Lynda Filler

Obtained a free copy in exchange for an honest review by Booktasters on Twitter
Target in The Sun by Lynda Filler is not your typical love story where 2 young people meet and fall in love fighting against all odds to have a happy ending. Carlos and Mia’s story is set against the backdrop of a Mexican drug cartel. Initially, I thought it would be dark with all the drug business going on but I am glad to be wrong.
Carlos, a Mexican boy who loses his parents at a very young age gets caught up in between the drug-dealing part of the family. Even though he escapes from that life he desperately craves family. His life is often filled with drinks, sex, and sleep and one day he notices Mia and then begins their journey of discovering their true selves.
Mia never wanted a family and has been divorced and married again with a kid. why marry if you don’t need a commitment! And then Carlos enters her life and she discovers love. Well, they never really have a normal relationship. Each sleeps with different partners when they are not seeing each other. I know that is weird! But of course, Carlos and Mia are not the typical couples.
Lucia had lost her boyfriend in the 9/11 incident and since then has been living a closed life. She keeps herself busy with work but then one day she receives an email from Mia that changes her life. Lucia witness the love between Carlos and Mia through their journals and is hell-bent on helping them escape from the cruel fate that has entangled them in the biggest drug cartel in Mexico as well as America.
Apart from being confused with the POV’s and also a bit of an unsatisfactory ending, this is a good book to read. It has that Mexican vibe in it and the negative effects of drugs are shown perfectly. The style of storytelling through journal entries is what I liked here. Would totally recommend this if you are ok with not having the typical love story.… (mais)

Target In The Sun by Lynda Filler is a compelling story of a unique and unconventional couple Mia and Carlos. The story is entertaining from first to last page. The story is set up in Mexico and USA. Carlos who lost his family at a very young age in the drug war finds his way to US. When caught in a raid, he is sent to juvenile home where he opens up to Katherine, a social worker and she eventually adopts him. He succeeds in dealing drugs among his schoolmates and makes good money. Carlos meets Mia on one of Mia's trips to Mexico. Their love story is very gripping. When Carlos decides to end his career in drug mafia, Mia approaches Lucia, a FBI agent through emails. After reading the journals from Mia and the emails exchanged between Mia and Carlos, Lucia decides to protect them against all odds.

This is a unique romantic thriller. The best part is, the story being narrated through journals and emails. This is the first novel I'm reading in Mexican setting. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Thanks to #LyndaFiller for sharing the book with me for free for reviewing and #booktasters for referring this book to me.… (mais)

Picked this little book for a quick look at the contents ... 2.5 hrs later it was finished.
I'm not going to rate the book, but the journey on "Love The Beat Goes On".

As I was reading through the book I couldn’t help not thinking about Buddha’s Raft Parable:

“The teaching is like a raft that carries you to the other shore. The raft is needed, but the raft is not the other shore.” - Buddha

Lynda Filler was diagnosed back in 2008 with Dilated Cardiomyopathy and according to the doctors, it was an incurable illness. It was supposed to be the end, her heart was swollen, having an ejection fraction of only 28% and was about to fail soon, maybe in the next six months. Then, through a cumuli of “divine interventions” and following her intuition Lynda began having revelations and meeting the people that would nudge her on the right path.

First it was Dr. T, who told her the story of the a patient many years ago who was diagnosed with an incurable disease by her doctors. The woman didn’t accept her “death sentence” and took healing into her own hands. Years later she was still alive. I saw Dr. T as the bringer of Hope, the man who lit the candle in the darkness and showed Lynda there was a raft she could walk towards.
Second was Krista who encouraged her to take control over her heart and her healing. She was the oar. Third was her friend Tessa who convinced her to go to Sedona. She was the wind that pushes the raft forward.
Fourth was Akal, the shaman - and he was part of the river of knowledge and healing. Others were part of the river too: Dr. Wayne M. Dyer, the iridologist from Puerto Vallarta, Dr. Masaru Emoto and many others.

And then she reached the other shore, knowing that the emotions of the soul have a power on the health of the body, and that the most important thing when it comes to love is to first love yourself.

Lynda Filler gives some very sane advice in her book on opening your horizons and seeing life with other eyes. They are not new, I have read and listened to them before, but that was not the purpose of the book. The book is meant to bring you hope and see the light in the dark. As St. Francis of Assisi said:
“All the Darkness in the world, cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

Hope is the candle.

“Listen to your doctors, take the appropriate steps, do the work, then make a commitment to yourself to not buy into your history or your current story. Do not become your diagnosis. Do not be defined by your disease.” - Lynda Filler

I don’t know if I may be too subjective on reviewing this book because I’ve been through the same journey before: learning who I was through meditations and masters, learning Reiki, shamanism, studying ancient knowledge and many many other practices, so I know in my heart of hearts the experience of the author must be true. The book passed through me like a gentle,warm breeze.

I am happy people are writing about their experiences, if at least one other person is inspired to search more within herself/himself, then your mission is done.

And the beat goes on...



A copy was provided for an honest review by the author via Booktasters NonFiction @TasteNonfiction… (mais)