"The universe is made of stories, not of atoms."
—Muriel Rukeyser
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REVIEW BY MERISSA - Brae MacKenzie by Kenneth John Atchity

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4 out of 5 (very good)


In this story, Brae MacKenzie has to learn that just because outwardly you may appear to have everything, it doesn't always satisfy your soul. Also, if you are feeling something, then it is undoubtedly real, even if no one else understands.

Brae seems to have everything that she could want. Even her best friend thinks so and even goes as far as to say that Brae's husband's death furthers that. It will remain the perfect, fairy tale marriage. However, Brae feels lost inside and doesn't know what to do. On a trip to London, she makes an impulsive decision and boards a train for Glasgow. What follows is almost trance-like, as she meets her guide and follows the journey on her grandmother's map. 

Very well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that I found, this book was full of surprises, with snippets into Scottish history as an added bonus. Definitely recommended. 

* I received this book from Story Merchant in return for a fair and honest review. *


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Genre:

Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance


Synopsis:

Brae MacKenzie, a successful San Francisco painter, is a woman who seems to have it all but who's felt a sense of loss and longing since childhood. Her artistic passion hasn't filled that void, and with the untimely death of her charismatic husband, the old pain resurges. 

Brae's father senses his daughter's pain and before she embarks for an exhibit in England he hands her a family heirloom hidden away for years...a letter: "Since you are still among the living, your heart is not broken...follow the map," Brae reads, "to Scotland." 

The London exhibit, in its ultra-chic hollowness, prompts Brae into taking and advice of that bewildering letter. She hops a train for Glasgow. 

When the train goes through a tunnel and emerges in a forest of "Christmas trees," Brae suddenly feels something. This is her stop; she just knows it. 

She met at the station by Damon, a stranger, or perhaps not. He becomes her own personal tour guide to the myths and history of a past she never knew--and to a romance she never dreamed of having. 

She had it all, beauty, love, wealth and fame, but her soul was empty. It wasn’t the loss of her perfect husband, her painting did not give her joy, she was empty inside, something was missing. Brae MacKenzie by Kenneth John Atchity is an almost dream-like journey of the heart and soul for one woman, lost within her inner torment she could not identify. Perhaps the exhibit she was attending in England would sooth her pain, or just maybe a family heirloom will lead her to her destiny in Scotland. 

Curiosity and a feeling that she must go to Scotland sends Brae on a quest to find answers. Little did she know they would come in the form of a handsome man with a head full of stories, a heart full of legends and a soul that fits hers, perfectly. 


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