Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Review: Becalmed by Normandie Fischer


Becalmed

Normandie Fischer



Paperback: 385 pages
Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas 
Publication Date: July 1, 2013
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1938499611
ISBN-13: 978-1938499616

About the novel

When a Southern woman with a broken heart finds herself falling for a widower with a broken boat, it's anything but smooth sailing.

Tadie Longworth doesn't spend much time worrying that she’s turning into one of Beaufort, North Carolina’s, spinsters. She has a gift shop full of her own jewelry designs and a sweet little sailboat to take her mind off the guy who got away. But now he’s back—with the fashion-plate wife he picked instead of Tadie—and he’s hitting on her again.

When widower Will Merritt limps into town with a broken sailboat and a perky seven-year-old daughter, he provides the perfect distraction—until that distraction turns into fascination when Tadie offers shelter during a hurricane. Over candlelit games of SlapJack and Monopoly, Jilly becomes the daughter she could have had and Will the man she always wanted. Only, he’s sworn never to let another woman in his life. Any day now, he’s going to finish those repairs, and that ship's going to sail—straight out of Tadie’s life.

To purchase


My thoughts

Sarah Longworth, better known as Tadie, has grown up in a privileged family along the beautiful coast of North Carolina.  Unconventionally, she is a sailor, who loves her business and seems to never work a day.   She has a beautiful home she inherited from her parents and good friends.  But Tadie is approaching middle age and has not loved or been loved in return; she has missed becoming a mother and forming a family of her own.  To my mind, this must be a tremendous nagging ache on her soul; no matter how she fills her life to distract it.   And then love, as it has a way of doing, appears out of nowhere when she meets Will and his daughter Jilly.

Normally, I don’t read typical “romance” novels as I am one of those who has had and lost my great love and now must find comfort in being alone.   However, it was the title that grabbed me, Becalmed… what a wonderful word and a wonderful way to describe a graceful state of existing.  In fact, I wouldn’t necessarily categorize Becalmed as a typical romance novel, at least the ones my Grandmother devoured.  Rather it a story about the emotion of loving and the feeling of being loved.   In fact, Becalmed, offered us love in its many forms: familial, friendship, parental and of course the most personal; mutual erotic attraction combined with the purest admiration for another – almost a combination of all the types of love combined in one powerful mix, but certainly a love that puts the lover in a state of bliss – they are becalmed, complete. 

In this way, from memories rather than from hope, I enjoyed Becalmed and found it restored, just a bit mind you, the notion that there could be another that would rival the first love in my life and that Normandie Fischer is no small task!  Thank you for giving your reader a story of the beauty of a romantic, physical relationship and the completeness it brings to life.  It was encouraging and inspirational and a true pleasure to spend time with.  I recommend Becalmed without reservation.

About the Author
I write from on board our sailboat or from on shore in coastal NC — stories of women and families and the things that get to them.

Connect with Normandie Fischer

Blog  ~  Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Pinterest 



8 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for that lovely review. You really touched me at: "...it restored, just a bit mind you, the notion that there could be another that would rival the first love in my life and that Normandie Fischer is no small task!"

    We'd like to come away from books with hope, wouldn't we? And so I hope you find your second love. I made so many early mistakes that I only found my true, best love late in life and in an unexpected way. May you be so blessed.

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    1. I can away from the novel with a feeling of hope, a remembrance that life is never really over till the...

      If He intends it for me then surely it will happen or I could be called in other ways. In any case I did love the feelings of the remembrance of falling in Love Becalmed evoked. I will never forget it...

      Thank you so much for your kind words and for taking the time to reach out personally to me. It is truly appreciated!

      Warmest regards, Shannon

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  2. Beautiful review. Thank you for the way you shared your heart right along with you opinion about this book. And I love your website. As a writer myself, you've hit on my goal--a most happy reader.

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    1. Thank you Robin, as a reader I am Most Happy, but the title is a bit of spin of my favorite Tudor queen, Anne Boleyn, motto "The Most Happy", but yes, I hadn't realized it, but I am most happy when reading!

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. It's sad that some great women's fiction gets categorized as romance. Becalmed is truly women's fiction, which by definition deals with issues of the heart or women's issues. I loved Becalmed!

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    1. You are exactly right! So much more than a romance. Thanks for leaving a comment.

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  4. Thank you so much for your kind words. It seems that Becalmed left us both with something more meaningful than another novel on the self. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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  5. Fun, Shannon. Thanks to all the posters here.

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Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!!

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