Review: The Art of My Life by Ann Lee Miller

Summary

Cal walked out of jail and into a second chance at winning Aly with his grandma’s beater sailboat and a reclaimed dream of sailing charters. Aly has the business smarts, strings to a startup loan, and heart he never should have broken. He’s got squat. Unless you count enough original art to stock a monster rummage sale and an affection for weed. But he’d only ever loved Aly. That had to count for something. Aly needed a guy who owned yard tools, tires worth rotating, and a voter’s registration card. He’d be that guy or die trying. For anyone who’s ever struggled to measure up. And failed.

Review

I read this book while on a cruise in Cocoa Beach Florida, which I thought was funny because I was only an hour away from New Smyrna Beach where the story takes place.

I find that all of Ann Lee Miller's books are relatable in some way, but personally I loved The Art of My Life the most because it was the most relatable to my personal life. There is just something about Miller's writing that makes me never want the story to end.

The characters are the driving force behind the plot and are extremely real. This was not a story that you could never picture happening, because too many families it is real. Cal has not been dealt the best deck of cards, but he does nothing to turn his life around before he is arrested.
Miller introduces the idea that Cal is never good enough for his mother, which I think may be a common thought in many young adults and teenagers. It is as much a great story for a child to accept their mother, but for a mother to accept their child.

Aly is really the driving force at Cal changing. While he has always had it in the back of his mind he needed to change, what really pushed him over the edge was realizing she was not going to visit him in jail. The feeling of never wanting to miss her again was the motivation Cal needed.
I really loved this book, it was the best in the new Smyrna Beach Series in my opinion. Truly a perfectly written story that captures readers and is real. It is a story that can and does happen to many people, making it reach to a wide audience. It is also the perfect beach read!

Reviewed by Rachel Keane

Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date: 9/25/2012
Pages: 376

Review: Avra's God by Ann Lee Miller

Summary
In the tradition of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, four friends navigate college and the drama churned up by their Florida beach band to cement friendship and more.

Avra wants love, but drummer Cisco—self-medicating from his parents’ divorce with sex and intoxicants—is a poor choice. Cisco hungers for fresh-baked cookies and the scent of family he finds at Avra’s.

Kallie shares her classically trained singing voice only with lead vocalist Jesse and fights to keep her heart safe. Jesse feeds on fame and hides more than insecurity beneath his guitar.

The friends surf ego, betrayal, and ambition and head for wipe-out. But somehow, when they’re not looking, Avra’s God changes them all.

Review
The emotional roller coaster I sat on while reading Avra’s God took me to heights I never imagined. Anne Lee Miller crafted her story in such a fashion that it incorporated life events and struggles that almost any reader may relate to. The characters endured family troubles, relationship problems, and problems in their lives in general. In creating the lives of these characters, Avra, Cisco, Jesse and Kallie, Miller opened up a new level of compassion and feelings that we as readers have for them. Whatever comes their way, we experience and get a sense of what they must go through.

A popular topic within Avra’s God is, not surprisingly, God. The events that transpired all tied back to Avra and her teachings to her friends. She helped each one find God, in her words, but more importantly find peace within their hearts about themselves and their lives. Many of the characters had to deal with father issue and in their own time learned to accept them. Avra was a key component to their success and is also the character that most of my compassion drifted towards.

Avra is a strong female lead character within Miller’s novel. Each character seemingly receives the same amount of time, but Avra has a much stronger presence. She is the helping hand, the one each friend turns to when in need of advice. So when her life and relationship start to crumble, the largest portion of my sympathy is directed towards her. She is a great role model to the audience. Avra never bends her beliefs for her friends or relationship, but stays true to who she is as a person. 

I really enjoyed Avra’s God and the messages that Miller sent to her audience. I was engrossed with the characters and truthfully, I read this in one night because was unable to put it down for a second. Miller includes just the right amount of each topic and does not overwhelm the reader, but traps them in the lives of these four college students and the common hardships many must face in life. 

Reviewed by Rachel Keane

Book Information
Publication date: 12/12/2012
Pages: 344

Review: Kicking Eternity by Ann Lee Miller

Summary 
Stuck in sleepy New Smyrna Beach one last summer, Raine socks away her camp pay checks, worries about her druggy brother, and ignores trouble: Cal Koomer. She’s a plane ticket away from teaching orphans in Africa, and not even Cal’s surfer six-pack and the chinks she spies in his rebel armor will derail her.

The artist in Cal begs to paint Raine’s ivory skin, high cheek bones, and internal sparklers behind her eyes, but falling for her would caterwaul him into his parents’ life. No thanks. The girl was self-righteous waiting to happen. Mom served sanctimony like vegetables, three servings a day, and he had a gut full.

Rec Director Drew taunts her with “Rainey” and calls her an enabler. He is so infernally there like a horsefly—till he buzzes back to his ex. Raine’s brother tweaks. Her dream of Africa dies small deaths. Will she figure out what to fight for and what to free before it’s too late? For anyone who’s ever wrestled with her dreams.

Review
Kicking Eternity sucks the reader in from the very first page because of Anne Lee Miller’s amazing ability to capture the audience’s attention. Within its pages, it covers many topics that the audience can relate to and appreciate the struggles within the characters’ lives. 

First of all, I love the name Raine and it has always been one of my favorites, so I pretty much loved her character before I even knew her. But Raine is the perfect character. While there are a few main characters, the center is Raine because she is like the sun that all the other characters revolve around. Their lives and relationships are seen because they are in Raine’s life. Raine is a strong character that knows what she wants and is willing to do anything in order to reach her goals and dreams, which creates problems and love triangles within her life. 

I found the beginning of the book to be slightly confusing with all the characters. I had wished there had been a better overview of them because it felt as if we jumped into their lives without warning or introduction. With this many main characters, five, you really need to get a sense of them, but it does become less confusing the further you read and the connections between characters is more visible. 

The element that I love the most about Kicking Eternity and Miller’s writing in general is the reliability factor. This was a real story with real characters facing real problems. Not in the sense that it actually happened, but everyone struggles with their dreams, relationships and faith. It is refreshing to read a book that has events that wouldn’t happen in a Hollywood movie, but in real life. 

Faith is one if the strongest elements within Miller’s books, but the way in which she delivers it is unique. In no way does this book push religion down your throat. There may be religion in the book, but it focuses on faith and self-acceptance. It doesn’t matter what you believe, the basis of faith in this story is figuring out who you are and what makes you happy. Faith is just the key to having these feelings within the characters’ lives and it helps them to realize their true potential. 

Overall, I loved Kicking Eternity. Anne Lee Miller is one of my new favorite authors. I cannot wait to read the rest of her books in this collection.

Reviewed by Rachel Keane

Book Information
Publication date: 6/28/2012
Pages: 332

Review: Tattered Innocence by Ann Lee Miller

Summary
A tale of passions indulged, denied, and ultimately forgive. On the verge of bagging the two things he wants most—a sailing charter business and marrying old money—Jake Murray’s fiancée/sole crew member dumps him. Salvation comes in the form of dyslexic, basketball toting Rachel Martin, the only one to apply for the first mate position he slapped on craigslist. On a dead run from an affair with a married man, Rachel's salvation is shoving ocean between her and temptation.

Rapid fire dialogue and romantic tension sail Jake’s biker-chick of a boat through hurricanes, real and figurative. A cast of wannabe sailors, Rachel’s ex, Jake’s, a baby—go along for the ride.
The many-layered story weaves together disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look eerily alike—down to their lusts. Their symbiotic bond, forged in the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be expunged. Tattered Innocence is for anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their guilt.

Review
As a big fan of Ann Lee Miller’s books, I was excited to pick up another one. Tattered Innocence is unlike the other novels I have read by her in so many ways, but it still holds the core concepts that she stands for. I was slightly intimidated when first setting out to read because of the sailing terms glossary. It is extremely helpful, but it looks more haunting than it actually is. 

Different from other books by Miller, Tattered Innocence focused on two characters instead of a group. I enjoyed this approach a little more because we got to see the characters more in depth and experience their emotions and thoughts on a different level. We see the journey that Rachel takes and the immense guilt that she carries as weighted baggage. Jake, also carrying bags of his own, travels on an emotional rollercoaster and eventually understands who he is meant to be with.

Tattered Innocence does have religious elements weaved throughout the story, but they are muted compared to other books in this series. Religion did not play as big of a part as it does in other characters’ lives. Rachel shows Jake that he needs to reencounter his religious spirit, but even with these elements the main focus of the story was the growing romance between the two main characters.

The dynamic of the families within the novel are contrasting, and it shows the different background that Rachel and Jake grew up within, as well as showing why they mix so perfectly. I completely fell in love with Jake’s family. Call me crazy, but I want to start giving out Christmas gifts like his family. It is hard to make me cry during a book, and even harder to make me laugh. Written words don’t usually evoke laughter even when I can see the humor, but I was laughing so hard throughout the time they spent with Jake’s family. 

I loved this book, there were so many surprises and twists and turns that the readers does not expect. I love expecting one thing and then something else happens. If you are reading The New Smyrna Beach series, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover that some other characters snuck their way into this novel as well. As usual, this was a great book written by Ann. 

Reviewed by Rachel Keane

Book Information
Publication date: 3/14/2013
Pages: 362