TLC Book Tours: Review of Come Away With Me by Karma Brown + Giveaway!!

Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: August 25th, 2015
Pages: 368

Synopsis

A heartbreaking and emotional story of love and loss, COME AWAY WITH ME is one woman’s discovery that life is still worth living, even if it’s not the life you planned.


One minute, Tegan Lawson has everything she could hope for: an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident that will change her life in ways she never could have imagined.

Tegan is consumed by grief—not to mention anger toward Gabe, who was driving on the night of the crash. But just when she thinks she’s hit rock bottom, Gabe reminds her of their Jar of Spontaneity, a collection of their dream destinations and experiences, and so begins an adventure of a lifetime.

From the bustling markets of Thailand to the flavors of Italy to the ocean waves in Hawaii, Tegan and Gabe embark on a journey to escape the tragedy and search for forgiveness. But they soon learn that grief follows you no matter how far away you run, and that acceptance comes when you least expect it. Heartbreaking, hopeful and utterly transporting, COME AWAY WITH ME is an unforgettable debut and a luminous celebration of the strength of the human spirit.

What Did I Think About the Story?

Please excuse me while I gush a little bit (well,  maybe a lot!) about Come Away With Me by Karma Brown. It has been quite a while since a book made me actually, physically cry...like big, fat, hiccup-inducing tears...but that is exactly what happened on and off as I read this story. The raw emotions these characters are experiencing are written so vividly I at times felt like I could feel their pain, anger, anxiety and hollowing sadness along with them. While this did bring about some strange looks from my husband and dogs I am so happy to have experienced these feelings along with Tegan. This is a story that will consume you, and in my opinion that makes one hell of a great read.

After the accident Tegan can't seem to get out of her own head or see past her grief, and is so filled with an emptiness and livid anger that she can't help but want to hide away from the world and lash out at anyone who even attempts to get her to think about a time when she can start healing and moving on. While I have thankfully never experienced a tragedy like Tegan's, my son was born two  months early and had to spend the first month of his life in the hospital. He is now a healthy, happy ten year old, but I will never forget going home from the hospital without  him and the abject emptiness I felt the first time I walked through the door without him in my arms. Ms. Brown nails describing this feeling and made me instantly sympathize with Tegan and the myriad physical and emotional symptoms that come along with an accident like she experiences.

As the story progresses the reader not only gets to go along with Tegan and Gabe as they travel to three dream locations but, disbursed throughout, are chapters that go back into Tegan and Gabe's life so we get to see how their love developed and the life they had been living up until the horrible accident.  These chapters are filled with laughter and love, and if you haven't fallen a little in love with Gabe by the end I would be shocked. He is such a kind, patient person with Tegan and his careful treatment of her as they travel to Thailand, Italy and Hawaii was beyond touching. Oh, and be prepared to add these three locations to your bucket list, if you haven't already, because Karma Brown's ability to transport the reader made me feel like I was riding an elephant, taking a cooking class filled with ripe tomatoes and garlic and learning how to surf right along with Tegan and Gabe. She hits all the senses with a bang and I am now ready to put my backpack on and take off!

There is a twist towards the end of the novel that actually made my heart start beating faster. I honestly didn't see it coming and it really hit me harder than I would have expected given the fact that these things weren't really happening. Regardless, I think it was perfectly done as it drives the story in a direction that will finally come to a conclusion with a sense of satisfaction and hopefulness. After all the tears I was very happy to come to this sort of conclusion!

I can't recommend Come Away With Me enough, to anyone who wants to travel along on a sometimes sad yet always fascinating adventure with some unforgettable characters. The fact that this is Karma Brown's debut novel is astounding to me, and I can tell you that she has found a forever-fan in this reader.

    

What Did I Think About the Cover?

Beautiful! If you just take it at surface value, it is eye-catching, colorful and makes you think of vacation and travel, which plays a huge part in the story. Looking a little further at what could be the symbolism of the cover, we have Tegan, currently in the bright, calm waters about to be overtaken by the much darker, turbulent waves. Tegan battles with her emotions throughout the story so this could represent that perfectly. However you decide to look at it, I think it's as stunning as the story.



My Rating: 5.0/5.0

 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of Come Away With Me in exchange for an honest review! Be sure to continue below for information on the author, the blog tour and how you can enter my giveaway to win your own copy!

 

 

 

Praise for Come Away With Me 

 

 

“Karma Brown has written a book that will make you feel like you’ve traveled the world without leaving your seat. COME AWAY WITH ME is full of lush locations, memorable characters, and a turn of events that is nothing short of jaw-dropping. Brown’s work is as smart as it is effortless to read.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Forever, Interrupted and After I Do

leaving your seat.

 

 

Buy the Book

 

 

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Karma Brown is a National Magazine Award winning freelance writer and journalist, and a member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada. She lives just outside Toronto with her family and writes powerfully emotional upmarket women’s fiction, in the vein of Me Before You. COME AWAY WITH ME is her first novel.

 

Find out more about Karma Brown on her website and on The Debutante Ball. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

 

 

 

Giveaway Time!!!

 

 

I am so excited to be able to offer up one copy of Come Away With Me for giveaway (US/Canada only)!! All you have to do is enter your name and email address on the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to leave both your name and your email on the form so I can contact you if you are my winner (no email address, no entry!). For extra entries you can follow the blog in various ways (all links are on the right hand sidebar) and leave the name/email you follow with on the form. That's it!

 

 

I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on September 3rd, 2015 and will announce the winner here as well as email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email before I have to pick another winner. If you have already won this giveaway on another site please let me know so I can pick a new winner and give someone else a chance to win a copy of this remarkable book.

 

 

Good Luck!!

 

 

 

TLC Blog Tour Schedule for Come Away With Me

 

 

Monday, August 24th: Book Dilettante
Tuesday, August 25th: Kahakai Kitchen
Wednesday, August 26th: Sara’s Organized Chaos
Thursday, August 27th: A Literary Vacation
Friday, August 28th: From L.A. to LA
Monday, August 31st: Romancing the Book – review and Q&A
Tuesday, September 1st: From the TBR Pile
Wednesday, September 2nd: Patricia’s Wisdom
Thursday, September 3rd: The Bookish and the Romantic
Monday, September 7th: Lavish Bookshelf
Monday, September 7th: Kritter’s Ramblings
Tuesday, September 8th: Books a la Mode – author guest post
Wednesday, September 9th: Always With a Book
Thursday, September 10th: Bookmark Lit
Monday, September 14th: girlichef
Tuesday, September 15th: Why Girls Are Weird
Wednesday, September 16th: The Reading Date
Thursday, September 17th: Mom in Love with Fiction
Monday, September 21st: Book Mama Blog