Live

Burnside #1

by Mary Ann Rivers

Mary Ann Rivers kicks off a new contemporary romance series—sure to please readers of Ruthie Knox, Kristan Higgins, and Jill Shalvis—where love can be found unexpectedly.
 
If there’s an upside to unemployment, Destiny Burnside may have found it. Job searching at her local library in Lakefield, Ohio, gives her plenty of time to ogle the hottest man she has ever laid eyes the sexy wood-carver who’s restoring the building. But as the rejection letters pile up, Destiny finds an unexpected shoulder to cry on. With his rich Welsh accent, Hefin Thomas stirs Destiny so completely that, even though he’s leaving soon, she lets herself believe the memory of his scorching kisses will be enough.
 
Hefin can’t help but notice the slender, confident woman with ginger hair who returns each day, so hopeful and determined. So when the tears start to fall, his silence—penance for a failed marriage—finally cracks. Once he’s touched her, what Hefin wants is to take her back to Wales and hold her forever. But Destiny’s roots run too deep. What they both need is each other—to learn how to live and love again.

Advance praise for Live
 
“Sizzling, sweet, and superbly written, Live is a marvelous love story.”—New York Times bestselling author Grace Burrowes

“A beautiful, aching exploration of love, family, and loss—highly recommended!”—USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox
 
Praise for The Story Guy by Mary Ann Rivers
 
“In just over 100 pages, debut author Mary Ann Rivers gives us a powerful love story.”—USA Today
 
“A beautiful and affecting contemporary romance.”—Library Journal

“I just finished it and as I’m sitting here jotting down thoughts for the A review, I’m crying and smiling.”—Dear Author

“A sparkling gem of sweet emotion!”—New York Times bestselling author Carly Phillips
 
“A beautiful love story full of sly wit, slow kisses, and heart-punching truths. I can’t recommend Mary Ann Rivers highly enough.”—Ruthie Knox, USA Today bestselling author of Along Came Trouble
 
“In The Story Guy, Mary Ann Rivers writes a compelling story about finding love in the unlikeliest places. I was hooked from the first page.”—Elise Sax, author of An Affair to Dismember

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Adult, Chick Lit, Loveswept

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 21, 2014

About the author

Mary Ann Rivers has been wearing a groove in her library card since she was old enough for story time. She’s been writing almost as long—her first publication credit was in Highlights magazine. She started writing and reading romance in the fifth grade once she stumbled on the rainbow of romance novel book spines in the library’s fiction stacks.

She was an English and music major and went on to earn her MFA in creative writing, publishing poetry in journals, and leading creative writing workshops for at-risk youth. With Ruthie Knox, she is the co-founder of Brain Mill Press.

She loves to hear from readers and you can sign up for her newsletter, contact her by email, follow her blog, or check her out on social media.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 pretentious star. DNF at 60 %. Review completed January 12, 2014





Let me start by saying something positive. I enjoyed their first kisses and the smexin' in the car.



What killed the entire book for me, however, was the bloated writing itself. It's pompous and pretentious. I still feel kinda sucker-punched because I requested the ARC based on my fondness for Mary Ann Rivers' The Story Guy which I enjoyed very much. Yes, I also loved the somewhat poetic and flowery writing and I felt very partial to the otherness of The Story Guy.

So, while I do love flowery, lyrical or poetic prose, I'm perfectly fine with one beautiful rose…



…yet I obviously have an issue with OTT flowery and pompous writing that explodes in a full-blown bouquet of distracting and all-consuming flowers where the scent of the blossoms obliterates everything else.



Even though the heroine's background was littered with tragedies, to me she came across as bland as her incredibly pale skin. Simply put, I found Desbaby terribly boring. Also, it really annoys the heck out of me when I initially hear the sentence 'I never cry', even though tears became a common commodity of Live. I mean it's fine by me when women AND men have a good cry once in a while, but when the tears and sobs, the thoughts of many overwhelming good-byes, and the tragic and sad character of Sarah threaten to monopolize the story, then I need to whip out my red card. It's. Just. Too. Much.



Although it's not my arm I assure you the card is red.

Also, I assume that Sarah will get her own story and I hope for her that she's going to catch some tough alpha man who's going to kick her stubborn ass, telling her what she's got to do to get out of her pathetic state of mind. Come on, Sarah, enough is enough! Pick up the pieces and start living again.

That quote is going to strangle your tongue…or maybe your brain:

He hadn't wanted to negotiate the good-bye in the morning. Or not saying good-bye, then making every minute an excuse to spend another minute together, until the entire time they spent in the other's arms was an excuse to keep way from anything else beyond the borders of the bed.
Until leaving the bed was leaving.

Jesus christ on a crutch. Baba hadn't wanted to negotiate with the MCs, arguing over so many spoken and unspoken good-byes, then making every minute spent on this book an excuse to spend no time with her kids, until the entire time she spent in their company playing the judge over yet another verbal or physical fight was an excuse to keep way from anything else beyond the borders of their rooms.
Until leaving the house to take a breather was leaving.

How does this sound? Did you just call me goofy? I'm going to shrug it off coz I was being goofy. I think you get the gist. *facepalm*



My elder son who's a 7th grader is reading a book by Friedrich Dürrenmatt with his classmates. If you are acquainted with the European literary world then you might be familiar with his name. Maybe I should start reading real literature because Dürrenmatt's writing is easier to grasp…than…what the heck is that?

While I found Hefin's past and provenance very intriguing, I just couldn't quite warm up to him either. I don't have a problem with beta heroes but Hefin was a bit too demure and subservient--even shy at times--for my taste. Also, I completely understand that people enjoy fetishes. Some have a foot fetish and others like Hefin are mesmerized by freckles. In this case, however, I found the fetish utterly overdone. After the freckles had been mentioned for the umpteenth time, I really got it. After all, I'm not a dense person.

Live provides tons of not so elegant style blossoms. In German we say 'Stilblüten'. I love that term. Here are a few to your perusal:

He had watched her smile at the guard and remembered the freckles that had ignored the boundary of her lip line, small ones that had sifted themselves into the pink of her lips, themselves.

Her breasts had the palest freckles of all, like gold leaf shattered over porcelain. He ignored the heavy, dark pulse in his prick.

When she had looked so gorgeous like that, sitting straight with her perfect posture and her color washing through her freckles, roses on her throat, he hadn't wanted to look like that.

I know that something is wrong when the writing distracts from the storyline or the characters. Good writing draws a reader to the heart of a story and I'm very sorry to say that I felt anything but. I just think that sometimes less is more and it would have been better to dial it down a notch. Give a story and its characters room to breathe. It was like the author suffocated her own words. Lots of sentences felt forced and stilted, like she tried hard to accomplish something that wasn't even needed in the first place. Just…let a story flow on its own, don't force it and first and foremost don't smother it.

Her breath was warm, and she had either drank (I hope the proofreader caught that mistake coz it's "she had either drunk…") her own tea, or snuck a bit of his--his spine softened in Pavlovian response to the bergamot.

I think I just swallowed my last brain cell.

Or this…

She was stripped to elements--she wore what she could move her body in, she let her own features show her intelligence without distractions.

Seriously? I won't even bother commenting that quote.

She dropped the glue into the cut carefully, and it did sting, but watching her, her body close, was such a tenderness that the sting just brought up all of the sweet dark feelings in his chest and arranged them against his skin like salve.
When she softly blew her breath over the sealed cut, his skin tightened into thousands of sharp prickles all over, and the resulting sensation that tugged at his cock was too gentle, yet, to be completely pleasurable. The ache of wanting her was leaning a bit too hard against him.



I flat out refuse to comment that quote.

Yet wonders never cease coz I found one that I LOVED:

He coughed out a laugh. (That's NOT what I loved but the following…): "Nothing wrong with your name."
"A lot to live up to."
"Maybe. More likely that destiny just is what it is. Nothing you have to do or live for."

Very lovely.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes whenever Hefin had to cough out a laugh. What's up with that anyway?

Another issue of mine was the incredibly sl-o-o-o-w-w-w-w pace. It made me think over and over again if I'd be able to finish the book. My thoughts were wandering to my next read numerous times and that's never a good sign. Live was very easy to put down because it wasn't engaging. Unfortunately, my bum secured itself a window seat in BoredomVille.



That's when I felt it was time to clear the field. Hey, I made it to fourth base, though. There is that, right?



Bottom line, while I don't remember every detail anymore I KNOW that I enjoyed the writing much more in The Story Guy. Add in the fact that the MCs appealed way more to me as well and I have my validation why I wasn't partial to Live. At all.

I told one of my friends that I need to take a lesson how to become a demure reviewer but I think that ship has sailed. I can't help being bitchy when a book irritates me so much. Come to think of it, I was pretty civil because I never dropped the f-bomb (the shelves don't count). That's progressive, isn't it?

Looking at the high average rating, Live goes straight on my shelf books-everyone-loved-but-baba. I'm very sorry it wasn't my cup of tea.



All quotes are taken from the pre-published copy and may be altered or omitted in the final copy.

**ARC courtesy of Loveswept via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**


http://baba.booklikes.com

[Keertana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Live is one of those novels I feel compelled to write a review for, despite having nothing to say. Mary Ann Rivers's stories are so wrought with emotion - my heart is always too tangled up in their arcs - for me to objectively put into words what I love. For I love everything. I love these characters, sharp and hurting and bitter and true. I love their growth, unstable and unsteady and messy and hard. I love the settings, realistic to a flaw, a home away from home, and utterly lovable. But, perhaps most importantly, I love the words. Mary Ann Rivers's words, from her descriptions to her dialogue. And I love all the words that go unsaid, all the words that are conveyed with just a look, a glance, a touch. I love all the words swirling around in the minds of these far-too-real-to-be-fictional beings.

When Des receives yet another rejection e-mail, cementing the fact that she has been unemployed for months at this point, she begins to cry, very publicly, in the library. Hefin, the Welsh woodcarver Des has privately lusted after nearly every day, cannot help himself from reaching out to Des. Des, who walks with purpose, optimism, and a smile on her face every day, even though she has no job, has just lost her father, and her indomitable older sister is injured. And Hefin, whose failed marriage has never stopped haunting him. Des and Hefin's brief contact, however, is only the beginning of a beautiful relationship...one that both Hefin and Des know will end once Hefin's contract is finished as he is returning back to Wales. But for a romance that is supposed to be temporary, love is turning out to feel a lot more permanent.

From its synopsis, Live reads like such a classic contemporary romance novel. And yet, as is always the case with Mary Ann Rivers, it is much, much more. Des, for instance, has always remained in her small hometown in Ohio, going no more than a few miles away to attend university and returning straight back to live surrounded by neighbors she knew and the siblings she loves. When Sarah, Des's headstrong older sister, is gravely injured in a biking accident following her father's death, these four siblings are left grasping at straws. In the midst of them all, Des frantically attempts to keep her family together.

She felt like no matter how much she loved Sam and Sarah and PJ she'd never understand the trick of how her dad held them all together.
In fact, she had never doubted that they would ever have any trouble holding together, forever, until he left them behind to scatter. His ashed swirling in the wind on the winter morning just a few months ago took longer to disappear than their Sunday dinners, the ease that his children had always had with each other.
Now she was the only one who seemed to remember that there was a way that they could all fit.

Meanwhile, though Des's actions are propelled forward by her selflessness and love for her family, Hefin's past has never been able to leave him. A whirlwind marriage brought him from Wales to America, impulsively, but left him broken by the end. Even now, years later, Hefin cannot stop blaming himself for his failed marriage, for slowly turning his love and affection into bitterness and despair. Neither Des, with her responsibilities and little time, or Hefin, with his stark emotional unavailability, are ideal for each other. Although their physical chemistry is off-the-charts, Des and Hefin are not, no matter how much they wish it, the solution to one another's problems. Watching them stumble through their own personal hurdles and attempt to make their relationship work through honesty and frankness was both heartbreaking and hopeful.

Despite the fact that neither Hefin nor Des are ideal partners, capable of breaching the divides between them, the fact that they are able to look objectively upon one another's lives gives their relationship an uncomfortable, but necessary sense of clarity. Where Hefin is able to see only his failures from his past marriage, taking in all the hurt and pain and resentment and internalizing it, Des is able to turn around and see that Hefin's ex-wife, too, contributed to the collapse of their relationship. Similarly, where Des is only able to give love and give affection and give help to her family members, Hefin is able to identify that, sometimes, she needs to take it too.

Mary Ann Rivers has always written brilliant, provocative love stories in which characters fall, but sometimes they fall in puddles or are scraped and bruised along the way. None of her romances are easy, simple equations, especially not Des and Hefin. Moreover, the flaws these two possess are revealed right alongside their strengths, which makes falling in love falling for the bad sides as well as the good. While much of the arc of this relationship feels like saying goodbye - because, at the end, that is what Des and Hefin are telling one another - the conclusion to their tale is unforgettable. It is strong and empowering and oh-so-right for both these characters, not convenient in the least. Live is an incredible tale of finding your place in the world, especially when you think it belongs in a box where all your emotional needs aren't being met. It's about gathering the courage to look beyond and grasp that better opportunity that comes your way, even if it means sacrifice. It is only the first of Mary Ann Rivers's full-length novels and for that, I am infinitely glad for if there is anything I need more of, it is her words.

[willaful · Rating 4 out of 5]

(reviewed from e-arc provided by NetGalley.)

There are some romance novels in which the conflict feels forced, like the characters are just making trouble for themselves. Live isn't one of those: from almost the first meeting of Destiny and Hefin, they -- and we -- know that there's a serious obstacle in the way of them having more than an ephemeral relationship. It gave the story quite a different feel from usual, because there's no anticipation of an upcoming dark moment -- their conflict is how to appreciate the moment they have.

And of course, as a reader, I'm dying to figure out how this issue can possibly be satisfactorily resolved, because it seems so impossible. (I kept thinking of Bob Newhart as Superman, with his suit lost at the dry cleaners: "I don't know if we're going to be able to get you out of this one, Lois.") But gradually, beautifully, it comes to the perfect ending.

Des is firmly rooted in her Lakefield, Ohio community. (This is a small town novel without the small town, believably set in a city neighborhood.) Having recently lost her job, her family home, and her one remaining parent, she clings to pieces of the past. Helping her siblings and neighbors is one way she tries to fill what seems like an emptiness inside her:

After she got laid off six months ago, when Des looked down inside herself, she mostly saw time. Empty time.
But not how to live.
Not a life.
The people most closely related to her saw their entire lives inside themselves.

Hefin, the quietly sexy woodcarver she's been noticing restoring the atrium of the library, is on the verge of beginning a new future. A vacation romance that turned into marriage brought him to the United States; now divorced, he wants to reconnect with his family in Wales and then move on to the work he was meant to be doing. He doesn't particularly want to start something with no future -- as Des correctly points out, he is a "goose" person, the kind who wants to mate for life -- but the attraction between them is very strong. As the attraction becomes love and they begin to truly know each other, their conflict between their needs becomes less rigidly obvious… if they can see it.

The story is written very carefully and deliberately, especially during the sex scenes. Lots of noticing, lots of descriptions of small details -- a lavish depiction of sexual attraction that fits well with their personalities, since they're both people who love to lavish care on others. As is often the case when authors are trying hard to write about sex in fresh language, it occasionally hit a wrong note for me, but I think it pays off in the end.

As any city-set story should be, Live is filled with casual diversity. Hefin, who was adopted from England as a baby, is an undefined racial mix. Destiny's landlady made an interracial marriage in a far more difficult time. Destiny's mother was Jewish, her father Irish Catholic. None of this is particularly important to the story, though the last two have some personal meaning to offer Destiny -- it's just part of the random weave of life.

This is a rich, tender story, not at all the usual contemporary family series fare. I'm looking forward to seeing where life takes the Burnsides next.

[Molly O'Keefe]

This book hit remarkably close to home for me. I moved to canada from the states when I got married and many of the conversations that happened in the book - happened in my life. Or perhaps I wished they had happened. Moving to another country for love can seem very romantic and when you're twenty-five and in love it's all an adventure. Reading this book I am reminded of how young I was, how I couldn't in the two years that passed before I could work legally - fully explain all the ways that I was upset and sad and angry and resentful.

I find as I get older I only want to read romances with characters - who no matter their age - act with self-awareness. With a certain adult perspective on the world. Mary Ann's books hit this romance sweet spot for me.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book made me think of a cloudy day. The romance in this book is super hot, and the characters and the storyline in general are composed in such a way – a Mary Ann Rivers type way. Such care is taken to craft the characters lives, and the words she uses make me just want to roll around with my Kindle. But this isn’t your normal, small town happy, happy book. It’s a bit gloomy, which is not necessarily a bad thing, there is just a more heavier feel to this book.

Destiny Burnside, known more as Des, has never left her small Ohio hometown. Neither have her siblings. Her mother died when she was eight and her father just recently died. To add to the misery, Des has been unemployed for some time, having to move into a very small rental house owned by a nosy neighbor and she had to sell her car. She now drives her dad’s old limo around, which adds some quirkiness to the story. Right after her father died, her sister Sarah got into a very bad bike accident. She is not healing well – physically or emotionally, and Des spends much energy trying to get Sarah better. Her brother Sam is an overworked doctor who is always yelling and screaming (and his book is next which excites me greatly. He needs love. And some dirty action.) She has another brother PJ who is in an orchestra. Enough about them – let’s talk about Hefin!

Yes, our hero’s name is Hefin. He is from Wales. He met an American and followed her back to the states, then resented her, and resented her some more until they got a divorce. Now, Hefin who is a woodcarver (is that an awesome hero profession or what?) took a job doing some wood carving at the library – the same library that Des is currently working. They notice each other. Oh do they notice each other.

She watched him center his chocolate cream-filled pastry on his own napkin. She wasn’t sure she would survive the tidal wave of lust that would be watching him eat it.

And finally, Hefin makes his move. And there is romance and sadness because Hefin is moving back to Wales. He needs to go back to his roots, see his family, and eventually take up his former engineering job. He craves it. it’s just that he is going to learn he also craves Des.

One thing that stands out in this book is that Des and Hefin know from day one that he is going to leave. They plan for it, they try to accept it as best they can. God the tension and sex between them is hot. Hefin is a muscular yet wiry type guy. He has hairy forearms (this excites me). He blushes. He adores Des’s millions of freckles and her ‘knobby knees.’ His exploration of her is so intense it just makes you shiver. It’s so sexy and romantic and their chemistry is very well done.

As I mentioned earlier, Sarah’s injury plays a very big part in this book. Sarah isn’t really the nicest person – extreme pain will do that to you. She is very sick and puts a lot of darkness on the sibling relationship. It’s not always pretty in this book. It’s sad and angry. It brings forth that dark cloud I mentioned at the beginning of the book. It’s realistic and well done, but it’s a heavy weight, especially for Des’s character. She is the caregiver, the sister, the one people lean on for support – yet drowning herself with no money and the grief over her late father.

But don’t fear. Just when things get really heavy there is naughtiness in a batting cage and sex in a limo. And Hefin, with his stubble and curls about his ears make things very steamy and put a smile on my face. He is such a good guy, and just what Des needed.

Rating: B+

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Mary Ann Rivers, we reviewed her novella The Story Guy. So when I learned she had a new novel and a new series out I was thrilled. Mary Ann Rivers writes witty, clever and sweet romances. She captures real life so well and uniquely. Her new book did not disappoint me. Live is different than romance books I have read recently, but very close to what Mary Ann Rivers did in The Story Guy. For me, her writing style feels different because of the style of writing and the focus of the story. The style of writing is very full and detailed but that doesn’t alone describe what I mean.

“He would have like to play it cool, to lean back on the stoop and raise an eyebrow, cross his feet at the ankles. Instead, he was grinning like a child, stumbling off the last step in his eagerness to get to her.”

The text is beautiful. Every sentence is intentionally crafted. Every sentence is emotional. That is the other difference about Live for me, the story and the romance is centered on the emotional growth of the two main characters.

“He laughed, and the way she lit up made him realize that his laugh was giving her something she wanted.”

The story is told through alternating points of view between the main male and female characters. First we have Destiny or Des. She is without a job, her sister is ill, her last living parent recently passed away and she is trying to hold her siblings together. Then we have Hefin. He is temporarily working in the US, recovering from a failed marriage and planning to move back to Wales. Both are hurting and trying to figure out their lives and how they fit into the world. Neither is physically perfect, in fact Hefin is described as skinny. I don’t think I have read a romance where the male character, while strong and attractive to the female love interest, is skinny. These differences in description and the difficult point in their lives that we find these characters make this story unique. So many times, the male romantic lead is over powering, dominant and wildly successful but that is not Hefin. Hefin can’t carry Destiny off to a perfect life because he doesn’t have those resources. Mary Ann Rivers gives her readers two characters that are unique to romance literature but realistic.

While I was reading this book, in my head I kept pronouncing the title is “Liiive” (lɪv) (like, “Live from New York!”) but at the end I realized it is “Live” (short vowel sound) (like, Live your life to the fullest). This is significant, because how the name is pronounced is important to the novel. The book is about living life, not holding yourself back because of fear or emotional pain. It is about getting up when you have been knocked down, even when you don’t have anyone to help you get back up again.

I just started thinking about what would happen if I really started going after what I wanted instead of being afraid I didn’t want the right thing, or that I’d lose what it was I wanted or thought I wanted, or of messin’ up.

Live is beautifully written, well done and I just fell in love with the characters. The story includes a beautifully done back story that really makes the characters feel like they belong in a community.

“She was accustomed to small houses, big families, front stoops, peering neighbors, and older brother and sister who took over conversations, took over everything, and a younger brother who lived in her shadow.”

I love romances that have the characters interacting in a larger world; it gives the story context and richness. Live is like that. Mary Ann Rivers wrote about people I know or people I can imagine living and working.

I agree with some reviewers that Live is wordy but personally I loved that. There are many thoughtful inner monologues. Inner monologues are risky, depending on the author these can really fail — but in my opinion they did not fail in Live. This is where the readers get to know Hefin and Destiny. This is where we see their pain, their love — and how they grow as people. Oh yeah, importantly Live is a very sweet romance with steamy sex scenes.

The author set the book up to be a series and the sequel centers on Destiny’s brother – I am looking forward to it.

To read more of this review and others like it check out Badass Book Reviews

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

Mary-Ann Rivers is definitely one of my ones to watch for 2014. I read and loved The Story Guy, as well as Snowfall (which is in the Heating up the Holidays collection). Live is her first foray into the full length book universe.

One of the things that I loved about both of the aforementioned novellas was the highly detailed and visually descriptive writing, and although that is the same style used in Live, it at points went a little bit too far and I found myself losing the drift of the story because of the description of something or someone mid paragraph.

That-said the story is a little different from the norm and still extremely enjoyable. I loved that

Des isn’t your usual, skinny, blond or brunette nymph, with perfectly proportioned body parts as so many of our book heroines are these days…She has ginger hair, freckles and knobbly knees and it’s a refreshing change to be able to visualize someone a little bit different.

Hefin – Des was a woman, that’s all. Smart and sweet, grey-eyed and skinny, prone to tears and questions.

Hefin is from Wales, 100% hands down love him, a man from my neck of the woods (Wales is part of the U.K, so I’m taking him), dark, brooding and not afraid to approach a woman in distress, not so-much an alpha male and more of a “I’ll let you lead the way” type of guy. I have to say that I pictured Richard Burton in my head from the way Mary-Ann described him, and that is an image I am definitely not going to complain about any time soon!

Hefin – He was a Welshman. Land of the Dragons and Rugby.

There attraction is mutual, but for one problem Hefin is returning to Wales when his commission (he is a woodcarver) at the library (this is where they met) finishes, so he is reluctant to make a commitment to Des. They then have 8 weeks with each other. Hefin understands what it is like to give up your life and aspirations for another, and although he wants Des to journey back to Wales with him, is nervous of how her feelings towards him might change if it isn’t as she imagined.

Hefin – “I’m ready, you see. To go back”…”I can’t stay for someone, not again. I can’t live for someone else again. I can’t ask”…

Des has issues with her family, and although they are no longer the perfect unit, she is not sure that she can uproot herself to follow Hefin, and leave her siblings behind.

This is quite a deep book, I think the emotion and heavy descriptiveness of the writing makes it so. That’s not a bad thing, but it is definitely the type of book you need to be in the right frame of mind for.

I look forward to seeing what Mary-Ann surprises us with next. ARC provided through Netgalley, in exchange for the above honest review.

[Tracie Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow did I love this book. I mean this just snuck up on me where I could not put it down and read until my eyes crossed. I first read this author's fantastic novella The Story Guy and gave this full length a shot and I am so glad I did. Mary Ann Rivers has a wonderful way with words and dialogue that had me smiling and chuckling and sighing throughout the entire book. These characters all felt like real people having real conversations with real reactions. Destiny and Hefin have been admiring each other from afar and when he finally approaches her you just know their relationship is going to be special. They were so awkward yet honest with each other and that was so refreshing. They each have their own baggage and are up front with their expectations, but they tackle a relationship anyways. Their chemistry was quietly explosive and I swear to god I was in the same room with them during their sexy times. There was no ridiculous drama or angst, the pacing was perfect I would not change a thing. For me this is just a perfect romance novel and I can't wait to read about her brother Sam. I would highly recommend this book.

[Pam Faste aka Peejakers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is warm and lovely and full of all the feelz. Real people with real, human problems in a tender, beautiful, deeply romantic, deeply loving, and very sexy love story, with wonderful stuff about family and roots and the healing of broken hearts.

I love this book.

[Gisele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review in English e em Português

5 beautifuly LIVEd stars

Don’t you cry for the lost
Smile for the living
Get what you need and give what you’re given
Life’s for the living so LIVE it
Or you better off dead

Passenger – Life’s for the Living

Mary Ann Rivers is one of my favorite authors. Since I read The Story Guy earlier this year, I fell in love with her work. She has such a way with words. Her histories are not easy ones. They’re full of feelings.. from angst to happiness, everything. And what I like her best is that her stories are so real. Her characters are not those super beautiful men and women, but normal people, like the ones you see across the street.

In Live she tell us the history of two beautifully damaged people, Destiny and Hefin



I am lost for words, so lost in love
I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered



Both of them feel things deep, very deep and somehow are not living their lives to the fullest. Some things from the past are still holding them and in this book, we see them break free and learn to just live.

Destiny has just lost her father and her job, and she’s struggling to keep her herself and her family together, but everything seems to be falling apart, ‘cause she can’t find another job and her brothers and sister (who is very sick) are slowly drifting apart. And in the middle of this mess, she meets Hefin.

Hefin is a Welshman, a woodcarver, who has left Wales to follow his heart and marry Jessica in the US, but somewhere along the way, he lost himself, his dreams and ultimately his marriage. Now he wants to go back to Wales, to his parents and everything that is familiar to him, in order to regain what his lost, or so he thinks.

Are you seeing how things are complicated? He’s not staying long and she’s in the middle of serious family problems.. How can this work?
Their relationship is beautiful, sometimes painful but at the same time revealing. With each other, they learn they can be themselves and just live. Live is not always easy, but with the right person by your side you can get through anything.

I can’t even begin to explain how beautiful their love story is. The ones who already read one of Mary Ann’s histories can imagine how she can work her magic… I loved both of them, their strength, their fragility.

Hefin is very unique. He’s a beta, kind of taciturn and romantic hero. Even if he’s so afraid to fall in love again hurt Destiny in the process, he embraces this feeling so fully. He helps Destiny and himself to see that you can’t be afraid to live and experiment new things in life, even though you have to sacrifice things in order to do that, because in the end everything you you’ve been through is worth, because you just LIVED.

You can’t avoid bad things to happen in your life, but you can learn to take good lessons from the hard times.

I can’t wait for the next books in this series! The Burnside family still has much to tell.

ARC provided by the publisher and the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
_________________________________________

Mary Ann Rivers é uma das minhas autoras favoritas. Desde que eu li The Story Guy no início deste ano, eu me apaixonei por seu trabalho. Ela tem esse jeito com as palavras. Suas histórias não são fáceis. Elas são cheias de sentimentos.. da angústia para a felicidade, tudo. E o que eu mais gosto dela é que as suas histórias são reais. Seus personagens não são sobre homens e mulheres super lindos e perfeitos, mas sobre pessoas normais, como as que você vê na rua.
Em Live ela nos conta a história de duas pessoas lindamente danificadas, Destiny e Hefin

Ambos sentem tudo profundamente e de alguma forma não estão vivendo suas vidas ao máximo. Algumas coisas do passado ainda estão segurando-os e, neste livro, podemos vê-los se libertar e aprender a apenas viver.

Destiny acaba de perder seu pai e seu trabalho, e ela está lutando para manter a si e sua família vivos, mas tudo parece estar caindo aos pedaços, porque ela não consegue encontrar outro emprego e seus irmãos e irmã (que está muito doente) estão lentamente se afastando. E no meio dessa bagunça, ela conhece Hefin.

Hefin é galês, um entalhador, que deixou Gales para seguir seu coração e se casar com Jessica nos EUA, mas em algum lugar ao longo do caminho ele se perdeu, perdeu seus sonhos e finalmente, o seu casamento. Agora, ele quer voltar ao País de Gales, para seus pais e tudo o que é familiar para ele, a fim de recuperar o que foi perdido, ou assim ele pensa...

Você está vendo como as coisas são complicadas? Ele não vai ficar muito tempo e ela está no meio de problemas familiares graves.. Como isso pode funcionar ?

O relacionamento deles é lindo, às vezes doloroso, mas ao mesmo tempo revelador. Com o outro, eles aprendem que podem ser eles mesmos e apenas viver. Viver nem sempre é fácil, mas com a pessoa certa ao seu lado você pode conseguir qualquer coisa.

Eu não posso nem começar a explicar o quão linda é a história de amor desses dois. Os que já leram uma das histórias de Mary Ann podem imaginar como ela faz a sua mágica... Eu amei os dois, sua força, sua fragilidade.

Hefin é muito original. Ele é um beta, uma espécie de herói taciturno e romântico. Mesmo que ele tenha medo de se apaixonar novamente e acabar por machucar Destiny no processo, ele abraça esse sentimento plenamente.

Ele ajuda Destiny e a si mesmo a ver que você não pode ter medo de viver e experimentar coisas novas na vida, mesmo que você tenha que sacrificar algumas coisas para fazer isso, porque no final tudo o que você passou por vale a pena, porque você simplesmente viveu.

Você não pode evitar que coisas ruins aconteçam em sua vida, mas você pode aprender a tirar boas lições dos tempos difíceis.

Eu não posso esperar pelos próximos livros desta série! A família Burnside ainda tem muito para contar.

ARC fornecido pela editora e pela autora via Netgalley em troca de uma resenha sincera.

[Danielle (Love at First Page) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3-3.5 stars

I fell in love with Mary Ann Rivers' writing after reading her novella The Story Guy, and it's just as beautiful in her first full-length novel Live. They share a lot of similarities that are beginning to feel like Rivers' "personal stamps": a somber, melancholic tone; meditative characters who internalize their feelings but nevertheless embrace those feelings fully; prose that drifts like the movement of the sea; and, most of all, a true understanding of the depths of human emotions. While I did not fall quite as hard for Live as I did for The Story Guy, it's still an achingly real portrait of a man and woman falling in love and learning how to fit that love into their prospective lives.

Destiny Burnside has lived in Lakefield, Ohio her entire life. It's where she has always felt like she belongs. However, life right now is not easy, and she's beginning to crumble beneath its weight. She's coping not only with the loss of her job but also with the recent death of her father, and in the middle of that grief she's trying her hardest to keep her siblings knitted together. I loved her courage, her generosity, and her strength of character. She wants to live while at the same time unsure how to do that in the midst of her family's problems.

Hefin Thomas is from a small seaside town in Wales. He moved to the United States with his soon-to-be wife, thinking he'd make a home for himself with her there. It was a very spontaneous decision on both of their parts, born out of one very intense week together while she was on vacation near his home. At the time, Hefin held a promising future as an engineer, and he felt like he could make a name for himself anywhere. What followed was the dissolution of his self and then his marriage. He couldn't find work, couldn't make his big plans come true, and he felt trapped. He felt homesick. He let himself go before he was truly ready. Now, he's a shell of a man, working as a woodcarver, and weeks away from finally returning home. Hefin is a sweet, sweet man, totally swoon-worthy and heartbreaking. He puts others in front of himself and hates seeing anyone in pain. He's a physical guy, too, and the intimate scenes with Destiny are some unexplainable combination of sexy, sad, and tender.

The problem this couple faces is immediately obvious: she wants to stay, and he needs to go. Destiny has obligations to her family and can't imagine living anywhere else, whereas Hefin must return home to feel like himself again. They agree to keep their relationship casual, but Rivers never writes about characters who stunt their emotions or who are not in tune with them. On the contrary, her characters are acutely aware of what they're feeling, and they take those feeling into themselves to the point where it can be almost painful to read about.

He wanted to know what it was to live beside another and still know who you were. He wanted to know who he was, and to know who his beloved was, and still weave his legs in with hers at the end of every day and make love sideways. Facing the other. He wanted the world where that was possible.

This is a very romantic, character-driven story. At times it is slow and even a bit depressing; my heart often felt very heavy. But the journey to get to the couple's happy ending is worth it. It's amazing to see how Hefin and Destiny's love transforms them and opens their eyes to new possibilities. They give each other what they need:

He opened up a space around her, one with only her inside it, and not only let her say whatever it was that she wanted, but took her words inside of himself and let them break against him and change him.

This is the first of a new series, each Burnside sibling getting his or her own book, and big brother Sam is next. With writing like this:

That kind [of] loss must move the way the ground feels under your feet, the way you look at other people when they cry or when they laugh or when they do anything. That kind of loss must change the number of breaths you're supposed to breathe in an hour until you can imagine just not breathing at all. Loss like a crater that you sit on the edge of, throwing things into it in the hopes you can hear them hit the bottom.

I look forward to anything Mary Ann Rivers has coming out next.

This review can also be found at Love at First Page.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't believe I waited so long to read this! It's tender and intense and lovely!

I read my first book by Mary Ann Rivers,The Story Guy, back when it was released in 2013 and have been meaning to try her Burnside series ever since but as it often happens, I got sidetracked. Recently a recommendation of Live by a trusted friend on Twitter brought this book back to my attention and it was just the right time to dive into it.

Now, having read it in just two days, I wonder what I was thinking waiting so long.

This a tender love story of a Welshman, stranded in Ohio, the wonderful caring beta hero Hefin and a local girl, rooted in her neighbourhood and her family with the mystical name of Destiny.

I really enjoyed this very introverted, slow-burning but very deep and intense romance. I liked how the author focused on the complexity of life and love in modern times - the efforts it take to keep your family together, the struggles with unemployment and a dire financial situation, moving across the world for the person you love.

Life and love are not simple, they are not just about us but they also affect all the people we care about and who care about us. There are no easy solutions and both Des and Hefin's problems seem real and easy to understand. The struggles they face, the decisions they have to make are unique to them but in a way also, universal to people in love.

The plot is rather simple - what do you do when you meet the right person at the wrong time. How do you make it work? And there is no easy answer but I do believe the right one is really to look into your heart and follow it.

Des had to deal with a lot of family-related stress and problems and grief, oh there was so much grief both characters experienced, that at times their HEA seemed impossible. She was strong and determined in an unobtrusive way, and I very much loved that about her. She is not some super woman - strong and tough and unbreakable, but she is resilient, just a human being with strengths and weaknesses, insecurities and moments of doubt.

Hefin was a rare beta hero and I absolutely loved that about him. It made him real, human, someone grieving the failure of his marriage, someone at a crossroads professionally, someone who doesn't want to hurt people but help and care about them. But at the same time he was broken inside, lost and needed the comfort and support of family, home, loved ones.

All this made their romance both intense and heart-breaking and their HEA even sweeter. On the surface the obstacles they had to overcome seemed mostly practical, but the truth is they were buried deep within them and both Hefin and Des needed to find their inner strength and resolve for their romance to happen.

I mostly enjoyed the writing, which is very lyrical and one could say flowery but it worked well for the characters. At times I found it a bit overdescriptive and felt the story needed more action and less brooding and self-doubt but I have come to realize it is just not that kind of story.

If you like tender love stories with lots of angst and self-examination and character growth, I can greatly recommend this one.

[namericanwordcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review
When I read a book as good as this, I feel lucky, lucky, lucky. What a grand feeling!

I am so pleased that Mary Ann Rivers is adding her amazing voice and vision to the world of Romance. I loved The Story Guy and I loved Live as well...maybe more even.

This love story is utterly smart, completely tender, vividly detailed, and achingly real.

The hero and heroine could be called plain if you went by the descriptions of them we get from the book. They certainly are not a part of the conventional beauty set in our culture or that of Romance's mainland.

But, of course, no one is really plain or ordinary and we get to see that sheer shining beauty of the body and soul through the switching points of view of the hero and heroine.

Our heroine is a Ginger (a red head for those of you uninitiated in the ways of our people lol). Rivers captures in the sensuality of this book all the more pleasurable aspects of being a Ginger and the men that love them. Take this from a Ginger married to a Ginger loving man. She is dead on. Fans self. Destiny also has knobby knees, sweat in her hair line, and is skinny.

Our hero is tall but rangy, thin even. The size of his member isn't detailed but it seems to do a fine job. He has a hairy chest. Thank the Goddess. He is Welsh of a mixed unnamed racial background. Hefin. Sigh.

The romance starts with a crush, settles in with bad timing for both of them, sings its glory in small and large gestures of true seeing another and some damn good sexy times, and gives a HEA that is joyous but also achievable.

This is the start of a series where we get a peek into the lives of Carrie and Brian from The Story Guy and the foundation is well laid for the tales of Destiny's siblings.

The writing style here is notable as it is poetic and philosophical. It has air and light though. There are very funny and surprising moments. I think I have already mentioned the sheer YUM of the love making--its a little bit dirty actually for all the beauty but the kind of dirty we all enjoy in our own beds (or in the back of limos) from time to lucky time. The sex is hot, messy, sometimes full of laughter, emotionial and real.

The side stories and secondaries are pitch perfect and the conflicts are so raw and human they hurt but they also heal and give us the wonders of this genre done well--an understanding of others, a belief in love of all kinds, and joy in the body, the mind, and the soul.

I could tell you all kinds of other wonderful things about this book like the great girl talk, the insights on mortality, grief, illness, care taking, divorce, the love of art and its healing powers as well as those of friendship and family and the pondering on place and home but this book is one of those that unfolds before each reader differently and magically. It whispers just to you. Go, discover all the little wonders to be had in here. Go.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Sam's story comes out in May of 2014. Ho! Ho! Grumpy Ginger Man--you are gonna get yours!

I was given this book for my honest review. So there you have it!

[Kisha Briscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this arc for my honest review.

I absolutely enjoyed this book. it was a really refreshing departure from the alpha male skittish female book. don't get me wrong Hefin had his alpha moments. but I really loved his quiet shy strength. Destiny was really well written as well. I can't wait to read about the rest of the supportibg cast as the series continues

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing makes me happier than picking one good book after another.
And my God, if this story didn't speak to a part of my hear.
I loved the characters, the way the story line evolved, the love scenes.
So much emotion, so much feel. So much Life.
I want to read the next book in the series, but I need some time to process all the feels this book gave me.
Splendid.

[Louise]

***reading copy kindly provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

DNF

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally reviewed here @ Dear Author

After falling in love with the beautiful novellas, The Story Guy and Snowfall (Heating Up the Holidays 3-Story Bundle), I basically resolved to read whatever Mary Ann Rivers. This is not going to be a hardship, what with the achingly lovely way with words and the sort of compulsively disarming meet cutes these books deliver. I honestly have no defenses at my disposal at that moment when these characters first come into contact with one another. From highly suspect online singles ads to increasingly confusing chatting with anonymous macro photographers, I am all in from the first page. And Live, of course, is no exception. Des and Hefin meet in a library, for heaven’s sake. And they just watch each other. For months. I can’t . . . well. I mean . . . and it was good, right? This is the first in a series featuring Des and her three siblings–the remaining members of the Burnside family. I look forward to each one.

Privately, she called him The Woodcarver.

Which, very strictly, he was. Or at least, she had actually seen him carving wood, and talking to other people about carved wood, specifically the carved-wood panels and decorations that were under restoration in the atrium of the library.

Even more painful—if pain was a sweet ache that felt good when you worried and pressed at it—she walked by his work site every single day.

Slow.

As close as she dared without his noticing.

Destiny Burnside has been faithfully chasing her way out of unemployment for months now. Every day she puts in her time at the local library, job hunting, getting her paltry resume out there. Every day she gets her form signed, keeping her chin up despite the attendant humiliation and fear. And every day she passes by the all-but-silent man in charge of the library restoration and looks. Hefin Thomas is, among other things, a woodcarver and a Welshman (I know). He came to America as part of a whirlwind marriage and found himself rather summarily unhappy, quickly divorced, and working contract jobs until he could figure out what to do next. Every day he’s watched the ginger-haired young woman pass through the library, and every day he’s found his eyes drawn to her despite himself. Then one day he hears her crying. And it’s more than he can do to ignore her. His unexpected words of comfort initiate the kind of problematic relationship neither of them wants to deal with, as Destiny’s suburban Ohio roots are deep and Hefin has been resisting the call home to Wales for far too long.

I kind of feel like I’ve said enough, but there’s so much more to Live than an out-of-work daughter of a limo driver and a homesick Welsh woodcarver. Not that I’m saying there needs to be, because, well, out-of-work daughter of a limo driver and homesick Welsh woodcarver. Ahem. But there is. Des’ love for her family is behind everything she does, both to her credit and to an unhealthy degree. Her mother died when the kids were younger, and her father’s death (followed by her headstrong sister Sarah’s terrible accident) sent the four of them into a tailspin from which they have yet to recover. Forced to sell almost everything she owns, living on the generosity of a longtime family friend and neighbor, and driving her father’s failing limo to get where she needs to go, Des’ life is circling the drain when Hefin finally walks up to her and asks why she’s crying. But then Hefin’s history is equally as grim, or rather his recent history is. The painful dissolution of a marriage that was both impulsive and lovely has left him well and truly broken. The blame he places on himself makes living in any full sense of the word impossible. Neither of them have enough available appendages to hold onto the other, and I sat mesmerized as I watched them try and fail and be devastatingly honest with each other throughout.

That honesty characterizes each of their interactions, making for an impressive verisimilitude. It’s something I admire about Rivers’ writing. Her characters, they fall in love the way we do. They learn frank and not always lovely details about each other as they fall, and they are often actually drawn to some of those less-than-perfect details. Like knobby knees and hair in natural places. It’s not only refreshing, it increases the intimacy between reader and character. Along with that, when someone who used to be outside makes the transition to inner circle and points out troubling aspects of the way we lead our lives, it makes us feel hunted, uncertain, guarded. The same is true for Des and Hefin as she learns more about how he coped (or failed to) with the end of his marriage and career and as he becomes privy to the way the Burnside siblings often combine lashing out and love into the same repetitive gesture. These rich interactions and gradual enfolding of each other’s lives worked so well as I got to know Des and Hefin more. I like that I didn’t always know which way the wind would blow, or in fact which way I wanted it to in the end. I could see so clearly what they needed and wanted them each to have it individually, if collectively was not possible.

She took out an apple wedge and toyed with it. “But you grew up in Wales, right? In Aberaeron?”

Her pronunciation was perfect and he tried not to imagine her practicing it. “That’s right. And Aberaeron is tiny. My mum could call me home to tea from across town. I didn’t need a prospect from which to see my whole life, I could see my whole life from any point I stood in the village.”

“But you left.”

“I elected into a university training program in engineering after taking some time with prerequisites at a local college. I went to London for a year, then to Beijing for almost three.”

“Oh. Wow. I went to Toronto for a class trip in high school, and sometimes my parents took us kids to Pittsburgh to see my grandparents and the Mister Rogers exhibit at the Children’s Museum.”

“Any place can be exotic when you’re away from home.” He looked down and realized he had used the handle end of his fork to press in a design of ropes and knots into the top of his Styrofoam pancake box, his hands distracted while he talked. Des reached over and traced over it with her fingers, softly.

“That’s so pretty. I could hang it up in my house and people wouldn’t even know it was a pancake box.”

“I’ll draw you something better than a doodle on a pancake box.” He closed his eyes, willed the blush away.

“You don’t have to, but I’d like that. Your carvings are so good I can’t believe they’re even real.”

“Let’s eat.” He resisted pushing the heel of his hand over his heart to make it slow down. “Is that all you have, then?”

She shook her head, like she was saying no, but then met his eyes, and hers cleared. “I mean, yeah. PB&J, favorite of six-year-olds and the long-term unemployed everywhere.”

He started popping open his boxes. Glanced up at the whitecaps on the lake. Let himself look at her again, tried not to count the numbers of freckles in the hollow of her throat. “I guess you’d better share with me, then.”

She touched her throat, like she knew where he was looking. “Pancake me,” she said. And he laughed. Helpless.

This is the first full-length novel I’ve read from Ms. Rivers, and I wondered, as I often do when I read an author’s novellas first, how she would make the transition to the longer format. By and large, I felt it was a very smooth transition. One of the primary themes in Live is how sometimes the entire arc of a relationship can be a form of saying good-bye. And while I resonated with that on many levels, it did pall a bit as the two principals are both so profoundly inward-facing and the story wound on and resolution seemed farther and farther away. But as that is my only complaint in such an elegantly layered story, I definitely feel as though I came out on top. As always with Rivers books, I feel grateful to have read these words.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

See full review at:
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blog...

Move it or Lose it? Mary Ann Rivers' LIVE

I've not written an RNFF Pet Peeve post in some time. But reading Mary Ann Rivers' first contemporary romance, Live, made me remember one I mentioned in passing in a longer Pet Peeve post: heroines who declare to their newfound lovers, "I'll follow you wherever you go; wherever you are is my home," or other heartfelt words to that effect. Willingness to leave a career, relatives, and/or friends behind without a single look back has often been used as a measure of the depth of a romance heroine's love. In recent years, some authors have inverted the trope, making the hero, rather than the heroine, prove his love by his willingness to ditch his job on his beloved's behalf. While I appreciate the variety, I'm not convinced such inversions call into question the thinking underlying the trope itself: that one person can fulfill all your needs. While I can recognize the appeal of the fantasy of the inverted trope (wow, he loves me more than anyone, more than anything else!), I've never quite understood why women readers find the self-sacrifice of the original something to get dreamy over. And having spent some time in academia, where couples searching to put their newly minted PhDs to good use teaching are often faced with choosing to live in the same city with only one employed or choosing to teach at different universities and live apart, I've seen firsthand how excruciatingly difficult such decisions often are in real life.


Pet Peeving noise...
Rivers' novel brought this Pet Peeve to mind not because Live embodies it, or even inverts it, but rather because it takes it as its object of study. Typically, the "I'll move for you" declaration occurs at the end of a novel, during the HEA moment, when the couple declares their love for one another. In Live, however, one of our protagonists, Welshman Hefin* Thomas, has already so been there, done that. Having met and married an American after only a whirlwind week of courtship, he followed her to Ohio, the site of her successful law career. But his struggles with immigration, and his inability to find work in his chosen field and being unemployed for two years, turned their marriage sour:

The night she came home and poured them wine and told him that he resented her, and she couldn't live with his resentment anymore, he started to say no, of course he didn't, his failure to find work in his new country was his own, his temper and his moods were his own, or were his shame that he hadn't provided for her, for them—and then he was choked by his own tears.
He cried like a child, noisy and stormy and wet, and she held him against her.
The grief was impossible. (Loc 945)


A hand-carved Welsh love spoon
At novel's start, Hefin's divorced and working as a woodcarver (a hobby turned into a job), restoring the carvings in the library of the Ohio town where he still lives. But he's decided that at job's end, he'll be returning to Wales, so he can reconnect to his family, and find a job where his love for engineering can flourish. Such plans make it unwise to respond to his attraction to the ginger-haired woman who comes into the library every day, diligently conducting her own job search on the library's computers. Even after their meet-cute (or meet-teary), Hefin makes certain that Destiny Burnside knows that he's going back to Wales in eight short weeks. And that he won't ever stay for someone else, live for someone else again. And he will never ask anyone to make such a sacrifice for him. Better not to get involved, he tells her.

But Destiny challenges Hefin's right to make such a choice on her behalf, to protect her without her say. Des has weathered her own share of grief of late: the death of her father, the loss of her job, and the pain of a beloved sister not recovering the way she should after being hit by a car. Des wants to take the joy she can today, without worrying about the potential losses of tomorrow: "I can't stand the grief of losing something and the fear of losing something else at the same time. I can't. And since I already am living with the grief, I guess I choose not to bother with the fear" (Loc 1739). And so the two decide to spend what time they can together, to enjoy the brief weeks they have rather than worrying about what might follow.

Neither Des nor Hefin is prone to casual relationships, though, and their physical attraction soon interweaves with emotional intimacy, intimacy that convinces them this is no passing affair. Being with Des makes Hefin want "to know what it was to live beside another and still know who you were" (Loc 2268). But Des knows that Hefin needs to go back to Wales, to the sound of the sea and the love of his family and the work that fulfills a real gap in his life. And more than ever, Des needs to stay in Ohio: her siblings are on the verge of falling apart, her sister is back in the hospital, and her new career as a fledgling web designer is just starting to get off the ground. Rivers writes with poignancy of the double tug each lover feels (this example from Hefin's pov):

Was it that Destiny wasn't enough? If she wasn't, no one else would ever be. Yet his heart felt so full of her, like they were sideways, together, like the first time he was inside her, their limbs entwined, and just like that, the both of them had slipped into his heart, a physical weight, knotted and warm. How could that be and her happiness not be enough? How could he still have such a feeling of hope and lightness at the idea of his plane winging its way home? (Loc 3306).

Will Hefin ask Des to move for him? Will she ask him to stay? Is it only a question of either/or, Ohio or Wales? With an elegance of language and honesty of emotion not often found in romance, Rivers depicts the painstaking steps Des and Hefin take, the questions they ask themselves and each other, as they struggle to figure out how to meet not only their need for a lover, but also for rewarding work and for strong family ties, in order to feel whole.


* Prounounced HEV-in, according to the website Behind the Name

Photo credits:
Love spoon: Adam King







Mary Ann Rivers, Live
Loveswept, 2014

[Camille Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Mary Ann Rivers does it again in her full-length novel debut. Get ready to be swept away by her story-telling. LIVE is as much about the love story of Destiny and Hefin as it is about these two people rediscovering the love for themselves.

Destiny Burnside, or Des, to family and friends, has been in an employment slump for months now since her father’s death and she constantly comes to the town library for job hunting. That’s where she “met” Hefin Thomas, “met” being the defining word as they have not been introduced at all and the extent of their interaction is when she ogles him at the library. He’s one of the highlights of Destiny’s day, even more so when it is currently filled with thoughts of her constant failure to land a job, of trying to help with the recovery of her sister who was in a motor accident, and of somehow trying to keep her family together, since that Burnside siblings lost their father. What she didn’t know was that the ogling went both ways.

Hefin Thomas is currently working on a restoration project for the library. He’s originally from England but moved to the States when he got married. Unfortunately, his marriage didn’t work out, leaving him divorced and his heart scarred. His aware of Destiny Burnside since the first time he saw her enter the library. But his little “crush” on Destiny can turn into a complication when one day he could not help himself when he saw her breakdown and cry. He didn’t have time for a long-term and serious relationship. Not when he decided he needed to get back to England in order to find what he seemed to have lost since his divorce.

From that first touch of Hefin’s hand on Destiny’s knee as he tried to comfort her in what she deemed a pretty embarrassing breakdown, in the library no less, I knew I was in it for the long haul. Because I wanted to see how they would change each other’s lives. And boy did they ever.

Hefin has found himself lost since his marriage collapsed and the painful part for him is that he blames himself for the failure. He has grown resentful of his ex-wife when they were still together not because she didn’t love him but because he somehow could not find himself as himself when they moved to the States. I love how Mary Ann Rivers presented this conflict with Hefin. You could see how it must have happened in the past and you understand the reasons behind it. And you also understand that Hefin somehow needs to open himself up to acceptance: acceptance of the fact that yes, he was at fault but then a marriage is not a relationship of one alone. And I love how Destiny stirs him towards that realization. Apart from his divorce, you just know that Hefin is finding himself lost somehow. Adrift. He plans to return to England where he hopes to reconnect with his past and be able to start anew towards his future.

In the outset, I initially thought that Hefin had the more complicated and heavier of the conflicts in the story. But if you’ve read Mary Ann Rivers before, you’ll know that her characters are multi-faceted, layered, and deep. And Destiny Burnside is no different. I was surprised to find myself realizing the conflicts and complications of Destiny’s life much the same time as Hefin starts to discover them. Because that’s also the time Hefin realizes that Destiny is the kind of person who likes to take care of people. And that caring personality meant that you don’t get to see what her worries or her problems are like because it doesn’t show. She doesn’t show it because that’s part of her nature.

The love story of these two was heartbreaking and heartwarming to read at the time. Heartbreaking because you know these two have set a sort of deadline for their time together, knowing that Hefin is scheduled to return to England. Heartwarming because you know neither time nor place would matter when you know change is bound to happen within yourself, with the way you see your world, with the way you love and live your life, and find your home.

There were so many good parts that I truly loved in this book, I must have highlighted favorite passages dozens of times in almost every single chapter. I really appreciate Mary Ann Rivers’s style of writing. I particularly appreciate all the metaphors and the imagery that she presents to her readers. LIVE has a lot of those and you have to read the book in order to appreciate it better but a couple of my favorites are the Dome of twigs constructed on Destiny’s backyard, the talk about owning to your percentage for the failure of a relationship, and every reference that talks about finding your place in the world, that place you can call your home.

These two people’s journey in life and love would inspire you, make you ask questions about your own lives, about the importance of living, the healing power of love and acceptance. As much as I would like enumerate all the things I love about this book, because there are a lot, I feel I would be taking the experience from you. So I will just suggest that you go buy and read this book. You can never go wrong with a Mary Ann Rivers book. Destiny is the first of the Burnside siblings to get a story and I know we’re looking out for Sam Burnside’s book sometime in the immediate future. Mary Ann Rivers has created a wonderful groundwork for them and I can’t wait to read their stories as well.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Live by Mary Ann Rivers is a January 2014 Loveswept publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review by the publisher and Netgalley.

Destiny is going through a very tough time. Each day she walks past a restoration project and has noticed one man in particular. She has created a fantasy about him which is really just a way to escape her problems. But, one day she just can not take any more and breaks down crying. Her fantasy guy takes notice and she discovers his name is Hefin and he is Welch. He comforts her and listens to her explain that she is out of a job and is becoming desperate. He tells her of a job opportunity and from that point on the two begin seeing each other.
Hefin is in America because of his wife Jessica, who is now his ex-wife. Once his current job is finished he plans on returning home to see his parents and touch base with his professional contacts so he can get back to work in his chosen field.
Knowing from the start that the relationship will be short lived, Destiny and Hefin just can't help themselves. They continue to become more and more involved while the world around Destiny becomes more and more intolerable. Being out of a job for so long isn't her only problem. She has a very messed up family and she has recently lost her father. She is torn up over the death and the family situation which leaves her little time to really live.
Hefin has a few unresolved issues with Jessica as he reflects upon his marriage and his fault in it's failure. He must leave America, it isn't just about the end of his marriage, or his career, but he needs to take care of things he has not seen to a while. But, the thought of leaving Destiny behind isn't making his departure easy. For the time being the two lovers are taking things one day at time until they must face the day Hefin leaves.
I just loved this story. It is a very unconventional contemporary romance. This is a realistic look at a young woman that has put her own life on a back burner in light of some very heavy family issues. She isn't supported emotionally by anyone in her family as they are all very self absorbed people, living in their own misery. Destiny doesn't have a lot to be happy about and Hesin in the only bright light in her life, and even he will soon depart. You may ask yourself if getting involved with someone that has made it crystal clear they will not be around much longer is a good idea . That thought crossed my mind to be honest. But, when the issue is addressed between the two characters, Destiny hits the mark when she says that she just doesn't care right that moment. The pull Hefin has over her and the feelings they can't deny leaves her thinking it is better to at least have this time and enjoy it than to never have experienced the magic Hefin has given her and to avoid fretting over the day when he will have to go. Destiny has enough to deal with so if she wants to have this time for herself then I say she deserved it. But, I also felt like she deserved more than just a spring fling. Hefin also needed to have this great love that with his maturity and the peace he now feels to move foward would make his life complete. But alas, it doesn't look as though that is meant to be... or is it?
I was just wowed by this authors prose and the very character driven story that just sucks the reader right into the world these people are living in. The story has a lot depth and emotion. Hefin is a quiet guy not prone to anger or manipulation, but he doesn't like it if someone mistreats Destiny in any way. He is supportive of her and encourages her and understands her more than her own family does. What Destiny does for Hefin, is to help him move forward from the life he had with Jessica. To face what went wrong, and learn from it. Destiny doesn't try to talk him out of going or make a big scene, she understands that he has to do this and even supports it. it is just a real shame that Destiny is caught in a web she can't escape from. It will take a lot of courage for her to step up and do what SHE needs to do. Her family will just have to deal with things and grow up for the love of Pete. Will Destiny live up to the name she was born with and seek her destiny with Hefin or will this great couple become a just another tragic love story?
All I can say is if you haven't read Mary Ann Rivers I strongly recommend her work. This book would be a great place to start. This one gets an A+

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5ish stars? Like, I kind of want to give this novel 5 stars, but there's something holding me back... It's probably because I'm a bit sensitive to one of the subplots--the ill family member--and I just kind of wish it wasn't there, even though it was very sensitively executed.

Anyway, Live is going to go on my list of books I recommend to people who fear reading romance, especially those who like "women's fiction" with strong romance subplots. It's definitely an internal, character-driven story and the writing is quite lovely. I really appreciated the subtle shifts in sentence cadence and phrasing as the points-of-view shifted--it's a quiet, but effective way of conveying character. The little bits of Welsh phrasing also added a richness that makes the writing stand out.

I really really enjoyed the resolution of the main conflict that conflict being that Des is very rooted in her Ohio community and that Hefin truly needs to move on and explore opportunities for himself as part of his being able to be a fully-functioning person, and a good partner and that it took a different turn that most novels of this genre do, regarding this particular conflict. Des ends up leaving Lakefield to go to Wales and see the world with Hefin; while there's love and stability at home, the possibilities of elsewhere are embraced in that story, and I think that's a very real thing and I'm happy that Des was allowed to love her home and family but also look for more.

Anyway... I'll write a longer review on the blog after the 1st, but definitely book this one on your list if you like voicey, character-focused romance (which is kind of hard to find, to be honest).

[Brianna (The Book Vixen) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review copy provided via NetGalley

DNF at 47%

And let me tell you, it really bums me out that I was not able to finish reading this book.

I loved and adored this author’s debut novella, The Story Guy, so I had to read Live. While I liked Hefin and Des, there was too much dwelling on Hefin’s fast approaching departure. Even though they both know his time here in the States is limited, they decided to spend some time together. And by “time together” I mean some sexy time. But their relationship was deep and heavy from the get go. What I struggled with most was all of the excessive inner monologue and thinking. Too much thought, not enough actually happening. If that aspect would have been condensed some, I think I would have been able to finish reading the book. While I do appreciate an author painting as vivid of a picture as possible, sometimes I want less description and more happening with the characters. There was also a lot of focus on Sarah, Des’ sister, and her injury. It took me away from Des and Hefin’s story arc.

Unfortunately, I had a difficult time connecting to the characters and the story didn’t grabbed me like The Story Guy did.


Review originally posted on The Book Vixen.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful love story that is not only about the love between the two MCs, but also about the complicated love of family, and the love of place. The relationship between Des and Hefin is lovely, who wouldn't count themselves lucky to find a partner like Hefin? His devotion to Des's happiness is something I think most people hope to find in their relationships. Des has given so much of herself to her family that she's lost herself, and Hefin helps her find who she is and, more importantly, who she can be. I loved how big a part Lakeview and the people of Lakeview played.

****spoiler**** Sorry, don't know how to hide it on my phone.

I loved it even more that she chooses to leave Lakeview. This would have been a good book if Hefin had stayed, but Des leaving to explore with Hefin made it a great book.

***End of spoiler***

There are some minor editing issues and I spent most of the book feeling sad. But it's been a while since I reacted so strongly to a book. Do read this amazingly emotional book.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good small town romance - pluses for the freckle fetish and Welsh Woodworker. Ending irritated me so 3 stars. I mean, I read romance, I'm not expecting reality, but the implausible movie treatment was silly.

[Racquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Though if you don't like real emotions and prefer your angst to be melodramatic and soap opera-y, stay away. If you can't deal with oh I don't know, real characters that could be real people, stay away but otherwise this is so excellent.

[Ⓐlleskelle - That ranting lady ッ · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5 Stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Mmeguillotine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful, difficult love story that moves like a cello plays: deep and slow and aching.

The plot is simple. Girl meets boy at exactly the wrong time in both their lives. How do they decide whether to pursue an undeniably strong connection to each other, when their paths are pointed in divergent directions?

Destiny (Des) and Hefin meet when Destiny is experiencing a bit of an emotional meltdown. Her life is in shambles. She has recently lost her father to cancer after caring for him through his decline. She lost her job 6 months ago and has been diligently and ceaselessly seeking a new one, with no success. Her older sister has been badly injured in an accident and isn't healing well, physically or emotionally. Des is trying to take care of everyone, keep the family together and somehow pull her life back on track. She has sold her car and drives her dad's old limo to and from the library where she uses the internet to job hunt. The neighborhood wants her help with rides here and there. Her brothers rely on her to do the lion's share of her sister's care-taking. It's too much. After getting yet another "Sorry, we hired someone else..." email, Destiny dissolves in tears in front of a man that she has has a secret crush on for weeks. Humiliating.

Hefin is a Welshman stranded in Ohio after a failed marriage to an American woman. He has been in the US for 6 years and though he has been divorced for years now, he isn't entirely over it. He feels detached from himself, his dreams, his plans for his life. He lost touch with how to make himself happy and fulfilled when he found it impossible to pursue his career plans once he had arrived in the States. He blames himself for the failure of the relationship, because he knows that the less happy he was with himself, the less he was able to commit to his ex-wife and the relationship. He has been trying to put himself back together by reconnecting with a skill he learned from his father, woodcarving. He takes a job restoring intricately carved historic woodwork in a library. He plans to finally return to Wales when the job is completed, where he will gain strength from his family and roots, before rekindling his former career. He sees Destiny every day and can't help but be attracted to her from afar, but won't allow himself to make any moves, knowing that he is moving out of the country in a few months.. When he sees her begin crying in front of the public use computer, he is compelled to break his self-imposed restriction and reach out to comfort her.

What follows is a difficult, poignant and very real story of their struggle to decide what their individual priorities must be going forward, the roles they will play for themselves and others, and how not to repeat past mistakes. Does love have a chance to survive in these circumstances or is it just not meant to be?

The thing about Mary Ann Rivers (or rather, one of many things about her) is that she is incredibly smart, smart, smart and skilled at her craft. She writes her characters' voices with such perfect pitch that it is impossible not to feel what they feel, hurt when they hurt, experience joy when they rejoice. She is brilliant at conveying intimacy, both physical and emotional. She writes physicality with a mastery that swallows me whole. Cuddling is as meaningful and tactile as sex. Sex is hot as hell, romantic but realistic, sweet and heavy and sometimes weird all at once. Her characters follow no preset guidelines or expectations for romance novel heros and heroines. They are flawed, not just in ways that are easy to overlook and forgive as somewhat charming, but in ways that make you worry about them or want to yell at them or hug them. Her characters need to find acceptance for who they are, not just from each other, but from the reader as well. I love this.

Her ability to write modern dialogue might be my favorite thing. Her characters speech is absolutely of this time. They use the same slang and vernaculars that we all do. They reference the same stupid pop-culture memes that we all know. She does this seamlessly, without making it obvious, without making it intrusive or gimmicky. They simply speak and you can *hear* them. These are your neighbors, your coworkers, your friends, you went to school with them. She has absolute mastery of streams of conscience, emphasis, intonation, humor... She can write bickering siblings like no one's business. It makes reading these characters a true pleasure and makes it all the more exciting that Live is the first of a series featuring the Burnside family. I feel like I already *need* to know what happens with each of Destiny's siblings. I *need* to get follow-up updates on Des and Hefin, because I already miss them.

Going on my Best of the Best shelf.

ARC provided by the publisher and the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words cannot express the gem that this story ends up being. I cannot wait to see the siblings find their loves but this story will tug at your heartstrings. You will tear up, sniffle, mope and find great joy as two damaged souls finally find themselves while finding each other.

Do not go into this book expecting a happy, everything is roses love story, please go into the story expecting to see two people who are at a major crossroads in their lives and find that by letting someone else in they might just get their true selves back.

Destiny has been floundering since her dad passed away and she lost her job. What she's had is fantasies of The Woodcarver, a man who she has been covertly watching while she does her best to find employment by using the library's computer system. When she gets one too many lumps thrown at her and breaks down she is surprised by the fact that the person that comes to pull her out of it is none other than this man she has been wanting to know more about. Hefin is also surprised by his need to be there for her and cannot stop the impulse to finally talk to the woman who has kept his attention all of this time. As they start to open up to one another we get glimpses of their pasts, presents and potential futures which lead us on a journey to discovering what it really means to be happy and to just LIVE. They both put such pressure on themselves to not name what is happening between them and to ignore the brutal fact that he will be leaving for Wales (home) soon but just to live in the moment as if that day will never come.

There was something poignant about watching Destiny finally come in to her own and understand that she needed to do what truly made her happy. She is stuck so hard in her life and while it isn't a bad thing I was cheering when her friend, Lacey, finally took the gloves off to make her see what she was doing. She's such a strong person but there was also an almost painful amount of need that emanated from her to be seen as a real person that you couldn't help but struggle with her as she tried to just be something she thought everyone needed. The only person other than Lacey that I think really saw this was Hefin. Others in her family were too caught up in their own hells that they didn't fully understand what was happening under their noses. Her neighbor also recognized it in many respects but floundered on what to do to help her.

Hefin was another case entirely. He's such a contradiction between a strong man and an extremely sensitive soul that reading about his own torments just made me tear up. I loved how he loved with every fiber of his being even as he was trying hard to deny it. There is no question in your mind as a reader that both of them really are meant for one another as they begin their courtship and I loved how that made you secure as Ms. Rivers pulls you thru their mutual torments to get to such a wonderfully healthy place. I really don't want to completely flesh out the torments that Hefin has or more about him as I enjoyed getting to know him by reading the words that Ms. Rivers puts in place for him and their journey.
Mary Ann has such an amazing way with words and I am glad that I was able to read my first full-length novel from her. She took my breath away with how masterfully she pulled off The Story Guy and I had high hopes for her in a longer format. She pulled it off and I think readers will be amazed at how much emotion and heart that this book conveys. I cannot wait for more of this series and more from her in general. Special thanks to NetGalley.com and the wonderful people at Random House who were nice enough to let me get my hands on this with no expectations of any particular type of review.

BTW - Mary Ann.... if you happen to read this... you can stop past any time or send me anything you wish... Your mastery of how to weave words together to tell these amazingly beautiful, poignant stories has the ability to make me cry and laugh often within the same paragraph. Thanks for sharing this talent with us!!

[Petra Grayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Destiny is caught in the web of her family and all of it's problems and sadness. When she meets Hefin, she's pretty much hit rock bottom. She's not one to let life keep her down though and things start to look up for her even as her family's in the midst of more pain. Hefin is stuck and getting ready to make some of his own decisions. There's no way to see these two working out at the start of the book, although most of the conflict is internal. Destiny is so rooted in her life even though it's sad, and Hefin is ready to move on, to finally make his life more satisfying.

I wasn't sure what to think of Hefin. He seemed really nice and likable, but at the same time it felt a bit like he saw his attraction to Destiny as equivalent to his relationship with his ex-wife. I wasn't sure in the beginning if he really understood what went wrong in his first relationship, in order to make this one work. By the end of the book, I was pretty sure, in a snuggly, content sort of way, that these two would last.

This book was really compelling. It's not really an escapist book. It's down to earth and sort of gritty. These people live in their bodies always. They're emotional but it doesn't feel like they sit ruminating on things very often. It's hard to explain exactly what I mean, but it feels like they're very physical, like even when they're emotionally somewhere else, they truly live inside their bodies in a way that is very real and authentic. Both are just fine with their sexuality. The sexuality is rather explicit and pervasive, but not exactly in an erotic way. These characters are awkward and really open with each other.

Thinking about bodies, this book also has quite a bit of a gory feel to it. Wounds can be described pretty specifically in a sort-of gross way and there was a general earthy, body-conscious feel to some of the situations. Words like “sacral dimples” are used and made me feel very tied to the physicality of the characters in a way I don't find with many books.

Most of the book is overrun with a sense of sadness. Like the message is: people need to take every scrap of happiness they can find, wherever they can find it, because life is still filled with pain and sorrow. Hefin and Destiny are both able to compartmentalize quite a bit. It felt real in the sense that I'm sure most people can do similar things to hold on to their happiness even when the world is falling apart around them. But it was still sad to see.

I loved the language in this book. There's something so poetic and earthy about Mary Ann Rivers' writing. It takes a little longer for me to read than normal because I'm not used to some of the words in the order they're presented, but it's all very beautiful and touching.

These two characters spend most of the book trying to figure out how to live in the moment. There's so much bad and confusing happening around them, and they work the whole time trying to figure out how to find happiness in spite of all the problems surrounding them. It's a great message to have and a compelling story, but there was a lot of sadness to deal with. I did get one good laugh out loud moment. So if you're looking for a compelling and earthy romance, this is the one for you.

I received a complementary ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Hazel *Craves the Angst Reviews* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find This and Other Reviews At Craves The Angst.

Live is book one in the Burnside series and is an Adult Contemporary Romance written by Mary Ann Rivers. I received this eARC from the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review through Tasty Book Tours .

3 Lovely, Beautiful Stars!

The Review:
This was a beautiful, heartfelt read. Destiny Burnside or Des for short was a great heroine who was selfless and kind and really cared about the people around her. She took care of her family, most of the time at her own expense, and she fell in love, wishing and wanting to truly live her life with no regrets or passions unfulfilled. When she officially meets Hefin after weeks of eyeing him at the local library where she's searching the help wanted ads and he's restoring parts of the library, she falls freely into love, knowing their time together will be short with a sorrowful ending, but she chooses to bravely move forward despite that.

Hefin is a wonderful hero. After a failed marriage that’s left him with a truck load of guilt, he doesn't want to hurt Des, knowing he’s leaving soon. But like she has, he’s been eyeing her for weeks, admiring the strong, chin-up female who takes her circumstances in stride. Hefin is a bit complicated but I loved the way he supported Des and thought about her.

These two have to go through an emotional journey to get to the end and it's sometimes fun, sometimes painful but always worth it because they aren’t leaving “what-if’s” to chance.

But...
I loved the story and I really liked the characters. The reason for only three stars is there was a ton of inner monologue. Some scenes were so riddled with it I actually found myself skipping over paragraphs a few times just to get to the meat of the scene. The author would take us out of the present scene with loads of background information, sometimes having an entire page of it during a conversation between characters. It was a bit frustrating because I kept being pulled from emotional or playful moments to be given unrelated information or memories from the past. It was circumstances like those that left me wishing for less character thought.

The Wrap Up:
Great story and great characters. My copy needed some serious editing but it was an unedited copy so its understandable. I do wish there had been less monologue but overall, I enjoyed this beautiful story of two people who find love despite a difficult situation.