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BLURB:
Heart-warming and wonderfully romantic, written with the sharp wit of Candace Bushnell and the sensitivity of Meg Donahue, comes best-selling author Patricia Leavy’s tour de force about learning to balance darkness and light in our lives.
Celestial Bodies is a series of six novels that follow the epic romance of Tess and Jack: Shooting Stars, Twinkle, Constellations, Supernova, North Star, and Stardust. An exploration of the power of love, each novel focuses on love at the intersection of another topic: healing, doubt, intimacy, trust, commitment, and faith. While external threats occur in each book, this is ultimately a story about internal threats—the audio playing in our own heads.
Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find happiness in her personal life. Jack Miller is a federal agent who specializes in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself. The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on a beautiful love story that asks the questions: What happens when people truly see each other? Can unconditional love change the way we see ourselves? Their friends are along for the ride: Omar, Tess’s sarcastic best friend who calls her Butterfly; Joe, Jack’s friend from the Bureau who understands the sacrifices he’s made; and Bobby and Gina, Jack’s younger friends who never fail to lighten the mood. Along the way, others join their journey: the female president of the United States, with whom Tess bakes cookies and talks politics; the Millers, Jack’s childhood family; and many others. Celestial Bodies is about walking through our past traumas, moving from darkness to light, learning to live in color, and the ways in which love—from lovers, friends, or the art we experience—can heal us. Written as unfolding action, this collection moves fluidly between melancholy, humor, and joy. It can be read for pleasure or selected for book clubs.
Buy Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Celestial-Bodies-Tess-Miller-Novels-ebook/dp/B09WZGRGML/
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My Thoughts:Tess is a good woman who looks to see the good in everyone. Jack is constantly surprised by her. She seems to be one in a million. The words she writes seem to speak to people’s souls.
She has a core group of people who are there to support her. The author develops characters that may be easy to understand but as the story goes on they become more complex. Everything may seem like life is always happy and filled with love but our author includes twists.
I found the characters interesting but there were times that I questioned what was going on and how any of it related to the title. But then I look at future books and that’s when I notice the theme. There seemed to be a small connection between me and Jack because there were certain times within the story that we were both confused by what was happening. Once the mystery was revealed certain things began to make sense but a lot happened before that had me wondering if I missed something and did I need to go back and re-read a lot of the book.
There are some things that Tess is dealing with that can be a trigger for some. Her reactions do give a sense of realism. Jack is the hero that wants to save the day but there are times when he has to rely on the help of others. By the end of this story, I did want to see what our main characters books are all about.
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EXCERPTS:
At the end of the evening, they all bundled up and stumbled out of the bar.
A homeless man standing on the sidewalk asked, “Can you please spare anything?”
The group stood around awkwardly, but Tess walked right up to him. “Hi. I’m Tess, this is Jack, and these are our friends.”
Jack stepped directly behind Tess in a protective stance.
“What’s your name?” Tess gently asked the man.
“Henry,” he replied.
She smiled, pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of her pocket, and handed it to him. When he took the money, she held his hand. Surprised, he looked at her and said, “You’re very kind. Thank you.”
“Getting kind of cold out,” she said, still holding his hand.
“Sure is.”
She took off her cashmere scarf and held it out. “Here, please take this and try to stay warm.”
“Wow,” Joe muttered.
“Oh, I couldn’t,” Henry said.
“Please, I insist.”
“Thank you,” he said, taking the scarf. “Someone must have taught you to do unto others.”
“No, someone taught me there are no others. Good night, Henry.”
She turned to her friends, their mouths agape.
Henry looked at Jack, who hadn’t moved, and quietly asked, “Is she some kind of angel?”
“Yeah, something like that,” he muttered.
Tess walked over to Omar and hugged him. “Our usual breakfast on Thursday?”
“Yes, Butterfly.”
“Good night, guys,” she said to her friends.
They all said goodbye. Jack took Tess’s hand and walked her to his car. He opened her door and she got in. When he closed the door, he looked back at Henry, who was wrapping the scarf around his neck and smiling.
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Author Bio:
Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is a bestselling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of Sociology and Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. She has published over thirty-five books, earning commercial and critical success in both fiction and nonfiction, and her work has been translated into many languages. Patricia has received dozens of accolades for her books. Recently, her novel Shooting Stars won the 2021 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite Contemporary Novel, her novel Film won the 2020 American Fiction Award for Inspirational Fiction, the 2021 NYC Big Book Award for Chick-Lit, and the 2021 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorite Chick-Lit, her 3-novel set Candy Floss Collection won the 2020 American Fiction Award for Anthologies and the 2021 NYC Big Book Award for Anthology, and her novel Spark won the 2019 American Fiction Award for Inspirational Fiction, the 2019 Living Now Book Award for Adventure Fiction, and the 2021 National Indie Excellence Award for New Adult Fiction. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an “Influencer.” In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” She lives in Maine with her husband, daughter (when she’s not away at college), and her dog. Patricia loves writing, reading, watching films, and traveling.
Author Links:
Website: www.patricialeavy.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WomenWhoWrite/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricialeavy
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Author Interview:
If you could have one paranormal ability, what would it be?
Invisibility.
What is one thing your readers would be most surprised to learn about you?
I’m shy. Because I do keynote addresses and invited talks at conferences and universities, as well as podcasts, radio, and other kinds of media interviews, people assume I’m outgoing. Not in the least. There’s a reason I chose a life where I work from home alone in my office.
When writing descriptions of your hero/ine, what feature do you start with?
Their central fear.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I’ve definitely become a pantser. My novel Shooting Stars, the first book in Celestial Bodies: The Tess Lee and Jack Miller Novels, came to me in a burst as a complete story. I could see and hears all the characters clear as day. In the past I had used outlines and written in chronological order. With Shooting Stars, I viewed it as a compilation of scenes, and that’s how I wrote it – completely out of order. In fact, the last chapter in the book was the first one I wrote, then I skipped around in the middle, and I finished by writing the first chapter. There was no plan or formula. I just sat at my computer and wrote. I loved both the process and result so much, that I’ve been doing the same thing ever since with all my novels, including all the books in this collection—just sitting down and writing scenes, getting lost in the story-worlds and characters, and then stitching it all together. Now ten books into this way of writing, I’ll never be able to go back.
Did you learn anything from writing this book? If so, what?
I’ve never learned more from anything in my entire life than I have from writing this collection of novels. I’ve learned about generosity, grace, vulnerability, shame, love, letting go, acceptance, and so much more. In the end, as Tess would say I’ve learned this: Breathe. Just breathe.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on Celestial Bodies, the author's interview, bio and book details, I have enjoyed reading this post and I am looking forward to reading this book
ReplyDeleteVery interesting book details.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the interview, Patricia, and the excerpt is great, I can't wait to read Celestial Bodies! Thanks for sharing it with me!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts, Lynn!
Have an amazing day!
Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, sounds very romantic!
ReplyDelete