Title: Arborview
Author: Karen Guzman
Genre: Literary Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Book Blurb:
When the recipe for a new life is bittersweet…
Ellen Cahill’s financial future rides on the success of her new pastry shop. A bruising divorce has drained her bank account, along with her spirit. A man enters her life promising love, but Ellen, haunted by the past, questions whether she can pull off this new beginning.
College student Rosa Escamilla has her own culinary dreams—and a difficult mother who’s dead set against them. Rosa won’t be deterred. She scrapes up the money to enroll at a prestigious culinary school, setting out to prove everyone wrong.
When hidden betrayals by the people they love most surface for both Ellen and Rosa, can they overcome the blows they never saw coming on the road to where they want to go?
My Review:
Blindsided by betrayal, can Ellen and Rose forge new paths to a brighter future? A bitter divorce has left Ellen Cahill second-guessing everything, including her new pastry shop. It needs to be a success, or she won’t survive. She finds solace in her kids’ old treehouse they used to call Arborview. Sitting high off the ground, Ellen’s free to dream and contemplate life. When a love interest enters the picture, she’s not sure she can trust herself, let alone him. Meanwhile, Rosa has big culinary dreams. She gets no support from her mother, yet she’s determined to try. She enrolls in an exclusive culinary school after saving money. Two women going after their dreams, to make a fresh start, are shocked when those who claim they love them betray them instead. Will Ellen and Rosa give up or will they gird their loins and prove strength lies within?
Arborview is a stunning women’s fiction from start to finish. From the beginning, the writing style captivated me with its lush descriptive narration, emotional story, and intriguing characters. Two women, both at different stages of life, confront difficulties and learn the value of inner strength. I connected with both Ellen and Rosa. What they went through caused a full array of emotions to well up inside me. Karen Guzman writes for women, about women, with such empathy and grace, you can’t help but get swept up into the story. The plot moves at a nice easy pace. The character growth throughout Arborview is impressive. Readers will find themselves asking the same questions as Ellen and Rosa about love, life, and dreams. A brilliantly written story, Arborview needs to be read by all women everywhere. I look forward to more from Karen Guzman. Highly recommend!
My Rating: 5 stars
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Author Biography:
Karen Guzman is a fiction writer and essayist. Her new novel, Arborview, is published by The Wild Rose Press. Her debut, Homing Instincts, was published by Fiction Attic Press in 2014. Karen’s short fiction has appeared in a number of literary magazines, and her story collection, Pilgrims, was a finalist for the St. Lawrence Book Award. Karen is a regular contributor to the Collegeville Institute’s Bearings Online magazine. She is the recipient of a 2021 writing fellowship at the Collegeville Institute.
Karen has worked as a journalist at the Hartford Courant in Hartford, Connecticut, and at the News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is presently a writer at the Yale School of Management.
You can find Karen’s books on her Amazon author page
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Reviewed by: Mrs. N