I loved it!
This book truly made me wonder how often this actually happens; two people who cross paths in school, feel that it's something more than just a crush or "puppy love," but dismiss it for whatever reason and miss out on what could have been true love.
Jodi and Nick faced a similar fate in high school, and I eagerly turned the pages for their high-school-reunion-scene to see what happened with Jodi and Nick!
Animosity, betrayal, jealousy, love, hope and joy are all prevalent in this book. Paul did a fantastic job setting the stage for a wonderfully romantic ending for two people who were almost kept apart because they refused to follow their hearts. This is such a touching, quick read, and I loved it!
***I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
This book truly made me wonder how often this actually happens; two people who cross paths in school, feel that it's something more than just a crush or "puppy love," but dismiss it for whatever reason and miss out on what could have been true love.
Jodi and Nick faced a similar fate in high school, and I eagerly turned the pages for their high-school-reunion-scene to see what happened with Jodi and Nick!
Animosity, betrayal, jealousy, love, hope and joy are all prevalent in this book. Paul did a fantastic job setting the stage for a wonderfully romantic ending for two people who were almost kept apart because they refused to follow their hearts. This is such a touching, quick read, and I loved it!
***I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
As Jodi entered the mansion, she followed the sound of the music up a large staircase. The banquet room and setup was typical of any formal catered affair, with buffet stations full of food and desserts, a cash bar, several rows of round tables, a small dance floor, and a DJ set up in one corner. There were a lot of people milling around, and after Jodi made a quick scan for Nick she began to mingle. It didn’t take long to notice that her classmates were gathered into the same cliques she remembered from high school, the same bands of friends gravitating together—the jocks with the jocks, the geeks with the geeks, the pretty boys with the pretty girls. And just like in high school, Jodi really didn’t feel comfortable with any of them, so she drifted among all of them.
She had been there a while, and was actually having fun, catching up with everyone, but after an hour, when Nick still hadn’t shown up, she caught a glimpse of herself in a gold gilt wall mirror and realized that she was really underdressed compared to the other girls. What if Nick didn’t like her outfit? She fought an urge to leave, to just go home. However, she knew this was where she needed to be. She just had to wait. In the meantime, she joked around with Kathy DiNoble.
“Remember that creepy male substitute teacher we had that time in cooking class,” Jodi began. “We were talking about what to make, and you suggested Sex in a Pan. He heard you, leaned over, looked right at you and said, ‘I prefer it in a bed.’” The two girls laughed and continued to reminisce until Kathy was called away by someone and excused herself to talk in another group.
Not seeing anyone else she wished to talk to and still no sign of Nick, Jodi decided to take a walk alone through the lower floor of the beautifully refurbished Queen Anne style converted mansion. The home had been built more than a century ago, and featured original wood and slate flooring and an abundance of chair rail and crown molding. The unusually-shaped rooms had different color schemes—blue, mulberry red, and cream—and were adorned with traditional Victorian-style furniture and decor. As she entered the library, she saw a formidable wall of books, ten feet high, stretching all the way to the ceiling, and a set of armchairs for reading in one corner. There must have been a thousand volumes on the shelves, many of them elegantly bound in leather.
Jodi instinctively found herself searching through the titles and authors for a book of poems by John Keats. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and she thought for sure that she would not be able to find what she was looking for in the apparent random placement of books. To her surprise, however, she discovered a collection of English Romantic poetry, which included in it the works of William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, Percy Shelley, William Wordsworth, and John Keats. As she opened the book in the middle, there was the entire thousand-line, four-book poem, Endymion.
She began to read the lines to herself, recalling as she did the fragments of the dream she had the other night. She remembered being in the high school library with Nick, who was shirtless, reading this poem to her. The imagery made her smile. And made her heart flutter.
At that moment, Jodi felt someone nearby, and when she looked up she saw Nick looking at her with a whimsical smile.
She had been there a while, and was actually having fun, catching up with everyone, but after an hour, when Nick still hadn’t shown up, she caught a glimpse of herself in a gold gilt wall mirror and realized that she was really underdressed compared to the other girls. What if Nick didn’t like her outfit? She fought an urge to leave, to just go home. However, she knew this was where she needed to be. She just had to wait. In the meantime, she joked around with Kathy DiNoble.
“Remember that creepy male substitute teacher we had that time in cooking class,” Jodi began. “We were talking about what to make, and you suggested Sex in a Pan. He heard you, leaned over, looked right at you and said, ‘I prefer it in a bed.’” The two girls laughed and continued to reminisce until Kathy was called away by someone and excused herself to talk in another group.
Not seeing anyone else she wished to talk to and still no sign of Nick, Jodi decided to take a walk alone through the lower floor of the beautifully refurbished Queen Anne style converted mansion. The home had been built more than a century ago, and featured original wood and slate flooring and an abundance of chair rail and crown molding. The unusually-shaped rooms had different color schemes—blue, mulberry red, and cream—and were adorned with traditional Victorian-style furniture and decor. As she entered the library, she saw a formidable wall of books, ten feet high, stretching all the way to the ceiling, and a set of armchairs for reading in one corner. There must have been a thousand volumes on the shelves, many of them elegantly bound in leather.
Jodi instinctively found herself searching through the titles and authors for a book of poems by John Keats. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and she thought for sure that she would not be able to find what she was looking for in the apparent random placement of books. To her surprise, however, she discovered a collection of English Romantic poetry, which included in it the works of William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, Percy Shelley, William Wordsworth, and John Keats. As she opened the book in the middle, there was the entire thousand-line, four-book poem, Endymion.
She began to read the lines to herself, recalling as she did the fragments of the dream she had the other night. She remembered being in the high school library with Nick, who was shirtless, reading this poem to her. The imagery made her smile. And made her heart flutter.
At that moment, Jodi felt someone nearby, and when she looked up she saw Nick looking at her with a whimsical smile.
Two previous true crime titles include "Caught in the Act, a Courageous Family's Fight to Save Their Daughter from a Serial Killer," and "Thrill Killers, A True Story of Innocence and Murder Without Conscience," the latter a collaboration with the lead detective who investigated the double homicide chronicled in the book.
Paul also collaborated with Gina Russo on From The Ashes, Surviving the Station Nightclub Fire, the personal memoir and reflections of a survivor of the 2003 Rhode Island fire disaster that claimed the lives of 100 people is the subject of this book.
In Strike IX Paul recounts the story of the 1999 Providence College baseball team, which learned that their sport would be eliminated at the end of the upcoming season in order for the school to comply with Title IX sex discrimination mandates.
Two early out-of-print novels, The Apostate and Monstrosity, are now available in electronic formats.
Paul attended Columbia College, a film school in Hollywood, CA and studied screenwriting. He received an A.S from Mt. Ida College in Newton, MA and received a B.A. in English from the University of Rhode Island.
Paul lives in Lincoln, RI with his wife and son.
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