G81 E-Reading Book Review of Trust: A New Beginning by Cristiane Serruya (The Elegant Fifty Shades of Grey )

Name of Book: Trust; A New Beginning

Author: Cristiane Serruya

ISBN: 9781480236295

Publisher: CreateSpace

Part of a Series: Trust

Type of book: 2009-2010, England, elegance, domination, erotica, adult, wealth, luxury, amnesia, secrets, strong female heroine

Year it was published: 2012

Summary:

They are beautiful. They are rich. They are strong willed and successful. They have everything, but love. And each one of them has a dark secret looming in their past.

Sophia is a 25 year old Brazilian widow. Intelligent and ravishing, she flees from her own country after a tragic incident. Hiding from everyone and everything, she remains alone, torn between the love for a dead man, the torment of living without part of her memory and the fear of moving on.

Ethan is one of the most important tycoons in the steel industry. As the memory of an awful evening in his adolescence haunts him night and day, he keeps looking for an elusive woman whom he could love - and who would love him - as he never has in all his 35 years... Until he finds Sophia.

Alistair is a 34 year old powerful banker, searching for one–night stands with women who will warm his bed. And that he can punish physically to abate his anger for his late wife's black deeds and his own guilt for being such a debauched man for so many years. Any woman will do, and he has many to choose from, as they all fall instantly for his manly, devilish charming ways.

In Europe, in the months after October 2009, their paths will cross and clash. Who will win the prize of love?

This book is the first installment of a trilogy.

It is intended for 18 and up.

Characters:

Sophia has got to be one of the most amazing women in fiction I have met. She's elegant, stylish, appealing, intelligent, strong-willed, loyal, moody, protective, naive and somewhat childish. I at times wondered if she was a little too perfect, and while reading it, I hoped to see more of her flaws rather than see her as an impenetrable goddess. However, the author does deliver my wish at the end. Ethan is Sophia's first boyfriend after the death of her husband who, despite his flaws, seems to be better than the alternative in my view. Ethan is ambitious, determined, tortured, and jealous. He also dislikes children. Alistair is also tortured but far more darker than Ethan is. Alistair loves children, is royalty, tortured, determined and seems to have crossed the line between pain and pleasure. The men have same personalities, but she somehow makes them different. I also realized something interesting; in an odd way Ethan can be thought of as, well, Edward, while Alistair can be thought of Christian. (No idea why my mind is doing this...) Very strong and memorable characters. Their secrets are barely revealed in first book, thus I'm eager to see them in second book.

Theme:

I could pick out a multitude of themes that the author tried to convey, such as love helps clear the path to the future, or try to work out your life before inviting someone else, or perhaps its not that fun looking for a type of guy that one reads about in current popular books.

Plot:

Its written in third person narrative from Alistair's, Sophia's and Ethan's points of views. The points of views constantly shifted which was a bit annoying, especially when it seemed that every few paragraphs it would move from Sophia's thoughts to Ethan's and afterwards I'd have no idea who was talking. The beginning and ending of the book are attention grabbing and very strong, while when Alistair pursued Sophia, it seemed to drag on in my opinion. (On one hand I wanted to see how bad Alistair could get, while on the other hand I didn't want for Sophia to walk into that kind of fire...) Constant references to luxury brands was also a bit annoying for me, considering I didn't know how they looked like, but I understood why the author used them constantly. She wanted for readers to truly experience the world of wealth instead of just simply telling us about them. The characters of Sophia and Alistair and Ethan were strong enough to overlook that though.

Author Information:
(from goodreads.com)

born
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil April 25, 1970

gender
female

website
http://cristianeserruya.com.br

twitter username
CrisSerruya

genre
Contemporary, Romance, Chick Lit

influences
Classic literature, historical romance

member since
November 2012

I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with my husband and two daughters. I'm a lawyer, who specializes in cases of sexual abuse and violence against children and women. I also have a Masters in Business Law and a BA in Fine Arts.

I've always loved to read, write and listen to music. I lived and studied in England, France, Italy and Switzerland. Traveling is one of my passions - as is keeping fit and healthy.

After twenty-two years of practicing law, I decided to give writing a go. And - amazingly - it was just the piece that was missing in my life.

Opinion:

The only words I can come up with is 'wow'. I loved every moment of reading this book and hanging out with the tortured souls. I loved the characters, the setting, descriptions, and storytelling. What I loved is that its not a virginal naive heroine we are dealing with. Sophia has been married and widowed and she is a lawyer that has seen the dark side in terms of defending women from men just like Alistair and Ethan. She takes my breath away. Considering the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey, I couldn't help but wonder how much the author was inspired by Fifty Shades to create this type of book. If you rolled your eyes while reading Fifty Shades, or, like me, would rather put your brain through a meat grinder rather than try to read Fifty Shades, I would highly highly recommend you read this book. The author knows what she's talking about for one; Sophia echoes our own thoughts about her situations, and despite the slight unrealism of Sophia's character, I enjoyed getting to know her.

Quick notes: I would like to thank the author for the opportunity to read and review the book. 


Post script: This is the Alistair I always pictured whenever I saw the name :D He's a fictional game character, but still...

5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)