JANE’S MELODY by RYAN WINFIELD

Gitte: Jane’s Melody is a truly beautiful story. It’s heartbreaking, emotional and has a quite unique story-line. I absolutely loved it and just couldn’t put it down. This author wrote a stunning evocative journey that had so much depth and made me, the reader, fall completely in love with the characters and their story. It was intense, devastating, yet inspirational and full of hope too.

The message in this story is heart-felt and felt so apt and real to life. The sadness and tragedy of the loss of a loved one. The ability to seek to find and accept everything that comes along with that emotional second chance at love.  The fear of life; to live without guilt and disapproval. To do the right thing for you, by being true to yourself and your feelings. Yes, it really was beautiful; I fell in love with both the story and the beauty of this Author’s writing.

“Don’t you let fear have a place in your life, J. Not even a tiny place. Get rid of it from every hidden corner. Chase it away with the truth, and do what you want to do while you can. “

Jenny: Gitte, this truly was a wonderful story. Second chance love, love against all odds, moving on, healing. It had it all, and was beautifully written as well. I was the same. Could not put this down and was completely swept away with the characters and the story. Just wonderful.

“I don’t know if you’re being smart or not, but I know that being smart doesn’t always lead to being happy.”

Just how do you move on from such a tragedy? How do you heal? Love? Open your heart?  To shed the guilt and allow yourself to open to happiness when you are at your lowest ebb?  It’s covered so beautifully in Jane’s Melody.

“You only get so many springs.”

Gitte:  Jane, our heroine, has seen real tragedy and pain. Her life has not been easy; addiction pulling her family apart. She lives with a tremendous amount of guilt believing that she never did enough and that somehow she holds some responsibility for everything that’s happened.

“A mother’s not supposed to bury her daughter.”

Jane is not really living, rather she merely exists. In some respects, we meet her on her path just before she hits that crossroads.  I completely connected and sympathised with Jane; I truly understood her emotions, actions and decisions. I wanted her to live and accept the good that came into her life through such unconventional manners. She truly deserved it and I wanted her to grab this second chance with both hands and revel in it.

The second chance came in the shape of the homeless, mysterious musician, Caleb.  A possible connection to her daughter, when she was alive. Caleb was lush, such a beautiful gorgeous man. He was intriguing and I completely felt the connection that built between them. I loved how that firm connection took shape over some time rather than something flimsy and instantaneous.

“He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen…his willingness to show pure emotion….”

Both Caleb and Jane are scarred and need something to believe in. They gravitate to each other, finding what they’re missing, what they truly want and need. Yet the obstacles thrown at them, be they from hopelessness, a miss-guided sense of what is right and even personal dreams, well….Jane most of all needs to let go and just live. Accept and believe in what’s in her heart. Disregard any irrational thoughts, fear and guilt. She needs to make a choice.

“I don’t know what I believe in anymore.”

“Me either. Except music. I believe in music.”

Jenny:  These two souls really do seem incomplete alone, yet so complete with one another. They gravitate easily around each other and quite simply, seemed to just fit. Yet dealing with age differences, preconceived ideas and outside influences can invade your heart, your ideas and how you feel inside. Learning to accept love, in any form is the key and together Caleb and Jane must work at doing just that. Life is fleeting and happiness must be grabbed with both hands. Trust your heart.

What did age matter……Wasn’t love timeless? If it wasn’t, it should be…

This really was a beautifully told story.  I cried tears of happiness and tears of sadness throughout Jane’s Melody.  A completely moving, wonderful and powerfully poignant story I couldn’t put down.  Bravo Mr Winfield. A true winner. The characters of Jane and Caleb completely stole my heart. Caleb. Wow! What a guy. So intuitive. So giving and so loving.

“You know something, baby…….when I hear you say you love me, it almost makes me cry.”

There was so much to  Jane’s story and in the end, as much as I know in my own mind how Jane and Caleb fared, I would have loved to have seen it conclude with an Epilogue.  I was so invested in these characters and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, so when the time came, I didn’t want to let go. We had followed them through their journey, through their ups and downs, their happiness and heartbreaks, and then….it was all over, just a little too quickly.  However, that said, Ryan Winfield brought us a story with wonderful characters, plenty of heart and a book that was quite simply beautiful and one I recommend.

Gitte:  This was so much more than a love story wrapped in tragedy, fear and guilt. It was a story about life and our place in it, as well as how we choose to live. Either, for ourselves or others. Letting people in, choosing to fight for what we want and staying true to our hearts despite what’s conventional or deemed ‘right’.  I loved Jane’s friend Grace, her character was pretty awe-inspiring, funny and heartbreaking.

“It just seems so fragile, doesn’t it? The whole thing. Life. The world. You know, I remember being a little girl just like it was yesterday. I never thought there was any limit on anything then. No expiration date on living. But with each passing year, everything gets a little more precious. I just wish I knew how to cherish it all back then. I really do.”

So yes, this is definitely a must-read. I would have liked more of ‘the afters’ as I felt, as a reader, I went through a real emotional and intense journey that could have gone either way. After having invested so many tears and heartache, I would have liked more ‘good’ to calm my pounding heart and make me ‘sigh’ with a sense of relief that all was going to be okay.

“Love is this feeling I get when I look at you. A feeling that as long as you’re near me, or in the world even, everything will be okay. ….Then I hear your voice, I saw your face, and somehow the color came into everything.”