Review: A sweet and beautiful story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2012
After reading Helen  Scott Taylor's Unbreak My Heart, I was really looking forward to reading her next contemporary romance novel, Oceans Between Us, which I received as a gift from the author for having reviewed Unbreak My Heart.Oceans Between Us is a beautiful story of Maria Gardener, a complete girl-next-door and Dino Rossellini, an Italian Opera singer.  The beginning of the story was very heart- breaking, as Dino's son is adopted without him being aware of it. It leaves him devastated and he moves to Porthale to find some peace and solace. That is where he comes across Crow's Nest, a warm and homely guest house that belongs to the Gardeners. Maria is so keen on taking care of Dino and making his stay as pleasant as possible. It was very touching to read how much one can care for a someone you don't even know. I don't want to get much into the storyline as I know I'll end up with tons of spoilers! So I will just stick to the tons of other amazing aspects of the book.I absolutely loved Maria. She was so easy to relate to. Nowadays, most of the leading female protagonists are kick- ass and daring (which is awesome, no doubt), while Maria was so gentle, caring and wonderful. Her simplicity made her so much more desirable and admirable. Dino too was such a great guy. Not just his hot Italian looks, but even as a person, he was simple, down-to-earth and a real sweetheart! Both Maria's and Dino's families- who played such an important role in the story- were splendid and it was so much of fun to read about them. The relationship between Maria and her sister, Christine was so lovely, and so was the one between Dino and his mom. The Italians made such a fantastic family, and were heart- warming to read about. The few secondary characters also made the story more lively, practical and joyous! I loved that both Maria and Dino value their families and have immense respect for them.My most favorite and treasured part of the story was when Maria and Dino are just roaming in Porthale, which is where they have their first kiss. That was absolutely remarkable!Overall, an absolutely sweet, realistic and marvelous read, Oceans Between Us is just the perfect book. I took my own sweet time reading this one as I didn't want it to get over! I literally moved at a snail's pace, but I was so excited to move ahead that I was compelled to turn the pages...Thank you Helen Scott Taylor for being so kind to gift a copy of your book, and for just writing this beautiful story! It is definitely worth a million bucks. :)