Life Over Love

by Cheryl Seagraves

Brianna Garcia is a young mother whose spirit and fiery temper were so beaten down, she was barely recognizable to her own self. Beaten both by the words and the fists of her first love. The father of her children. She was at her lowest, lost, and ashamed by what she had become. Brianna felt so full of self-loathing that she constantly entertained thoughts of suicide. She devised a plan to take her children and leave her abusive husband on his birthday, as a gift to herself making it a special day neither will soon forget…

Genres: Abuse

449 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2013

About the author

Cheryl Seagraves is the wife of an EMT with four kids that inspire her daily in her writing. Her debut romance novel "Life Over Love" is available both on Kindle and in print. She wrote the book which deals with the tough subject of domestic violence to inspire women in similar situations, to let them know they can leave behind something harmful and grab hold of a life full of promise. She believes that there is no expiration on one's dreams and is most at home with her loves; reading, painting, enjoying her family, and writing.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this story for an honest review for Amber's Reading Room.

Mike and Brianna Garcia appear to be a perfect couple with everything going for them. Teenage sweethearts, the two married young, had two adorable kids, and made a home. But appearances are deceiving. The sunglasses Brianna sports cover her black eyes and the long sleeves hide a multitude of bruises. “Life over Love” is Brianna’s story. It’s a story of strength, courage, and love. I really enjoyed this read and think you will too.

“Life over Love” is a quick but important story. It in turns made me tear up and smile. Brianna is one of those rare characters where I felt like I could know her and be friends with her in real life. To me that’s a pretty special feeling that I only occasionally get from characters. That feeling made me cheer for each of her accomplishments, particularly her blossoming relationship with Officer Ryker Danner (aka Officer Sexy Pants - Brianna’s words not mine).

This story touched me deeply because it hit very close to home. My mother and father got together in their teens and after my father got back from Vietnam the two got married. What followed in the marriage were two kids, my father’s raging alcohol dependency and years of physical and emotional abuse for my mother. As I’ve gotten older I’ve pieced together stories from family, friends, and even my parents about the abuse. It’s not my story to fully tell but I’ll say it wasn’t a pretty picture. One morning in 1981 my mom had enough. When my dad left for work she grabbed my sister and me and she left for good. Sometimes when she and I have talked about it she’ll laugh about the fact that she didn’t even take time to grab her purse. She knew that was her time to leave so she just grabbed us two kids, and with the clothes on our backs the three of us booked it.

Scars from domestic abuse fade but never completely disappear. I think Seagraves did a beautiful job capturing that in “Life over Love.” It has been almost three decades since my mom left my dad and she’s been married to my step-father for over 25 years. To this day mom will leave a store or a restaurant if someone is raising their voice at another person and she noticeably flinches when a door slams. In “Life over Love” Brianna creates a new life for herself and her children but she’s not magically fixed. Her new love is important but doesn’t wash her past away. Brianna embraces her fresh opportunities but accepts that the insecurities she carries from the years of abuse will be part of her as well. That’s realistic, and it means a lot for the author to portray it that way.

Please show Seagraves some support and pick up a copy of “Life over Love.” Share it with your friends, with the women in your life; you never know who it may help or touch.

Happy reading.

[Philomena Callan Cheekypee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an emotional read due to the subject of abuse. Brianna went through a tough time with her drunk of a husband.
Unfortunately this story will be hard for some people to read as it will hit home to a lot of people.
Well done to the author on writing about such a hard subject. Hopefully this will be an inspiration to others that are going through the same torment!

Received this from author in return for an honest review!

[Christoph Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Life over Love" by Cheryl Seagraves is a powerful drama about a woman's battle with an abusive husband. Written with raw and brutal honesty the book will be difficult for some readers but it has an important message that needs to be read and a voice that needs to be heard.
As the title implies: When you have to chose life over love, love cannot be worth much.
Reading this was a very emotional journey

[ReadAlongWithSue ★⋆. ࿐࿔catching up · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know that kind of book? The one you pick up and start to read leisurely? Sat there with a nice cuppa tea and a biscuit, reading to snuggle down and get reading? Well, this is the kind of book, you need to set aside some time though as the author really knows how to tell this story and make it live, make it real, like its happening right next door to you. You want to do something, you want to shout Get the hell out! NOW. You want to step into Brianna Garcia shoes and say " don't fall for this, tell him where to go". Then you think, maybe she is handling it right, maybe she's handling it the best way she knows how, maybe fear can do this. YES it can. I had a friend in an abusive relationship and how I thought she should act was differently to how she handled it, but she did it right way for her to survive. The same too with Brianna, and her children.

This is an uplifting book that will hit home to many people, not because of the marital abuse content, but for its strength in being told by the author. Its not a bio, its a story. Its a story of hope, love and determination. Very inspiring.

My hat goes off to this author for telling a really real tale that everyone should read. I have read other reviewers opinions and I have not found anything that jumps at all, it links into each other very well. As a film can go from one scene to another, so can this book, I followed it very well indeed. There was no spelling mistakes, bad grammar or anything wrong with the format at all. I read this on my Kindle paper white with no problem. I'm fussy about those kind of things as it distracts from a book plus the story.

[Debbie]

Today I'm interviewing Cheryl on The Reading Frenzy
http://thereadingfrenzy.blogspot.com/...

[Lynn Worton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was recommended this book through a reading group I am in. Although it's not in my normal, preferred genre, I decided to give it a try. I did enjoy it though.

Brianna Garcia is a character that a lot of women who have been in abusive relationships can relate to. She has an inner strength that gets hidden deep inside when her marriage becomes a waking nightmare. To save her children and herself from more pain, she will have to dig deep to reach that strength.

This is a deeply emotive story, which I cannot relate to much as I have never been in such a relationship. However, I could certainly empathize with the character of Brianna. I could feel her hurt and confusion as she struggled to find a way to escape from Mike, her husband. What intrigued me about the story is that it got me wondering about relationships, and what it was in men's lives, like Mike, that created the switch from a loving husband to a bitter and angry man. In this story, this aspect was not explored by the author much as she focuses mostly on Brianna. Certainly, there is no such thing as a perfect relationship in the real world and this story reflects this. However, there is usually a motive or reason for this change in attitude. Yes, alcohol plays a part in many abusive relationships, but there is usually something else lurking in the background like stress, dissatisfaction in a job or in a situation. In Mike's case, his attitude changes due to a perceived alcoholic injustice, which quickly spirals out of control.

I liked watching Brianna grow and flourish in her new life. I also liked meeting Officer Ryker Danner. He seems like a nice man, but felt his character wasn't as well developed as it could have been. I'm all for instant attraction and all that, but I didn't feel the chemical spark between the characters; instead of a raging inferno, all I got was a glowing ember. This is not necessarily a bad thing though. There are many different types of love, and passion is only one aspect of this mysterious emotion. Other readers may disagree with me, but you are welcome to read this book and decide for yourself. I loved meeting Dominique, the hairdresser. She is a wonderful character, full of warmth and wisdom. She made me laugh at times too.

Cheryl Seagraves has written an emotional roller coaster ride from start to finish, but I feel that this book could be made better by having a professional editor or proofreader go through it to give it a bit of "spit and polish". Her writing style is not especially fast paced, but the story's flow was wonderful and it made the book seem shorter. I would definitely consider reading more books by this author in the future.

I recommend this book to readers who love women's fiction or contemporary romance. - Lynn Worton

[TrixieTalksBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I picked up this debut novel while it was a free purchase on Amazon. It had no reviews at the time, so I thought I would read and provide a formal review. I have to give full disclosure - this publication is in dire need of proofreading and editing by a professional. The errors are plentiful and it makes getting through the story somewhat difficult at times. I really wished I had a paper manuscript so that I could make corrections along the way. I almost gave up after the first few chapters, but I did promise a review. That being said, my review was based solely on the storyline and characters.***

This was just on OK read for me. The storyline deals with the highly sensitive issue of abuse, which makes it an emotional read to begin with. The heroine, Brianne Garcia, who married her high school sweetheart, has been abused for years. With 2 kids in tow, she finally leaves her husband. She sneaks off, gets a protective custody order and files for divorce. Along the way, she meets a hero...whom she continues to push away. As you can imagine, she had had her fill of men at the moment and has certainly lost her trust in them. I don't want to give too much of the storyline b/c I don't want to provide any spoilers. I will say that I kept waiting for the climax in the middle of the book....something to increase the pulse rate and give you that "just one more chapter" feeling.....but it never happened for me. Finally close to the end of the book, we get some action...but it was just too late for me.

I did enjoy the characters. Brianna finally said enough is enough and walked away from an abusive situation. The ex-husband was your typical sleezeball, bully of a drunk....always full of apologies after the fact and behaves nicely until his next drunk. Brianna meets some good people who show her goodness still exists and that you don't have to give up anything to get it.

[Joyce Wetherbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is both one of tragedy and one of hope. It opens with Brianna checking herself in a mirror, cataloging the various bruises, hating herself and her life. It quickly becomes apparent she is in an abusive marriage and feels hopeless. Brianna has one daughter and another child on the way. She no longer recognizes the man she is married to as the boy she fell in love with when she was a girl of fifteen.

Plans are made so that with help from her mother, she escapes with her children to a shelter where she can feel safe as she tries to build a new life for the three of them. Brianna goes through a lot to build a new life for her children in a home where she feels safe. A new man comes into her life, but the emotional scars left behind won't let her open herself to him until it's almost too late.

The author has clearly captured and portrayed a woman who knows the next beating could be the one that kills her and is ready to escape. A lot is left unsaid in this book, but I don't think graphic depictions of the beatings and her battered body are necessary. The author gives enough detail that anyone with an imagination can easily fill in the blanks.

Because of the numerous grammatical and punctuation errors, I am reluctant to give this book three stars. However, the story itself was very well written, which does go some way toward compensating for the lack of proofreading. Although leaning toward a two-star rating because of the missed errors, I am giving this book three stars because of the quality of the writing.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Wanda Hartzenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I were to consider the editing this book needs, both content and line editing I would not be able to give it a four star review. However.
I am not basing my review upon those problems and am deducting a star for a host of problems under the editing umbrella instead.

This book is raw. The take on abuse not from the point of view of a victim but instead from a woman who gotbout when the outing was good gives us, the readers a unique glance upon the psyche of an abused woman. This man who nearly killed her is the love of her life. The father of her children, the hero she chose to start a life with which were to be unlike the one she grew up on.

I love the fact that the author did not attemp to take us, the readers through the entire spectrum of emotions of such a relationship. Rather she chose to focus on the knee-jerk reaction of somebody held prisoner by her own choices to take absolute control over every aspect of her choices after she walked away from the abuse.

And she did walk away. When she meets a new man, it is not solely fear that keeps her from getting involved, instead she makes it clear that she never wants to be beholden for her actions, decisions etc ever again. I loved this. It is such a human truth that this reaction often gets glossed over many works in this genre. Also our trusted victim goes to far with her new found freedom which is again-normal if not responsible but she soons learn where the boundaries are.

This is a book that must be read. So do yourself a favour. Read it!

WaAr

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very emotional story that I felt so bad for Brianna and what she had to go through. But in the end she was made stronger by standing up for herself and learning to live on her own.
The author has done a great job with pulling you into the life of Brianna and her children and we witness how her relationship became nothing but abuse from her husband, the one she loves and has always wanted to be with forever. When she has finally had enough she ends up leaving him on his birthday (which I thought was a great idea, it would have been something I would have done). We read as Brianna is still in love with her husband but she takes a stand to be on her own, she walks with two kids in tow to find herself a job on a daily basis. she doesn't ask for hand outs. She learns to be an independent woman with two children.
Then she meets a new guy which to me it felt rushed, and that is probably because there wasn't much of a timeline per se. We watch as she wants to be with this new guy in her life but her ex-husband has scarred her that she is afraid and the question is will that cause her to be alone?

Even though the book seems like it would be sad (which in some parts it is) it is uplifting in a way that at the end there is that light at the end of the tunnel. And Brianna finally has happiness for her and her children.

[Rene Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A author usually draws from experience or researches information for their story. This author lets us know up front that she drew from her own life experiences, then she exposes us to the reality of her own abusive relationship/marriage. Some readers will be able to relate, others will learn, but all will see her straightforward view through her eyes, what she went through, and how she managed to come out with the help of family, friends, and supportive strangers. I liked her simplistic storytelling without cluttering it up with angry explosions, open raging and systematic social humiliation that comes with spousal abuse. Most importantly, this book shows us how she tapped into her own intuitive wisdom and acted with courage, strength and determination. A quick, easy read and very enjoyable journey! Bravo!

[Marsha Chastain · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hard to get through at times due to the subject of domestic abuse, but it is a very real look at what life is like for women in that situation. It was refreshing to witness Brianna's courage and strength of character as she struggled to rebuild her life for herself and kids. I think this book is a great plat form to encourage women that they can take charge of their lives, even though it may seem scary and daunting. The realistic characters and plot represent a good example of the cycle of abuse and just how hard it is to leave. I don't want to include any spoilers. I'll just say this is a must read for me.

[Cheryl Seagraves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tried my best to use my memories and experiences to spin a tale, that would not only entertain, but possibly help someone. This story is not your typical romance because it does deal with domestic abuse, it's women's fiction with a touch of romance I guess you could say. I tried my best to portray what it really is like to leave an abusive marriage, and also create a very light read that reads well, flows, a quick read, and is still a full length novel. This is my debut novel, my heart in print, and my best shot at a five star story.

[Georgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is an emotional tear jerker, but the characters are very real and it is told with a touch of humor. It is a great read and it leaves me hopeful that someone in a similar situation may be able to seek help before it's too late. I had a hard time getting through parts, but the further I got into it the more I became Brianna's champion feeling like I was going through her struggle with her. This is definitely on the re read pile for me, glad I read it.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

this story hits on a lot of emotional topics, assault family violence, being the main one. the author did a great job portraying the relationship. Im so glad it took a positive turn. I wish there had been a better flow during the storyline. parts felt choppy and rushed. However I enjoyed the characters and the different elements they played. Overall entertaining read, but I wished it was a smoother read.

[Joannemarie O'Donnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. The grammar and punctuation were a disaster. I tried to keep reading, hoping for some redemption, but I found none.