Public Affairs -- The Choices We Make -- Book Review

Rating: *****

Ella, the sharp public relations expert, and Charles Grady, the hot, handsome, bad boy movie star, meet and the sparks instantly fly. As Ella works to repair her bad boy's public image, she finds herself falling deeply in love with the sexy Charlie. Charlie falls for the sweet, smart, loving Ella -- and soon the bad boy is tamed. Love though sometimes isn't quite that easy. On the eve of their wedding, tragedy strikes in the most unthinkable way. Ella must make a heart-breaking choice...

Minnie and Henry, Ella's grandparents, also share a deep love during the 60's while under the shadow of the Vietnam War. Henry is sent off to war and leaves his beautiful, loyal wife Minnie behind. When he returns, things are never the same. When tragedy also strikes their marriage, the aftermath leaves Minnie's life in ruins. Yet she survives and goes on...

Public Affairs is an intergenerational story of true love, family, loyalty, tragedies, and overcoming the unthinkable. It's a story about the choices we make out of love and resilience. Readers will laugh and cry and not be able to put this book down.

THE REVIEW

I don't normally review 3L books because I am biased. Every now and again, I do endorse a book (for my own reasons). Working with Liz on this project happened during a very dark time in my life. Its subject matter became deeply personal and profound not only to Liz, but also to me.  

Liz has an interesting way of bringing strong, important messages into her books in an entertaining manner. She litters the book with sharp, unique, colorful characters who at just the right moments lighten the serious tone. She also creates smart, strong female characters -- whether it's Ella running her own PR firm or her grandmother Minnie acting as the wise matriarch of the family.   

What she presents is a thematically aligned story between these two women. Ella's romance with Charlie, her bad boy turned tamed fiance, culminates with a heartbreaking tragedy that interlinks with her grandmother Minnie's own loss. Both stories involve love, family, tragedy, and the kinds of decisions no one ever wants to make.  

These decisions or "choices" beg important questions about end-of-life choices, war, betrayal, and dealing with truly unthinkable loss. Liz excels at bringing together these stories in an indirect way, but completely aligned and logical. She knows how to make you laugh right when you should be crying.  

Public Affairs is lively, entertaining, and dramatic. She has so many fun characters, from Walter and Klein the gay lovers who style the stars, to Jake and Nancy whose mature love story is unexpected and adds a nice symmetry to the more difficult love stories. She knows how to create a perfectly developed narrative around these unique people. And while it's set in Hollywood and touches upon the fabric of tinsel town, it's not a Hollywood story -- not at all.  

The book calls for readers to think and ask questions. I won't give away the spoilers, but I will say it's not what you would expect. I loved working on this project, and I'm eager to spread the word about it.  

Public Affairs is available on at 3lpublishing.com and launches as an eBook on Kindle and Nook on Nov. 1st.