Love Walked In - Marisa de los Santos (Audio)

"Belong To Me" by Marisa de los Santos has been on my shelves for ages. To ensure I would read it this year, I put it on my list for my TBR Reading Challenge. And right as I was about to pick it up, I learned (gasp) that it has a prequel! That was a close one. Imagine my distress if I found I'd read something out of order!

So I quickly ordered the audio book for "Love Walked In" and dove in head first. Initially, one of the two narrators irritated me a little bit. She had a girlish, prissy, ditsy sound to her. The kind that makes you want to smack her a little. Within two discs, though, it was all forgotten. I was sucked in.

So I've debated on how much to reveal about the plot. I had absolutely zero knowledge of the plot going into the experience, which made everything a delicious surprise. But here is the jist.

The book is narrated by two characters. One is Cornelia, a thirty-something woman who runs an eclectic coffee bar, has had a long-term love affair with old Hollywood movies, and is in love with the idea of being in love. She begins her tale by stating that her life changed when a Carey Grant-ish man walked through the doors of her coffee shop.

The second character is Claire, a very grown-up 12-year-old who lives with her ever-increasingly disturbed mother. As her mother descends into madness, Claire must learn to survive on her own. Even her estranged father won't come to her rescue.

Then there is heartbreak, and joy, and love and charm to spare. That is all you need to know. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor in the long run.

Do you ever want to burrow down inside a book, roll around in it, and lavish in its awesomeness? This is how I felt with "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and "The School of Essential Ingredients". This is how I felt with "Love Walked In". I will concede that it could be a tad sweet and a tad corny (especially with that one narrator's voice), but Santos presents it in such a way that makes it all go down like...hot chocolate? Creme brulee? A Caymus Cabernet Savignon? Whatever. It is smooth, sweet and makes your tummy feel good. It makes you want to giggle and remember how it felt when you first fell in love.

And I can't listen to "Belong to Me" fast enough.

5 out of 5 stars