Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino

Title: Swear on This Life
Author: Renee Carlino
Pages: 320
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Atria Books/Simon Schuster Canada
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Buy: Amazon| Chapters Indigo|Kobo
*Received for review from publisher*

Summary (Goodreads)

When a bestselling debut novel from mysterious author J.Colby becomes the literary event of the year, Emiline reads it reluctantly. As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer.

Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio.

That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade. Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending.

The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

Review:

From the moment I saw the cover and read the summary, I knew immediately that I wanted to read Swear on this Life. I seriously loved this book from beginning to end. Pretty much devoured it like I did with Before We Were Strangers. I thoroughly enjoyed each of the characters especially Jase and his role in the book. Renee Carlino will not disappoint you when reading her new fantastic novel as you are captivated with the entire story.

I found that I liked Emiline a lot because even though she is a struggling author whose works has not been noticed she begin to try again. When her best friend starts reading a new bestselling novel by J. Colby about two childhood friends who fall in love that is very similar to her life. The entire plot was very unique as it captivates you. It definitely is a book within a book that way it was written and Carlino did a great job pulling the two stories together which means her writing and words were amazing.

The entire book will show many emotions. I almost cried wishing the story never ended. Emiline's story is so intricate and encouraging that you felt what she was going through. Some parts were really funny while others series that you just had to keep on reading. Her character is so entwined with Jase (now an acclaimed author, J. Colby) that when they first interact with each other after so many years you just want to root for them and him because he was strong for her when she needed him by her side during their childhood + overcome what tore them apart.

Renee did an amazing job telling us this incredible story as you will definitely not forget reading this story. Swear on This Life is one of my top reads of 2016. Looking forward to her next book as she is now an auto-buy author for me!!

5/5