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Rhoda Baxter

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Please Release Me Paperback – July 8, 2016

by Rhoda Baxter (Author)

4.4 63 ratings

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What if you could only watch as your bright future slipped away from you?
Sally Cummings has had it tougher than most but, if nothing else, it's taught her to grab opportunity with both hands. And, when she stands looking into the eyes of her new husband Peter on her perfect wedding day, it seems her life is finally on the up.

That is until the car crash that puts her in a coma and throws her entire future into question.

In the following months, a small part of Sally's consciousness begins to return, allowing her to listen in on the world around her - although she has no way to communicate.

But Sally was never going to let a little thing like a coma get in the way of her happily ever after ...

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Choc Lit
Publication date

July 8, 2016
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.75 x 7.25 inches
ISBN-10

1781893004
ISBN-13

978-1781893005
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This story has twist and turns, lies and truth, reality and possibility all messed up in a delightful tale at moments sad and others laugh until you cry. There are no limits on emotions in this one. And by the ending you will have experienced a unique love story that will stay with you long after the final page." (Keeper Bookshelf)

"This is a story that deals with emotional and tough issues, and manages to do so with smatterings of humour which doesn’t detract from the sensitivity with which they are dealt with. There is the underlying question throughout the novel which weighs on all the characters, which is; When is it right to let go of a loved one? I adored this romance with a twist and am excited to read more from Rhoda Baxter!" (Sorcha O'Dowd Old Victorian Quill)

"This isn’t a conventional triangular story, it’s the product of an exceptional imagination, but totally believable and so beautifully handled... Absolutely wonderful writing, highly readable, really enjoyable, and I was quite blown away by the story – unmissable." (Being Anne)

About the Author

Rhoda Baxter writes contemporary romantic comedies. As her father’s engineering skills were in international demand, Rhoda’s childhood was split between the UK, the Pacific island of Yap, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. Rhoda studied at the University of Oxford and holds a DPhil in microbiology. When choosing a pen name, she got nostalgic about the bacteria she used to study, (Rhodobacter species) and named herself Rhoda Baxter after them. Now her day job involves protecting and commercialising Intellectual Property generated by University research. This allows her to stay in touch with cutting edge scientific research without having to spend long hours in the lab. Rhoda is married and has 2 children. They live together in the UK in Yorkshire.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Choc Lit (July 8, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1781893004
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1781893005
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 7.25 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.4 63 ratings

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About the author

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Rhoda Baxter

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Hi. I'm Rhoda. I write comfort reads with a dash of fun. Chicklit or sweet romance, if you like.

The best way to see if my books are your kind of thing is to try one - so why not get a free book by joining my reader group newsletter. You can do this via my website (www.rhodabaxter.com) or just cut and paste this URL into your browser -http://www.subscribepage.com/q3x1y8_copy.

I grew up in Sri Lanka and now live in Yorkshire. I'm a 'resting' microbiologist and an IP professional. I drink far too much tea and spend too much time thinking about cake

I'm a member of the UK Romantic Novelists' Association and the Society of Authors. My books have been shortlisted for the RoNA awards (2017 and 2020), Love Stories awards (2015) and the Joan Hessayon award (2013). I also write women's fiction as Jeevani Charika.

You can find me talking about science, romance and cake (mostly cake, to be honest) on my website - www.rhodabaxter.com, on Twitter (@rhodabaxter) or on Facebook. Come say hello.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

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M. Thornburg

Surprise!

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2015

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Having previously read two of Rhoda Baxter's romantic comedies, I thought I knew in general what to expect from this one: a unique but absolutely believable situation, intense chemistry between three-dimensional characters who develop and grow as the situation unfolds, witty writing – lots of laugh-out-loud opportunities, in fact – and plenty of exciting ups and downs. In other words, a real reading adventure, unusual enough to be intriguing and at the same time satisfyingly romantic. The book delivers all these things and more – much more. I had no idea just how unusual this adventure would turn out to be!

If you've read the blurb for Please Release Me, you already have some idea of the situation. While many romance novels can be expected to end on, or at least near, a wedding day, that's where this one begins: a perfect day, a beautiful and happy bride, a handsome new husband who's obviously head-over-heels in love, and only one small flaw – an uninvited guest. But Sally, the bride, takes care of that flaw in short order, and it's time for the honeymoon to begin. But at that point all expectations fly out the window in high-speed traffic on a crowded highway. There's an accident. Sally is badly injured and put into a medically-induced coma. She doesn't come out of the coma.

Anything else I could say about the plot would be a big spoiler, so I'll leave it there, except to say that, by way of a strange (but still plausible and quite convincing) turn of events, Sally remains a central character. She acts and interacts, her actions influence the other characters, and they influence her. Meanwhile, as I learned more about them all, I was truly hooked and drawn in by the developing story and its romantic/friendship triangle.

I love all the surprises in this book. The one I like best, I think, is that the author didn't let me feel sympathy for two of the participants in the triangle and hate the third. All three are realistic, less-than-perfect people, not only believable but understandable, and I had to have genuine sympathy for them all. This isn't an easy thing to accomplish, and Rhoda Baxter does it to perfection here, with her light but very effective forget-me-not motif.

Another thing I really like is the slow, steady growth of the love story, building up from immediate attraction into intense, almost frantic yearning. To me, this is very, very sexy.

And can I mention my surprise, shock, and hoot of laughter at the moment when Sally finally emerges from her coma?

If you like a solid love story, a bit of the paranormal, and a surprising adventure, you really shouldn't miss this one.

The publisher of Please Release Me provided me with an Advance Reading Copy in return for an honest review, which I'm delighted to present here.

One person found this helpful

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midwestgirl

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2016

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I tried this because Rhoda Baxter was interviewed on SBTB. This was interesting, definitely not what I'd been expecting. I enjoyed it and was happy Peter ended up with Grace. They were warm, intelligent characters, and you can really see them working well together. I did wish that Sally had not been quite so conniving. It would have been a more poignant story if she had actually loved Peter but been deeply flawed... or something so that she wasn't so deeply unsympathetic as a character. That said, I'm not sure how to pull this off while still getting the reader to root for Grace.

One person found this helpful

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Mamamovies

Much like the fantasy genre

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2016

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Rhoda Baxter delivers a uniquely mature story. In the world of chic lit, there is often a surprising lack of depth to the storytelling. Much like the fantasy genre, chic lit storylines are often superficial and created specifically with one objective - reassure the reader that good triumphs over evil, the boy always gets the girl and the hero never loses. In Please Release Me, we aren't sure who the hero will be and staying with the story to find out was like a refreshing walk down adulthood lane. Love can be messy and getting to I love you is often fraught with doubt and insecurities. Rhoda Baxter leaves all of that in without taking the fun out of reading a chic lit book. Definitely a great vacation read!

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Barb Taub

When Sleeping Beauty won't wake up

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015

Why do so many girls in fairy tales like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty end up in an enchanted sleep? As I read Rhoda Baxter’s Please Release Me, I realized that it was a new version of the sleeping beauty story. When we meet Sally, it’s her wedding day. She’s been through various trials and adversity, lost her parents, and met Peter, her prince. Gowned like a princess, she’s ready for that happy ever after. Instead there’s a tragic accident on the way to the HEA, and she ends up in a coma.

As the months slip by, Sally can’t seem to wake up but she slowly becomes aware of what’s happening around her. Meanwhile, Peter, who has been faithfully keeping vigil over Sally, is sliding into an emotional coma himself. He, however, is jolted back to life when he meets Grace, a hospice volunteer struggling to come to terms with her own loss and loneliness. Their two lost souls instinctively form a bond, but with Sally looming between them, they force themselves to back away from each other.

And that’s when Sally realizes that while her body remains in the coma, her spirit (still dressed in her wedding gown) can speak to Grace. An unlikely and reluctant friendship develops between the two women. Sally, the beautiful, damaged, funny, and self-absorbed princess does a fairy godmother makeover on shy Grace. But there’s a problem. That happily ever after is an exclusive little club for two. As Peter learns more about who his sleeping princess really was, as Grace becomes more confident with who she really is, and as Sally gets strong enough to understand what she stands to lose, they realize that if the sleeping beauty wakes up, there won’t be room for three in the happily ever after.

The light tone and bantering dialog, especially between Sally and Grace, had me thinking this was a typical chick lit rom com with an unusual love triangle. But as the story progresses, we see Peter come back to life, we see Grace’s personality unfurl as she emerges from her lonely cuccoon and flexes her wings. And we look back in time to understand the ways Sally has—and has not—triumphed over her own losses and fears.

So what is that enchanted sleep all about? I think it’s about the dream. Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, and Sally are all dreamers. Grace wakes up Peter, Sally wakes up Grace. But Sally has spent her life looking for the dream, and she’s not ready to wake up to a reality that’s changed. As she tells Grace, that’s what she liked about her career in real estate.

“’When I show people around, I like to paint a picture of how the place could be. You know, show them the dream.’ Sally’s eyes sparkled, her expression intense.”

I love the way Rhoda Baxter plays with the various fairy tale tropes, and the way the ending was an unexpected surprise to me. Please Release Me is a fairy tale whose light tone and familiar themes hides a surprising depth, developing characters, and satisfying story. I’d give it an enthusiastic four stars and look for more from this author.

***I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.***

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Top reviews from other countries

Kristal

A little off the beaten path but reasonably well written ...

Reviewed in Canada on August 3, 2016

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A little off the beaten path but reasonably well written - I would look for future books by this author.

Cat Marsters

Thought-provoking and beautiful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2016

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It's hard to know how to describe Please Release Me: a ghost story, a love triangle, a thoughtful look at grief? It's all of these things, and more, being sensitively and beautifully handled. It's also pretty funny in places.

Sally both is and isn't a ghost: she's trapped in a coma following a tragic accident. The only person who can see her disembodied spirit is Grace, visiting the hospice where her mother died, so Sally starts haunting her. Terrified that her perfect husband, Peter, will get bored of being married to a woman who's been unconscious since their wedding, Sally plots to keep him in love with her, but as Grace spends more time with Peter it's pretty clear which direction his affection is drifting to.

Sally is an interesting character. It would have been easy to paint her as shallow and vindictive, which she is, but give her no more depth. Sally has a background most of us would want to escape and valid reasons for craving the lifestyle and security she believes Peter can give her. Whilst I wasn't exactly rooting for her, I did sympathise. Of course, the irony is that while Sally is trapped in a comatose body, it's really Peter and Grace who have to wake up and learn to move on, no matter how much Sally doesn't want them to.

This is a highly thoughtful and unusual book; and just in case I haven't convinced you how wonderful it is, the author donates a share of the profits from it to her local hospice!

Sheryl Browne

A feisty ghost, a hurting hero. Love it!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2016

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Good looking and with bags of potential, Peter is a catch and Sally has snared him. He’s a bit nerdy, definitely naïve, but for a girl who’s determined to shake off her problematic and traumatic past, he’s perfect. Newlywed Sally is about to embark on a new, debt free life. Only she never makes it past the honeymoon, leaving Peter blaming himself for the car crash that results in her comatose state of existence. For info, the author has obviously done her research and the scenes in the hospice are handled extremely sensitively. As Sally hovers between life and death, Peter, too, is in a state of limbo, unable to move forward, unable to grieve the loss of someone who isn’t physically gone. As he keeps up a vigil at Sally’s bedside, Peter comes to know Grace, a volunteer at the hospice, who is attempting to move forward after the loss of her mother and helps Peter take tentative steps to do the same.

An attraction between these two lonely souls soon grows and Sally is having none of it. I’ll leave you to work it out. I’m desperate not to give spoilers but think ‘Ghost’ and ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ and you have it, but with a difference. I adored these two films and so too I adored Please Release Me. If at first you hate her, when Sally’s secrets are revealed, you can’t help but empathise with her and like her a little. A feisty ghost, a hurting hero, what’s not to love? Definitely recommended.

One person found this helpful

Lanky Lady

A Fascinating premise

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2015

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Bride Sally believes she has got everything she ever wanted in life with a rich husband and a beautiful home, the perfect recipe for a happy life. Except that Sally has problems stemming from her earlier life. A car crash puts her in hospital in a coma where husband Peter visits faithfully every day. There he meets Grace who herself is coming to terms with caring for then losing her parents. One might think that comatose Sally doesn't play much of a part in this novel but you'd be wrong. Due to a freak storm, she comes to dominate the story as she works her way through her problems. A remarkable story, beautifully written, well-told and I would recommend this to anyone.

Calico Lor

I bought this book after hearing lots of good things about it via Twitter

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2015

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I bought this book after hearing lots of good things about it via Twitter. I read it in a couple of days and enjoyed it very much. It makes you think about things and certainly has you using your imagination at times too! Sally and Peter have what looks like a perfect wedding day but before they even make it to their honeymoon they are involved in a serious car crash which leaves Sally in a coma. Whilst Peter tries to deal with his new wife being in a coma he begins to question a lot about his life and that of Sally's, did he really know his wife at all? And in the meantime Grace, a volunteer at the hospice who is also questioning her own life and where it is headed helps Peter to move forward but there's a lot more to it than that. Can Peter really move forward when he is stuck in limbo with a wife in a coma?
I liked the way the characters were created, I thought they were very good, I really didn't like Sally at all but also felt sorry for her too and I was really hoping for a happy ending for Peter. I liked this book because it is different to what I've read before and found it very enjoyable. I'll definitely be reading more by this author in future.

2 people found this helpful

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