Review: Beautiful!  Christine Brae poured her heart into this story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2014
What would you do if you realized you were living a lie?  Imagine that everything is white, bland.  Imagine you just exist; you're barely going through the motions.  What would you be willing to do to bring color back to your world?  Could you handle the resulting torrent of emotions?  Would you be able to accept this new reality?  Or would you deny it?  Would you be able to make changes to your life?  Author Christine Brae explores these questions and more in her new novel titled Insipid.At forty-two years old, Jade Richmond has been promoted to a member of the executive team for a Fortune 500 company located in Chicago, Illinois.  She has worked extremely hard to achieve success in her career, while also striving to remain ethical in her business practices.  To those on the outside, Jade seems to have everything she could ever hope for out of life.  But if you could look closely into her expressive green eyes, you would realize Jade is hiding the truth of her reality deep inside.As a reviewer, I have chosen not to reveal much of the plot due to the way the layers of the story unfold.  Instead, I choose to share my thoughts and feelings about Insipid.  Christine Brae immediately pulled me into the story.  In many ways, I was able to make a connection to the protagonist.  I am around the same age as Jade Richmond and have had a successful career at the same company for nearly 25 years.  I have been married for over 20 years, and my children are now adults.  There have been moments during my life where I have felt I was just going through the motions.  I think everyone experiences these types of feelings on occasions, so it was easy for me to step into the pages of the novel and place myself into Jade's situation.It is hard to explain the overwhelming feelings that came over me while reading Insipid.  I experienced so many different emotions, crying tears of sadness and joy on occasions.  There were moments that I felt anger and shock.  I was delighted at times, confused at times.  But with the confusion came clarity.  Although the circumstances surrounding my life helped me connect with the story and protagonist, I also believe this author has strength in the ability to tell a story.  Insipid truly has one of the most beautiful endings that I have ever read.  I was so impressed with the way that Christine Brae brought closure to Jade Richmond's story.Insipid seems to be a combination of the contemporary romance and women's fiction genres.  It does not follow what I consider to be the typical pattern for a romance novel, so you will want to keep this in mind if you choose to read this novel.  It is a very unique story, full of wisdom and takeaways.  It is also very apparent to me that Christine Brae poured her heart into this novel.  Because this story is so different, I realize that it may not be for everyone, but I want people to know that I absolutely enjoyed it!  I am giving Christine Brae's Insipid 5 stars!