Triangle of Hope

by Mike Meyer

If one person can make a difference, just think what three can do. A tender story of love. Three strangers, each harboring a dark secret, become united by chance in a small Irish village, and the wonderful power of the human spirit comes alive.

If you believe that love and romance can happen in unusual circumstances, then this book is for you.

"If an author can make you cry for his characters then want to hug them close and then want to do an Irish jig with them to celebrate overcoming that much pain, then you know you have read a book that will stay with you forever." - Wanda Hartzenberg, Wanda's Amazing Amazon Reviewers

It is a "fantastic read that will pull at your heart." - Lauren Alumbaugh, Goodreads librarian

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

162 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2014

About the author

Michael Meyer is the author of mysteries, thrillers, humorous fiction, and non-fiction: Love and romance, laughter and tears, thrills and fears.

He has resided in and has visited many places in the world, all of which have contributed in some way to his own published writing. He has literally traveled throughout the world, on numerous occasions. He has lived in Finland, Germany, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. He gained the wanderlust to see the world, to experience other cultures, at an early age, and this desire has never left him. If anything, it has only gained in intensity as he has aged.

Among the many unique things that have happened to him in his world travels, he has walked the streets of Istanbul with a detective, searching for a pickpocket who got him good. He has ridden on the back of a motorcycle in Tehran while the driver, who spoke not one word of English, pointed out all the sights to him. He has wrestled an Iranian soldier who tried to break into his hotel room in Tehran. He has had the paint completely stripped from his car as he drove across Saudi Arabia in a sandstorm. He has stood on the stage of a busy nightclub in Tokyo, singing "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes" to an audience feeling no pain from the Sake they were drinking. He has been chased by a family of mongooses (yes, that is the correct spelling) on the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Croix. And that is just the beginning of his long list of worldly adventures.

As a recent retiree from a forty-year career as a professor of writing, he now lives in Southern California wine country with his wife, Kitty, and their two adorable rescue cats.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore this story, it truly pulls at your heart strings and make you look at how you treat others and the choices you make. Three souls are pulled together by quite hard times, but manage to unite and cause quite the difference in each others lives. I wasn't expecting to love each of the characters, but in the end they are all justified and trying to make life worthwhile. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story with a fantastic ending. No matter what genre you read this story will work it's way into your heart.

[Karen Siddall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story with characters you’ll root for!

The triangle of the title are three people suffering tragic circumstances in their lives and what happens when their paths converge. Clint has lost his wife and his will to keep on going. Tanya has also encountered a string of personal adversities any of which on its own would bring one to their knees. And elderly Seamus has lived under a cloud of derision and been bullied for the past 50 years and more by the fellow townspeople in the village little Irish village of his birth. The author has created a wonderful story of how these three people’s paths cross and how their chance meeting will lead them to overcome and heal. This was one of those books that once I started reading it, the story, the characters, and all the feelings evoked made me not want to put it down.

I can recommend this book to fiction readers that like stories of overcoming the odds.

[Ever Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a lot of moving parts to this story. Its a new world, so you have to get the setting and descriptions and backstory from the get-go.
Then there are a ton of characters you are introduced to along the way. I loved the way that even with all of this, Michael Meyer's way of writing seemed effortless and really flowed so smoothly. I never felt overwhelmed or bogged down with detail, yet I also felt like I knew everything I needed to know. That is a huge testament to his writing ability.

The story itself is fast paced and captivating. The characters are well developed and multi-dimensional. I loved how compelling they were. A great Novel!

[Samantha Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Meyer has a way of writing a plot that unfolds so seamlessly. Everything including the pacing was well executed.
There is a variety of characters and all of them will intrigue the reader from the very beginning making flipping pages that much easier. I love it when I’m invested in a story like I was with this one.
There is so much history and truth to this novel.

[Linda C · Rating 3 out of 5]

An 84 year-old Irishman, a 54 year-old grieving widower, and a dying 33 year-old woman all reach the bottom of the barrel before something occurs to make them make another effort. That effort ends up bringing them together in a small town in Ireland where together they make a difference in not only their lives but the lives they interact with. The premise is heartwarming. However, the book could have used a good editor for grammar and flow. Parts were wordy; parts were stilted; parts were overdone.

[R.K. Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the pacing of this novel. I felt like it really stayed on the same level throughout. Often times novels slow down and have dead moments, but Michael Meyer did a great job of keeping the readers interest throughout with this one.

The characters are very well developed. I felt like they had their issues and weren't perfect, but showed growth throughout the novel, which I always like to see.

[Gina Stamper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything from the premise of this book to the characterization was just wonderfully done.
It was an escape, and it was a quick and easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and it was very well written and had plenty of surprises along the way to keep the readers interest.
I think the pacing was very well done in this novel, it moved just quickly enough to keep me interested without feeling like it was skipping too much or rushing.

[C. Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very different novel than others out there.
I think that the balance between the genre's was very well done. I loved the fact that the author kept me invested in the story and the characters to the very last page.
There was a great amount of creative thought that went into putting this novel together and you can tell. The plot and pacing were wonderfully done as well. I liked how things unfolded and there were several times I was trying to figure things out and was surprised.

[Elisha]

Boy does this story work your emotions! It took me on a roller-coaster of emotions. But this is also a beautiful story of insight and inspiration. this story definitely makes you look at yourself in the mirror at how you treat others and to be more mindful of your actions. I also think people will react to his story and the three characters differently; depending on their own life - like I said - emotional roller coaster and insight. Great writing and talented author. Be forewarned - this story is about grief, sadness, and tough times... but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This is a good read that I recommend.

[Wanda Hartzenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not an easy review to write.
Here is why..
I do not want to give spoilers.
I believe that depending on your own life experiences that you will react to this book based on that making my telling you anything mute.

I can tell you this The start of this book had me befuddled. So much tragedy. So much misery. I had trouble to figure out which of the three main characters had most of my sympathy.
As you read you find that you get to know exactly how deep the pain goes and again I was a bit lost as to why the author picked such dire happening to run his plot upon.

Near the end the penny dropped and I could see why the extremes. And all of a sudden I was delighted. I mean. If an author can make you cry for his characters then want to hug them close and then want to do an Irish Jig with them to celebrate overcoming that much pain then you know. You have read. A book that will stay with you forever.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read by Michael Meyer. I was impressed. I am the type of person who will not tell you a think about the story line because I despise spoilers, so if you are looking for a synopsis....this is not it.

At the start of the book, I found myself wondering where Meyer was going. This led me to continue to read because I had to find out. As the story progressed, my curiosity changed to a connection with the characters and need to see what would happen next.

Meyer was masterful in weaving the story lines of the three main characters into a conclusion which was exactly what the title suggests...a Triangle of Hope.

Though it is from a genre that rarely draws me in, (I read more non-fiction and thrillers), Triangle of Hope captivated me and was a book that I would recommend to anyone.

[Tess Ailshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself comparing the style to Maeve Binchy, and it came up wanting. But then, there are not many who don't.

This is the story of three characters who each face adversity, who each overcome their adversity to one level or another, and whose lives intertwine.

The first three chapters introduce us to the three characters, one per chapter. The fourth and fifth chapters tell us Clint's and Tanya's back stories - the events that drive their actions. So I expected the sixth to tell Seamus's, but the parallel breaks down, and we don't learn Seamus's full story until later. It was a minor annoyance, but an annoyance to me.

There were several word misuses. I seriously invite Mr. Meyer to pull out a dictionary and learn the meaning of the word "enervate". It does not mean what he thinks it means. Other grammatical issues caused me to drop it a star.

It's good for what it is. There are better; I'm thinking "The Tour" by Jean Grainger comes to mind. Though The Tour doesn't have the depth of pain for the characters, it is a very similar type of story, and more well-written.

[Alma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read it for book club. Otherwise, I would have DNFd it after the first few chapters.

[Boundless Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of the book, you are introduced to three characters. Clint, who seems hopeless because of a loss. He feels hopeless and thinks of ending his own. Tanya, is also so lost. She needs to keep a promise. So she does something dangerous to make that happen. Seamus, is a laughing stock of his town.

It was interesting learning about these characters. The different struggles they had been through. The thoughts of hopelessness.

After randomly meeting each other in Dublin, Ireland. They get the help they need.

I gave this book a 3, but it was teetering on 2.5. It was a well thought out story but I was bored at times. I pushed through because I wanted to know what happened in the end....Lissa

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[Lissa Rice]

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[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't think of anything redeeming to write about this book, so I won't write anything at all.