Love Walked In The Entertainment Critic Book Review By James Myers LOVE WALKED IN- By Marisa de los Santos Published by Plume Trade Paperbacks An Imprint of Penguin Books USA 320 Pages ISBN 0-452-28789-8 (Four Star Rating)**** “My life-my real life-started when a man walked into it, a handsome stranger in a perfectly cut suit, and yes, I know how that sounds. My friend Linny would snort and convey the kind of multi-prolonged disgust I rely on her to convey. One prong of feminist disgust at the whole idea of a man changing a woman’s life, even though as things turned out, the man himself was more a harbinger of change than change itself. Another prong of disgust for the inaccuracy of saying my life began after thirty-one years of living it. And the final prong being a kind of general disgust for the way people turn moments in their lives into movie moments.” Love Walked in was Marisa de los Santos’s first novel. Let’s hope she writes many, many more. When Martin Grace enters the Philadelphia coffee shop Cornelia Brown manages, her life is changed forever. Like in The Philadelphia Story there is a twist to this encounter. Martin is every bit as handsome, and dashing as Cary Grant, and he sweeps Cornelia off of her feet, but the key relationship in the book is not between Martin and Cornelia. Rather, the focus is on Cornelia relationship with his 11 yr old daughter, Clare Hobbs. Martin is divorced from his wife, Viviana. She lives with Clare. She has become increasingly unstable, and despite Clare’s warnings to her father, he takes no action. Clare’s mother has an emotional breakdown. She becomes “someone you don’t know and someone who doesn’t take care of you anymore”. She leaves Clare on side of the road. The Clare character in this book is central to the plot. Resourceful and wise beyond her years, Clare seeks out her estranged father, who in turn drops Clare in the lap of Cornelia. Cornelia and Clair form an unbreakable bound. They face many difficult choices in the book together (Martin dies, Viviana returns, Cornelia falls in love with her brother-in-law Tao), but the focus on the Clare/Cornelia relationship makes the book interesting reading. It is the discovery of what we love and why that makes this book fascinating. It is the study of love in all its forms and its unexpected arrival at times that makes de los Santos study of the subject so intriguing. Engaging and touching, it is a great book that is worth a look. With both Cornelia and Clair acting as narrators throughout the book, we get a bird’s-eye view into their thought and feelings. The responsibilities of parenthood have rarely been understood or expressed as they are here. Insightful, witty and fun, this modern-day romance is nearly perfect. On the back of this book, there is a fitting quote: “This is a book that will be passed from friend to friend with the words, ‘You have to read this’. To all of my literary friends out there, I highly recommend this book. You Can Purchase This Book At My Bookstore www.morebeautifulwomanmagazine.com www.theentertainmentcritic.comRead full review
The book has so far captured my attention. I purchased the book because a friend who enjoys the same style novels I do recommended Maria De Los Santos she said that I would be pleased and she has so far been right. The book flows well, from the beginning started having a clear picture in my mind of what I thought the characters would look like, maybe one day it will be a movie and I can see if Iwas right.
I don't really know why this book caught my eye as I scrolled down the titles for sale on eBay. To my delight, I lucked out on an unknown. "Love Walked In" by Marisa De Los Santos is a very well written, intimate and touching tale of a young girl and woman and the importance of people being there for each other. The chapters switch off on Clare and Cornelia and what they are experiencing in their lives which start off seperate and then come together. De Los Santos does a wounderful job of creating characters that seem real and you quickly become invested in their lives. I have recommended this book to people already and look forward to reading another book by Marisa De Los Santos.
I had never read this author before and after reading Love Walked In, am now ready and anxious to read her latest Belong To Me. Would recommend this author to readers of Jodi Piccoult, Emily Richards, Jennifer Connelly and similar writers. Keeps the pages turning, so enjoy!
This is on my list of favorites for the summer. I loved this book. I bought it because I read a review for "Belong to Me" by the same author and ordered this one. It is a must read.
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