My Take on this Journey:
Shattered by Fate, by Jacelyn Rye, will leave it's readers reeling immediately, as the story opens, where the tumultuous cliffhanger left them hanging in Surrender to Fate. Sarah Ellis has been having a tough time existing through the countless hours of waiting for word from her brother Matty and her fiancé Adler who are very deep in the war. Her mother convinces her to take a ride in the truck on a treacherous evening, and she goes, not knowing that what will happen next will turn her whole world upside down. At the same time, in Colorado, Will Harston, her long lost soul mate is in a fateful accident that spares his life. What develops from this miracle is the realization that he does not love his fiancé, Margaret Thorton, the way he should, and never will.
Sarah must forge ahead blindly, as she is left to pick up the pieces of her life. Will must figure out what he is going to do; save his family's farm by marrying the ever manipulative Margaret or go after the love of his life. He has been walking a very tight line since the death of his mother and the fragile state of his father's health and distraught, empty life. This second segment in Fate's Path is tumultuous to say the very least. The prose are seamless and beautifully descriptive. The reader will feel the breeze, hear the birds, see the sunsets, and smell the scents.
Ms. Rye has taken her very special gift to the next level. It takes a very special gift for a writer to make their readers feel emotions, empathy, sorrow and desperation. All of us have heard stories about war, especially Pearl Harbor, the travesties of war, the emptiness that envelopes one's soul at the loss of their loved ones who have laid their lives on the line for their countries freedom. Ms. Rye has recreated the most intricate, detail oriented, life changing creation imaginable. She grabs her readers from the first sentence and is able to captivate them, reel them in, make them feel diversity, sorrow, longing, and loneliness. This brings her readers face to face with what once was a very lonely, dark time, where innocence was plentiful, and prevalent, and life was lived out at a much slower pace.
Everyone will be able to relate with this story in one way or another, from lost love, war time efforts, and from being estranged from their loved ones for months or years at a time. No one is immune to the pain and suffering, after effects and trials of war. Ms. Rye has created a momentous love story, a saga if you will, with triumph of the spirit and longing of the heart, once again. The characters are incomparable, and will touch your heart to it's very core, leaving an undeniable imprint on each and everyone who reads this saga. Even the characters you love to hate will stay with you long after the last word is read. It is very rare when a writer, creative artist, can set a standard so perilously high, and meet that challenge, and beyond a second time. Ms. Rye has accomplished such a feat in, Shattered by Fate.
Though the journey may be treacherous, fate's cruel path will always bring you back to where you belong in the end. The reader will find themselves reliving this story over and over again, as this beautiful, windswept novel passes through their hands. Get your hanky's ready, this is a heart wrenching journey, full of swoon worthy love scenes, with beautifully descriptive prose that make you feel a part of every single moment in the lives of these unforgettable characters.
The power of the soul is unrelenting, with the desire to reclaim it's mate, and should never be underestimated. The vivid, expressive, realism, that creates a 3-dimensional story with the touch, feel, sound, and visualization into every nuance imaginable, has been recreated by the genius mind of Ms. Jacelyn Rye.
I give Shattered by Fate, by Jacelyn Rye, 5+++, Heart Wrenching, Tragic, Love Swept, Soul Shattering Stars!!!