Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia
8 August, 2012
Our Review
What a difference a smile and giving a damn about someone down on their luck can make.
How many of us have passed a homeless person on the street and not given them a second glance? After this story I don’t think I ever will again.
“He kept his head down in what seemed to be a prayer. “He counts. You’ve smiled at him four hundred and forty-six times as of a few minutes ago. He announces the number every time I see him.”
Blake is such a sweet and beautiful character and I was cheering him on from beginning to end. He stole my heart and my heart ached for him.
I loved all the main players in this book and the secondary characters are so wonderful that they actually add so much depth to the story.
“You make the rest of the beautiful things in the world cry for even trying at all. You make it hard for me to breathe.”
Blake and his brothers Cole and Beckett are not biologically related but they are closer than most blood brothers. Their relationships are so wonderfully woven and so unique, you can actually feel the close bond they share and the dynamics between the brothers makes for some interesting and heart-warming reading.
You will giggle like crazy over the conversations between the two sisters when they are home on their own. They were hilarious.
Beckett stood out for me as one of the main players in this book. A bad boy who is so deliciously naughty, has a mouth like a sewer, yet a heart of gold when it counts.
“Beckett’s probably the hardest man there is to love,” Blake said. “He does life wrong for all the right reasons.”
I just loved Beckett . He was a lot of fun to read and I found myself looking forward to seeing Beckett throughout the book.
But it is Livia and Blake who will steal your heart. Theirs is a love story that you will cheer from the beginning. You want these two to succeed. You want the best for them. You will love them. You will cherish them.
“Don’t tie your success to anything other than what’s inside you”
They will definitely capture your heart.
Synopsis
He counts her smiles every day and night at the train station. And morning and evening, the beautiful commuter acknowledges him—just like she does everyone else on the platform. But Blake Hartt is not like the others . . . he’s homeless. Memories of a broken childhood have robbed him of peace and twisted delusions into his soul. He stays secluded from the sun, sure the world would run from him in the harsh light of day.
Each day, Livia McHugh smiles politely and acknowledges her fellow commuters as she waits for the train to the city. She dismisses this kindness as nothing special, just like her. She’s the same as a million other girls—certainly no one to be cherished. But special or not, she smiles every day, never imagining that someone would rely on the simple gesture as if it were air to breathe.
When the moment comes that Livia must do more than smile, without hesitation she steps into the fray to defend the homeless man. And she’s surprised to discover an inexplicable connection with her new friend. After danger subsides, their smiles become conversation. Their words usher in a friendship, which awakens something in each of them. But it’s not long before their bond must prove its strength. Entanglements from the past challenge both their love and their lives.
Blake’s heart beats for Livia’s, even if her hands have to keep its rhythm. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never fails. Love never fails, right?
In an interwoven tale of unlikely loves and relationships forged by fire, Debra Anastasia takes readers into the darkest corners of human existence, only to show them the radiant power of pure adoration and true sacrifice. Complicated families and confused souls find their way to light in this novel, which manages to be racy, profane, funny, and reverent all at once.
Other Books By This Author
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Jennifer Hukari said:
This may be my favorite book of the year! I had every emotion known to man from this book. I can’t recommend it enough to my friends <3
Julie McKay-Pimentel said:
Loooooved this book! A must read.