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Guest Post and Review of Coming to Reason (A Long Road to Love #3) by Liza O’Connor

Coming to Reason Blog Tour

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Liza Comes to Reason

Turns out ALL my reviewers are right.

80% thought Worst Week Ever was hilarious.

The other 20% of the readers focused on its darker aspects and refused to laugh. They probably find fault with the stooges as well by noting hitting each other on the head and poking at each other’s eyes is NOT FUNNY.

My unhappy reviewers appear to be Realists.

Let’s go back and review their comments once more.

trent 007 sml

 Trent is a man child, a tyrant, abusive and just simply a douche bag from beginning to finish.

Trent may be handsome and rich but is a definite LOSER.

I don’t see how anyone can fall in love with a man who is socially inept and needs to be handled like a spoiled child.

Trent basically only ‘loves’ Carrie because he’s totally dependent on her to function properly.

Trent was so pretentious it was hard to believe he thought off anyone but himself.

The psychological abuse direct towards Carrie by Trent was to say the least upsetting.

Carrie CTR

Carrie’s in a verbally and emotionally abusive relationship.

Carrie has the lowest self-esteem I’ve ever heard of.

What does C find attractive about him? It may just be that she has no outside life – no activities or friends -outside of work.

Carrie needs therapy to do some self-reflecting as to why she allows herself to be abused.

Conclusions:

Carrie and Trent just keep cycling through periods where he gets really angry and verbally assaults her, and him apologizing and having her forgive him

I really can’t see how a romance is possible.

The likelihood of the relationship lasting is less than 10%

 

They weren’t wrong you know. Those are all true statements. But as long as you came to laugh at Trent’s behaviors and Carrie’s debacles, the story was really funny.

By the end of book one, I had yet to make Trent a true hero, so I tried really hard to improve him in book two, Oh Stupid Heart. By the title you have to realize I never succeeded. While he gets closer, I just couldn’t get someone who is so wrapped up in himself to become a proper hero.

So in book three I give up and let Carrie COME TO REASON.

I know a lot of you fell in love with Trent in book two. I did too. But people do not fundamentally change their character unless something traumatic breaks them down to their essence. And to be honest, Trent would never become a truly great man as long as he stayed with Carrie, because as much as I love her, she is way too tolerant, way too ‘helpful’ and actually impedes his efforts to grow up and do things on his own. Fundamentally, they are in an unhealthy relationship.

I considered sending them both to therapy, but this relationship is was beyond the ability of a therapist to fix. I realized the only way I could give my two characters the true HEA’s they deserve, is to break them up.

I know that’s going to upset a lot of you, but Carrie needs someone less self-centered and temperamental. Someone who thinks of her first.

And Trent needs to hit rock bottom and start over someplace where no one knows him, to rebuild his life thinking of others rather than himself, to learn how to do things for himself.

Trent’s time with Carrie has not been a waste. In fact, losing her is the catalyst that enables him to fundamentally change his life. So I don’t regret ever putting them together, but it has to end now so Carrie can discover the perfect man for her and Trent can grow up and become a hero we can all love in Book four: Climbing out of Hell.

 

Coming to Reason_600x800

COMING TO REASON

Book Three: A Long Road to Love

Humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance

 

 

Blurb

 

Book 3 of A Long Road to Love series

Carrie has committed to an inter-species engagement with Trent, her billionaire boss. Presently, he is eighty percent dreamboat and twenty percent nightmare. When he fires her so they can become a ‘normal couple’, everything heads south.

 

Providing her a stark contrast, her new boss, Dan Marshal, is everything a woman could want. But for Carrie, her heart is taken and thus, her path to reason remains long and arduous.

 

When her relationship with Trent explodes in a shocking fashion, finally her heart gives up and reason takes over. She realizes a brighter future and a better man has been at her side all this time. But can she overcome the obstacles in her path to secure him? Or is Carrie doomed to never know true love?

 

Warning: If you loved Carrie and Trent as a couple, this book may break your heart. 

bookreview

OMG!  OMG!!!   Best.Book.Ever!  I know, you must think that all books are the best book ever that I review.  And trust me, the books that I have read in 2014 are some of the best that I’ve ever read.  The main reason WHY Coming to Reason is the best book ever is because in my mind, Trent and Carrie are truly over and I’m grateful for that.  Please read Pink’s reviews of the first two books.  I’ll wait…
Worst Week Ever Review (book #1)

Review of Oh Stupid Heart

So as you can see from the two previous books, Pink had her doubts about Trent and she was spot on.  Damn, I taught her well.  This book felt like an ending to me.  And yes, I did read the other two; I just didn’t write a review.  I let Pink do it.  The reasons I thought it was an ending for me was that some of Carrie’s relationships came full circle.  While I liked Sam in the other books, he turned out to be an *sshat in this one and Carrie didn’t deserve his anger in the end.  He needed to channel that anger to Trent but Carrie was an easier target.  Mars (one of my all time favorite secondary characters), well that was bittersweet to me.  It was the only time in the book that I got choked up.

That said, it was a book of new beginnings and building on the friendships that Carrie had from Oh Stupid Heart.  Tiny and Tall are still there and hilarious as always.  I like how Liza gave us another show to be in awe of.  Plus, the scenes at the restaurant were brilliant and funny.  I also liked her working relationship with Jeff.  He treated her as an equal and respected her.  Just not a first but then when a big client came in and realized that she was asset to him, he finally warmed up to her.  Bringing Dave back was a twist that I didn’t see coming.  Especially at the end. Great move Liza!  🙂

It was great to see the friendship between Carrie and Destiny develop too.  Carrie had a very rough time growing up (as everything is finally revealed) and to see Carrie finally have a friend was a joy to read.  My heart truly broke for Carrie when her full back story was out there.  The calls to the doctor by Dan, the true concern for her well-being by Dan and Dan just being Dan when it came to Carrie.  At one time in the book, I almost…almost wanted to slap Dan but I knew that he was only trying to protect Carrie because he truly did love her and at that one moment, I knew it too.

Trent you douche!  How could you?  Really?  Harems, the thing with Coco and then dipping the wick with your friend’s wife?  You disgust me and when you finally got around to talking to Carrie?  Why she doesn’t press charges I’ll never know but I would.  Plus, the phone sex thing?  I would definitely be at the first doctor’s appointment I could go to.  I have no respect for you at all anymore.  I barely had any to start off with but with the actions that took place in the book…good riddance and I hope to never see you again.  (Sadly, book #4 is Trent’s book)

Yes, we don’t get a lot of Trent in this book because with any good break up book, it mainly focuses on one person.  This is Carrie’s book.  How she finally grows up in regards to love and what it means to truly love someone and to have that person love you back.  She didn’t quite figure it out until about 75% into the book but when she did…BAM!  I would expect her to cry a bit more but when she realized that loving Trent wasn’t the same as truly loving someone.  Trent loved her because she fixed things.  He didn’t love her for herself.  Again…douche!

One other thing….IAN!  I never laughed so hard with the scenes at the end with him.  I’m still shaking my head but Ian knew how to push Dan to reveal his feelings.  Too bad it might cost him the friendship but some men can be dense.  LOL!

I realize that I may be the only reader/reviewer that adored, worshipped and loved this book.  I’m not sure how Ms. O’Connor can ever redeem Trent because at this point I don’t think he can be, at least not for Carrie.  No one can take that much verbal and emotional abuse like Carrie has her entire life.  Carrie is a much better person and in a better place without him.  I beg, implore and pray that she doesn’t try to bring these two back together in book #4.  My heart can’t take it and I don’t think Carrie can, too.  She finally knows what true love is supposed to feel and mean.  You can not change the spots on a leopard (Trent).

Once again, Ms. O’Connor has written a brilliant book about the complexities of relationships, good and bad.  Again, to me, the book is the best break up book EVER and it left my heart singing in the end.  Best.Book.Ever…

 

Pink here:  Please read the series in order.  At least read Book #2 (Oh Stupid Heart) before reading Coming to Reason.  You will thank me later.  Plus, big sister Harlie got it right.  Trent is a douche and I’m glad that Sam threw him out of the limo.  Of course his behavior to Carrie afterwards earned him a douche award too.  Yuck!  And yes, Best.Book.Ever Ms. O’Connor.  Just don’t for the love God and all that’s holy…don’t bring them together again.  Trent never deserved Carrie.  Carrie deserves the man that she ultimately fell in love with.  That said…maybe finding Trent someone else that might be nice.  Just leave Carrie out of it.  Thanks!  Love you!

 

5harlies

recommend-harlies- new

 

Liza O’Conner writes books that speak to my soul. Carrie is a character you will not soon forget.

–Rebecca Royce, author of The Warrior series. 

 

I only have one thing to say about Liza O’Connor’s A Long Road to Love series: Read them. They’re funny. You won’t regret it!

Maria Hammarblad, author of Kidnapped.

 

Excerpt

 

Monday morning, Carrie stood outside Dan Marshal’s resource firm, wearing her best blue suit. She’d arrived early, knowing Dan kept to a tight schedule. She smiled as his car pulled to the curb.

Dan let himself out of the limo, something Trent still wouldn’t do, and headed to the office door. His brow remained furrowed until his gaze settled on her, then a smile brightened his handsome face.

“Carrie! What a pleasant surprise.” Leaning down, he kissed both her cheeks in greeting. While Dan didn’t possess Trent’s height, he still towered over her. “Are you by chance wishing to speak to me?”

“If you have time.”

He glanced at his watch and the furrows in his brow returned. “Fifteen minutes, before a meeting I’ve called. If you need more time, hopefully, you can wait an hour for the meeting to be finished.”

“More than fair since I didn’t make an appointment.”

His head tilted as he studied her. “Which is unlike you.”

“True, but I didn’t know I needed a job until yesterday, when Trent decided the time had come for him to grow up and run his own company.”

Dan led her to the elevator with his hand rested on her back. “Really?” His tone turned happy upon discovering her state of unemployment, but she let it slide.

“Evidently, he made the decision a while back, but didn’t bother to share it with me until yesterday.”

Dan’s smile grew more pronounced, borderline celebratory.

Once they entered the elevator and the doors closed, she wrinkled her nose at him. “Well, I’m glad my unemployment makes you happy. I expected a stern lecture after the last time I asked you to get me an interview.”

His smile disappeared. “Good point. Is this a real job you want, or are you trying to get rid of one of Trent’s groupies?”

She laughed. “Trent doesn’t have groupies. And this is a real job I want. We’ve decided to become a normal couple with daily time off from each other. Otherwise, Trent will continue to rely on me too much.”

For some reason, her reply saddened him.

 

Links

 

A Long Road to Love

Book One

Worst Week Ever

Amazon

“Love this book and couldn’t stop laughing from beginning to end.” 5 stars – Alves – Amazon

67 reviews: 4.3 stars

 

Book Two

Oh Stupid Heart

Amazon

“Be warned though, this book is completely different from The Worst Week Ever. Yes, there is still humor, dry wit, situations that you would think…NOT AGAIN but this one humanizes Trent more.” 5 stars – Brian’s Mom – Amazon

8 reviews: 4.8 stars

Book Three

Coming to Reason

Amazon

 

 

Other Books by Liza O’Connor

Saving Casey

Ghost Lover

 

Liza O’Connor

Author Bio:

Liza lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels. She loves to create interesting characters, set them loose, and scribe what happens.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT

LIZA O’CONNOR & UPCOMING BOOKS:

Liza’s Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter

 

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13 thoughts on “Guest Post and Review of Coming to Reason (A Long Road to Love #3) by Liza O’Connor

  1. I’ve never had a relationship explode apart. I’ve been fortunate so far to have had if not mutual, then at least amicable breakups. I actually got Worst Week Ever already, now I just need to get Oh Stupid Heart.

    1. Yes, Nancy G. made me see it wasn’t right to leave him on the sidewalk, so I asked a priest to go pick him up. Trent thought he was going to get an exorcism, but instead he got some good advice and a new life.

  2. Yes I have – When I was 19 I fell in love with this guy, we were together a long time and when I was 21 he cheated on me with my best friend.. in my own house. It was so unexpected because, 1 – I had one clue anything was wrong, and 2 – my best friend was my family and we were the complete opposite of one another but we had been through a lot. It was a tough situation for me because I didn’t expect something like what happened from either of them.. it took a very long time for either of them to actually admit that something happened and what extent but they eventually did…years later but still at least they acknowledged the wrong they did.

    Sorry to get all serious, but you asked LOL… thanks for a great question and an awesome giveaway

  3. Great review! Okay Liza, inquiring minds want to know, and not sure if you’ll answer this one lol. Did you know from the beginning this is what you would do with Trent and Carrie, or was it the reactions you got from readers that swayed you?

      1. It’s where the characters went organically. I had written the first three books before I published any of them. So no reader influence there.

        Now Trent’s CLIMBING OUT OF HELL is due to how upset some of my fans got over the destruction of Trent. So after breaking him down to his core, he rebuilds himself into a man we can all love. Sam’s still being a jerk though…not sure how to fix him. And Mars– he’s going to need to find a special lady too. Oh and there’s already one more book about Carrie a couple of years in the future.

        So while my fans can and do have influence on what I write next, Trent destroyed his life all on his own. The only difference was I had planned to leave him on the sidewalk for eternity, but Nancy Goodman pleaded for me to rehabilitate him, which oddly turned out to be easy to do now that he’d lost the only person who had ever loved him.

  4. Thank you …and Pink for a wonderful review. *Raises hand* I promise after getting Carrie with a man who is perfect for her, I will never get her back with Trent. Dan’s her true love forever, although I have written another book about them, it’s later in life, so first Trent must fundamentally break down as he realizes what a horrible person he’s become and starts over.

    1. Oooo, another book with Dan and Carrie? Love it and I can’t wait.

      And really, I need closure regarding Trent. I hope that you can redeem him somewhat. He’s just not for Carrie.

      Pink

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