A luminous debut with unexpected twists, Everything We Keep explores the devastation of loss, the euphoria of finding love again, and the pulse-racing repercussions of discovering the truth about the ones we hold dear and the lengths they will go to protect us.
Sous chef Aimee Tierney has the perfect recipe for the perfect life: marry her childhood sweetheart, raise a family, and buy out her parents' restaurant. But when her fiancé, James Donato, vanishes in a boating accident, her well-baked future is swept out to sea. Instead of walking down the aisle on their wedding day, Aimee is at James's funeral-a funeral that leaves her more unsettled than at peace.
As Aimee struggles to reconstruct her life, she delves deeper into James's disappearance. What she uncovers is an ocean of secrets that make her question everything about the life they built together. And just below the surface is a truth that may set Aimee free...or shatter her forever.
***
[On our wedding day, my fiancé James, arrived at the church in a casket]***
(Lake Union Publishing, 1 August 2016, Prime Reading)
***
***
Oh boy, I did not see that coming!
I really wasn't sure what to expect from Everything We Keep. I sort of expected it to be a sappy novel about the power of love and baking.
This turned out to be something different altogether. In a good way.
Everything We Keep has a slightly sugary surface but it much darker underneath than I expected. At first, I thought Aimee had lost her mind to grief, running away to Mexico on the whim of some alleged psychic.
And something unexpected happened.
Everything We Keep is incredibly beautiful and sad, it tugged my heartstrings and left me with an aching jaw.
The characters are all well-written, real, made of flesh and blood, full of good intentions but with a dark side as well, as real people should be.
I was taken completely by surprise by what Aimee discovers in Mexico. Totally original!
