Review to come. ( )

You have to see infatuation for what it is, in order to find your bliss. Love is not a fairy tale. Falling for the town's "golden boy" may not be the smartest thing Chloe ever did. This book is a journey for our heroine to find herself and to define what love really is. Great read! ( )

Finding Bliss by Dina Silver
Source: Author for a fair and honest review
Rating: 3/5 stars

Dina Silver’s Finding Bliss is an emotional read that sort of sucked me in right from the beginning. In an effort to be as spoiler-free as possible, I am opting for a list-type review rather than a full-blown description and discussion. Hang on, dear reader, because here we go 

What I liked:
*The first third of the read which details the journey Tyler and Chloe take toward one another and their life together. This journey is not by any means a traditional one and makes the first third of this read particularly enjoyable.

*How decidedly different Tyler and Chloe’s individual situations are. These two come from totally different places/backgrounds and I applaud Silver for using the backstory of each character to inform every decision (both obviously and not so obviously) each makes in their lives. This is a nice bit of consistency that ties beginning, middle and, end together.

*Tyler: even though he pulls some pretty crappy moves throughout the read, he is by far the most fully-developed character. From start to finish and based on some very specific events, Tyler completely changes. It is a credit to Silver’s writing ability to be able to convincingly change a single character so completely over the course of a single read.

*The overall writing style. This is a very smooth read (even as an ARC) which is carried by good dialogue, fine pacing and, tight editing.

What I didn’t like:
*Chloe. For myself, Chloe was only a likeable character in the first third of the book. While I respect her fierce determination, this quality also makes her somewhat cold and hard to relate to. I appreciate that Chloe experiences some seriously awful things in her life but as the story progressed, I found it increasingly more difficult to root for her.

*How the plot evolves. Once Tyler and Chloe finally get together, their story begins to read like a biography rather than a novel. While there are certainly still big events occurring, the last two-thirds of Finding Bliss doesn’t have the same feel or level of excitement as the beginning of the read.

The Bottom Line: Let me be clear, I never once considered DNFing this read!! Silver is a fine writer and from a technical perspective, Finding Bliss is a well put together novel. I was totally sucked in by the first third of the novel and kept reading because I just knew everything was going to come full circle at the end and finish with the same level of appeal as it began with. Unfortunately, this did not happen for me and I found myself being slightly disappointed with the read as a whole. With this being said, I can honestly see Finding Bliss appealing to readers who like emotional reads that focus on only a few characters and their journey together in this life. ( )

Dina Silver writes stories that cause me to respond emotionally. It's like she is writing the book just for you. You find hidden messages about the bigger issues in life within the pages of her novels. You find yourself inspired, reflecting and hopeful when reading her words. Silver writes stories that get into my bones and stick there. In her newest novel Finding Bliss, Silver writes a story that kept me up late into the night, one that was hard to put down, one that moved me once again. Finding Bliss is about so much more than young love. It is about staying true to oneself and about making it through the bumps in the road with your head held high and your dignity intact. Silver writes a beautifully woven story that is thoughtful, funny and memorable. Her story is one that makes you certain that there is not just one path in life, but many and one must choose their own path in order to find bliss!!! I LOVED this book and rate it 5 stars ( )