Book Review
The Other Side Of Gemini by LG McCann
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Publication Date: July 15, 2014
Format: eBook - 253 pages
Kindle - 3431 KB
ASIN: B00LU9SD8Q
Genre: Chick Lit / Women's Fiction
BUY THE BOOK: The Other Side Of Gemini
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.
Book Description:
Lindsay Sekulich is a high school science teacher, wife, and mother of three in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. Her high school reunion is quickly approaching and that means the secrets of her bad-girl past, all of which she’s kept hidden from her husband, could come spilling out, revealing who she once was and the horrible things she’s done.
When Sylvia emerges in Scottsdale, seeking refuge in her hometown from the relentless gossip blogs, Lindsay finds herself alternately elated and terrified. The two were inseparable as teens, but a tragedy just before their senior year tore them apart. Sylvia, once a carefree, joyful girl always up for adventure, is a beaten down and broken adult. Now Lindsay must make a choice: rescue the friend who saved her in high school, or keep it all hidden to save her marriage from almost certain destruction.
Book Excerpt:
Every now and then, I sit in the crawlspace beneath my house and look through a small shoebox of private things: framed photos of me as a teenager and the kids I used to know; old journals; notes that had been passed back and forth in school, folded into complicated origami; and beer bottle caps and liquor bottle labels that once meant something, now long forgotten. Everything in this box is a secret. I’m not proud of any of it, or of any of the secrets I’ve kept from my husband for the past ten years because I was so afraid to tell him the truth about who I was before we met.
Before I became the girl he’d always dreamed of, before I’d become this reformed version of myself, I was Lindsay Richardson. If I revealed my past, I risked losing the way he looked into my eyes as if I were something pure, as if I were the person he’d been waiting for his whole life.
I lied to him on our fourth date. I had planned on telling him the truth later. As we got to know each other—after he told me of all the times he’d been lied to and cheated on, and seeing the anguish in his face—I couldn’t bear to be one more person who disappointed him.
My husband has his flaws. He’s a bit judgmental, often uptight. But everyone has flaws. I’ve spent ten years loving this man. I know he loves me, at least for who I am now. I can’t imagine the pain I’d cause if he did know who I used to be.
I pull a relic of the old me from the box: a print of a sonogram dated June 2000, right after I graduated from high school. Even though I’d been accepted at Arizona State, I deferred for one year, still unsure of whether I was going to keep the baby or not. I put the sonogram to my lips and wished for the millionth time that Paul knew about him. My precious Thomas, taken from me before I could even decide what I wanted to do.
***
It’s four o’clock in the morning and I can’t sleep. Paul rests soundly next to me, a small drop of drool threatening to spill from the corner of his mouth and onto our sheets. It’s rare that he’s even home, so I’m glad he’s here. I just wish I were sleeping. Even the kids are asleep. It seems like at least one of my three children hasn’t made it through a whole night in weeks. If one doesn’t wet the bed, another gets up to get water and wakes the others, or has a bad dream. I hold my breath for a moment and listen for the sound of crying, almost willing one of them to have a nightmare so I’ll have something to do.
I want to crawl into bed with my five-year-old, Lily. I should want to cuddle up with my husband, but it’s my daughter I want. She always smells sweet, but especially after bath night, her hair smelling of her strawberry-scented no-tears shampoo.
I shut my eyes tight, wanting so badly to at least feel tired. I can’t. I open my eyes again. If I turn on the lights, Paul will wake up. Being an ER nurse, the second light hits his eyes, he’s up and ready for action. Maybe I should wake him and we could make love. I consider it, then tell myself he needs his sleep after a thirty-six-hour shift.
God, I love him so much.
I slowly peel back the covers and maneuver myself out of bed, then replace the duvet as if I’d never been there. Paul grunts and jerks, but doesn’t wake.
I shut the bedroom door soundlessly and pad out to the living room. The room is stuffy and hot, the air conditioning turned down considerably to save money. Yesterday the temperature reached ninety-eight degrees. Even though the sun’s not up yet, it feels like its eighty in here.
I check on the kids, hoping one of them is awake. I’m disappointed to find Lily fast asleep, eyelids twitching, one chubby little arm raised over her head, just like Paul. In the next room, my three-year-old identical twins, Andy and Jackson, are both sound asleep as well, illuminated by the Buzz Lightyear nightlight between their beds. Andy is in the bed on the left side of the room, sleeping on his back in the center of the bed, his sheet pulled up to his chin. Jackson is on the right side of the room. He’s sprawled across the mattress, one leg on the wall and an arm dangling off the side. These twins couldn’t be more different.
I shut their door and make my way to the living room again, where I curl up on the sofa and grab the remote control. With a push of a button, the large flat-screen TV slowly comes to life. We have cable, but most of it is trash, so there’s very little I’ll watch. Except every now and then I’ll put my judgment on mute and indulge in a little fun.
Before I became the girl he’d always dreamed of, before I’d become this reformed version of myself, I was Lindsay Richardson. If I revealed my past, I risked losing the way he looked into my eyes as if I were something pure, as if I were the person he’d been waiting for his whole life.
I lied to him on our fourth date. I had planned on telling him the truth later. As we got to know each other—after he told me of all the times he’d been lied to and cheated on, and seeing the anguish in his face—I couldn’t bear to be one more person who disappointed him.
My husband has his flaws. He’s a bit judgmental, often uptight. But everyone has flaws. I’ve spent ten years loving this man. I know he loves me, at least for who I am now. I can’t imagine the pain I’d cause if he did know who I used to be.
I pull a relic of the old me from the box: a print of a sonogram dated June 2000, right after I graduated from high school. Even though I’d been accepted at Arizona State, I deferred for one year, still unsure of whether I was going to keep the baby or not. I put the sonogram to my lips and wished for the millionth time that Paul knew about him. My precious Thomas, taken from me before I could even decide what I wanted to do.
***
It’s four o’clock in the morning and I can’t sleep. Paul rests soundly next to me, a small drop of drool threatening to spill from the corner of his mouth and onto our sheets. It’s rare that he’s even home, so I’m glad he’s here. I just wish I were sleeping. Even the kids are asleep. It seems like at least one of my three children hasn’t made it through a whole night in weeks. If one doesn’t wet the bed, another gets up to get water and wakes the others, or has a bad dream. I hold my breath for a moment and listen for the sound of crying, almost willing one of them to have a nightmare so I’ll have something to do.
I want to crawl into bed with my five-year-old, Lily. I should want to cuddle up with my husband, but it’s my daughter I want. She always smells sweet, but especially after bath night, her hair smelling of her strawberry-scented no-tears shampoo.
I shut my eyes tight, wanting so badly to at least feel tired. I can’t. I open my eyes again. If I turn on the lights, Paul will wake up. Being an ER nurse, the second light hits his eyes, he’s up and ready for action. Maybe I should wake him and we could make love. I consider it, then tell myself he needs his sleep after a thirty-six-hour shift.
God, I love him so much.
I slowly peel back the covers and maneuver myself out of bed, then replace the duvet as if I’d never been there. Paul grunts and jerks, but doesn’t wake.
I shut the bedroom door soundlessly and pad out to the living room. The room is stuffy and hot, the air conditioning turned down considerably to save money. Yesterday the temperature reached ninety-eight degrees. Even though the sun’s not up yet, it feels like its eighty in here.
I check on the kids, hoping one of them is awake. I’m disappointed to find Lily fast asleep, eyelids twitching, one chubby little arm raised over her head, just like Paul. In the next room, my three-year-old identical twins, Andy and Jackson, are both sound asleep as well, illuminated by the Buzz Lightyear nightlight between their beds. Andy is in the bed on the left side of the room, sleeping on his back in the center of the bed, his sheet pulled up to his chin. Jackson is on the right side of the room. He’s sprawled across the mattress, one leg on the wall and an arm dangling off the side. These twins couldn’t be more different.
I shut their door and make my way to the living room again, where I curl up on the sofa and grab the remote control. With a push of a button, the large flat-screen TV slowly comes to life. We have cable, but most of it is trash, so there’s very little I’ll watch. Except every now and then I’ll put my judgment on mute and indulge in a little fun.
My Book Review:
The Other Side Of Gemini is about the reuniting of two women who were best friends in high school, but who had become estranged after a tragedy in their senior year tore their friendship apart.
Author LG McCann weaves an intriguing story set in Scottsdale, Arizona, where estranged best friends Sylvia Miloche and Lindsay Sekulich reunite and explore their past relationship and their differences in the lives they have led since high school, lives filled with secrets and insecurities that will determine the strength and bond of true friendship.
I love reading stories about friendships and the intertwining depth and strength that come out of their bond, especially when tragedy and life circumstances and experiences put it to the test. Author LG McCann weaves a realistic portrayal of an estranged friendship, and the trials and tribulations that Slyvia and Lindsay experience in their lives, and the ability of these two women to reunite and strengthen their bond when they each deal with so much adversity in their lives. I could relate to the women reconnecting after a long ago tragedy, time, and distance has separated them. This is the kind of story that encourages the reader to ponder their own friendships and the remarkable ability and strength of these relationships to weather and overcome time, distance, life challenges, fears, secrets, and insecurities.
The Other Side Of Gemini is a compelling and emotional story of friendship, love, loss, forgiveness, and redemption.
RATING: 5 STARS
About The Author
LG McCann was born and raised in the Last Frontier. She spent her formative years on her family’s ski resort near Fairbanks where, if she wasn’t bombarding customers with rocketlaunched Barbie dolls, she was in the cubby under the stairs making up stories. After enduring the rest of her adolescence in Anchorage, LG tried her hand in the Lower-48, where she graduated from Hollins University summa cum laude with a double major in English and Film & Photography.
After six years in New York City, where she acquired unique experiences working in reality TV, the non-profit sector, and the publishing industry, LG still hadn’t found her calling. She still just wanted to be in that cubby making up stories. She wanted to write. These days, that’s exactly what she’s doing. But when she’s not writing or proofreading (or at her day job), you’ll most likely find LG playing in her garden, cooking with her partner Jonathan, attempting complex yoga moves, or passing out from exhaustion on her couch with her fuzzy assistant Emmy Cat.
AUTHOR WEBSITE
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Virtual Book Tour
Tour Schedule:
September 4 – Doorflower – Guest Post
September 8 – Ai Love Books – Review & Q&A
September 9 – Chick Lit Club Connect – Guest Post
September 11 – Reading in Black and White – Review
September 12 – The Little Reading Cabin – Review
September 17 – Ski-Wee’s Book Corner – Excerpt
September 18 – The Phantom Paragrapher – Review
September 19 – The World As I See It – Review & Excerpt
September 22 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt
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