Leaves you wanting more!

books:


	• Belong to Me: A Novel Marisa De Los Santos William Morrow, 2008 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent Sequel

Belong to Me is the sequel to the book, Love Walked In, which I read quite awhile ago.

This book is a continuation of Cornelia's journey with her husband, Teo, as they have just moved to a Philadelphia suburb. Cornelia has a hard time adjusting to her new neighbourhood and does not fit in well with the other wives there, in particular, Piper Truitt.

Piper is married to Kyle and they have two small children but a strained marriage. Piper constantly worries about outward appearances and presenting to the world the picture of a happy family. When her best friend, Elizabeth, begins the fight of her life against cancer, Piper rallies around her and her family and soon spends less and less time with her own husband. Piper begins to see the error of her ways regarding her own lifestyle and begins to realize that there are more important things in life than just looks and material possessions. Before she knows it, she has also started up a friendship with Cornelia.

Another family moves to town, a single mom, Lake and her very intelligent son, Dev. They soon become friends with Cornelia and Clare but we soon begin to realize that there is more to their story than meets the eye. Lake doesn't want to become too involved with these people and Dev starts to wonder why they're even living in this new area. Their lives quickly unravel with a simple phone call from an older woman. Dev finally puts the pieces together.

All of the characters stories end up coming together nicely and it was the interesting plot that kept me hooked. The writing itself is also captivating.

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Belong To Me

I just put this book down after losing myself in it over the last two days... I really loved this story. The women in it seem like friends any girl would be lucky to know. They are smart, funny, and powerful.
Some of the storyline is a tad bit predictable, but it goes along just the way it should. It is an easy read with laughing and crying along its road. Pick it up; you'll be glad you did!

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Leaves you wanting more!

This is a beautifully written sequel to her first novel. You'll want to move into Cornelia's neighborhood so you can become a part of the wonderfully, intimately woven fabric of her new life.

There are perfectly crafted sentences(you'll need a highlighter if you're a word maven) gentle humor, with true insight into the nature of friendship, love, forgiveness, and family.

Both of these books would make wonderful films, though one worries that the casting would never come up to the characters in your own mind.

A third, please, Ms. de los Santos!

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This One Is Fun

Three or four times a year, despite the odds against it happening, I end up really enjoying a book that in theory just should not have worked for me at all. Belong to Me was one of those books, the first one in that category this year, in fact. Two words sum up the reluctance I had about reading the book: Chick Lit. The book synopsis screamed "Chick Lit" to me loudly and clearly but the novel seemed to have such a good word-of-mouth buzz going that I took a second look at it. And, yes, it probably is Chick Lit, but at the same time it is the kind of novel that will appeal to readers of both sexes.

This is a book about relationships and what holds them together. It is about parents and children, husbands and wives, old friends and new friends, and the ever changing combinations that evolve from those relationships. It asks whether or not a person can ever really "belong" to another and whether it is selfish to expect that of anyone. It is a character-driven novel filled with enough interesting and quirky people to keep the reader turning pages until its gradually developing plotline reaches the point of making it impossible to put the book down. It is, in other words, a very good book.

Cornelia and Teo, her physician husband, have moved from New York City to a quiet Philadelphia suburb that reminds them of the neighborhood in which they spent their childhoods. The young couple might be a little wary of the lifestyle change they are making, but they want, and expect, to fit neatly into their new neighborhood. Cornelia, though, learns almost immediately that it won't come easy for them when she meets Piper (rhymes with viper), the Queen of the Neighborhood, who doesn't bother with much tact when explicitly pointing out to Cornelia what is expected of any neighbor of hers.

Lake Tremain and her son, Dev, enter the picture just in time to throw Cornelia a lifeline when she needs it most. The two have moved from California so that Dev can attend a prestigious high school while his mother tries to make ends meet by working as a waitress. Lake and Cornelia quickly become friends, giving Cornelia the ally she needs when it comes to dealing with Piper the Viper.

Dev is one of those characters I will remember for a long time. He's a fifteen-year old genius with a great sense of humor and an even greater sense of ethics and morality. I really liked this kid and was happy to see him emerge as one of the book's main characters. But this book is simply filled with likable characters, among them Dev's new girlfriend, Claire, an almost perfect, but not trouble free, match for him. Even Piper, a character whose first impression was far from positive, evolved into someone I could respect and like by the end of the story.

Belong to Me is a sequel to Love Walked In but I am proof that it is not necessary to read that one first. I believed that I was reading a standalone novel the whole time and had no idea that many of its characters had been introduced in an earlier book until after I finished it. This one was fun, a nice change-of-pace for someone like me who came to it so reluctantly.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others we keep to protect those we love.

A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to leave urban life behind and head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she and her beloved husband, Teo, have made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships in her new home. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt. Perfectly manicured, impeccably dressed, and possessing impossible standards, Piper is the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she would find in suburbia. A saving grace soon appears in the form of Lake. Over a shared love of literature and old movies, Cornelia develops an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman who has also recently arrived in town, ostensibly to send her perceptive and brilliant son, Dev, to a school for the gifted.

Marisa de los Santos's literary talents shine in the complex interactions she creates between these three women. She deftly explores the life-altering roller coaster of emotions Piper faces as she cares for two households, her own and that of her cancer-stricken best friend, Elizabeth. Skillfully, de los Santos creates an enigmatic and beguiling character in Lake, who draws Cornelia closer even as she harbors a shocking secret. And from the first page until the exhilarating conclusion, de los Santos engages readers with Cornelia, who, while trying to adapt to her new surroundings, must remain true to herself. As their individual stories unfold, the women become entangled in a web of trust, betrayal, love, and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined, and that ultimately teaches them what it means for one human being to belong to another.

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