Book Review: Love in the Middle by Barbara Lieberman

Love in the Middle

by Barbara Lieberman

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Love stories are for the young, he's decided, and Sam Mayer is most certainly not young. He's building a new life for himself after cancer and divorce chewed up and spit out his old one. It's called 'middle age' for a reason and that's because it is not the time to start something new... or is it?

  

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

… seeing himself in the altogether, but for a pair of knit boxers, Sam saw his father from the neck down.  Between the months being sedentary during treatment, and his depression over the breakup of his marriage, his life seemed to have settled around his middle and also seemed determined to stay there.

… a different person emerges from the quagmire of illness.  Kind of like a butterfly, Sam mused.  The caterpillar pretty much disintegrates before turning into a butterfly.  Completely different, but made up of the same stuff… But you can’t very well tell your friends and family that you feel like a butterfly among caterpillars. 

Annie Manning certainly wasn’t the world’s definition of beauty… She dyed her hair red, not to cover the well-earned grays, but to retain the fire she felt inside and reflect that on the outside… She was beautiful in the way only women of a certain age can be, especially when they had walked through fire.

I have an entirely new appreciation of Cracker Jack because of you… Yup.  You’re the prize I’ve waited all my life to find. 

It’s choosing to live, rather than just exist… I don’t think that’s particularly brave.  I just see it as a choice to be happy.

My Review:

This thoughtful and cleverly written piece resonated strongly and moved my heart, plucked at my emotions, brought a smirk to my lips, and forced strings of adjectives to fire through my cranium; evocative, poignant, heart-squeezing, life-affirming, powerful, emotive, informative, and inspiring – just for a few.  Written in the third person from a dual perspective, the storyline was engaging, relevant, well-crafted, amusing and deeply moving.  I adored these authentic, colorful, and intriguing characters.  I cherished Sam but I truly loved Annie and coveted her joie de vivre and daily fight song and dance ritual. I vow to establish my very own ASAP.  Barbara Lieberman has mad skills.

Empress DJ

  

About the Author

Barbara Lieberman is a writer whose books are about the power of words, the power of love, and the consequences of the choices we make. A New Jersey native, Barbara moved to beautiful Southern California to start over. The mother of two amazing young adults and partner in Pipe & Thimble Publishing, Barbara is also an avid gardener, a life-long (and long-suffering) Phillies fan, a voracious reader, an editor/formatter, and an inspirational speaker.

*Voted one of the 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading for 2015 and 2016!

*The Treasure of Ravenwood: A Fairy Tale by Barbara Lieberman has been voted to the top 40 Best Chapter Books for Young Girls List on Goodreads.
*The Treasure of Ravenwood, Ben's Little Acorn, and Why Does the Moon Follow Me are Reading Is Fundamental books and Barbara is proud to be a RIF Author Partner.

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