Book Review and Giveaway for The Surviving Trace by Calia Read

THE SURVIVING TRACE
by CALIA READ

Our love is timeless.

Will is my fiancé. The shy man I met years ago in college. The person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

This is the life I’ve always wanted until finding a picture of four men changes everything…

Etienne says he’s my husband and the year is 1912. He can’t stand the sight of me, but I don’t know why.

Oh, and he’s one of the men from the picture.

I’ve done the impossible and have become trapped in time and I know Etienne is my key to going home.

The more time I spend with Etienne, the further I fall for him, until I’m questioning which time I belong in and if the life I left behind is the one I truly desire.

All I know for certain is I need to survive time.

I need to survive love.

And I need to make it out on the other side alive.

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REVIEW: 4.5 Stars....with questions

"His memory is a second heartbeat that echoes against my own."

I'm in a state of shock right now, still....how can I rate this???

It took me a minute to collect myself so I could actually sit down and write my feelings out about this one. To be honest, I'm still pretty raw. I'm usually the type to write my review immediately after finishing a book because I love to purge my honest, gritty feelings as I am working through them.....but this book? It affected me so. It took me days just to come to terms with how I was feeling. To adjust to a world without Étienne and Serene was truthfully a distressing thought!!

This story was the perfect example of reading a new-to-me author and getting caught up in their words. Immediately. I loved that I was able to pick it up and immediately become immersed in a new world full of curiosities, while providing me with some mentally taxing thoughts. How could it be? How did all this work?? It made me challenge normalcy - which was necessary to take this ride. It made me think and smile and love and hurt - a barrage of emotions, for sure. The best emotion? Sounds kind of off, but the hopelessness I felt from both Étienne and Serene at opposing times for situations they couldn't control, that was my favorite part. I was completely giddy when things would happen that were unexplainable, but they were little bits of proof that their times were converging on each other.

"Tell me how to get you out of my system."

Here's why I loved it as much as I did. Not only did the synopsis immediately intrigue me - I honestly hemmed and hawed over the idea of actually giving it a try, but the fact that I couldn't stop thinking about the synopsis after I read it, that told me something. That and the emotions I ended up feeling by the time I finished it were beyond anything I would have ever imagined. Yes, this was not a genre I ever thought I would read. I see them and think there is no way I can relate, but THAT right there is exactly why I loved this as much as I did. I was so completely caught up in their world...their love....their plight. I hurt when they did. I yearned when they did. I loved when they did. I felt it all as if I were there, in their shoes, living her words. My favorite part was getting wrapped up in their emotional journey. The blending of two eras was so neat to read! I could only imagine what was going on in Serene's mind, but the way the story was told, I was able to put myself in her shoes, questioning logic and circumstance, mundane and out of this world wonders. Being that this genre is somewhat of a mystery to me, I was fascinated with every page turn. I was thankful I wasn't rolling my eyes, or screaming no way! I couldn't get enough! I took a ton of notes, but I am sure I missed some clues along the way. The discovery factor with this one is intense. It was definitely a mind game.

I am confused by a few things in this book, but I am also hoping that it is not only my naïveté in this genre, but also info saved for books two and three. I will be paying attention and seeing if my assumptions are right, or if they are better explained. Either way, the story brought me to my knees on more than one occasion. I have never procrastinated on finishing a book ever. EVER. I milked this ending for a good two days while I thought about the story; while I felt the fear and love; while I mourned the inevitable ending that was coming way too fast.

I realize many people say it's just a book, but do they realize how much one affects you when the words pull you in and fuck with your emotions? I feel empty now. . . at a standstill. I seriously questioned what I was supposed to do when this was over. I was already feeling the hangover that was sure to come by 96% into the book. This story made me seriously rethink blindly handing over my emotions to an author. The smiles were bright, the palpitations were rampant, and the emotions were consuming. This wasn't a typical journey for true love that I normally read - this was an adventure and I totally ignored my kids while I read it - HA!! I am so glad I took a chance on it, but now the pain of knowing I have to wait for the next book settles in and I feel like I may die. I feel like I'm addicted and I need my next hit. Rumor has it, September's the month.

"And I blame time. It is a thief that stole her from me."
~BEE

PURCHASE: AMAZON (Kindle Unlimited)

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~MEET CALIA READ~

Calia Read is the author of the Sloan Brothers Series, The Fairfax Series, Figure Eight and The Surviving Trace. She lives in Texas with her husband and their five kids. She is currently hard at work on the second book in The Surviving Time Series.

~CONNECT WITH CALIA~

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