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Friday 23 January 2015

Wynn In Doubt by Emily Hemmer - Review




 Blurb:

Wynn Jeffries has wanderlust. Unfortunately, her life stalled somewhere between graduating from college and slinging drinks at the local dive bar. Stuck in a one-room apartment with no career, no boyfriend, no…life, she dreams of something more. Something amazing. Something like Oliver Reeves, her high school crush, who’s back in town and reminding Wynn of the way she used to be.
 
When a forgotten news clipping falls out of a book belonging to Wynn’s grandmother, a well-kept family secret is finally revealed. Is Wynn’s gypsy spirit the result of an overactive imagination, or did she inherit it from a woman so determined to live a big life, she gave up everything to have it?
 
Together, Wynn and Oliver attempt to put together the missing pieces of her family’s past and unravel the mystery behind her great-grandmother’s disappearance. But after so much time succumbing to fear and regret, can Wynn ditch her safe, routine life for the chance at an extraordinary future?
 
Revised edition: This edition of Wynn in Doubt includes editorial revisions.








 

Kristine's Review:

Reviewed: April 2014

FAVOURITE BOOK OF 2014

I first picked up Wynn In Doubt back in 2014, I was instantly transfixed with the story, one of Wynn and her insatiable thirst for more, for adventure, for love, for life, but what truly swept me away was Lola, this incredible woman who lived a life of both sorrow and guilt and also great love and adventure, when Wynn In Doubt was revised and traditionally published I had every intention of writing a new review, but I can’t because I still don’t have the words to do this book JUCTICE. Ms Hemmer hasn’t just crafted a story, it’s more than just a book, Wynn In Doubt is an experience, one that makes you question everything you thought you believed, it makes you reflect, over a year since I first picked  up this tale and it still has a profound impact on my life. Read it, Love it, Live it… breath it in and experience the journey.

I'm sitting her with tears streaming down my face after finishing Wynn for the third time in a little over a week. I thought that the more I read this story the less it would affect me, but I was so very mistaken. The profound effect Hemmer's words, both Lola and Wynn's stories have had on me I struggle to even put into words. This is in my mind, Hemmer's best work to date, while I adored her previous books, Wynn transported me to a time and place like no other before it, as I sit here writing this I'm sad that the story is over, but so very thankful for the journey.

Wynn is 28 years old, no love life, limited career options, and stuck in a rut. She has taken a backseat in her own life, putting the needs of everyone around her in front of her own and is left feeling trapped in a life of mediocrity, a life so far removed from the life she had planned. The last defining moment in her memory was one stolen kiss with the object of her school girl affections Oliver, the boy who took off to conquer the world. When he returns home, and begins working at the same bar that Wynn does, she realises that may not have been as invisible in high school as she once thought.

"Is that what scares you? Living, but not really being alive."
-Oliver





The discovery of a newspaper clipping of Wynn's estranged great grandmother Lola, stirs up family secrets, and a past that most of Wynn's family would rather left buried. Something in her pushes her to seek out the past, to uncover the truth, in the process to set herself free from the chains that threaten to consume her, along with Oliver, Wynn sets out to find out who Lola Harrison was, and just maybe find out who Wynn Jefferies is as well.

"When you're young you think dreams are limitless, but their not. They age with you."
-Lola

There are aspects of Wynn's journey that resonate so deeply with me, there were moments reading this that brought with it such blinding pain because I got it, the fear, the trepidation of the unknown, but there were moments of pure and unadulterated joy and bliss in watching both Lola and Wynn find little pieces of themselves that they thought were long since dead.

Hemmer's ability to weave two stories together was masterful, at times she quite literally stole my breath. I am in awe of Wynn's journey, of Lola's fight for something more than what she was given, of seeking out the life she had only imagined for herself.

"I don't regret the choices I've made....but knowing Michael, and loving him, was not one of them....He gave me love, unconditional and eternal."
-Lola

Emily Hemmer, this book, your story, has touched my life in ways I can't even begin to express, its essence, it's message is one that will stay with me for a very long time, it has quickly wormed its way into my heart, my soul. Wynn, Oliver, Lola and Michael have taken up residence there and may never leave. Thank you for telling this story, thank you for your words.



 

Excerpt:



I lick my lips and draw a heavy breath through my nose. A bead of sweat clings to his temple, and I wipe it away, then run my fingers through his hair. His mouth is open, his breathing shallow. He moves one arm out from under me, and his fingertips trail from my shoulder down to the back of my hand. I move mine from his cheek to the coarse stubble of his jaw. Oliver Reeves is going to kiss me again, this time on a summer afternoon, and I wonder how life will ever be the same.

I trace his lips with my thumb. They’re full and soft. We meet in the air between, his lips fitting around mine in a light, sweet kiss. I hold his head close. His lips move in lazy indulgence, unhurried in their pursuit to pluck every drop of pleasure from mine.

I open my mouth a fraction and run the tip of my tongue across his bottom lip. I don’t know what possesses me to do it. I don’t know anything right now. Oliver presses me into the grass and dirt and fits his hand around the curve of my hip. He slants his mouth across mine, and I let him taste me. His breathing isn’t shallow anymore. It’s labored and noisy against my cheek.

My hand runs down his back. He always looks so calm, so cool, but I can feel the perspiration beneath his shirt. There’s a satisfaction knowing it wasn’t the heat that finally got to him, but me. My lips. My hips and short dress and the bare leg he’s stroking with strong fingers.

Our kisses become faster, needier. I hold his face in both hands as he touches every exposed part of me. His fingers skim the cotton over my ribs, and I move against him, desperate for the feel of his hand on my breast. He cups me there, groaning quietly against my mouth.

He drags his lips from mine; his forehead drops against my neck. But he doesn’t remove his hand or take his weight from me. I arch back, glimpsing dust in a ray of yellow sunlight behind us. His shoulders move beneath my hands as he breathes in deeply. I bring my eyes back to his and see that they’re full of need.

He doesn’t ask, and I don’t say a word. We stand and walk hand in hand, out of the cemetery and back on the gravel path, the one that leads to my car. I reach for the driver’s-side door when we get there, but he pulls me away, back to him, and kisses me slowly. When we part, and the air conditioning is again crisp and cool on our skin, we drive to the hotel in silence. There are no words for this, for what each of us needs.

The truth is, our paths parted a long time ago. Now he’s looking behind for something he’s lost, and I’m running ahead, trying to find something I’ve never had. It feels like we’ve collided—run into each other at the place between what could’ve been and what can be. I don’t know how it will affect what we’re each searching for, but I’ve always loved him, and he came back for me. It’s enough for now.
Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1LeHr3u
Amazon AUS: http://bit.ly/1KWV6uM
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1QVdIge

About the author:



Emily Hemmer was raised in the Chicago suburbs before settling in Kansas City in 1996. She was raised in a house full of women which gave birth to her many loud OPINIONS about men, women, and the roles they play in romance. A huge fan of romantic comedies, Emily was overjoyed to realize her college roommate could recite every word of the movie 'Clueless,' until she realized that was the only VHS tape her roommate owned. Emily dropped out of college and to this day, blames the listless years of her twenties on the words, "As if!" She completed her degree after an extended eleven-year semester break during which time she got married, had kids, and became a published author. Her greatest accomplishment to date is holding the high score in Ms. PacMan at the Pizza Hut in Schaumburg, Il.
https://www.emilyhemmer.com/





 

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