Today's review is on Lily of the SpringsIn the almost two years that I have been reviewing books, I have only come across a few that have touched me in such a strong was as Lily of the Springs has. So many emotions were running through my mind when I finished reading, that I felt I needed time to process them. Now, after a good nights sleep, I still don't know if I can convey them.
Lily of the Springs is a love story unlike ANY other that I have read. Sure it had those tender moments we all love to read about, but it also has heartbreak like no other, deceit like not other, and strength like no other.
Set during the 50's-70's, Springs tells the story of Lily Foster. An average girl growing up in Kentucky. She goes to church on Sunday's with her family, goes to Bible school during the summer's, and is a "good girl" who isn't willing to go all the way with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend however isn't willing to wait any longer and runs into the arms of the class slut.
Hurt and angry, Lily breaks up with her boyfriend and finds herself in the arms of her childhood friend, Jake. And Jake is anything but wholesome. In fact, Jake and his family are the "trash" of their town. But that doesn't matter to Lily as she realizes that she is in love with him and in fact always has been.
When Lily's family finds out that she is pregnant with Jake's child, the two are forced to marry and move in with his family. But not even marriage stops Jake from going out with his friends drinking and partying. Even on the day his daughter is born.
Through their marriage, Lily endures both mental and physical abuse from Jake, but she never chooses to leave him. Even when he brings home a hooker and is told to watch said hooker pleasure him orally! But then, the heart wants what the heart wants right?
I so wanted Jake to change as I read Lily of the Springs. At times he was so tender and loving. But then I would find that he was the same old Jake. And though I thought that Lily was letting him walk all over her, I really wanted everything to work out even though when Jinx gave birth to a son after her husband's death, I knew that it never could, no matter how much I wanted it to.
Women that are in an abusive relationship usually stay in them longer than they should, and Lily is no different. We often make excuses for the men we love, placing the blame on ourselves instead of where it should lie. Perhaps at some time these men really did love us, at least I hope that's the case for Jake, and that they just don't know how to love. Perhaps, like Jake, they weren't shown how.
Lily of the Springs is a MUST read! It's one of those books that you just HAVE to HAVE!!
5+ of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
Book Description: via Amazon
The 50’s…Drive-in Movies, Doo-wop Music…and Love in the Back Seat of a ’51 Plymouth In 1952 Kentucky, 18-year-old Lily Foster, the daughter of strict Southern Baptist parents, becomes pregnant by the town “bad boy”—and just like that, she finds herself married to a man who doesn’t want to be a husband. Jake has no intention of letting the inconvenience of marriage stop him from what he believes is his due. In actuality, Lily is the one who is trapped. She loves Jake—always has, since they were children playing in the woods on adjoining properties--and she’s convinced she can eventually make him love her. All it will take is desire and patience. Once the baby arrives, they will be the perfect little family. From Lily’s home on Opal Springs Ridge to a four-year stint at an army base in New Boston, Texas, and finally, to life on their own in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lily struggles to maintain a rocky marriage with a moody, immature husband while raising two daughters. Set during the “American Dream” period of the ‘50s and into the turbulent ‘60’s, LILY OF THE SPRINGS is a story of a woman’s indomitable spirit and her fight for independence and identity in an “Ozzie & Harriet” society. "LILY OF THE SPRINGS is like a slow dance to a Patsy Cline song in the arms of your one true love. From the very first page, it draws you back to another time and place and makes you want to stay there forever. Carole Bellacera is a master storyteller."...Teresa Medeiros, New York Times bestselling author of GOODNIGHT TWEETHEART “LILY OF THE SPRINGS is an epic story about Lily Ray Foster's poor choice in the man she marries that takes a generation to right. Clashes between Lily and her husband Jake and Lily and her mother-in-law sizzle with excitement. A poignant and epic romance novel that's hard to put down. Erotic, explosive, shattering, realistic--Carole Bellacera's new romance novel has them all and a whole lot more.”--Rose Campion, author of NO TIME TO CRY and the forthcoming SINNERS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS .
