Reviewed by Desere
Family Ties
Imagine working with children each and every day of your life, but not being able to have any of
Scary and also a little psychotic, for those of you that have been blessed with children, put yourself in the shoes of a woman that wants a child and simply does not stand the chance. It can ruin any hope of a normal relationship, it can emotionally destroy you and in the end if you are not strong enough it can drive you to insanity. Would you be strong enough or would you simply give up?
In the new read by Kamy Chetty she explores the traumatic life of Olivia, who gives her all each and every day to make sure new borns' are healthy and that their mothers will have the chance to see their children grow up, it is what she does best.
But deep down in her heart she holds in the pain of a life she simply will never have. Here, she is holding and cuddling adorable little babies and never will she be able to say, "This one is mine! " And because of this Olivia is known in the hospital as the ice lady.
The one man that can however melt her into a puddle of want and need is come-over-here-and-I'll-make-you-smile Jack!
Soon Olivia and Jack start up a relationship. Olivia is upfront with Jack from the start and it does not seem to bother Jack in a major way, but Jack has a skeleton hiding in his closet.
The real question is what will happen when the past pops out of the closet and a whole new world of opportunities arise for Jack, will he be able to get Olivia to stick around or will she take off running because taking a risk to love and then losing it all again, is the pain she never wants to feel again. Or will Jack be the one to make the sacrifice?
The characters were both well written, I felt truly sorry for Oliva, being a mother I can only imagine how terrible it must be to want a child and never being able to have one. I liked that the author started the read, giving me the idea that Olivia is just a little on the nutty side, yes it did worry me a little but it got me looking forward to see what will be the trigger to bring Olivia's wild thoughts back to reality.
Olivia is strong and independent but simply because she needs to be, if not she will crumble and might never be able to get back up again. Loved that she gets up and moves on. I could understand why she dwells on the past , but I would have liked to see the author delve just a bit deeper into the precise what, who and where happened to her. She had a jerk of an ex-husband in her past. I got the general idea and enough information to form a picture but not quite what I was searching for.
Jack was a great character, fun and kind of a goof-ball yet sensitive and caring. He is basically a all round good guy but the author giving him some faces from the past popping up in his life made him a bit of a bad boy, nothing major bad but yes I got the essence of it.
The dialogue was of the pure emotional kind, the author kept to the tune of this being pure drama, she gave me as reader some medical drama that was of the life threatening kind which I liked, and then blended in the romantic drama but very faintly, these two characters were more the kind to have a little argument and immediately also make up, which was kind of a new touch for me as reader as normally we get the hot and heavy conflict from today's reads, yet I found this conflict over before if even properly starts somewhat refreshing.
The message I am taking away from this read is that you must never give up on your dreams, there is always something or someone waiting in the wings that will be the light you need to crawl up out of the darkness that pain can cause. And when life gives you pain, get up, fight back and you might just find the silver lining.
4.5 star review
"The ice lady with no baby is about to find her very own family"
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Reviewed by Nancy Crocker
What could be worse than having your husband cheat on you with your best friend. How about having to work in the same hospital, be the subject of the rumor mill, and watch your ex husband and ex best friend have what you can't have - a baby. As if that wasn't bad enough, you work on the Delivery ward of a hospital, seeing babies everyday.
Olivia has been through so much in the last year, now she is focused on her work and making her dream come true. She will have a baby, but she is meeting with obstacles at every turn. A two to four year wait to adopt. A deal falling through on a private adoption through an attorney. Maybe hardest of all, is seeing the man you are starting to fall for not want anything to do with his little infant daughter in the NICU.
Jack Dawson is struggling to comes to grips with the fact, a preemie baby is needing him and he does not know how to be there for her. His wife left him and had a baby that was not his, but she was killed on the way to the hospital to deliver milk. Not knowing who the father is, it is left on Jack's shoulders to decide little Ruby's future. While one might say how could he not love this little baby, the author showed how difficult it was for Jack to overcome the betrayal from his first wife Mirri. I loved how Jack was always there for Olivia, standing up for her when others were not so nice.
This book dealt with feelings and everyday lives in a hospital delivery setting. You also watch Jack and Olivia deal with past hurts and betrayals, and grow stronger for the lessons learned in life.
4.5/5 stars
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Review by TashNz
Reviewed by Maria
In modern times, a vital part of sex education is family planning. Or rather, not planning children. Everyone wants to enjoy sex and avoid pregnancy until they are ready to welcome a child into their lives.
This must seem like a cruel joke to women who long to conceive but, for some reason, are unable to do so. How unbearable it must be to know that you'll never know the flutter if life growing within you, to know you'll never be able to cradle your own newborn infant in your arms. The need of a woman to be a mother, to bring a child into the world can be overwhelming.
Then there's the irony of life. Some people don't want kids but can't stop having them. Look at Jack. He's been saddled with the premature baby of his late ex-wife. A child which bears his legal name although he has no biological tie to it. How ridiculous can it get?
A perfectly innocuous name, Jack Dawson is a great name for a hero in a romance novel. It's the name of the hero Leonardo Di Caprio made famous in the smash hit movie, TITANIC. Jack was the dashing romantic hero who appeared in Rose's (Kate Winslet) life one day, became her lover, taught her how to live life to the full and died, leaving her to continue on in life, all the richer for the experience. Of course it was a tragedy that Jack and Rose couldn't have their happy ever after (HEA). This Jack, however, can have his HEA if he can only open up to the fact that Olivia loves him. This warm and compassionate nurse, unable to bear a child of her own despite delivering babies every day, would make a wonderful mother for Jack's unwanted child. Can Jack -and Olivia - go the extra mile to put themselves on the line and make a family for this little orphaned girl, this tiny scrap of humanity?
Kamy Chetty's writing has a rich and compassionate voice, which has the courage to go where many authors don't. She applies that voice as much to describing the emotions of maternal longing as she does to making love. She is a great new discovery in women's fiction and I urge readers of romance and women's fiction to read this author and tell everyone about her.
She deserves it.
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Review by TashNz
Family Ties packed to the brim with emergencies and drama that consume Midwife Olivia's daily life in her ward. The non-stop action made for a fast paced story that flowed continuously, which contributed towards making it a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The drama doesn't stop in the ward for Olivia; shes madly attracted to her boss Clinical Director of Obstetrics, Dr Jack Dawson who is also feeling the attraction and trying to deal with it. Both Olivia and Jack are lost souls with each having their own reason to feel like they have no chance for life-long happiness. Olivia also has to work with her nasty ex-husband as well as trying to adopt.
If there's anyone who deserves a happy ever after it's Olivia. She's had so many knock-downs, she works in an area that internally breaks her heart every day, she dreams of happiness and just wants to move on with life. She's well written. Jack has also had a rough lot in life, he also deserves a happy ever after.
But wait, there's more, so much more! My summary doesn't nearly cover all that Kamy Chetty packs into Family Ties. It's about two people who have both lost in love and family and deserve happiness. It's action-packed medical drama all mixed in with broken hearts aching to be mended and a little twist.
What I loved about this story besides Jack and Olivia was the non stop medical action, it was constant and exciting to me and I really enjoyed reading how all the emergencies panned out. I loved that it was set in my home town of Auckland, New Zealand and the mention of our beautiful Pohutukawa trees. I was also fascinated to learn that you can feel a babies heart beat through the umbilical cord. Speaking of babies, Family Ties has the cutest little cover ever!
I congratulate you Kamy on your first self published story. I applaud you for living and achieving your dream. I cant wait to read more.
4 StarsReviewed by Maria
In modern times, a vital part of sex education is family planning. Or rather, not planning children. Everyone wants to enjoy sex and avoid pregnancy until they are ready to welcome a child into their lives.
This must seem like a cruel joke to women who long to conceive but, for some reason, are unable to do so. How unbearable it must be to know that you'll never know the flutter if life growing within you, to know you'll never be able to cradle your own newborn infant in your arms. The need of a woman to be a mother, to bring a child into the world can be overwhelming.
Then there's the irony of life. Some people don't want kids but can't stop having them. Look at Jack. He's been saddled with the premature baby of his late ex-wife. A child which bears his legal name although he has no biological tie to it. How ridiculous can it get?
A perfectly innocuous name, Jack Dawson is a great name for a hero in a romance novel. It's the name of the hero Leonardo Di Caprio made famous in the smash hit movie, TITANIC. Jack was the dashing romantic hero who appeared in Rose's (Kate Winslet) life one day, became her lover, taught her how to live life to the full and died, leaving her to continue on in life, all the richer for the experience. Of course it was a tragedy that Jack and Rose couldn't have their happy ever after (HEA). This Jack, however, can have his HEA if he can only open up to the fact that Olivia loves him. This warm and compassionate nurse, unable to bear a child of her own despite delivering babies every day, would make a wonderful mother for Jack's unwanted child. Can Jack -and Olivia - go the extra mile to put themselves on the line and make a family for this little orphaned girl, this tiny scrap of humanity?
Kamy Chetty's writing has a rich and compassionate voice, which has the courage to go where many authors don't. She applies that voice as much to describing the emotions of maternal longing as she does to making love. She is a great new discovery in women's fiction and I urge readers of romance and women's fiction to read this author and tell everyone about her.
She deserves it.
