Safe & Sound

by T S Krupa

• ISBN10: 1599324652
• ISBN13: 9781599324654
• Publish Date: 1 January 2014
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Advantage Media Group
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 312
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Jill Greenfield’s life comes crashing down on one seemingly normal day, when her husband, Jay, goes out for an early morning run and is involved in a tragic accident. After only being married for two short years and with their whole lives ahead of them, Jill is understandably devastated. She struggles to come to terms with what has happened and with the help of her best friends, Stella and Lanie, attempts to put herself back together and eventually move forward with her life.
Of course, nothing is ever that simple, as Jill starts to discover things that she never knew about her husband which have a massive impact on her own future. Secrets are revealed and people reveal their true colours as Jill attempts to scrape together what is left of her life, a life that turns out to be nothing like she anticipated...

The synopsis for Safe and Sound is great. It’s intriguing (what was Jay hiding?), heartbreaking and gives you visions of a really gripping read. For the most part it definitely lived up to these expectations, especially at the start. The beginning of the book is fast-paced, shocking and WILL make you cry. You can’t help but shed a tear over the fact that Jill and Jay have been separated from one another so soon into their marriage when they had their whole future ahead of them. I was intrigued to find out what was revealed about Jay after his death and wasn’t expecting what the outcome to that part of the story was. I did feel that perhaps it was a little unrealistic at times and Jill didn’t react in the way that I thought she was going to; but I suppose that’s just part of the story, sometimes people do react in ways that you wouldn’t imagine them to and can surprise you.
On the whole I loved the relationship between Stella, Lanie and Jay. They have been friends since childhood and I loved reading about their friendship and could really identify with the bond that they shared. I did feel as though Stella and Lanie were a bit extreme with how they handled Jill after Jay’s death, even so far as they seemed to be smothering her at times, but that’s just the way that I interpreted it. I enjoyed the banter between them, and I really liked Stella. She’s sassy, feisty and likes the finer things in life. She makes for a great character and was really fun to read about.
I liked T S Krupa’s style of writing; it’s easy, fun and compelling and I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of her books in the future as I felt she combined romance and loss really effectively. This is a story that will make you shed a tear or two, but it’s by no means mushy. So, I may not have found every aspect of the story one hundred percent realistic, but who cares? It’s still a story that’s worth a read and I loved watching Jill’s journey unfold before my eyes as she navigates love, loss, secrets, grief, friendships and all that’s in between...



 This review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read

[Lianne]

I received an eCopy of this novel from the author in exchange for a review. This review in its entirety was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2014/08/07/review-safe-sound/

Safe & Sound looks at life after loss and tragedy and rebuilding one’s future from scratch, so to speak. Jill wasn’t expecting to go about the rest of her life without Jay and it was interesting to read about how she reorients her future to one without her husband.

What I liked the most about this novel, and which I found to be its strength, was in Jill’s friendship with Lanie and Stella. It’s a pretty solid friendship; Jill has her moments of temper, as does Stella, but all three women weather through the ups and downs, misunderstandings get patched up, and there are plenty of good times in between. It was also wonderful how Lanie and Stella were there for Jill through this very difficult time, especially given that Jill had no immediate family to lean to.

The unexpected romance that develops later in the story was sweet but I felt it still happened a little too quickly; it felt a little too soon that she embarked on a new romantic relationship while still in the process of moving on from her previous life with her husband and coming to terms with what happened. I’m glad that the matter was addressed in the book and Jill herself wondered at how quickly things were developing with Ross but I couldn’t help but feel like the character didn’t spend enough time alone to sort herself through before starting a new relationship with someone else.

Overall, Safe & Sound was an interesting first novel. I read it in one afternoon because I needed to know how everything was going to turn out for the characters. The ending could’ve been a little tapered off–I felt it was going on and on after the climax–and I wished the novel had touched on the other aspects of Jill’s life (it mentioned here and there how she was a teacher) but it was interesting to read as Jill gradually recover from her shock and her loss. Readers of clean, contemporary romance novels may be interested in checking out this novel.