Holidays/Family/Self Balance

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

 

However you celebrate and enjoy the festive season, may you strike the perfect balance between fun with family and friends and peace and harmony within.




On that note, I am seeing the year out with my final blog post. In this post I have two polar opposite book reviews, yet both equally important in defining our relationship with ourself and others.


Goodbye Again: A memoir by Candace Cahill

Candace almost started her life as a young adult on the wrong foot. She made a decision almost entirely alone, that would have resounding aftershocks on her life. 

Candace chose to provide her baby with a better life by opting for adoption. She agonized over the decision with minimal help and clung onto every update she received of her baby until the updates stopped completely. 

By this stage, Candace had met a partner who supported her better than she could have imagined, since hiding her shame from the world previously. This more mature love, as compared to her previous unstable teenage love, provided the foundations for Candace to heal and grow. 




Candace's healing journey was helped along with her writing as well: The writing proved cathartic in that it helped me explore my feelings and triggers to find patterns and ... to share my grief and insight ...

It is my belief that the deeper we know ourselves, the better our relationships with others will be. The other take away from the quote above is Candace's fulfillment in the knowledge that she was helping others; this provides us with a sense of community and belonging, another vital component to fulfillment.

Candace learnt to show herself compassion and one of the biggest tips I gained from reading her memoir is that we can both regret a decision and know it was the right one, at the same time. A mindshift worth its weight in gold.

It's a five star review from me and you can find Candace's details and her memoir information at the following link:



***

I moved onto a lighter fiction after such a deeply affecting story, and though it was fiction, this story too, had comparisons between teenage love and mature love; just my kind of read.


If Only You Knew by Stefanie Castro

This isn't love. This can't be what love feels like because I thought what we had was forever. Love should feel like you're soaring...

We are swept into Becca's life as the new kid at school, where she is embraced by her new bestie almost immediately. She soon becomes entangled with the debonair Shane who reassures her, and her mother!, that he will be Becca's boyfriend before the end of the year.

He holds true to his 'promise' and their teenage love story is one we all wish for and swoon over...until it isn't.

Shane goes back on his promise of their 'forever' story and breaks Becca's heart beyond repair.




We fast forward through their adult lives until a chance encounter sees them face-to-face. This is where the twists and turns take you on an even steeper rollercoaster ride. The author takes us along their journey's individually in both present day and in flashbacks to their teenager years. The misunderstandings are revealed to us in intricate detail and we are led to the moment when the biggest plot twist is revealed.

I loved the transition from teenage to adult love with the insights and wisdom that come with the experience of a life well lived.

Becca gives us a glimpse of what she hopes for in a relationship by observing her parents: I loved watching my parents interact. They had this bond, this love, that had me looking at the stars at night and pleading for me to feel that one day in my future.

Will Becca find this love for herself? You'll have to find out at the link below.

I'm giving this book a four star review purely because it's hot and spicy and a little more than I expected. However, it is a tale of true love through the ages and an endearing one at that.



***

Elora Canne is a relationship writer who strives to highlight stories that strengthen the bond between couples, families, friends and even one's self.

Her memoir, En Route, is available on Amazon in paperback and ebook format at the following links: 

Paperback: EN ROUTE Paperback 

eBook: EN ROUTE eBook


Merry Christmas everyone!
Location: Sydney NSW, Australia
Elora is a relationship writer with tips that empower you to build greater relationship success.

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