Product Description

Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others we keep to protect those we love.

A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to leave urban life behind and head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she and her beloved husband, Teo, have made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships in her new home. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt. Perfectly manicured, impeccably dressed, and possessing impossible standards, Piper is the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she would find in suburbia. A saving grace soon appears in the form of Lake. Over a shared love of literature and old movies, Cornelia develops an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman who has also recently arrived in town, ostensibly to send her perceptive and brilliant son, Dev, to a school for the gifted.

Marisa de los Santos's literary talents shine in the complex interactions she creates between these three women. She deftly explores the life-altering roller coaster of emotions Piper faces as she cares for two households, her own and that of her cancer-stricken best friend, Elizabeth. Skillfully, de los Santos creates an enigmatic and beguiling character in Lake, who draws Cornelia closer even as she harbors a shocking secret. And from the first page until the exhilarating conclusion, de los Santos engages readers with Cornelia, who, while trying to adapt to her new surroundings, must remain true to herself. As their individual stories unfold, the women become entangled in a web of trust, betrayal, love, and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined, and that ultimately teaches them what it means for one human being to belong to another.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4508 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Released on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Cornelia Brown, heroine of de los Santos's bestselling Love Walked In, returns in a gracefully written if formulaic sophomore effort. Cornelia and her husband, Teo, move to suburban Philadelphia, where she finds it difficult to fit into the sorority-like atmosphere. Despite a bevy of domestic dramas (planning a family among them), Cornelia's first-person chapters are the quietest of the three points of view. Seemingly shallow and vicious, neighbor Piper shows her kinder side as she struggles through her best friend's fight against cancer. Though the extreme of Piper's two-facedness isn't convincing, her moments of sincerity invite genuine empathy. Cornelia also yields narrative time to Dev, a precocious teenager whose father is missing and whose mother develops a friendship with Cornelia. Dev's connection to the story is initially unclear, though he does grow close to Clare, a troubled teenager with an unconventional connection to Cornelia, and a late-breaking development grounds his role more firmly. Though each story line is a good read on its own, they don't always braid nicely, and while the predictable plot wanders into sappiness, the prose is polished and the suburban travails are familiar enough that fans of the women's fiction and higher-brow mommy lit will relate. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Cornelia Brown and her husband, Teo, introduced in LOVE WALKS IN, move to the suburbs to find a more relaxed lifestyle and start a family. As they settle in, they make friends, take the pettiness of others in stride, and stumble into the middle of important secrets, one of the biggest of which has Teo at the center. Julia Gibson is an easygoing storyteller who gives the impression of describing events in which she has had a direct part. She is sensitive to the emotion of the characters without overstating it. Her presentation of dialogue and her transition to narrative passages are smooth and well paced. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author

An award-winning poet and bestselling author with a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing, Marisa de los Santos lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with her husband and children. She's the author of the bestseller Love Walked In.

Customer Reviews

Belonged to ME
I liked this book. I love the dust jacket picture, just love it. I don't know why I do but there is something about that lineup of rainboots that interests me and beckons me to see who fills those rainboots.

I love Marisa de los Santos' writing. Her style somehow draws in the reader compelling you to feel in touch with the story. While the characters are not necessarily likeable or all of them interesting, de los Santos paints them as they are.

Some reviews have said the book was slow, the characters typified the quintessential stay at home mom with successful husbands and no money cares in the world (yawn)and spoiled the most interesting fact about the book (I hate that). I do believe however that the author is writing a story about such lifestyles and portrays them well. If the characters are involved in dilemmas of their making, isn't true of many of us at one time or another? The association the reader may feel with the characters' realities enables them to read on.

Read on you shall. Buy the book, borrow the book, read the book. I was not disappointed and am now a devout reader of works by de los Santos.

I Am in Love
The writing in this book spoke to my heart. I love the author's writing style--it is warm, personal and poetic. I have always believed that writing is like painting with words and Marisa de los Santos does just that. Her descriptions are so vivid, whether she is writing about the love between a parent and a child or describing the picturesque suburban neighborhood she moves to. When I was immersed in this book, I felt transported to somewhere else. The author made me believe that the characters and the story were real and authentic. Nothing seemed contrived to me, and I grew to love all the characters, even Piper, who at first seems very shallow and superficial. The best part about the book is the way Marisa de los Santos weaves the lives of the characters together like a quilt, and gives you so much insight into their lives that you find yourself rooting for them as they grow and change, and deepen their love for their families and for each other. Cornelia is a fabulous character--very strong, warm, wise and witty--just the kind of person I would like to befriend in real life. The message of this book is fabulous--true love conquers all and connects us to each other. It explores the love between parents and children, siblings, neighbors, and friends who are so close they feel like family. My favorite story line is about Dev, a young teenage boy who is wise beyond his years and incredibly sweet. He is searching for his father who he has never met and who he believes left his mother before he was born. He befriends Cornelia and her "child of heart" Clare, and their lives intertwine and become richer because of the connections they form. I won't give away the surprise, but he finds more than what he is looking for and his heart grows as a result. My heart was touched by the beautiful story and I hope yours will be too.

Love Love...
After I read "When Love Walked In" I knew immediately that I had to have this book. I never read what it was about, and to my surprise it was the continuing story! JOY! I've fallen completely in love this Authors writing. I hope so much that there will be another....