Swear on This Life: A Novel

Swear on This Life by Renee Carlino5 stars!!!!“There once was a boy and a girl…”Renee Carlino really got me with Before We Were Strangers but she totally decimated me with Swear on This Life. This book was such a unique and novel concept, a novel within a novel. The synopsis pulled me into this one first and foremost, plus of course, it is Renee Carlino…but what was delivered was so unique, refreshing and totally unexpected. This book was seriously amazing, beautiful, poignant and so emotional. This was one of the greatest second chance romances I have had the pleasure to read and definitely the most individual. I know I have used UNIQUE a lot…but, this was just that, UNIQUE and I applaud the author for delivering something so different that even the way it was presented was a journey itself.“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. It found me.”Imagine picking up a romance book that is number one in the best seller charts, your friends are fawning over how incredible it is, how the author has such a fantastic female voice even though he was a man, how sad, intense and emotionally gripping the story was, how this poor girl went through so much and the author bared this fictional character’s soul only to start and find out it was your story. Not some story you wrote and somebody plagiarised, but your personal life story. Someone had cruelly capitalised on the pain you went through, sensationalised it, used their own creative license to redeem themselves and made a lot of money from it. Also, the painful realisation that the author could be none other than your childhood best friend and your first love, the man that left you twelve years before, with unkept promises only never to be seen or heard from again. You would be pissed!! As was our Emiline.“…but I guess it’s like reading a book. The kind where you don’t want to skip pages to see what happens at the end. Each moment is a story in itself.”Emiline was a writer herself and was currently teaching writing at a university. While her friends around her had moderate success, Emiline was still struggling to find her voice, and her boyfriend of seven years was her toughest critic. Emiline had always kept her past to herself, she never opened up to anyone, not even her boyfriend, Trevor. Emiline was her present and her future and what happened in her past, stayed there, never to see the light of day again, until it wasn’t.“…the past would only fester and eat away at us if we tried to hold on to it too tightly.”When Emiline first picks up the book All the Roads Between my heart literally crumbled, Renee Carlino really delivered on the emotional impact that this book delivered to Emiline and thus passed it onto me, the reader. As this book flip flops from the present to chapters of All the Roads Between, which is Emiline’s past, you finally begin to understand the real Emiline. Layers upon layers of seamless, perfect writing, deliver a harrowing tale within the light of a beautiful friendship. A story of two kids who made the best of what they had and cherished every moment they spent together, how a childhood friendship developed into innocent love until they were cruelly ripped apart. How despite the adversities they were presented with, they still had each other, until they didn’t.“This could be the best thing for us, after it stops being the worst.”Now Emiline has two options, confront the author J Colby, or let bygones be bygones. Emiline though was stronger than she gave herself credit for and maybe just maybe this would be the closure she needed, or would it just bring up painful memories and even more damning, reawaken old feelings that she had spent over a decade damping down and trying to forget?“It’s impossible to really hate someone if you don’t love them at least a little.”Renee Carlino delivers an exceptional story that literally summons every single emotion with ease. You live and breathe Emiline’s story, you feel everything, you experience everything and you cannot help but be totally consumed by every little thought and every little detail. This story was captivating from first to last page, the writing was exquisite, breathtakingly real no matter the ugly but it is this that really hammers home their connection. How two kids effectively traversed a life of let downs, a life that no kid should experience, a life where one friendship was their life. Their one “person,” their one confidante, the one they could rely on no matter what. These two were connected by love, by friendship and by an invisible tether that would forever lead them back. A bond so strong that it could never be broken, just biding its time until the stars were aligned, until the invisible became visible.“Our story is great. Maybe not all the other s**t, but the story of us is perfect, Em.”Swear on This Life was heart wrenching at times, but uplifting in others. It was perfectly balanced, extraordinary in its delivery and will forever be a tattoo on my heart. Pure genius!

I just love the hero. His love and patience with Emi is swoon worthy. It was beautiful how the heroine tackled all her demons

There are many types of books in the world. There are happy books and sad books, funny books and serious books. Some books are light-hearted romances that make you feel all warm and cozy inside and there are works of contemporary fiction that make you contemplate life. Then there is Renee Carlino's Swear on This Life. I don't think it's possible to put this book into a nice little box with a specific genre labeled on it because there is so much to this book. I saw elements of the New Adult genre as well as romance and contemporary fiction so this actually ended up being a great book for me since those are my favorite genres of books. I came upon this book because of another book I had read and many readers were raving about this one. I didn't give into it right away because I wanted to wait and see if it still sounded appealing after a little while. Finally, I gave in and I'm glad I did because this book was my first Renee Carlino book and I will definitely be reading more of her books."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. He found me."Swear on This Life begins with Emiline and Trevor, a couple who met during their undergraduate programs at Berkeley. After Emiline completes her Master's degree, she attempts to write a book but is struggling and can't seem to find inspiration. Her roommate happens to be a successful writer and she encourages Emiline to read a bestselling novel by J. Colby that she discovered. Emiline has no idea what the book is about but she is engrossed from the very first page. As she continues to delve into the novel, she can't help but notice similarities between the female protagonist in the novel and herself. What Emiline discovers in the novel helps her to learn more about herself so she can heal from the past that continues to haunt her and she discovers the truth about the boy she used to know."'I kinda think it's like magnets. Put them close enough and they'll come together, but turn them around and they'll repel each other. When you feel the pull, you gotta give in to it.'""'I promise. You're still my best friend.' I said.""He smiled. 'Swear on your life?'""'I swear on your life,' I told him."From the very first page, I immediately became immersed in this novel. The writing and storyline are that good. I loved that the author seems to be slightly sarcastic at times and that shows through in her writing. I always appreciate authors who can insert sarcasm at the appropriate times without going too overboard. Emiline is a very real character and she has her own quirks, flaws, and personality traits that make her a likable person. She isn't perfect but she does the best she can with what she has and she learns that she needs to follow her heart, both in her personal and professional lives.I also enjoyed the fact that there is a story within the novel itself and that shapes a lot of what happens to Emiline. There are many parallels between Emiline and the female protagonist in J.Colby's novel, for obvious reasons if you choose to read this book, but there are also differences, which end up playing a part in Emiline's life."We can't always control our circumstances, who our parents are, where we live, or how much money we make, but in those rare moments when we can shape our fate, when we do have the power to make our own happiness, we can't be too scared to do it."I feel this novel is a complex one but it is also lighter and humorous at times. Emiline and her roommate Cara are great together and made me giggle numerous times while reading this book. I also happen to appreciate a good love story and Swear on This Life has it in abundance. There are some tough subjects that are brought up from Emiline's past but those help shape who she is. The one thing that I wish was a bit different was the ending, just because it seemed abrupt and I would've liked to have seen it developed more but it didn't affect my overall feelings on the book. It's more of just a personal preference. This book is deeply emotional, beautifully-written, and very hard to put down. I giggled at times and cried at others. I gasped in some parts and felt a sense of relief in others. If you are looking for a new book to read, I'd recommend Swear on This Life. I ended up taking a chance on this one since I'd never read a book by Renee Carlino before but, since I loved it, I've purchased another of her books and plan to read others as well!

Five stars are not enough to rate this book! So beautiful and touching.Loved it !!! Reading totally recommended !

I love the style of this author. She always has an original storyline with a twist, a strong couple, and the male hero has a great sense of humour.A somewhat lost young woman Emiline who was in a bit of a rut with her life is given a best selling book to read by her friend and flatmate which appears to mirror her early hard young life when she grew up in Ohio on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere with her best friend Jase. This story is told half in real time and half through Em reading the book, so unusual and well written. Very highly recommend this book, and everything this lady has written so far, especially 'Sweet Thing'.Just loved it and was sad when I finished the book. Looking forward to the next book from this author.

So, a story about a story within a story. And at one point a story within a story within a story. It's the kind of story that makes me wonder how much was based on real life events. That makes me ponder the inner workings of a writer's mind. But it was good, if that's what you're reading the review to find out.

What an amazing story. I was captivated from the very first page. I had a feeling this novel was going to be something special and I was right. "Swear on This Life" was an epic tale of childhood friendship and first love. A book that I would highly recommend. Now I'm excited to discover more of Renee Carlino's work soon.

After reading the reviews I somehow expected a much better book. The dialogs and storyline were lacking emotion. The characters were not really growing on me, and the main character was at points even annoying.