Book Description
This collection of short stories gives a glimpse into life, love, loss, and the inexplicable in between. Includes themes of grief, finding hope, second chances, facing the consequences of your actions, and getting help from the unlikeliest of places.
As Cecilia helps the dying, she questions what happens to their spirits. But is she ready to find out?
Can a mother's race through the New Forest save her son?
Will visiting a medium bring Christina the closure she needs?
Can an intruder help an old lady with her loneliness?
Will the start of another wet and miserable Monday morning end with Maeve’s happy ever after.
This anthology includes the prize-winning flash fiction story Spirit Song.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Love, Loss And Life In Between' by Suzanne Rogerson. Read and reviewed for Suzanne Rogerson and Rachel's Random Resources Tours. Publication date 9th September 2022. This is the first book I have read by this author. This novel consists of 10 emotional short stories. The stories are short in length so easy to read 'just one more story' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case! 'Love, Loss And Life In Between' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Suzanne discusses/includes death and domestic violence. A beautiful collection of 10 short stories filled with emotion from heartbreak to love, sadness to new beginnings. As I always do with books of short stories or poems I will rate them individually and then give an overall rating at the end. These are the stories that are included in order, a short description of what they are about and my rating: ♥ 'Spirit Song': This short story tells us about an elderly lady called Cecilia who plays her flute for residents that are passing away in a home where she also resides. She knows when somebody is passing on and wants to play the flute to them to help their spirit to pass over. It is a great story to start the book with and is very atmospheric and sweet. I would rate this story 3/5. 👋 'Goodbye Forever': This is a story of a mum and wife who is trying to get away from her abusive husband with her son. Unfortunately the timing is out and she has to make a fast escape in the car and turn into a "racing driver"! This is one of the faster paced and more nerve wracking stories which touches on the sadly realistic subject of domestic violence. I was pleased with the ending of this one where karma is in play. The narrator portrays the mums emotions perfectly. It is extremely emotional and gripping. I would rate this story 5/5 🌸 'Garden Therapy': This story is one of my favourite ones and one that stands out the most. It tells us the story of Emma who is struggling to forgive herself after her husband drove and killed a cyclist after he had a few pints. Emma hadn't had a drink and thinks it is her fault and that she should have driven. Emma is in her garden one day when an encounter with her neighbour helps her to move on. This story has a surprise twist and a lovely ending. It reminds us not to live in the past, to move on with our lives and teaches forgiveness. I would give this story a 5/5. 🍷 'Starting Over': i found this to be one of the shortest stories when it came to actually telling a story if that makes sense. It tells us about Michelle who invites Tom over after not seeing him for 20 years, since college. Tom and Michelle spend the night revisiting the past. It is quite a sweet story but like all books of poems and short stories you cant enjoy them all and I didn't particularly enjoy this one as much as the others. It is a story of opportunity's missed and new beginnings. Sadly I could only give this book a 2/5 rating as I just didn't enjoy it. 🐱'A Cat Shaped Hole': This story is perfect for animal lovers and as I run 'Golden Oldies Cat Rescue And Hospice' I really related to it myself. It is about a cat changing a lonely woman's day and making it brighter. It is a sweet story and shows the difference a cat can make (adopt one today ;) ) I would give this story a 4/5 📱 'The Phone Call': This story is definitely my favourite one!! It is one of those stories that hit you straight in the gut and will stay witjh me for a long time! It tells us the story og a mum who loses her child. i am a mum myself and this is a worst nightmare for any parent!! She is trying to come to terms with her loss and is struggling. She visits a medium to see what she has to say and then the phone starts ringing when she gets home. It is a story of grief and coming to terms with loss. This story definitely gets a 5/5 from me! 🚲'Knocked Off Her Feet': This is a sweet and quite romantic story of Maeve who literally gets knocked off her feet on the school run by a cyclist who has chosen a different route to go for the first time. It goes to show how one small decision can be life changing. I give this story a 3/5. 💉 'Catalyst': This story is another one of my favourites and stands out from the rest as definitely being the fastest paced and darkest!! Seth wakes up not knowing where he is but realises he is in a very dangerous position. Seth tries to work out what has happened and how everything has gone so wrong. This book has a fantastic unexpected twist with a brutal and explosive ending! Definitely a 5/5 from me for this one!!! 🐶 'Not Just For Christmas': This is another sweet tale for animal lovers out there. It is a story of how a family has lost a beloved dog who changed their lives and even saved one. They make the terrific decision to save another life after their dog saved theirs and give another dog a home. A heart warming tale that leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling. This one gets a 4/5 from me. 🧜♀️'A Mermaids Tail': This has got to be the most heart breaking story of them all and tells the story of a little girl called Cally whose mother is extremely sick. her mum has told her that she will be going to live with the mermaids soon. It is a story of loss and grief with characters who will appear in Suzanne's upcoming book 'The Mermaid Hotel Romance' series which I am looking forward to reading. I give this story a 3/5. Am excellent selection of stories which are emotionally charged and each filled with different themes and emotions. It is filled with grief, hope, loss, love, regret and so much more!! As is the case of all books filled with short stories or poem it is very rare to like them all as they are all so different from each other and will attract different audiences. In my case my favourite stories just have to be 'The Phone Call', 'Garden Therapy' and 'Catalyst' for different reasons whereas I just didn't 'click' with 'Starting Over'. That doesn't mean there was anything wrong with that story and for others that may be their favourite while they dislike 'The Phone Call'. That is one of the great things about anthologies, there is always something from everyone. All of these stories are about love, loss, life and everything in between which makes the title perfect for this book! I listened to this book in a couple of hours and it can easily be read just as quickly or you can just read a story a day, another great thing about anthologies is that it can last as long or as short as you wish it to. Suzanne has excellent writing skills and I look forward to reading or listening to more of her work! The average rating for all the story ratings is 3.9 so I give the overall book a 4/5 rating . Grab your copy of 'Love, Loss And Life In Between' and discover which stories you love!!! This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Sandie Keane who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Sandie did a fantastic job on children, adult, male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Suzanne but also to listening to more books narrated by Sandie! Overall a beautiful anthology of emotionally packed short stories about life, loss and everything between!! Genres covered in this book include Fiction Anthologies, Literary Anthologies & Collections, Contemporary Short Stories, Short Stories and Literary Anthologies & Collections amongst others. 109 pages/ 2 hours 13 minutes This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, and free on kindle unlimited, £4.50 in paperback, £10 in hardcover and £5.59 for the audiobook (at time of review) which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!! Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook. 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Author Bio –
Suzanne lives in Middlesex, England with her husband, two teenagers, a crazy cocker spaniel and an adopted cat that thinks she’s the boss.
Suzanne’s writing journey began at the age of twelve when she completed her first novel. Giving up work to raise a family gave her the impetus to take her attempts at novel writing beyond the first draft, and she is lucky enough to have a husband who supports her dream - even if he does occasionally hint that she might think about getting a proper job one day.
Now an author of four novels including the Silent Sea Chronicles trilogy and her debut, Visions of Zarua, plus three short story collections, Suzanne hopes the dreaded ‘W’ word will never rear its ugly head again!
Suzanne collects books, is interested in history and enjoys wandering around castles and old ruins whilst being immersed in the past. She likes to combine her love of nature and photography on family walks, but most of all she loves to escape with a great film, binge watch TV shows, or soak in a hot bubble bath with an ice cream and a book.
Social Media Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rogersonsm
Goodreads: https://twitter.com/rogersonsm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzannemrogerson/
Newsletter sign up: https://mailchi.mp/1f4b6da63ed8/1w4k7fd8ku
Narrator Bio
Having attended Drama school in Liverpool as a teenager Sandie moved into a variety of jobs varying from Hotel Management/Merseyside Police/Motherhood to name just a few but for 25 years she taught worldwide as a Pilates Tutor Trainer.
During lockdown Sandie's interest turned to Audiobooks and it was from there she embarked on her own journey as an Audiobook Narrator.
Social Media Links
Website: https://sandiekeane.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandiedkeane
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandiekeane/
Purchase Links
Thanks very much for joining the blog tour and for sharing such great mini reviews of each story.