Book review – ‘Waiting For You’ by Catherine Miller (@katylittlelady) @UKCarina

Blurb.

You’d never guess that Fliss Chapron doesn’t have it all

All Fliss wants is to see two blue lines telling her she is pregnant with her much longed for second baby. But as the negative tests stack up, dreams of completing her perfect family feel more hopeless every day.

After years of disappointment, Fliss’s husband Ben is spending more time at the office than in their marital bed, and Fliss finds herself wondering who could be responsible for their inability to conceive another child. Yet, where do you lay the blame when it comes to having a child – and can anyone really be at fault…

As Ben becomes increasingly distant, Fliss begins to question whether her desire for a baby is just a sticking plaster to save her marriage. Because in the end, how well can you ever know another person…even the man you’re married to?

Don’t miss the new novel from Catherine Miller, All That is Left of Us coming soon!

What does TWG think?

Happily married, a wonderful child, but something is missing. Fliss desperately wants a second child with her husband Ben. After years and countless pregnancy tests, the lines still reveal a negative. But why? An opportunity arises to check them both for fertility issues, just to rule out any problems and find out why Fliss cannot get pregnant. I mean, they have been married for years, been trying for a baby for years, surely now is the time for answers? After all, neither of them have anything to hide….right?

I’m ashamed to admit that this book has been sitting on my Kindle since June, unread! I am annoyed with myself for leaving it this long to read, but I am rather glad that I did read it.

The desperation of Fliss’ want for another baby is pretty clear from the word GO. Understandably too though, trying for years to get pregnant and still constant negative results. The only way to find out what is going on is through testing. Fliss wants to, she wants to find out whether she has the problem, however, Ben finds a reason to slow the testing down. The subject of infertility struck a chord with me because of issues in my personal life and I felt that Catherine wrote about it in such an incredible way. It is such an emotional and often devastating topic, one that quite rightly needs to be spoken about and explored.

I took an instant dislike to Ben. I found him quite an arrogant and selfish man and often wondered what he was hiding. The way he acted came across rather dodgy, yet I couldn’t put my finger on why.

‘Waiting for you’ is an emotional rollercoaster from the first chapter, to the last. I felt helpless, I just wanted to help Fliss, I wanted her to be happy and get the life that she deserved…but I couldn’t. I got rather involved and attached to the whole book, and Fliss, probably more than I should have, but I thank Catherine’s fantastic writing for making it that way.

It is incredibly hard to believe that this book is a debut novel because of the soul capturing chapters. ‘Waiting for you’ took me on a journey, a journey I felt that I was walking with Fliss. I laughed, I cried and I became angry. For me, that makes a brilliant read. I want to feel raw emotion when I read a book, I want to try to capture the true essence of a book with my own emotions, I want to feel what the author felt when she wrote the book.

The last two chapters I read through tears. I sobbed my heart out due to circumstances that arose later on in the book, far too close to home, and brilliantly written.

‘Waiting for you’ is a book that will take you on a journey, a very emotional journey. Follow the journey of a mother’s want for another baby and the rollercoaster life that she leads. Catherine Miller has written such a thought-provoking, sensitive read with such feeling and intensity, I am in awe of her talent. Catherine’s words speak volumes and they carry emotion at such varied levels I never knew was possible to reach.
A mind-blowing, powerful and highly emotional read that will capture your heart and soul the whole way through, an amazing book from a debut author.

Waiting for you by Catherine Miller, published by Carina, is available to buy right now from Amazon UK

My thoughts on Maya Berger’s – Luna Tree: The Baby Project.

Luna Tree: The Baby Project by Maya Berger.
Published: 11th January 2016.
Paperback: ISBN-10: 1519689853
ISBN-13: 978-1519689856
Available to buy on Amazon UK & Amazon US

An insight into Maya Berger’s ‘Luna Tree – The Baby Project’. – Author guest post.

‘Maya is kicking up her heels, living the fabulous and mostly carefree life of a twenty-something young woman. However, in the back of her mind continuous longing for a good marriage and family lingers. How do you find the right man, the one who sticks through thick and thin? Will he provide you with the things you find essential in a relationship? Maya kissed a few frogs before finding her Prince Charming, but what followed was of higher importance. She started feeling chronic pain in her lower back, the pain that wouldn’t let her neither sit nor stand. Thus Maya began her relentless quest for diagnosis and healing, which she ends after discovering Energy healing. She travels the globe to receive and raise her own stored Energy, the one that changes everything. Her ultimate desires come true.’

Little over a week ago I was given the Luna Tree as a prize on Twitter by Maya Berger, so before I had read the book myself, I invited Maya onto my blog to find out why she wrote it. Here’s what she said: An insight into Maya Berger’s ‘Luna Tree – The Baby Project’.

Fast forward to now and the book has been read and time has been spent thinking about the contents of the book. With other books I wouldn’t spend a couple days thinking in detail about what I had just read, but this book was different. It’s about Maya’s life, the paths she has taken to get to where she is now, and the hurdles she has fought to get over.
In the book, Maya describes her relationship with her family as well as her personal relationships in her bid to find ‘the one’. She tells the readers her ups and her downs and how life for her was ‘normal’ until one day she woke up, and her whole life changed.
Maya started to have physical struggles that left her in chronic pain, and despite going to all the ‘best doctors’ as recommended by family or friends, not one of them could give her a definitive diagnosis.
The way that Maya approaches her story with such honesty is refreshing. She explains how she rubbish she felt and how frustrated the situation was for her. I am quite aware that a lot of people reading this will probably be able to relate to the frustration of no diagnosis, constant pain, life limits and severe frustration. Yes? Thought so, myself included.
Maya even explains how and why she turned to alternative therapies, despite being aware of how people would say that she is ‘paying for air’. The thing is, it seemed to help for her and put her in a more comfortable state and the life limits not being as rigorous as before.
Who is anyone to judge? Firstly, Maya lives in a completely different country which has different cultures and beliefs as opposed to the UK. Secondly, it’s her money, her life. She found something that worked for HER and she grabbed it. I personally find it admirable that Maya had the confidence to stick to her guns and carry on with what she felt was right. It takes a lot of guts to do that, especially where chronic illnesses are concerned because you’re not only fighting with your own body, you’re fighting with other peoples misunderstanding of you.
Luna Tree is just one story of a persons battles through life, not only in terms of finding her diagnosis, but finally becoming a mother. Everyone has a different story and a different approach to whatever their life throws at them. This story is an honest, admirable, and a very powerful account of reality for Maya. The strength that one person can have is very commendable, especially when she has found a way to turn it around.
Nobody fights the same battles, nobody jumps the same hurdles. As long as you jump your own hurdles and fight your battles in a way that is right for you, who is anyone to ask for anything different?
Thank you Maya for sharing your honest story.