Title:
Saving Toby
Author:
Suzanne McKenna Link
Release date: August 26th, 2013
Release date: August 26th, 2013
Genre:
New Adult
Loving someone through
their hard fall from grace takes a lot of grit.
In school, Toby Faye was
a moody kid who sat in the back of class and looked like he wanted to be
anywhere but there. Claudia Chiametti, the perfect student, always sat in the
front row. She might have forgotten him if it weren't for the fact that his
family had been involved in two tragic events. In the small town of Sayville,
Long Island, many knew of the family’s dark history.
Hired on as a caretaker
to Mrs. Faye, Claudia is thrown into the lives of the widow and her son — a
world where sadness lingers and old wounds run deep. Now twenty-one, Toby is
not so quiet. A mass of muscles and unruly hair, he is a real head turner. He
is jaunty with the confidence his masculine good looks afford him. While not
immune to his sexual advances, Claudia sees beyond the cocky grin. Up close,
his blue-grey eyes expose something else.
Despite her father’s
stern warnings about the family’s violent history, Claudia is empathetic to
their plight and vows to help both mother and son move past the hurt. This
endeavor forces her to face situations she never imagines possible. She must be
tougher than she's ever had to be. Does Claudia have the grit to love Toby
through his fall?
Saving Toby, the author's debut novel, is the first book of a two-part story
that follows the emotional and gritty tale of a young couple's journey to find
themselves and the love they never dreamed existed.
*Due to some explicit scenes and language, this fictional story is meant for
mature readers.
Suzanne McKenna Link is
the debut author of SAVING TOBY. The literary love story
follows the moving journey of a damaged young man and his love for a girl who
might just save him. An avid interest in psychology has Suzanne digging deep
into the reasons for her characters' behaviors. The native Long Islander is
fascinated by the how and why of people's actions. As a result, her characters
come to life on the pages.
Suzanne is currently
working on "Keeping Claudia," the emotional sequel and finale to
Saving Toby. To keep up-to-date on Suzanne’s newest writing endeavours.
My Thoughts:
We're going to be good together, Claude," he said. "I make the serious girl laugh, and you make the bad boy behave."
Loving the
cover and synopsis of Saving Toby, I went into it with the highest of hopes,
wanting a story that was going to grab me completely and thrust me into the
story along with the characters. And thats exactly what I got.
Claudia Chiatmetti
takes on the position of carer for Mrs Faye. She loves her job, and the more
time she spends in the home of Julia and her son Toby the more she finds
herself caring for them and becoming a part of their lives. But Toby has a dark
past, and despite his efforts to leave that behind and
become the person that he wants to be for Claudia, the past always has a
way of coming back to haunt you.
Toby... Swoony, passionate, cocky,
gorgeous, broken. I loved him completely. And there were so many many times
that I was so completely frustrated with him. So much so that I wanted to throw
my kindle across the room. Or smack Toby over the head with it. And then the
very next minute I wanted to climb inside the book and just hold him and try to
in some way ease the pain and hurt that he carried around with him. He's had
such an incredibly hard and sucky life. At every turn there was drama and hurt,
pain and suffering. But boy, does he have a temper and an innate ability to
sabotage things by letting that temper get the best of him.
It was as if she had punched holes in my world, and all the bad stuff that had happened and the crap that I'd done in the past were being filtered out. I already felt different. I was on a new path. Maybe she was what I'd been searching for - the piece that would finally make it all come together for me.
Claudia was such a strong girl. She had
her moments of weakness where she broke down, but she would always dust herself
off again and get right back up. But about two thirds of the way through, she
lost me for a little while and I thought she was pulling Toby's chains a little
bit, and I don't even know if she managed to have me back by the time I got to
the end of the book.
The stand out thing throughout this
book was the level of reality. So many of the situations were so easy to
visualize because of that very thing. The pain, the hurt, the love, the
grief, the anger and the attraction, are all things that we each deal with on a
daily basis, so it was so easy to connect with the characters on the basis of
pure, raw feelings. And the characters were flawed. We all have flaws
and it's so much easier to relate and empathise with
with characters who are so real.
The romance and relationship between
Toby and Claudia was so special at times, and then so turbulent at others. When
it was good, they were just so perfect together. Such opposite upbringings and
home lives who had such a beautiful connection, despite their differences. So
many ups and downs and so much to overcome. Then it could be volatile and
crazy. They sure rode the roller-coaster of feels.
A book that managed to evoke so many
different emotions rates highly with me, and Saving Toby had me experiencing so
many feelings. But above everything else, I was gripped from start to finish. I
was completely in love with Toby. My heart broke at different times throughout
the book for both Toby and Claudia and they both had me wanting to give them a
good shake at some stage.
This was so close to being five stars.
So close!! But my frustrations in the last third of the book holds me back. I'm
so desperate to take the next journey with Toby and Claudia and see what is in
store for them in the next chapter of their lives.
4.75/5 Delicious Toby Stars.
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