Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: Far From the World We Know
AUTHOR: Harper Bliss
PUBLISHER: Lady Lit Publishing
LENGTH: 236 pages
Release Date: April 15, 2016
BLURB:
Laura Baker has just moved to the small Texas town of Nelson for a life of solitude and recovery after a traumatic event that has scarred her irreversibly. But her chosen isolation is difficult to maintain after she meets Tess Douglas, the charming editor of the town paper. Tess is determined to break down the walls Laura has built up around herself. As their friendship develops, so do their feelings for each other.
Will Tess be able to get past Laura’s defenses? And will Laura allow herself to love, and live, again? Find out in this powerful new novel by the chart-topping author of Seasons of Love, Release the Stars and At the Water’s Edge.
REVIEW:
This story is told in first person present tense, which is not my preferred style of narration but when done right I can cope. Harper gets it right, although I will suffice to say in this story, at times both heroines sounded so much the alike I had to remind myself who was who.
I’ve read numerous books by Harper, she most definitely knows how to tell a compelling tale. The story of Laura and Tess is a long slow burn, which is understandable given the horrendous event Laura lived through prior to moving to Nelson to take care of her sick Aunt. I can only begin to imagine the guilt a survivor of such a thing would endure. My heart went out to her.
Tess saw something in Laura long before she forgave herself and deemed herself worthy of finding love. The amount of times Laura pushed Tess away frustrated the hell out of me, even though I understood her reluctance to let down the walls she’d built around her heart. Tess’s patience and unwavering support endeared me to her more. She was a real sweetheart!
To add to the harrowing event Laura endured, we then discover her parents are fundamentalists who cut their daughter out of their lives years ago. While I’m sure this is all too common an occurrence, the book took a turn for the worst when it entered into religion. I avoid debating the topic like the plague so don’t care for such content in a fictional world either. That ones on me, I’m sure many others will be nodding along in understanding and/or sympathy.
There’s no heat factor until well after the 60% mark, but again given the nature of the story it wouldn’t have been right for the ladies to fall straight into bed together. And in true Harper fashion once the ladies did become intimate the pages sizzled.
I very much enjoyed reading about more middle-aged women, who dealt with life’s issues in a mature way.
The story is very moving, and will be sure to tug at readers heartstrings and melt their panties. I recommend to lovers of emotional reads with a little bit of heat thrown in for good measure.
RATING: 
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