A Way Back Into Love By Veronica Thatcher

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Title: A Way Back into Love
Author: Veronica Thatcher
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Notion Press

Blurb:
Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes, uncertain. People, irrational. But love…well, that makes everything complicated. And when you are caught in a tangled web of secrets, lies, and complex affairs, someone is bound to get burned.

Emily Stevens is a spunky, spirited college girl whose life gets turned upside-down when she realizes she's in love with her best friend of fifteen years, Derek Thorpe. As Emily prepares to confess her feelings to Derek, something happens one night which changes her life forever. Five years later, Emily finds herself in Boston, alone and heartbroken. Will she ever be able to forget the past? And what will she find when she returns home...to the man she left behind?


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Buy links: Paperback    : eBooks 

My Review:

'A Way Back To Love' is a love story that is relevant in current times, where fast-paced lives lead to more doubts and misgivings than happiness. There is sensible humor in the story, making it a breezy read. I completed reading the book in about 8 hours, in one go. The settings, plot and the characters appealed a lot and though the storyline was predictable, the narration had its grip. Veronica Thatcher has created a beautiful narrative of childhood friendship, repressed feelings of love and longing, and emotions of yearning. The characters are genuine, relatable and feel familiar. Flashbacks in between chapters provide context and depth to the overall story. It's in short, a story of first love cut short due to misunderstandings and circumstances; reuniting of the forlorn souls again after five long years to pick the pieces of their friendship that they left behind; fighting attraction and sentiments while trying in vain to let go of each other; and finally confronting the truth deep in their hearts. And in short, I loved the theme, and the way the story progressed. 

Emily works as an intern in the Neurological Department of the hospital where her parents are renowned surgeons, after completing her graduation in medicine and returning home after five years. She tries hard to escape from the shadow of her parents and prove her mettle in the medical world. She is ambitious, kind, loving and hopelessly in love with her best friend of fifteen years Derek. To make matters worse, Derek is engaged to her half-sister Emma, and they are just three months away from marriage. Derek too works as an intern together with Emily. He has his own turmoils regarding his feelings towards Emily. He has missed her a lot in the past five years and her absence has affected his life very much. They rekindle their friendship and make up for the lost time through shared lunches, chats over coffee, apartment hunting and furniture fetching for Emily's new home. Sparks reappear and the tension is evident. Time helps put pieces together but would they be brave enough to confront their true feelings? Would their story have a happy ending? Do read the book to find out.

I would recommend the book to all readers. My rating: 3.5/5

                                        


Author Bio:

Veronica Thatcher is an exciting new contemporary romance author. Ever since she was very young, she’s dreamed of becoming a doctor when she grew up. While still forging ahead with that, majoring in pre-med in college, she unwittingly stumbled upon a new dream—becoming a published author. Some may call her an introvert or a wallflower, but she has always found she could express herself better in written, rather than spoken, words. However, never in her wildest dreams had she envisioned she would pursue writing as a prospective career, not just a hobby. Her love for writing goes hand-in-hand with her love for a good romance novel—whether it be a feel-good, sweet romance or a dark, suspenseful one. When she’s not studying, reading, or writing, she is usually found blasting her favourite songs, sometimes singing and dancing along to them.  She dabbles in a number of activities, including painting, karate, singing and dancing. She is a huge chocoholic – probably the biggest – and she is an ice-cream junkie too. She considers herself technologically handicapped forever and has no shame in admitting that. She also deems chocolates her boyfriend, Patrick Dempsey the love of her life, and Friends her life!

Her first book, A Way Back Into Love, is slated for release in February 2017, and she hopes readers will enjoy it as much as she enjoyed writing it. You can reach Veronica through Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Wattpad and Gmail.

Author Links:
Facebook: Twitter: Wattpad: Goodreads




Excerpt:

Emily stepped back from him and shook her head. “Oh, you know damn well what I mean. You know what, Derek? I’m done having this conversation with you. I’m so done with this conversation and I’m so done with you,” Emily spat out angrily before brushing past him.

“Emily, wait,” Derek said, catching her by her arm. “Where are you going?”

Emily spun around and gave him a bitter look before looking down at his hand gripping her arm. “Leave my arm,” she said in a low yet threatening voice, “And why do you care where I’m going? It’s none of your business.”

Derek didn’t leave her arm in spite of her warning and said, “Em, you’ve had too many drinks. You can’t drive in this condition. I’ll drop you home.”

Emily jerked her arm free from his grasp and replied in a bitter voice, “Thank you, but no. I’m perfectly capable of getting myself home on my own. I don’t need you to drop me home. Do you get it, Derek Thorpe? I DON’T NEED YOU!” Emily yelled the last words, causing a few people to look their way.



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Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju
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