Book Description:
When young widow and life coach Dr. Teresa Lopez Gonzalez goes to Puerto Rico to coach Pilar Sanchez, the granddaughter of her mother’s best childhood friend, Teresa comes face-to-face with her own unwillingness to surrender to God's will for her life. In the process, she learns that only by losing her life will she truly find it.
My Thoughts:
One of the first things I notice about a book is the cover, and this was no exception. I was immediately drawn in by the cover because the scenery looked very familiar to me. Once I read the description, I knew I was correct. This is a book whose setting is Puerto Rico, and that made the book unique, which is the first thing that drew me to the book. As I read it, I found that the uniqueness of the setting was just one of the things that made this book so special.
Puerto Rico is called “the island of enchantment” and that is what it turned out to be for Dr. Teresa Lopez Gonzalez. Teresa’s trip to the island wasn’t planned. It just sort of came up. As a life coach, Teresa was invited to Puerto Rico by her mother’s longtime friend, Ramona Sanchez. Ramona requested that Teresa coach her granddaughter, Pilar Sanchez, who suffered from the grief of growing up without a mother. Pilar’s father, Marcos Sanchez, was at his wits’ end with how to help Pilar, until a ray of hope came in the form of Teresa. However, for Teresa to help, she had to leave her comfort zone, aka New Jersey, where she had been “existing” by throwing herself into her work after the unexpected passing of her husband five years earlier. Once in Puerto Rico, the lives of Teresa, Marcos, and Pilar are thrown together in a way that no one expected.
And that’s where the story really takes off. There were similarities with Teresa, Marcos, and Pilar. Each one had suffered loss, and each one dealt with it in a different way. The common factor of how is expertly woven into a story that combines loss, grief, faith, new beginnings, romance, and a splash of humor, which makes Surrender to Love such a special book. Throw in some breathtaking descriptions of “the island of enchantment” and you have a lovely story that you won’t want to miss.
*****I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and viewpoints are my own.
About the Author
Dr. MaryAnn Diorio is a follower of Jesus Christ who is passionate about writing compelling and entertaining fiction that transforms lives. Her fiction has won several awards, including the Silver Medal for eBook Fiction in the Illumination Book Awards Program sponsored by the Jenkins Group; First Place in Inspirational Fiction in the 2011 Colorado RWA Heart of the Rockies Contest; and First Place in Inspirational Fiction in the 2011 Space Coast Authors of Romance (STAR) Launching a Star Contest.
Her latest work of fiction is a novel titled THE MADONNA OF PISANO. It is the first in the trilogy called THE ITALIAN CHRONICLES.
MaryAnn also writes for children. Her latest children’s book is titled CANDLE LOVE and helps little ones cope with sibling rivalry. TOBY TOO SMALL is a story about a little boy who learns that it's not how big you are on the outside that matters; it's how big you are on the inside.
MaryAnn holds the PhD and the MPhil in French and Comparative Literature from the University of Kansas, the MA in Italian Language and Literature from Middlebury College, and the MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She writes a popular blog titled "Matters of the Heart" (www.maryanndiorio.com/blog) that, like her fiction writing, deals with the deepest issues of the human heart. She also writes a blog for teen girls called Gabriel Girls (gabrielgirls.blogspot.com). In her spare time, she loves to read, paint, and make up silly songs for her grandchildren.
Dr. MaryAnn resides in New Jersey with her husband Dom, a retired ER physician. They are the blessed parents of two wonderful daughters, a fantastic son-in-law, and five rambunctious grandchildren.
You may contact Dr. MaryAnn at the following social media venues:
Website: www.maryanndiorio.com
Blog (Matters of the Heart): http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/maryanndiorioblog
Amazon Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/author/maryanndiorio
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/DrMaryAnnDiorio
Twitter: http://Twitter.com/@DrMaryAnnDiorio
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6592603
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