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    Swear on This Life: A Novel
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    Swear on This Life: A Novel
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    Swear on This Life: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    Swear on This Life: A Novel

    Written by Renée Carlino

    Narrated by Traci Odom

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    When a bestselling debut novel from mysterious author J. Colby becomes the literary event of the year, Emiline reads it reluctantly. As an adjunct writing instructor at UC San Diego with her own stalled literary career and a bumpy long-term relationship, Emiline isn’t thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of a young and gifted writer. Yet from the very first page, Emiline is entranced by the story of Emerson and Jackson, two childhood best friends who fall in love and dream of a better life beyond the long dirt road that winds through their impoverished town in rural Ohio. That’s because the novel is patterned on Emiline’s own dark and desperate childhood, which means that “J. Colby” must be Jase: the best friend and first love she hasn’t seen in over a decade.

    Far from being flattered that he wrote the novel from her perspective, Emiline is furious that he co-opted her painful past and took some dramatic creative liberties with the ending. The only way she can put her mind at ease is to find and confront “J. Colby,” but is she prepared to learn the truth behind the fiction?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateSep 3, 2019
    ISBN9781974977864
    Author

    Renée Carlino

    Renée Carlino is a screenwriter and the bestselling author of Sweet Thing, Nowhere But Here, After the Rain, Before We Were Strangers, Swear on This Life, and Wish You Were Here. She grew up in Southern California and lives in the San Diego area with her husband and two sons. To learn more, visit ReneeCarlino.com.

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    Reviews for Swear on This Life

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      This was a beautiful story which had all the elements of a good book- friendship, romance, heartbreak and a life lesson.

      Most part of the book was well written, including the transition between the past and the present, but the ending was so unbelievably rushed!

      So, while it is a quick and sweet read it failed to connect on an emotional level because of its rather lackluster ending.
    • 5/5
      I loved every second of this story, I want to read it again!!!
      I need a lil more from them tho that epilogue left me wanting for more!!!!
    • 3/5
      The premise of this novel was very clever and kept me engaged throughout.
    • 3/5
      So, I don’t know exactly how I am feeling about this book. I think I'm a little disappointed. I think that's the feeling I'm feeling right now, having just finished this book. (As you can tell, I’m a little out of my wits).

      I can confidently say that I loved the first half of this book, really the majority of it. I couldn't put it down. I tried to pace myself, but by the end of the first day, I had read 214 pages of the 303-page book. For you non-math whizzes out there that’s 70% of the book (yes, I had to use a calculator). The only reason I put it down was because it was 12:45am, and I couldn’t bring myself to read it all at once. I really wanted to make it last longer than 24 hours. So I put it down, and tried to sleep.

      "If you can surrender to the idea that there might be a plan, instead of reducing every magical moment to a coincidence, then love will find you."

      This morning I woke up and picked the book up right away. I am really sad to say I was let down. A good portion of the first half (200 pages), takes place over about a week or so. It’s fast paced, a lot is happening; the reader is learning a ton about the characters.

      "The past would only fester and eat away at us if we tried to hold on to it too tightly."

      I don’t know if it is possible for a book to drag and rush at the same time, but the last chapters of this book succeeded in doing both at the same time. Days, weeks, months go by and Emiline is dragging her feet. She's still with her boyfriend, she hasn't finished reading the book yet, she's avoiding, delaying, and it's annoying.

      What I was probably most disappointed by was when I got to what I think was supposed to be the climax of the story. It let me down and left me thinking, Wait, what? That's it?

      Once Emiline got her shit together, nothing happened fast – meaning, there was a lot of nothing going on but it was rushed. I would have loved to have read more interaction between Emi and Jase as adults. I mean this quote alone is what swoony romances are made of:

      "So you never fell in love?"
      "No," he said firmly.
      "Why?"
      "Because none of them were you."

      The story of their childhood was so good and captivating, there was so much anticipation, and I think the ending just fell a little flat. It fizzled out. And I’m really sad about it. I feel like I'm missing out on something.

      If the story had kept the same feeling of the first 200 pages, I most likely would have rated it a 5. But the last third, it being anticlimactic; it just left me feeling disappointed, like I'm missing out on their story. So I sadly have to give it a 3. Which really hurts because I feel like it had so much wonderful potential.
    • 3/5
      Cute, a little YA-ish for me, but a quick, light easy read.
    • 4/5
      4 "When Fiction and Life Converge" Stars!Ms. Carlino never ceases to amaze with her creative and inventive plots. Having fallen in love with When We Were Strangers last year, I just knew I had to read Ms. Carlino's latest romance. But have your tissues ready, this story will definitely take you to some hard, heart-wrenching places, so be prepared for an emotionally laden, angst-filled romance that will leave you guessing as to whether a HEA is truly possible until the very end. Emiline has always dreamed of writing a best seller, but for now is settling with teaching until she can write her own break-out novel. So imagine her surprise when her best friend--also an aspiring writer, though she is having a bit more success--brings to her attention the latest book sensation from a brand-new, previously unknown author, J.Colby.Although Emiline is bitter that someone who hasn't paid their dues is experiencing this kind of success when she has been tolling away, she reluctant undertakes reading the novel. However, the minute her eyes begin to feast on the book's pages, she has the spine tingling feeling of recognition. And after her first chapter, she is convinced, that she knows the writer, because the extremely sad and heart-breaking story of two extremely poor children neighbors struggling to survive in different and yet equally sad parenting situations is one she personally lived (though she has never spoken of it). Therefore the writer can only be one person--a boy turned man who taught her how to live and love and then broke her ability to experience love when he left her all those years ago. But why would Jase do so such a cruel thing? Can there possibly be another side to the story? And even if there is, would it matter now that she has been in an "ideal" relationship with a former star quarterback, even if it is a routine and uncomplicated one from a feelings perspective?This is an incredible story that really reads like two separate ones. Some of the passages are told in the present day and others are in the past and presented as excerpts of Jase's book. How Ms. Carlino is able to bring this all together is fascinating and her choice for the order of these passages also had the added effect of heightening the suspense. But for me, what I fell in love with in this story was Jase (both present and past) and Emiline (when she was young). However, I had more difficulty accepting some of Emiline's actions as an adult. I really can't say more without spoiling the unfolding of this story for you, but suffice it to say that without this, this would have been a 5-star read for me. However, it is not necessary to love every aspect of a character to love a book--instead what is important is that the story be compelling, intriguing and leave you with but no choice to read it to the end. Swear on this Life is definitely all of these things, and thus if you are a lover of new adult romances, this is one you definitely will not want to miss.Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Emiline is just trying to figure out her life after a childhood of tragedy. She is now a writer, still unpublished and and adjunct writing professor at UC San Diego. Her boyfriend, Trevor was an up and coming football star until his shoulder injury and now floats along in life. One day, Emiline's roommate Cara introduces her to a new bestseller called All the Roads Between by a mysterious new author. From the first sentence Emiline is blindsided, somebody has written about all of the nitty gritty ups and downs from her childhood. Only one person could have written something so specific about her life, Emiline's best friend, first love and the person who she has spent the last twelve years trying to get over, Jason. Will reading his book about her experiences help her get over her past or just bring back the memories that she has been repressing?A story of love, loss, getting over it, and beginnings and endings. As soon as Emiline realized that a book had been written about her by her childhood friend, I went through the rollercoaster of emotions with her; anger, sadness, disappointment, love, relief, forgiveness and realization. Much like the book infers, I had no idea how anything would end. I really did like that there was a story within a story to tell of Emi and Jason's childhood adventures, instead of just flashbacks. This book made me feel so much, so quickly and I devoured each page just as quickly. This is a deep love story, but so much more. For anyone who has ever had to get over something from their past, Emi's emotional journey will seem all too real and familiar. Overall, a unique, powerful story that will have you gasping for air the entire way through.This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      For those of us who experienced first love, lost and found them again will definitely relate to this. It always brings tears to the eyes. Couldn't out it down. Good book will recommend it. If you loved this you also get your hands on " It Ends With Us".

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I love this style of writing. A complex yet amazing love story ?

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really one of the best books ever! I loved every bit of it! Def recommending to friends!

      1 person found this helpful