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Fate's Path #1
By: Jacelyn Rye
Published: Aug. 3, 2013
Source: Author
GR's Summary:
Some say fate holds the cards. But what if love deals the hand? No love goes untested. Ever. Indeed, true love is left to prove itself. And that is exactly where fate steps in to play the game.
For William and Sarah, that game begins with growing up, in the unspoiled mountains of Colorado. In a time and space as clear as the Rocky Mountain skies above, these young souls together learn about life, what matters most, what endures, what doesn’t, and about love. Innocent young love moves ever so surely toward lives they both can picture, lives spent loving each other in a place they know so well and cherish.
Will and Sarah are ecstatically swept away in the swells of new love. And it is in their rarefied bliss that they make the fragile promise of first love, a promise that fate will soon rock and pound into doubt, guilt, and epiphany.
Unexpected and unprepared, these young lovers are suddenly torn apart, first by distance, and then by the far greater pressures of temptation that test the very fidelity of their heart-held promise. No longer able to console each other, hold each other, touch each other, they face the inevitable decision: move on to other loves, or cling to the faith that they will someday be together, again.
Will and Sarah stare down an unknown path, sensing destiny will not wait long before it comes to take them. Wracked with doubt, they wonder if their love was real. Caged by guilt, they both feel tempted by others intent on stealing their hearts.
Fate plays hardest when love is tested. And Will and Sarah are no exception, letting go of their happy past to embrace hope for an uncharted future. Love plays hardest when fate tests. And so it is, even through their trials of the heart, Will and Sarah never really stop loving each other. Theirs is a love so real and pure that each just wants the other to find happiness, even if it's with another.
But fate does not surrender so easily. Dealing blow upon blow, both Will and Sarah are each struck by jolting events that take them to the very edge of life, itself. What happens to love when life is on the line? Can they both relinquish control when love is on the line? Will fate even allow them to find out?
Fate's Path Series:
Ro's Take on this Journey:
Surrender to Fate, by Jacelyn Rye, has turned my world upside down. The cover alone is haunting. The story begins in 1942, when Sarah Ellis and Will Harston are reunited. Sarah is swept away by love, and wants to feel the man she has always loved. All she wants is to be in his arms once again. She has not felt anything in so long, just numbness. The scene is tender, wanton, and beautiful. You will feel the crushing tenderness between these two lost souls. This saga is so windswept and pure. It reminded me of the innocence and freshness of life in Little House on the Prairie when it begins, to the dynamics of Gone with the Wind as it progressed. The wording is wonderfully fresh and the descriptions and prose are so succinct. I devoured every word, and could picture every event as it took place. To think that this is the debut novel for Ms. Rye, is unbelievable. The way she makes the reader feel every emotion, picture every part of the Colorado Mountains, the Creek, the trees and the way they feel, was astounding. Ms. Rye made me feel every touch, every emotion, and left me wanting more.
Surrender to Fate reverts back to three years earlier, in 1939, when these two characters are growing up together as friends. The reader is mesmerized by the innocence of those times, difficult times to live in, yet simple things made people the happiest; the phonograph, simple days, fun times, tree houses in the forest, picnics with the township, soda fountains, fishing, it was all so refreshing and imaginative. Of course, every town has it's very own pretentious family. Margaret Thorton and her parents are them! What an obnoxious group. They are so believable, the reader wants to reach out and smack them! Then there are the wonderful friends they have been so close to since their children were born, the Harstons. Sarah, her younger brother, Matty, and their parents, Edward and Anne, had been best friends with Will's parents, Henry and Catherine, and their younger son, Tommy, since their children were young. Edward actually saved Catherine's life by delivering Tommy, when he was born and she almost died in childbirth. They were bonded for life.
It was Sarah's 18th Birthday, and there was a celebration. Sarah and Will finally found some time to go to the soda shop for a while, when they ran into, you guessed it, Margaret Thorton. Margaret manages to burst their private moment, and ruins Sarah's night. In the process of that night, Will and Sarah promise themselves to one another and the evening is saved. They steal moments in the dark whenever they get a chance, just to hold hands. The butterflies swarming in Sarah's stomach at the look and touch of Will was so memorable. It brought me back to my younger days and first experiences with new love. They fit like a glove together, two halves of the same whole.
Unfortunately, there is a yearly picnic with the entire community, and Edward announces that they are moving to California for a job opportunity. In reality, the family is losing their farm and has no choice. Sarah is caught off guard, and is mortified, as is Will, and Margaret is there to pounce! Margaret wants Will at any cost. When Sarah and her family are packing to leave, Will and Sarah sneak off to say goodbye. It was so touching, Will gives her the priceless gift of a stamp so she can write to him, and she gives him a rock she found in the shape of a heart. The readers heartbroken with these two poor characters. They don't know what their future holds, and in the times to come, things get harder than they could have ever imagined.
This novel takes the reader through the trip to California, where Sarah meets a sexy older guy named Adley, hot and sexy, at her father's new farm, and feels conflicted, though she knows she loves Will. They grow closer and closer as the time goes by and there is a definite attraction that is undeniable. The two are reunited, at Thanksgiving dinner at the fireworks explode as Adley takes complete control of Sarah's senses and drives her mad with desire she has never felt before. At the same time, Will is growing closer to Margaret, yet still loving Sarah. Margaret is conniving like Scarlet O'Hara! Believe me, Will held out, though tempted while giving Margaret a fishing lesson. He had been without Sarah for a year, and finally gave into her advances. It was maddening... The scenes were seductive and deliberate, and Margaret knew exactly how to taunt him with her ample breasts and a jar of very sizzling honey!
Surrender to Fate, had so many twists and turns, unforeseen, heart wrenching scenes, lies, deceit, blackmail, extortion of sorts, war time, fear, and it all came together in an illusive story that always came back to love, surrender, and fate. You can't fight fate, no matter what twist you put on it. Everything in life comes full circle, and this novel will leave you reeling with an unexpected turn of events that you will never see coming! The love scenes will leave you breathless. Ms. Rye is an expert, and she has only just begun. I can't wait to read the second segment, Shattered by Fate, of this phenomenal saga, and find out what will happen with these amazing characters. Get the Kleenex ready. You will need them for this tear jerker. It holds on and doesn't let go, long after the final page has been turned. Add these two books to your TBR, they are a must!
I give Surrender to Fate, by Jacelyn Rye, 5 Wonderfully, Refreshing, Dynamic, Life Changing, Love Making, Earth Shattering Stars!!!
Favorite Quote:
"He reached across her body for the jar of honey. He slowly tilted it until the golden liquid began to flow out of the mouth of the jar. He held it over her, letting it drizzle and drip all over her warm body. Margaret moaned again and her body began to writhe under the sticky concoction. Now it was William's turn to truly taste the honey." (Kindle-Loc-1938) ~Will
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About Jacelyn Rye:
Jacelyn Rye is many things. She can be as alluring as the love that flows from her pen: pure, honest, simple. But then, like a storm that suddenly appears over the mountain, she can also have you running for shelter where there’s no place to hide. Like life, itself, Jacelyn delivers the hard with the soft, the pain with the joy, the instant with the forever. All of it, for a reason. And it’s there that one can best enter her life.
“I believe in signs, I believe everything happens for a reason,” she’ll tell you. If you know someone like that, you already know a primal piece of Jacelyn — a person who actually listens to the Universe because there, she knows she’ll find more than answers, she’ll find reasons. And those reasons give her insights about nature, and human nature, both of which she invites us to explore with her.
Growing up in the blue sky country of Colorado doesn’t leave an impression, it becomes a lifeblood. For Jacelyn, the clarity of that truth flows through her stories, her characters and her inherent spirituality that somehow knows faith, in the end, triumphs over despair.
Through her storytelling — firmly stimulated by that early country life that taught her to always be prepared when venturing forth — Jacelyn’s uncanny ability to “see” what could happen takes readers into a crystal ball where the future’s many possible outcomes await in a swirl of incandescence, right down to the details of smell, touch, fear, love.
Because life also presents its possibilities in dreams, Jacelyn holds dear that open door. “My dreams mean a lot to me. I listen to them, solve problems in them, learn from them,” she confides. It figures, then, that when you read her stories, you’d best get ready for a trip with an original dream weaver.
And then, there’s serendipity. To know Jacelyn is to accept a dance with chance. She accepted one such chance when she moved from her beloved Colorado to an unknown life awaiting her in Southern California, where she lives today. “I knew another beautiful world was out there. I was ready for adventure,” she says, with the confidence that proves her faith is more than just words. “I moved from Colorado as soon as I graduated from college, thanks to a great job offer. The night after I received my job offer, I saw a commercial that said, ‘California, find yourself here.’ In that moment, I stopped debating the move and took it as a sign that my adventure would be found in California.”
As Jacelyn does so well, she shares those adventures in her writing. In her first book series, you’ll find Jacelyn’s experiences of this major life change play out in Sarah, who also moves from Colorado to California. “What I’ve seen and felt enable me to write realistically about how a Colorado mountain girl feels about living in California.”
In the quiet mornings, you’ll find Jacelyn savoring her coffee, outside. To her, it’s all about listening, breathing in, appreciating being here for another day. And of course, there’s time spent in the mountains, fishing, wading in creeks with the people she loves. Curiously, this girl who comes from the mile-high mountains, still fears the miles-deep ocean she frequently visits, but only to sink her toes in the hot sand and watch, in awe and respect, the thundering surf.
On any given day, be it in the mountains, at the beach, or on her terrace, Jacelyn is dreaming and writing, her way of sharing something meaningful with those who come to know her.
One thing is for sure, wherever she goes, wherever she’s been, Jacelyn is aware and thankful for the gifts around her. Indeed, although she does not get back to Colorado that often, she’s there in spirit, and in absolute detail, in a moment’s call. “The smells, the sound aspen leaves make when the wind asks them to dance, how tall pines gently sway back and forth against a backdrop of the bluest blue I’ve ever known.” That’s someone who takes it all in, who takes it all with her, and who offers it to everyone who opens her books.
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