Release Day Review: "The Color of a Promise" by Julianne MacLean

Synopsis:

From USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes the next instalment in her popular Color of Heaven Series, where people are affected by real life magic and wondrous miracles that change everything they once believed about life and love.

Having spent a lifetime in competition with his older brother Aaron—who always seemed to get the girl—Jack Peterson leaves the U.S. to become a foreign correspondent in the Middle East. When a roadside bomb forces him to return home to recover from his wounds, he quickly becomes the most celebrated journalist on television, and is awarded his own prime time news program. Now, wealthy and successful beyond his wildest dreams, Jack believes he has finally found where he is meant to be. But when a commercial airliner explodes in the sky over his summer house in Cape Elizabeth, all hell breaks loose as the wreckage crashes to the ground. He has no idea that his life is about to take another astonishing turn…

Meg Andrews grew up with a fear of flying, but when it meant she wouldn’t be able to visit her boyfriend on the opposite side of the country, she confronted her fear head-on and earned her pilot’s license. Now, a decade later, she is a respected airline crash investigator, passionate about her work to the point of obsession. When she arrives in the picturesque seaside community of Cape Elizabeth to investigate a massive airline disaster, she meets the famous and charismatic Jack Peterson, who has his own personal fascination with plane crashes.

As the investigation intensifies, Meg and Jack feel a powerful, inexplicable connection to each other. Soon, they realize that the truth behind the crash—and the mystery of their connection—can only be discovered through the strength of the human spirit, the timeless bonds of family, and the gift of second chances.

Genre: Contemporary Romance (Paranormal)

My Review:

I have to admit that I ended the previous book in The Color of Heaven series firmly in "Camp Aaron." As much as I had loved Jack, I was fully in support of Aaron. But Ms. MacLean didn't leave Jack hanging, and in The Color of a Promise, Jack finds his own happily ever after - where he never expected. As in previous books in this series, the book is a wonderful story of love and happiness, infused with mysticism (in this case, past lives). The Color of a Promise is a wonderful love story of a love that transcends lives, showing that souls meant to be together find their way back together. I loved reading about Jack's childhood and more about what drove the wedge between Aaron and Jack, and what transpires in Meg's life that led her to meet Jack at just the right time in her life. The only complaint I would have is that I felt that Ms. MacLean left us hanging to imagine some things at the end of the story - I would have loved to known whether what I imagine happens between Meg and Jack is what actually happens. But all in all, another wonderful, heart-wrenching, soul-searing story in the Color of Heaven series!

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Links:

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Review: "The Color of Forever" by Julianne MacLean

Synopsis:

Recently divorced television reporter Katelyn Roberts has stopped believing in relationships that last forever, until a near-death experience during a cycling accident changes everything. When she miraculously survives unscathed, a deeply-buried memory leads her to the quaint, seaside town of Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

There, on the rugged, windswept coast of the Atlantic, she finds herself caught up in the secrets of a historic inn that somehow calls to her from the past. Is it possible that the key to her true destiny lies beneath all that she knows, as she explores the grand mansion and its property? Or that the great love she’s always dreamed about is hidden in the alcoves of its past?

While each novel in the series can be read as a standalone, there are many more books to love in this series!

Genre: Contemporary Romance - Paranormal

My Review:

In The Color of Forever, Julianne MacLean weaves a complex, intriguing story. It's difficult to say everything I loved about this book without giving away spoilers, because her stories are so intricately-woven and follow a fascinating route to their conclusion.

The reader "knew of" Katelyn in the previous book - The Color of Time - and I felt myself wanting to read the previous book again to remind me of how her story affected the characters in the previous book before diving into this story. But there was no need, because Katelyn's story is here - or is it. The concept of a person's ability to affect your reality in your dreams in again present in this story, with its own twist.

The Color of Forever shouldn't be started unless you plan time to read it in one sitting, because you won't want to put it down. And like Katelyn, who mourned a life she didn't know she'd missed, I mourned the loss of these characters when The Color of Forever ended. I was fully engrossed in Katelyn's, Aaron's, Jack's, Sebastian's, and Evangeline's story, puzzled along with them as they navigated choppy waters, and missed them now their story is complete.

Katelyn's story ended the way it should have, but my heart hung still in my chest until it did, and my heart broke for the one who lost, although I know he'll find his own happily-ever-after eventually. 

This is a clean story with a lot of romance but no explicit details. It makes the reader think about what could have been, and loves past, and makes you wonder if you are leading the life you're meant to be leading. Thought-provoking, emotionally-intense and riveting, Ms. MacLean delivers another 5-star romance in The Color of Forever.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Links:

Goodreads • Amazon • Barnes and Noble • Kobo • iBooks • Google Play

About the Author:

Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author who has sold more than 1.3 million books in North America alone. Her novels have also been translated into Spanish, German, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Turkish, Russian, and Dutch. She has written twenty historical romance novels, including the bestselling Highlander Trilogy with MacMillan/St. Martin's Press and her popular Pembroke Palace Series with Avon/Harper Collins. She recently turned down a six-figure advance from a major New York publisher in order to self-publish a contemporary mainstream fiction series. The first novel in that series, THE COLOR OF HEAVEN, was a USA Today bestseller in 2013. Julianne is a three-time RITA finalist with Romance Writers of America and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers' Best Award, the Book Buyers Best Award, and a Reviewers' Choice Award from Romantic Times for Best Regency Historical of 2005. She has a degree in English Literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, and a degree in Business Administration from Acadia University in Wolfville. She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter, and is a dedicated member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

Website: http://www.juliannemaclean.com

Release Day Review: "The Color of Time" by Julianne MacLean

Synopsis:

They say it’s impossible to change the past...

Since her magical summer romance at the age of sixteen, Sylvie Nichols has never been able to forget her first love. Years later, when she returns to the seaside town where she lost her heart to Ethan Foster, she is determined to lay the past to rest once and for all. But letting go becomes a challenge when Sylvie finds herself transported back to that long ago summer of love…and the turbulent events that followed. Soon, past and present begin to collide in strange and mystifying ways, and Sylvie can’t help but wonder if a true belief in miracles is powerful enough to change both her past and her future....

Genre: Contemporary Romance - Paranormal

My Review:

I never know what to say about a Julianne MacLean book, except to say YOU HAVE TO READ IT. I always find myself very introspective after reading one of her books and The Color of Time was no exception. We met Sylvie Nichols in the previous book The Color of Joy, so we got to know a little bit about her in advance of this book. Or did we? In The Color of Time, the author attempts to answer the age old question: "What if you just did one thing different, would life have the same outcome?" She demonstrates how that question can be answered through Sylvie's experiences. Several of them.

What's unique about Sylvie's experiences is that while she was actually dreaming, her alternative realities are real to her. They are real to us. They happen. As the story progresses, you find yourself wondering which reality is the REAL one. And you are as heartbroken as Sylvie each time when you find out something you experienced wasn't real - because it happened. It had to have happened.

Ms. MacLean's character development is strong, as always. Her characters are what draw you into her books and the emotions they experience are read to the reader. It's very easy to be drawn into a Color of Heaven book and experience it right along with the characters, emotions and all.

This is not your typical paranormal, where you would expect magical powers, fantasy characters and the like. Sylvie's experience of alternate realities is the only paranormal aspect to this story - the characters and storyline are rooted in reality and the everyday experiences in a wonderful north eastern town.

In the end, Sylvie's story ends up the way it was meant to be, but she and the reader take a wonderful, heartbreaking, mysterious path to get there. It's so difficult to discuss much about this book without divulging spoilers, so I'll just reiterate what I said at the beginning. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Links:

Goodreads • Amazon • Barnes and Noble • Kobo • iBooks

About the Author:

Julianne MacLean is a USA Today bestselling author who has sold more than 1.3 million books in North America, and her novels have also been translated into Spanish, German, Portugese, French, Japanese, Turkish, Russian, Dutch, and others. She has written twenty historical romance novels, including the bestselling Highlander Trilogy with St. Martin's Press and her popular Pembroke Palace Series with Avon/Harper Collins.  She also writes contemporary mainstream fiction, and her 2011 release THE COLOR OF HEAVEN was a USA Today bestseller. She is a three-time RITA finalist and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers' Best Award, the Book Buyers Best Award, and a Reviewers' Choice Award from Romantic Times for Best Regency Historical of 2005. She has a degree in English Literature from the University of King’s College in Halifax, and a degree in Business Administration from Acadia University.  She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter, and is a dedicated member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada.

Website: http://www.juliannemaclean.com/

"The Color of Joy" by Julianne MacLean

The Color of Joy is USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean’s eighth installment in her popular Color of Heaven series, which has delivered many happy sighs to thousands of readers worldwide and left them clamoring for more. Bring tissues and prepare to be up all night reading this fast-paced, emotionally charged tale about the obstacles we encounter in everyday life and the real life magic that helps us to triumph over them.

After rushing to the hospital for the birth of their third child, Riley and Lois James anticipate one of the most joyful days of their lives. But things take a dark turn when their newborn daughter vanishes from the hospital. Is this payback for something in Riley’s troubled past? Or is it something even more mysterious?

As the search intensifies and the police close in, strange and unbelievable clues about the whereabouts of the newborn begin to emerge, and Riley soon finds himself at the center of a surprising turn of events that will challenge everything he once believed about life, love, and the existence of miracles.

My review:

I think each of Julianne MacLean's books in The Color of Heaven series should come standard with a package of tissues.  The Color of Joy is no exception.  MacLean delivered another emotional, edge-of-your-seat, deeply felt story.  I intended to start the book at night and then finish it the next day, but the story flowed so easily and the suspense was so riveting that I found myself finishing it in one sitting.

We met the hero Riley briefly in The Color of the Season, when he reunited with his sister, Holly, and his mother.  This is his story - which picks up with his wife in labor with their third child. The majority of the primary story line takes place during a single day, but you almost don't realize it with the flow of the action and the flash backs to previous times.  This story shows the parallel lives of two mothers-to-be and the heartbreak the mothers, and couples, faces.

The Color of Joy introduces Jenn and her sister Sylvie (remember Sylvie, because we get her story next).  After deciding as a couple not to have kids, Jenn and her husband, Jake, find themselves pregnant.  This couple experiences an extremely emotional journey, including twists and turns you just don't expect, and an ending that no one saw coming. There was no villan in the end, only victims and heroes! And several happy endings!

The extreme elation, anger, and fear felt by the characters in this story kept this reader enraptured from beginning to end.  And true to every Color of Heaven book, circumstances that reaffirm your faith in a higher power are woven throughout the story. What a beautiful tie back to Josh and Holly's story from Color of the Season. All I can say is, "out of the mouths of babes."

In the end, a story of fear transforms into a story of faith and forgiveness, strength and courage, and love.

Disclosure: I received an free copy in exchange for an honest review. 

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