The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos

From the New York Times bestselling author of Belong to Me, Love Walked In, and Falling Together comes a captivating novel about friendship, family, second chances, and the redemptive power of love.

In all her life, Eustacia “Taisy” Cleary has given her heart to only three men: her first love, Ben Ransom; her twin brother, Marcus; and Wilson Cleary—professor, inventor, philanderer, self-made millionaire, brilliant man, breathtaking jerk: her father.

Seventeen years ago, Wilson ditched his first family for Caroline, a beautiful young sculptor. In all that time, Taisy’s family has seen Wilson, Caroline, and their daughter, Willow, only once.

Why then, is Wilson calling Taisy now, inviting her for an extended visit, encouraging her to meet her pretty sister—a teenager who views her with jealousy, mistrust, and grudging admiration? Why, now, does Wilson want Taisy to help him write his memoir?

Told in alternating voices—Taisy’s strong, unsparing observations and Willow’s naive, heartbreakingly earnest yearnings—The Precious One is an unforgettable novel of family secrets, lost love, and dangerous obsession, a captivating tale with the deep characterization, piercing emotional resonance, and heartfelt insight that are the hallmarks of Marisa de los Santos’s beloved works.

My thoughts...I'll be honest I did have an issue with one aspect of the novel. The issue with the younger sister, Willow. She has been homeschooled and is suddenly thrust into high school. She is extremely naive. So my honest reaction to the homeschooled girl being sent into the real world and struggles coming off as very socially awkward, put me off.  I homeschool my younger two children and I know lots of homeschool children in many age ranges. Sadly there is a strong social bias against homeschoolers. Sure there are always some kids who may be akward, but you see that in traditional schools. I honestly have found most homeschool students are very self confident and have a fairly large social group. I realize the way Willow was homeschooled and by her father doesn't make her fit the status quo of homeschoolers.

I didn't mean to go on so much! I don't believe it held me back from enjoying the book, but I felt I should disclose it did bother me. Hope that makes sense.

The Precious One is narrated by the two sisters, Taisy and Willow. Taisy has been estranged from her father for years, while Willow has been raised with her father (he was also the one who homeschooled her). The two sisters after so many years are finally getting to know one another. Their father, Wilson has had a medical scare and now wishes to have Taisy write his academic memoir. Taisy sees it as a way to deal with her own issues of his abandonment. Taisy takes the opportunity to investigate her fathers past, which explains him a bit--but doesn't make his behavior acceptable. It is through some very serious issues we watch Taisy and Willow become sisters.  There were a number of family and romantic story lines that made me want to see how everything ends. I very much enjoyed de los Santos writing style and loved reading the two sisters finally becoming a family. I overall enjoyed it.

 Purchase Links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Tour schedule:

Tuesday, March 24th: The Discerning Reader

Wednesday, March 25th: Kahakai Kitchen

Thursday, March 26th: The Book Bag

Friday, March 27th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, March 30th: Vox Libris

Tuesday, March 31st: My Book Retreat

Wednesday, April 1st: BookNAround

Thursday, April 2nd: A Novel Review

Monday, April 6th: Write Meg

Tuesday, April 7th: A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, April 8th: Time 2 Read

About Marisa de los Santos

Marisa de los Santos has published three New York Times bestselling novels for adults, Love Walked In and Belong to Me, while David Teague is the author of the picture books Franklin's Big Dreams and Billy Hightower. Saving Lucas Biggs is their first joint venture. Married for over twenty years, Marisa and David live with their two children, Charles and Annabel, and their Yorkies, Finn and Huxley, in Wilmington, Delaware.

Connect with Marisa on Facebook and Twitter.

As of December 1, 2009, According to The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), product reviewers on blogs must disclose whether they received products for free or received payment for their review. The books I review on this site (A NOVEL REVIEW) are sent to me by publishers, authors or downloaded from Netgalley. This is a very common practice. I never take payments for these reviews and all the reviews on this site are my own thoughts and feelings and are not influenced.