The Carousel by J. A. Stone-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 28, 2020

An emotional journey of four women connected by blood, love, loss and time.

Pruett Fontaine is at a crossroads. Divorced, she’s lost herself and is struggling to find her place. When her estranged mother dies unexpectedly, she’s drawn back to Louisiana, to a family and town she left behind twenty years ago.

With no choice but to deal with her mother’s estate, a father she doesn’t know anymore, and the woman her mother left them for, she brings her teenage daughter to Sweetwater and collides with a past she’s been running from since she was eighteen.

Her mother’s journals open her eyes to a woman she barely knew, and she can’t outrun the sins of the past. Secrets are exposed, tragedies are revealed, and temptation rears its head over the course of one long, hot Louisiana summer.

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REVIEW:THE CAROUSEL by J. A. Stone (Juliana Stone) is a contemporary, adult, stand alone story of women’s fiction focusing on four women (Pruett, Daisy, Carol and Lila) from Sweetwater, Louisiana.

Told from several first person perspectives (Pruett Fontaine, Daisy, Charlotte), third person (Carol Seaton) and journal entries (Lila) THE CAROUSEL follows four women connected by blood and love. Divorced mother Pruett Fontaine is called home to Sweetwater, Louisiana after the death of her mother Lila, a woman she hasn’t seen or to whom she has spoken in close to twenty years. With her fifteen- year old daughter Daisy, in tow, Pruett returns to a place that holds too many memories of a time long ago-of a lost love, a dysfunctional family, and a mother who was emotionally absent all of her life. As Pruett attempts to move on from the past, the past isn’t willing to let go, especially when secrets are about to be revealed.

Pruett Fontaine left Sweetwater twenty years earlier, the night her life imploded when a face to face with her mother ended their relationship. Things said in anger pushed Pruett out of town, and away from the boy she would always love. Marriage, family and eventually divorce would force Pruett to analyse her life but more so her return to Sweetwater where the sins of the past come looking for a second chance. But not all is well in Sweetwater, Louisiana as long buried secrets are about to resurface forcing the small town to revisit a dark and dangerous past.

We are introduced to Lila’s best friend and partner Carol, who worked and operated the local B&B: Aunt Charlotte, Lila’s sister; Pruett’s daughter Daisy; and an assortment of Sweetwater lifers, who never expected Pruett’s return. A best friend from childhood, along with Pruett’s first love are never far from Pruett’s mind but a series of journals left to her by her mother Lila, will pull Pruett into the past, a past that will begin to reveal the truth about what happened and why.

THE CAROUSEL is a story about a dysfunctional family where the truth will reveal a past mired in betrayal and heart break; an emotional journey for one woman as she comes to terms with the woman she once called mother, and the family owned secrets that destroyed too many lives. From her heart-broken father (Beverly) who lost the love of his life the same night twenty years earlier, to a woman who struggles to move forward without her friend by her side, THE CAROUSEL spans but a few weeks, yet close to forty years as we are witness to the events leading up to Pruett’s acceptance of a past that controlled her entire life. The premise is captivating and intriguing; the characters are colorful, broken, struggling and strong; the world building is detailed and introspective

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Juliana Stone is also known as J.A. Stone.

USA Today bestselling author and 2015 RITA® winner JULIANA STONE fell in love with books in the fifth grade when her teacher introduced her to Tom Sawyer. A tomboy at heart, she splits her time between baseball, books, and music. When she’s not singing with her band, she’s thrilled to be writing young adult as well as adult contemporary romance—books that have garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly & Booklist—from somewhere in the wilds of Canada.