Paisley Memories

I started this book yesterday and couldn't stop for the life of me. It hooked me right from beginning. Tess is a teenager, she's having the harder time of her life. She had to drop out of school because of her daugther who suffers os Down syndrome. Her father just died and the foster system wants to take her daugther. So Tess leaves her hometown with no perspective of where to go.
She spends to much time on the road, until she comes to a town where she meets Butterball, a woman with a job oportunity and a place to stay, for Tess.
Tess is hardened, she doesn´t make friends or let another people in her life This story is mostly about learning. Learn how to cope, how to deal with everything life throws your way. Wonderfully written, Paisley memories is a heart warming story. It breaks your heart and then put it back together.
If you´re expecting a romance, I must say it has romance, but is a secondary character. It doesn´t focus on it.
Though the romance part is really sweet and funny. The way Tess meets Aaron is hilarious, it makes you laugh hard.

"As I stood up, I tripped on the strap of the camera bag and fell backward into someone´s lap.
-Oh, my gosh! I am sorry, - I stammered amd scrambled out of the person´s lap, tripped on my own shoelace, and fell again. In a desperate attempt to not land in his lap again, I turned to catch myself. I ended up with my fae into a man´s chest"

" -Do you need help?- He extended his hands.
I opened my mouth to talk, but instead I inhaled my gum and choked"

His daughter is a loony, she cracks me up a lot with her stunts to keep Aaron and Tess apart. I surely hope there are a continuation for Tess and Aaron, they deserve to have their story told more thoroughly.

While tears are still falling from my eyes, I am writing this book review. I just finished reading “Paisley Memories – The Beginning of Me”… a book that touched everything inside me.

Paisley Memories is a book about people, parents, children, a teenage mother of a child with Down syndrome… an orphan and abandoned mother whose heart is filled with anger, hate, worries, questions and fears; a book about real and false friends; a book about life, fate and… love.

“Paisley Memories – The Beginning of Me” captured my mind and heart from the very beginning all the way through the end. The first and only moments I had to put the book down were right after Tess, the teenage mother, decided to keep the child and to refuse the adoption variant. I simply had to put the book aside. I couldn’t read anymore. Believe me, you won’t be able to read either while tears are heavily falling from your eyes.

I would lie if I told you that the author is talented, only. In fact, Zelle Andrews is brilliant! She has not only kept me busy, but she has made me cross so many internal states. I couldn’t imagine that I can laugh out loud and in the next moment cry out with all my heart.

I have only one problem and one complaint…

My only problem was that… I was very eager to read the book and… I started reading it while being at work. No, the office was not the problem; I just had one of those not so busy days. The problem was that my loud laughter and my teary eyes were noticed several times by my coworkers. They started to question my mental state so… I had to explain to them what was happening. And now they want to laugh and cry with me at the same time.

My one complaint is that the book ended and I didn’t find another book written by the same author.. I wonder where the author has been hiding herself until now and when her next book will be published. I officially declare Zelle Andrews as one of my favorite authors now.

There are several reasons for which I would always be grateful for having a life on this planet. This list has now an addition to it. I am happy to be here and now have been so fortunate to read “Paisley Memories”.

The moment when I closed the book covers, a deep silence embraced my entire being. It’s been a long time since I’ve last read such a well-written life story. Now… I have to think. I suddenly have to think about so many things; too many to be included in a review.

With all my heart, I recommend this book. If you want to read about life and love in almost all its aspects, grab this book now!

She wore the labels that she was given when her life started to go in reverse. With no one pushing her forward now, Tess bundled up Paisley and wandered the Deep South. Tess wasn’t exactly sure what she was searching for but a year later with her pockets nearly empty she found a stop in Panacea. An opportunity to rest, a place to pad her pockets and just unwind, it made the invitation to stay something she couldn’t pass up. It was a free place to stay, good home-cooked meals, an opportunity to actually have a bath and she could let her two-year old daughter Paisley stretch out her feet instead of living their lives in a hotel room or her father’s car. Tess knew her way around a camera, a skill she acquired in high school but now Butterball was going to teach her some tricks of her trade so when she was recovering from surgery Tess would be her backup for this was the exchange the two of them agreed to. Living with Butterball, emerging into Butterball’s life and the small community around her was perfect for Tess and Paisley. The stars aligned and everything fell into place for all the characters, it was as if Tess was a long-lost relative of Butterball’s. Being eloped into the community I expected more protective behavior from Tess. Tess was a young teen with a daughter who for the past year had been traveling alone with her on the road, a daughter with special needs and now when she moves into the community, her behavior was not what I expected. At the beginning of the novel, she was emotional about her situation and further into the novel, her emotions seemed to fall away and became softer. Tess seemed more concerned about herself then she did her own child. She lost me; I cared more about the other characters in the novel and their attachment to Paisley and Tess. This was a happy emotional read, a perfect novel. 3.5 stars I received this novel from NetGalley and Southern Yellow Pine in exchange for an honest review.

At rule wonderful story with excellent characters. The characters in this book are the types of people you wish you had a chance to know. The story was unique and unravelled beautifully. Thank you!!