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Monday, May 31, 2010

Fireworks Over Toccoa Book Review & Giveaway


I'm all about a good book. I love to read. I don't always have a lot of time and I don't finish books very fast. But I do love a good book.

Fireworks Over Toccoa is a book that I couldn't put down. They compared Jeffrey Stepakoff to Nicholas Sparks and they were so right. I love me some Nicholas Sparks so I knew I would enjoy this book. 


Every so often a story comes along that reminds of what it’s like to experience love for the first time – against the odds, when you least expect it, and with such passion that it completely changes you forever.
I really enjoyed the book and it was written very well. This is a book that would appeal to all ages. Although there are a couple of heated sex scenes. I think that a Young Adult could appreciate this book. It's about being torn in half over love and I think anybody can learn from this book.

It tells the story of Lily Davis, married just three weeks when her husband was shipped off overseas in 1942. We find her in 1945, just days before her husband is set to return. Set in Toccoa Georgia, Lily goes about her normal life, if you want to call it normal, unpacking everything and setting up house. In the course of all this, she runs across Jake Russo, who is in town to create the fireworks display on the 4th of July. Meeting him shakes up Lily's life. She realizes she barely knows the man she calls her husband and that she is tired of her organized, planned out southern life. She feels passionate about this dark stranger, who she has only known for a short time. Passionate enough to leave her entire life behind?

I was intrigued by Jake Russo, an Italian American, who fought in WWII while his own father was being kept in an interment camp back in America. There's a great flashback scene where Jake is talking to his father through the gate of the interment camp he's being kept in. He's confused and asks his father how can he fight for this country who is keeping his father - who has never caused no harm to anyone - locked up? I'm glad that this subject was brought up in this book. Interment camps are often overlooked in American history. And Italian interment camps are something that the government has barely acknowledged even happened. 

This story left me breathless and actually made my CRY in the end. Books never make me cry. When a book makes me cry it's an automatic 5 STAR. 


Price: As with any book this one runs about $23. So worth it. 

Overall: ***** Definitely. And then some!



 *Disclaimer* I received these products directly from the Company for Review. I was not paid to try out these products!*

129 comments:

  1. Flowers for algernon,always makes me cry.
    twoofakind12@yahoo.com

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  2. I am a email subscriber.
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  3. I am a email subscriber.3
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  4. I am a gfc follower.
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  5. gone with the wind
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  6. gone with the wind

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  7. My Sister's Keeper made me cry a lot!
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  8. I follow on twitter @blueviolet

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  9. I follow you on FB (http://www.facebook.com/anutinanutshell)

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  10. The Notebook and A Walk to Remember by Sparks both made me cry

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  11. Twitter follower (@seizethebooknow)

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  12. The Notebook made me bawl like a baby. I was sobbing through that book.
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  15. follow on twitter-missdeb1
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  17. Your review defininitely made me want to read this book. The only book that has made me cry was "My Sisters Keeper" by Jodi Piccult. Please enter me. Thanks!

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  18. I subscribe! That's how I knew about this giveaway, got it in my email! Thanks

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  19. this book osund sgreat i cant wait to read it!!!

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  20. Every Last One by Anna Quindlen. I swear you will cry like a baby!
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  27. My sisters keeper! i bawled the book is sooo much better than the movie! The ending is amazing and you will not see it coming! I love that! But it is sad and beautiful all in one!
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  28. I follow on google friend!
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  29. I follow on google friend! #2
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  35. I Follow Jeffrey Stepakoff on FB!
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  37. I cry easily. The Moon Looked Down.

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  38. GFC Follower. #1

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  43. A book that made me cry - Marley and Me. Anything with a beloved animal that dies (Ol' yeller anyone?) and I'm toast.

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  44. I follow on GFC (#1)

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  50. Eclipse by Stefanie Meyer. Yes, cheesy but when Bella kissed Jacob and saw the future she could have had with him, it ripped my heart out.

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  51. I'm a follower #1

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  54. I follow you on Twitter ~windyrunner

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  57. I have your giveaway linked on my blog.

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  60. I'm a subscriber #1

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  63. Confessions of an Airhead, er, Heiress by Paris Hilton!

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  64. The kite runner made me cry

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  74. Like jeffrey on FB- Bridget Combs

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  75. The Horse Whisperer did it for me.
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  79. Where the Red Fern Grows, I haven't read it since I was like in 2nd grade but I'm sure it would make me cry a lot now!

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  80. I follow on Networked Blogs - Breanne T

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  81. I added you on Facebook - Breanne T

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  82. I'm a fan of Jeffrey Stepakoff on Facebook - Breanne T

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  83. I've cried over a lot of books but My Sister's Keeper really stands out.

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  84. I follow with google friend connect. #1

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  87. I follow on Twitter as willitara.

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  88. I follow Jeffrey Stepakoff on Facebook.

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  89. I'm a thriller/suspense kind of girl. Vince Flynn's Consent to Kill had me crying a few times.

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  90. I cried thru Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson( but don't tell anyone!).

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  95. I Follow on NetWork Blogs-Joanne Schultz. http://www.facebook.com/js2222
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  96. I Follow Jeffrey Stepakoff on Facebook-Joanne Schultz. http://www.facebook.com/js2222

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  97. tweet: nhttp://twitter.com/js22222222/status/16042940655
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  98. The Notebook.

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  99. the notebook made me cry
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  100. The Kite Runner made me cry. Atreau @ gmail dot com.

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  101. The Diary Of Anne Franke. garrettsambo@aol.com

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  102. Love Story.
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