Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Taken Away by Patricia Yager Delagrange (Book Review)

In association with Pump Up Your Book, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to present a book review for Taken Away by author Patricia Yager Delagrange!




Taken Away by Patricia Yager Delagrange
Publisher: Black Hawk / Ravenswood Publishing
Publication Date: June 1, 2015
Format: Paperback - 400 pages
               Kindle - 1897 KB
               Nook - 557 KB
ISBN: 978-1508660439
ASIN: B00XAXMN86
BNID: 2940151356527
Genre: Women's Fiction


Buy The Book:


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a book review program hosted by Pump Up Your Book.


Book Description:

Jessee Bradford, a respected young veterinarian in Santa Barbara, California, comes home to find his wife Serena and baby daughter Sofia missing. Jessee fears they have been kidnapped or worse. The FBI investigators believe his wife, the only daughter of a wealthy philanthropist who never approved of their marriage, simply abandoned Jessee and took their child with no intention of returning.

After months of fruitless searching, Jessee relocates to his grandparents’ home in Iowa, where he takes over his grandpa’s veterinary practice. There he finds the family closeness he’s been missing and falls in love with a female equestrian Laura. When Jessee and Laura attend a gallery opening of an artist named She, the paintings remind Jessee of his wife Serena’s art work. Thus begins Jessee’s search to find She while his future with Laura teeters precariously on the edge until the truth about She is discovered.


My Book Review:

What's a man to do when his wife and baby daughter suddenly disappear without a trace? How can he move forward with his life when the endless search for his family leaves him emotionally devastated?

Taken Away is a heart wrenching story of love, loss, betrayal, recovery, second chances, and moving forward. This hauntingly poignant story is narrated in the first person perspective of Jessee Bradford, who takes the reader along on his heart wrenching journey of recovering from the devastating disappearance of his wife Serena and baby daughter Sophia. Jessee's emotional journey brings some very unexpected changes as he tries to move forward with his life. The story draws the reader into Jessee's life, you can't help but feel the full range of emotions as the story unfolds.

The author creates a cast of characters that are realistic people with issues that occur in their lives that the reader can easily relate to. You'll feel your heart strings being pulled as Jessee struggles to deal with the sudden disappearance and endless search for his wife and child, and his need to move forward with his life. I couldn't help but feel compassion for Jessee, he's a special kind of guy that any woman would love to have in their life. I can't tell you how much I disliked Jessee's wife Serena, as the story unfolded my contempt for this woman grew. I loved how Jessee's life came full circle with a second chance at love and having a family, I couldn't help but smile and cheer for him. The author transports the reader to two very different locales: Santa Barbara, California and Earlham, Iowa, with rich descriptions of each town.

The author weaves a story rich in detail and emotion, it deals with realistic situations and issues that occur in everyday life. This is a powerful and compelling story that masterfully intertwines issues that occur in real relationships: love, loss, betrayal, recovery, redemption, closure, second chances, and moving forward. While I enjoyed how the story unfolds throughout the book, the last quarter of the story is full of enough drama, suspense, surprising twists and turns, and romance that makes it so hard to put down until you reach the satisfying conclusion.

Taken Away is an emotional story that is so much more than the usual contemporary women's fiction novel. This is a story that will captivate you and pull at your heart strings, it will make you ponder about the complexity in relationships, and it will leave you emotionally spent but fulfilled with its wonderful ending.


RATING: 5 STARS 




About The Author



Patricia Yager Delgrange was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended St. Mary's College, studied her junior year at the University of Madrid, and received her B.A. in Spanish at UC Santa Barbara, then went on to get her Master's degree in Education at Oregon State University. She live with her husband and two teenage children in Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco, along with our two very large chocolate labs, Annabella and her son Jack. Her horse lives in the Oakland hills in a stall with a million dollar view. 





4 comments:

  1. Sounds like you this is a winner for you. :-) Great review.
    sherry @ fundinmental

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Sherry, I really enjoyed reading this story. :)

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  2. I purchased and read this book after reading your great review and I absolutely agree with you. It was a great book and I'm glad I read the review you posted.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words, I appreciate it. I'm glad that you enjoyed reading the story too. :)

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