaf. With the aid of a cochlear implant, Christa is able to have a more normal childhood and find strength in gymnastics. As Christa and Jadelynn enter school, they find a fast friend in Wynson, JonSun and SuAnn’s son, but life is not through throwing obstacles in their path when they reach high school. This novel is a story about overcoming obstacles and finding success, happiness, and love over a couple of generations. The novel reads quickly, as the author delves just enough into the characters to give the reader the basic path of the story. It may have been better to provide JonSun and SuAnn’s opening tale as a flashback, closer to the character message it becomes a foundation for, and I felt Jadelynn’s character could have been explored more. These are just a couple of reasons I was able to expect and predict the positive twist at the end of the story. In the end, it was a positive and satisfactory tale.… (mais)