Title: Intimate Strangers
Author: Anne M. Strick
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Createspace
Publication Date: January 5th, 2011
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Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions.

This wonderful book is the first to focus on one aspect of man’s inhumanity to child that has crossed my path many times: that confusing world of adoptions. Anne M. Strick artfully sets up parallel adoption scenarios that immerse the readers in the very heart of the characters – birth parents, adoptive parents, and most importantly, the hearts of children themselves. With this book, she gives us the impetus to legally, practically and morally move to fulfill for our children the promise of the Pledge of Allegiance – “With Liberty and Justice for All!” Heart-catching, suspense, hot tears and hot sex.

Intimate Strangers is the book you have to read this year. Seriously. Even if you don’t pick up any other book this year, do pick up this one. I swear it won’t dissapoint you.

We meet the two main characters, Georgie and Dru, early on. Georgie and Dru are too opposites. Georgie is raw sexuality, a greek warrior, a woman who doesn’t back off for any challenge. She is headstrong, stubborn, and persuasive. Dru is scared of her own sexuality and emotions, she is a timid, fragile thing, obsessed with hiding from the evil world. She considers herself ‘flawed’ and has trouble getting around those supposed flaws. They each have a terrible, troubling history. Georgie lost her three-year-old son, and Dru’s mother killed herself. They’re bound together, as unlikely friends, fifteen years apart of age. Their loss binds them. It keeps them united. It makes them stronger than they thougth possible.

After graduating from law school, Georgie and Dru – who met at university – open up an adoption agency, where they help people who want to give their baby away, and people who’d like to adopt a baby. Unfortunately, the reality of these adoption agencies often isn’t as joyful as they seem at first glance. Georgie and Dru are presented with the Januses case, in which the Janus couple, one of the nicest couples they ever met, who adopted a little boy named Timmy, may now be forced to return to boy to his biological Dad…A Dad who never once took care of him, and who abused his mother while she was pregnant with him. Lara and Theo Janus are devastated, and Georgie and Dru will do everything in their power to help them.

But when Georgie finds out that Mackauley, a man she fell in love with years ago, is Lara Janus’ brother, things may get a lot more complicated…

This novel is heartbreaking. The adoption cases are often bittersweet; even when a kid gets adopted, there’s always the possibility one day the biological parent wants to step up. I imagine these cases must not be easy for Courts to rule over, but a parent-child bond isn’t based on biology alone, and courts should know that, or at least try to understand that. Not only were the main characters so inspiring because they actually lived for their jobs – and it must be a tough job, one I certainly could never do without turning completely insane – but they’re also very intriguing characters on their own. How they interact with each other is very entertaining, and they way their stories blend together toward the end is sublime, and shows some great plot-writing skills on the author’s behalf.

I must say I liked Georgie a tad bit more than Dru, although I liked both of them a lot. Georgie is more emotional, even though she’s worked years at hiding these emotions. I think that’s what made me feel connected to her. Dru was a bit the same, except that she couldn’t even admit her emotions to herself.

At some points, this book made me cry. I mean it. The writing is…extraordinary. That’s all I can really say about it. I felt like I was inside the character’s minds, and I had a blast being there, even if their stories weren’t always sunshine, rainbows and happiness. The characters were so strong and complex, so unique, that they grabbed me from the start. The storyline is something I’ve never read about either, so I was immediately intrigued. I’ve read several books by author Anne M. Strick so far, but this is definitely my favorite.

There’s something in this book for everyone. Passages that will make your heart weep, intellectual decisions that will make you frown your eyebrows, passionate, vivid characters, romances that will make your toes curl, and more.

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