Review: Belong to Me

"[A]s we drove through as quiet a neighborhood as I had ever seen, I could not shake the feeling that we were home. I wanted and did not want to feel this way. My heart sank even as my spirits lightened and rose toward the canopy of sycamore leaves, the sleepy blue sky."

Marisa de los Santos, Belong to Me

Belong to Me, by Marisa de los Santos, is a work of fiction and was published in 2008. It is the sequel to de los Santos' New York Times Bestselling novel, Love Walked In. I won it in Therese Walsh's book giveaway, and I devoured it.

The main protagonist of Belong to Me is thirty-two year old city girl Cornelia Brown, who has reluctantly given in to the pull of the suburbs. Her entrance on the scene in her neighborhood is awkward, to say the least, and she finds herself tested again and again by the new women in her life. While she meets others' challenges head on with her confidence and general optimism, her own crisis threatens her in ways she never imagined.

Cornelia is one of the most original and charming characters I've ever read. Her snarky, self-depreciating narration is highly entertaining. What most impressed me about the characterization in the book was that just when I thought I had someone pegged, de los Santos surprised me. All of the characters are layered, flawed, and human, and, therefore, likable in some way.

It is such a treat read and love an author for the first time and find out she has published other books. I  look forward to reading more from Marisa de los Santos.