From Now On by Louise Brooks

By: Unknown on Monday, January 27, 2014

Title:  From Now On

Author:  Louise Brooks

Published:  September 23rd 2012 by Louise Brooks (first published 2012)

Length:  171pgs

Format:  ebook

Genre:  contemporary romance

Shelf:  review

Rating:  ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A Simple Sweet Romance

Jo was a hesitant young woman lacking confidence in herself, pining for love and not knowing how to find it, keep it, or be it because of a negligent mother who put all of her interest and love into Jo’s younger sister, Emily. Jo’s father died when she was young so she had little experience with the masculine personality. Because she was so withdrawn and a doormat, even her schoolmates and co-workers on the job laughed and made fun of her. She was intelligent, well educated but too shy to orally express herself and as a result, she lost out in almost every aspect of life. Once even when she was dating a young man, Ryan ,and fell in love with him, when he saw Emily, he dropped Jo and eventually asked Emily to marry him.

When Jo’s father died, he left little to support her mother, who had no vocation, but was aggressive and demanded that Jo pay her rent and utilities, even though she had no use for Jo otherwise. Jo, being the doormat that she was, did so and accepted Emily and Ryan’s engagement without any bitterness towards Emily. But Ryan’s betrayal devastated Jo’s personal image, leaving her to believe that no man would ever love her. That she was nothing.

A stranger, a tall attractive man, Mark, walked into her office seeking someone else. He immediately became attentive to Jo and began sharing lunch with her. The story centers around Jo and Mark getting to know each other, walking away several times because of lack of communication or misunderstandings, but circumstances caused both Mark and Jo to mature if they were ever to become whole. Like all good romances, this story follows the usual plot but with an indepth study of both Mark and Jo. It is well written, is an easy read and I liked it.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

I really appreciate the ‘grown-up’ take on life that Brooks presents in this story. There are no teen or college issues or temper tantrums to deal with. It is a story about real life that brings forth a myriad of issues that those of us in the workforce deal with and can relate to. The ending of this story definitely brought tears to my eyes as well. It was such a bittersweet tale that you can’t help but get caught up in it. The story itself is also quite intriguing. Her descriptions make this a very visual story.

The main characters in this tale were quite likeable. I appreciated how complex the characters were. There was nothing superficial about the individuals that Brooks hands her story over to. The supporting cast was also great. I felt like I was standing around the coffee machine at work. Everyone was so real that it was easy to visualise yourself in the middle of it.

With this tale Brooks takes your stereotypical office romance and gives it quite a bit of a twist. Presented in a well written and thought out style she has a winner with this one.

|  Goodreads  |  Shelfari  |  Amazon  |