Levels of Truth

by Reece Brett

The warmth of their connection was immediate,
but would it be enough to keep her with him? Life doesn't always follow an expected path. Caroline hadn't known the house in New Jersey even existed until she
inherited it. All she wanted was to learn its history and discover the truth of her own past in the process. Then she'd return to Seattle. When the mystical "Larkin's touch" means she'll be running a bookstore for a while instead, she finds herself in the midst of some of the most interesting people she's ever known -- especially David. Unlike any of the CEOs or lawyers she's known, "hottie" David Montgomery just happens to be a bookworm, kayak expert--and he values friendship and family. The connection between him and Caroline grows, but whenever he tries to get closer, life pulls her farther away. How far should one be willing to go for a shot at real love?

264 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Passions drive Reece Brett. According to her sister, Reece has been writing since she “could hold a crayon” and always had her “nose buried in a books.” These two passions led to a writing career. She entertains herself at the mall, in a dentist’s office, or at a restaurant forming imaginary life stories for those around her, which become ideas for her contemporary novels. The interactions between friends, lovers and that one great love have always fascinated her. How relationships build and how love promotes growth are two favorite subjects.
Her greatest passion is her family. She and her romantic hero have raised a blended family of six children. Life in a yours- mine- and- ours-family is chaotic, noisy, rewarding, entertaining and never dull. To escape their children and hectic life, Reece and her husband kayak the rivers and lakes of southern Jersey. She churns out plot as she paddles. Reece works out knotty problems of tangled character relationships as she prunes clip or digs in her garden.
Share Reece’s passions, read articles on the writing life, comment on her blog: reecebrett.com/blog2/

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book I would normally pick up and read. But I am happy I did. The first selection for a new book club at the Millville Public Library, I actually checked out a physical copy. Ha!

Set here in Millville, there were plenty of familiar scenes. Shoot, I even know of the writing group that spawned the novel.

Caroline is adopted. When her adoptive mother passed, she left Caroline a house in Lakeside, NJ. Why? Caroline is from Seattle. She flies east to see the house then sell it. Funny thing is that she begins to piece together her past. Before she knows it, she finds an uncle. Yet, there is a twist/mystery that still needs to unfold. Along the way she meets David and the love story ensues.

There are some problems with the book (grammatical errors and a couple plot holes), but the pace of the book was such this reader was compelled to keep reading. I was engaged in the story and wanted to flesh it out.

Perhaps I read too quickly, missed something, or it wasn't explained well enough, there were a few things, minor as it turns out, that I didn't follow. Brett led the reader to believe one character was going to be a big factor. Not so. The culmination was fairly telegraphed, but it didn't diminish the reveal.

I still wonder whatever happened to the temp who was supposed to show up at the bookstore (Bogart's) at the beginning of the story? If she had showed, this would have been a different tale.

Fun story and I look forward to discussing it this evening at the book club.

[Leslie Beebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved bed Levels of Truth by Reece Brett. The story grabbed me from the beginning till the very end. I loved that it was set in Lakeside(Millville). It brought back fond memories of how Millville used to be. I loved picking out the spots in the story that were familiar to me. The characters were enjoyable & so like the people in my old hometown Millville. I fell in love with them all except for Caroline’s boss in Seattle. I felt like I was in the middle of the story experiencing it with Caroline, Meg, &the rest of the characters. It’s a great story that anyone willenjoy but if you grew up in Millvile it will be even more like able & enjoyable. I can’t wait until Reece’s visit to our book club next week.

[Sharon Kneubuehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was it my edition only? Grammatical mistakes were in nearly every paragraph. Words were missing, tenses were wrong.
The story itself was alright. Not great. I would not recommend this book. I will not keep it.