Fireworks


Romance - General
13 Pages
Reviewed on 11/23/2016
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Dr. Oliva Dsouza for Readers' Favorite

Sometimes the shortest of stories turn out to be the sweetest of the lot. Denise Alicea has managed to do exactly that with her short and simple book. Fireworks is set in modern day New York and the protagonist, Sarah, is a young woman trying to sort through her recently deceased, much loved grandfather's belongings. As she sifts through his war memorabilia, she comes across a picture of her grandfather and his friend and their bravery medals. The story suddenly takes an interesting turn with the man in the picture turning up in her grandfather's hall, looking exactly the way he is in the photograph. What happens next is what makes the story so interesting and worth a read. Is Sarah's life about to change or is it just a dream? Who is this mysterious stranger who seems so familiar?

What an absolutely amazing story! I loved it and hope to see a sequel, and would love to know what really happens further. The characters are simple and endearing. One can almost feel Sarah's grief and loneliness as she goes through her late grandfather's possessions. The moment James appears in the story, the plot becomes intriguing. His character is mysterious, attractive, and decidedly handsome. One ends up wanting to know what exactly is going to happen next and whether there is going to be any solution to the strange predicament that Sarah and James find themselves in. So, go on and read this great book and you will surely be amazed.

Jack Magnus

Fireworks is a time-travel romantic short story written by Denise Alicea. Packing up her grandfather's things had taken a few days for Sarah, and knowing that she'd never see her 92-year-old grandfather, and friend, made it doubly hard. He had always been there for her, and she for him. They had been family for each other, in the truest sense. As she opened the two velvet medal boxes that she found in his effects, she remembered hearing about his bravery in service. One medal was the Medal of Honor awarded to him. The other had a card accompanying it commemorating the heroic acts of Lieutenant James Taylor. As she reached for the group photo her grandfather had shown her before, she saw Taylor and could understand the joking references to him as 'lightning quick' -- both on the field of battle and off. She smiled as she marveled at how good looking he was back then. The last boxes finally packed, Sarah left her granddad's apartment and headed home to her own apartment. She enjoyed a simple meal of take-out Chinese food and settled on her couch for some light reading and the inevitable nap. Some time later, she drowsily dragged herself off to bed and was fast asleep until a crash from the outside room woke her up some hours later.

Denise Alicea's sweet and sentimental time-travel romance, Fireworks, kept me eagerly reading and happily entranced as Sarah and Lieutenant James Taylor meet under most unusual circumstances. While this is quite a short story, Alicea deftly builds up the personalities of each of her main characters, and her plot builds beautifully courtesy of the background she includes. Is Sarah’s grandfather really matchmaking from the great beyond? I left any and all speculations behind, and enjoyed the moment Sarah and James share, and are, perhaps, sharing still. Fireworks is a feel-good, New York City story that leaves you wanting more from this talented author. It's most highly recommended.