Review Tour for The Complete Lily Lansing by Bastian Caldwell

Welcome to my stop on the Review Tour for The Complete Lily Lansing by Bastian Caldwell.  Please leave a comment or question for Bastian to let her know you stopped by.  Bastian will be awarding a $10 Wild Child GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.  Please leave your email address with your comment so you can be notified in case you win.  You can follow the review tour here, the more often you comment, the better your odds of winning.  

The Complete Lily Lansing

by Bastian Caldwell

Publisher: Wild Child Publishing

Release date: October 15, 2012

Buy Links: Amazon, B&N

Book Description: 

Lilike Avrill Lansing is damaged. She is also unemployed, barely surviving a loveless marriage, and hiding a secret so painful that it’s eating her alive.

The damage began when, as a student, Lily, inhabited a unique and dangerous world: Whitman College. Located in a small city with big murder and crime rates, it is nothing like the suburb she was raised in. But the harsh city is not nearly as dangerous as the predators that roam the Whitman campus, preying on innocence and leaving a trail of ravaged souls in their wake.

The damage culminates ten years later at a dinner party where in the span of an evening Lily destroys her marriage and alienates her friends. She finally realizes that she must tell everyone the truth about what really happened during her years at Whitman. But can her marriage, her friendships, survive the truth?

The Complete Lily Lansing takes you on an emotional and often humorous journey as Lily struggles to make peace with the past and embrace the present.  Along for the ride are Erica, Lily’s movie buff best friend, and Petra, the girl in college who was known more for her bad reputation then her grade point average.

The novel touches lightly on contemporary issues like feminism, anorexia, relationships and sex, while conveying the positive message that honesty, laughter, friends,  and watching  the movie Gone With The Wind  can fix anything.

EXCERPT 

Lily was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Petra enter her room, even though Petra’s stilettos cracked like hammers on the bare wood floor. A tight black miniskirt stretched to cover Petra’s ample derrière, worn with a shiny pink blouse and enormous gold hoop earrings.

“I can’t believe you’re not ready!” Petra said with a toss of her thick auburn hair.

Lily rose from the bed and went to look at herself in the mirror. “I’m ready. I just need to brush my teeth.”

“Didn’t you wear that outfit to school today?” Petra sized up Lily’s jeans, blouse, and loafers.

“So? It’s still clean.”

“I thought you might want to wear something a little more sexy. We’re going to a frat party, not the library.”

Lily took in Petra’s outfit, which seemed more appropriate for a street corner.

“I’m not trying to impress anyone,” Lily said.

“Not even Seth?”

Lily frowned, drawing her brows together as if she were in sudden pain; she had been hoping to see Seth at the party, but would never admit it to Petra. “I don’t have anything like what you’re wearing,” Lily said, and suddenly wished that she did.

“Well I don’t feel like waiting around for you to fix your face, and there’s not much we can do with your hair. What other shoes do you have?”

“I have black sneakers and tan cowboy boots.”

Petra touched three red-tipped fingers to her forehead as if it were all too much to bear.

 “And sandals,” Lily added in an apologetic voice.

“That’ll work. Here, give me your brush.”

Petra wet the brush with hairspray and made a deep side part in Lily’s flaxen hair, coaxing each strand into place. “Keep this side tucked behind your ear, and let the rest fall into your eyes. That’s sexy.”

  

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Bastian is living her dream life at the beach with her family and her poodles.

The Complete Lily Lansing is her first novel.

Links:

Email:  bastiancaldwell@yahoo.com

Website:  http://bastiancaldwell.weebly.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/BastianCaldwell

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/bastian.caldwell

Facebook Novel Page:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Complete-Lily-Lansing/196192900514986

My Review

Knowing who we are is one of the hardest lessons in life to learn.  If we’re lucky we have a general idea of who we are, and what we want to be by the time we get to college.  If our parents have done their job correctly, we know we’re loved and have the freedom to become who we think we are meant to be.  However, if you’re the lead character in Bastian Caldwell’s The Complete Lily Lansing, you lose almost everything you want in life because you don’t know who you are and you’ve never had the freedom to be yourself.  You’ve always had to be someone else’s version of perfect.

As this story begins, the reader is introduced to Lily Lansing, a married woman with a gorgeous house, a handsome husband and financial security.  While it looks like Lily has the perfect life, she feels it’s anything but.  Angry at her husband, upset with her friends and disgusted with herself; Lily is at a crossroads in her life and needs to decide what she’s going to do about it.

Told through a series of flashbacks beginning when Lily first begins attending college, Ms. Caldwell introduces us to a young woman who doesn’t really know who she is.  We also meet the people destined to be Lily’s friends and we learn about the two obsessions that take control of her life and almost destroy her; a young man named Seth and her battle with anorexia.  While Ms. Caldwell does a good job developing all of her characters, I have to admit that there were many times I wanted to slap Lily. Her biggest problem is her lack of self worth, and it’s what makes her susceptible to her obsessions. 

Will Lily’s recollection of the past help her decide what she wants for the future?  Will she have the courage to go after what she really wants?  You’ll have to read The Complete Lily Lansing to find out.  I enjoyed it overall and look forward to reading more of Ms. Caldwell’s work.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Stars

FTC Disclosure:  I was given a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I did not receive any additional compensation for my opinion of the reading material provided.


Don't forget to leave a comment or question for Bastian to let her know you stopped by.  Bastian will be awarding a $10 Wild Child GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.  Please leave your email address with your comment so you can be notified in case you win.  You can follow the review tour here, the more often you comment, the better your odds of winning.