30 years of affection.
10 years of soul shattering love.
8 years of happy employment.
2 months of turmoil.
1 week of truth.
A lifetime of betrayal.
Would you have seen it coming?
Annabelle Fortin landed herself in a bit of trouble. Mandated to community service at an assisted living facility for early onset dementia she meets Jezebel, one of the residents. This is the story that unfolds over the course of Annabelle's court ordered six month sentence. Nothing is what it seems.
Moving across the sterile room toward the chair opposite the lady, Annabelle cracked her knuckles, then sat. Unlike the other rooms she’d passed in the hallway, this woman’s was cold. Not homey at all. No pictures or decorations hung on the walls, no trinkets sat on shelves.
"So, am I allowed to stay?" she asked scratching her arm that didn’t even itch.
"I suppose." The woman looked her up and down, wariness pulling heavily at her features.
"What's your name?" Annabelle finally asked desperate to break the silence between them.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" the woman answered with a smart-ass grin. The corners of Annabelle’s mouth kicked up into a smile. She chuckled and tucked her legs up under herself in her chair.
“I could probably just ask someone,” she returned.
“Where’s the fun in that?” the woman answered, a sour expression on her face as if she had just bitten into a lemon. Annabelle shrugged. “How old are you?”
“Eighteen,” she answered. The woman’s eyes lit up like sparklers.
“Eighteen was grand! You must be having the time of your life.” The woman clapped her hands together excitedly.
Annabelle frowned. She was absolutely not having the time of her life. “It’s been less than awesome,” she answered dryly.
“Bullshit!” the woman squawked.
Annabelle started at the curse from the woman before noting the huge smile on her face. “Eighteen will be the best year. You’ll see. You’ll look back when you’re sitting in some home somewhere, like me, and think, damn, eighteen was fabulous.”
“I sure hope so,” she answered, frowning.
“You have quite the pout, you know that? It twists up your features and makes you ugly.”
“That’s not very nice.” Annabelle scowled. She eyed the old woman, a sudden wave of insecurity rushing through her.
“It’s not meant to be nice. It’s the truth. Truths are often ugly.” Annabelle blinked, unsure how to respond.
“Child, are you always this...this boring?” the woman asked.
“I’m not boring!” she squawked crossing her arms and pursing her lips in irritation.
“Well you’re not exactly riveting either, are you?” the woman volleyed back, revealing a half smile.
“What do you want from me?” Annabelle asked irritated. This woman was crazy but not boring. She might actually enjoy some of her time if she got to sit with this mystery woman each week.
“Well, Annabelle Fortin, eighteen, let’s start with something easy.”
“Okay.” she answered.
“Why are you here?” the woman asked while pulling a blanket from the back of her chair down and placing it over lap. Annabelle looked at the woman’s sock clad feet. For the first time since her DUI she felt ashamed to admit why she was here. “This isn’t rocket science love, just spit it out,” pushed the woman after a pause of silence.
“I don’t have a choice. It was ‘volunteer for six months’ or serve jail time. I chose this.” she answered lifting her chin and meeting the woman’s gaze.
“A rebel. I like it. What’d you do?”
“I got pulled over for driving drunk.” Annabelle explained.
“Was anyone hurt?”
“Only my pride.” Her tone was laced with sarcasm.
“Oh posh, scandals and alcohol go together like peanut butter and jelly. That’s not all that exciting,” the woman tsked. Annabelle felt her face wrinkle in confusion. “There must be more to it...”
“Nope. Grounded until I leave for college. No phone. Limited computer use. No friends over and stuck here once a week for four hours.”
Stifling a snort the woman said, “Dear God, you mean that I’m to be your only source of entertainment for the next six months?” She slapped a hand to her chest dramatically. Annabelle cocked her head and stared at the nut job, hard. “Your life is definitely worse than mine,” the woman concluded with a roll of her hazel eyes.
Bubbles formed in Annabelle’s gut. Her rib cage started to shake and finally, she laughed. A loud, hearty laugh. A laugh that startled her. A laugh the likes of which was so genuine that she couldn't remember the last time it had happened. The mystery woman promptly joined in, giggling right alongside her. It put her at ease. Her heart felt lighter.
“So tell me, do you have a boyfriend?” the woman asked as their laughter died down.
“Do you have a name?” she responded with a smart-ass smile.
“Touché, tiger, touché.” The woman grinned a dazzling smile revealing a row of straight white teeth.
“So, are you going to tell me?” she pushed.
“Not today,” the woman answered simply.
“You are strange. Very strange. And you don’t seem to be confused at all. Why are you here?”
“Ahh, life’s great mysteries. Confused - is that what you think dementia is?” the woman asked.
“Well, mostly. Forgetful and confused.” She shrugged.
“And does that come and go?” the woman pushed.
“Sure, like you’re fine for a while and then not. That’s why you need to live somewhere like this.”
“I think based on your definition I would be delirious. Dementia affects memory, thinking, language, behavior. Delirium is more of a sudden unexpected severe confusion and rapid changes in the brain’s function.”
Annabelle rolled her eyes. “How are those different?” Annabelle asked. She was struggling a bit to keep up with the woman. Her brows were knit together as she tried to work out what the woman was getting at.
“Exactly my dear! How are they different?” Annabelle huffed and shook her head in frustration. Having a real conversation with this woman proved difficult and tiring.
“Okay, I give up. New topic? You said you had quite the life before this. Will you tell me about it?” she asked.
“That depends.”
“On what?” she sighed. Maybe the kitchen crew would be better.
“Whether or not you like love stories.”
Annabelle half-shrugged, “Sure. I usually like a little suspense or mystery with my romance but a love story could be alright.”
“Oh but my dear, every great love story has a twist. If there’s no twist, how does one ever know if their love can endure?”
“Endure what?” she questioned as she pulled at imaginary threads on her sleeve.
“Anything,” the woman answered as if that were the only answer.
Annabelle thought about her words for a moment. Let them sink into her brain. Did her parents love story have a twist? Surely not one that she’d heard about. Or was a twist just a tragic event? If that was the case then her family, her parents, had endured a twist and survived it together, even if just barely. Either way, she wanted to corral the woman into a singular train of thought.
“Okay. Tell me your story,” she answered.
“It might upset you, or perhaps I have no story to tell. We have six months! Let’s start with someone far more interesting. Celeste Fontaine.”
Annabelle’s face scrunched up. “Who the heck is Celeste Fontaine?” she asked.
“Oh she was a girl I knew. A caretaker for a large Chateau just outside of Paris, France. She had everything she ever imagined in life. Blissfully happy parents who spoiled her rotten. Friends she adored and a man that made every woman on the planet jealous of her. But let’s go back to the very start shall we?”
The woman had a mischievous gleam in her eye. Annabelle would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit curious about any story the woman might tell. She was a character for sure, and that meant she probably hung out with some interesting people before she ended up at Glenview. She probably had lots of good stories to tell. Hell, it beat wearing a hairnet and latex gloves in the kitchen. She shivered at the thought of cafeteria food,trays and dirty silverware. And hairnets.
“Are you cold?” the woman asked, head cocked to the side.
“No,” she answered shrugging away the kitchen visual.
“Are you ready to pay attention?” The woman asked.
Annabelle nodded. “Excellent. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss things. Important things.” Annabelle cocked her head to the side and wondered what the woman was yammering on about. “Make sure you listen carefully, and try not to jump to conclusions until I’m finished telling you everything. What happens from here on out isn’t my responsibility. It’s yours so take notice.” Annabelle scrunched up her nose in confusion and shrugged. The woman stared a moment longer at her before she nodded saying, “Alright then. Remember kid, the devil is in the details. Paris. Nineteen eighty four.”
5***~Nothing is what it seems ~Stars
Type:Contemporary Romance/Mystery/Suspense
Series: Standalone
POV: Third Person
“Now she had an inkling she’s been in bed with the devil.” Celeste
Annabelle Fortin, an 18 year old brat teenager, trying to revel against her parents Gavin and Monica Fortin. She wanted their attention and since she didn’t get it she used drugs, sex, and other extra activities in hope that her family would be the same; happy and full of love that they once were. Instead, she ends up getting in more trouble by drinking and driving and now she has to serve a six months probation of community service at an assisted living facility called “Glenview”. She was not trilled at the idea of having to be at a place where it smelled like old people and not only that her parents had more rules of their own; she was not allowed to have friends come over, or go out at all other than school and the assisting living. Her phone and electronics were taken away from her as well. She literally thought her life was over and felt completely lost.
Her first day at “Glenview” sucked, she hated being in the kitchen smelling ridiculous, she couldn’t wait for those six months to be over. She was close to graduating high school and her goal was to go away to college and away from her sad family who didn’t acknowledge her presence whatsoever. She basically lived as a ghost at her house, no one would talk to each other, her mother and father stopped talking to each other ever since her brother was killed in a hit and run accident eight years ago. I felt so bad for Annabelle; I cried so much reading this book, because of her sadness and how lonely and miserable her life had become. The loss of her brother became the loss of her family; it left her and her family broken.
On her second visit at “Glenview” she meets Jezebel. A beautiful woman suffering from dementia, she decides to stay with her for that day instead of heading to the kitchen. There was something about Jezebel that intrigued Annabelle, she liked her and she wanted to know her more. On that first day with her, she asked Jezebel to tell her story. However, Jezebel told her she didn’t have a story to tell but her friend Celeste?! oh boy her story was one she didn’t want to miss.
”Remember kid, the devil is in the details”. Jezebel
For six months Annabelle visited Jezebel once a week to fulfilled her probation. Soon she realized that spending time with Jezebel wasn’t so bad, in fact she looked forward to chatting with her each week. Jezebel told a story of her friend Celeste; that story she said was worth listening to. I had to agree, Annabelle was so intrigued, upset, anxious and waiting for more of this story. I was basically flying through the pages to know what will happen to the girl on Jezebel’s story. This was such a different kind of book for me, it was narrated by a third person; it told the story of Annabelle and thru Jezebel’s eyes it told the story of her young friend Celeste in Paris. She explained Celeste’s first love, her first kiss, her many years of love and then lot of mystery and angst. I was completely immerse on this story, it was like I was reading two books in one going back in time and in the present, it was amazing.
Annabelle’s home life was hell; her mother left her and her father. She abandoned them and she just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t love her; she was still alive and needed them too. I was so broken for this girl. She would write to her brother on her diary; something Jezebel had advised her to do and since she didn’t have anything else to keep her busy or anyone else to talk to; well so she wrote.
“Brant, I hate you right now, too. I hate you for leaving me here alone to deal with this. I hate…””Her family living under the same roof but existing in two different worlds…”Annabelle
I was so upset and sad again. Her parents never even showed up to her graduation or even acknowledged it. Jezebel and Annabelle’s relationship was wonderful I loved it. Belle will use Jez advised and started to make her sad home life different; better, much happier.
“Dear, what defines a person is how well they rise after falling down.”…“Be the noise, be the light. Be the laughter. It’s contagious…A smile is the best make-up you can wear.” Jezebel
She started to learn how to be happy and grow on her own with her friends and she even met a boy she liked and started dating; her life was finally where she wanted it to be. She was heading off to college and had to see Jezebel one last time because she had to know how her friend’s story ended. I wanted to know too, I was going mad and out of my mind wondering how this was going to end. The story of Jezebel’s friend Celeste kept getting better and better on each visit, there was so much more to it. It was full of secrets, suspense, and mystery. The super happy sweet love story that Jez had pictured at the beginning wasn’t as happy as it seemed. I was so intrigued in this suspense, romantic story just as Annabelle was and the suspense was basically killing me. Annabelle goes to see Jezebel one last time and finds out the way the story ends. She was so disappointed and so was I, I just couldn’t believe it. Then the author goes and twists the final pages into an “EPIC” finale that I was totally not prepared for. I mean I was looking for the“WTF” “MIND FUCK” part of the book, as much as I tried to guess I just couldn’t and never had seen it coming. My mind was blow away; I think I am still shocked at what happened. If you want to know what the mystery of this ending is you just have to read it. I am telling you it was well worth it.
"Copy kindly provided via TRSOR tour, in exchange for an honest review."
Book Series Order:
AMAZON PURCHASE LINK
******************************************
This is the companion novella to Jezebel that will answer some of the lingering questions one might have upon finishing Jezebel.
Please note; Lying in Wait should be read after Jezebel
Reading/Writing· Viola · Piano · Gardening · Pets · Coffee · Chocolates · Running
I am an avid reader, coffee drinker, and chocolate eater who loves writing. I received my B.A. from Simmons College-a while ago. I currently live with my daughter in Maine.
I’m working on my fifth novel out later this year. I’ve published Saving Caroline, 30 Days, Committed and Dating Delaney. Enjoy!
I love hearing from you so please feel free to contact me!
~~~~~REVIEW TO COME~~~~~
LOYDA'S RATING 5***STARS
Jezebel by K. Larsen
Type: Romance/Suspence
Series: Standalone
POV: Third Person
No comments:
Post a Comment