Reviewed by Sid

TITLE: In Another Life

ANTHOLOGY: Heartwarming [Advent 2013]

AUTHOR: Cardeno C.

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 84 pages

BLURB: At age 18, Shiloh Raben is tired. He no longer has the energy to deal with mean classmates, inner doubt, and fear of familial rejection, so he takes a razor to his wrist. When he wakes up in the hospital, Shiloh meets Travis Kahn, the EMT who saved him and didn’t leave his side.

Travis is handsome, smart, and funny – the type of guy Shiloh would never be brave enough to approach. But his near-death experience has an unusual side effect: the life that flashed before his eyes wasn’t the one he had already lived, but rather the one he could live. With visions of a future by Travis’s side, will Shiloh find the strength to confront his fears and build a life worth fighting for?

REVIEW:

A very strong message is conveyed in this one – treasure the life that has been granted to you. In Another Life is a story that enlightens how precious human life can be. It’s a gift, and losing that gift just because of one depressing phase in it would only mean that you are losing on so many happy moments that you could have experienced.

Shiloh Raben is a troubled teenager who decides to take matters in his own hand after going through a series of weak moments. He breaks down and takes a razor to his wrist. While he lays in that bathtub counting his last breaths, he closes his eyes to dream of his better future. Call it a miraculous “what if…” for him, where he finds himself finding the one true love of his life. And it is indeed something special that Shiloh has with a man named Travis Kahn. It’s a beautiful dream, so imagine his ecstasy when he wakes up in the hospital bed only to find none other than Travis by his bedside.

Why should you read this book?

– Read it for entertaining yourself with some adorable and funny scenes as Travis and Shiloh meet in another life. Shiloh especially was very cute with his inital nervousness around Travis.

– Read it for grasping the actual essence of romance. It is so rare to find it in books these days – a true romance between characters which leaves that fluttery feeling in your heart.

– Read it for the magic of Cardeno C’s fantastic writing. It grips you till the end. I, for one, was impressed by author’s creativity with this book. The execution of that unique idea was perfect. The jumps from the real life to dream life and back weren’t weird at all. It all flowed in a perfectly sensible manner.

– And finally, read it for the holiday spirit because that’s what this book is all about. May it be Christmas, Hannukah or New Year’s Eve, it is the time of year when we celebrate, keeping our day-to-day worries aside.

In Another Life is a food for thought. We ought to have those every now and then. So thank you Cardeno C. for writing such a masterpiece. this story will never be forgotten.

Rating:

BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press

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ADVENT CALENDER EVENT

Dreamspinner Press and The Blog of Sid Love bring to you an opportunity where you get to win a free set of DSP’s “Heartwarming” Advent Calender 2013. Yes! The full set with 31 stories including contributions from authors like Andrew Grey, Cardeno C., Grace R. Duncan, and many more…

If you wish to enter yourself into this contest, all you have to do is comment on every advent event post we make each day till the end of this month. Look out for titles with “Advent Calender Event” mentioned in them (such as this one) and the posts will be reviews on each and every story from this anthology.

The contest will end on 1st January, 2014 and the winners will be announced on the 2nd of January.

So, good luck to you all and Happy Holidays!

P.S.: A shout out to Danielle, the co-owner and event manager, who has organized this whole event. A big thank you to DSP for their co-operation and support. And last but not the least, thank you to all the reviewers who are helping out with the reviews, thus attempting to make this event a success. You guys are awesome!