ladyhighwayman's review against another edition
5.0
I was teetering between three and four stars to rate this, until it made me CRY. Crying = automatic five stars. It is rare for a book to make me cry. I probably can count how many times I've cried over a book on one hand.
People are comparing this to Nicholas Sparks, but as I have never read him, I won't.
I read this in about a day; it was a fast read, but by no means a light one. This book proves the term 'quality over quantity'.
It tells the story of Lily Davis, married just three weeks when her husband was shipped off overseas in 1942. We find her in 1945, just days before her husband is set to return. Set in Tocca Georgia, Lily goes about her normal life, if you want to call it normal, unpacking everything and setting up house. In the course of all this, she runs across Jake Russo, who is in town to create the fireworks display on the 4th of July. Meeting him shakes up Lily's life. She realizes she barely knows the man she calls her husband and that she is tired of her organized, planned out southern life. She feels passionate about this dark stranger, who she has only known for a short time. Passionate enough to leave her entire life behind?
I was intrigued by Jake Russo, an Italian American, who fought in WWII while his own father was being kept in an interment camp back in America. There's a great flashback scene where Jake is talking to his father through the gate of the interment camp he's being kept in. He's confused and asks his father how can he fight for this country who is keeping his father - who has never caused no harm to anyone - locked up? I'm glad that this subject was brought up in this book. Interment camps are often overlooked in American history. And Italian interment camps are something that the government has barely acknowledged even happened.
I was completely swept up in the storytelling. It is a beautiful story that left me breathless. I'm so happy I won this, I probably wouldn't have known about it, otherwise.
People are comparing this to Nicholas Sparks, but as I have never read him, I won't.
I read this in about a day; it was a fast read, but by no means a light one. This book proves the term 'quality over quantity'.
It tells the story of Lily Davis, married just three weeks when her husband was shipped off overseas in 1942. We find her in 1945, just days before her husband is set to return. Set in Tocca Georgia, Lily goes about her normal life, if you want to call it normal, unpacking everything and setting up house. In the course of all this, she runs across Jake Russo, who is in town to create the fireworks display on the 4th of July. Meeting him shakes up Lily's life. She realizes she barely knows the man she calls her husband and that she is tired of her organized, planned out southern life. She feels passionate about this dark stranger, who she has only known for a short time. Passionate enough to leave her entire life behind?
I was intrigued by Jake Russo, an Italian American, who fought in WWII while his own father was being kept in an interment camp back in America. There's a great flashback scene where Jake is talking to his father through the gate of the interment camp he's being kept in. He's confused and asks his father how can he fight for this country who is keeping his father - who has never caused no harm to anyone - locked up? I'm glad that this subject was brought up in this book. Interment camps are often overlooked in American history. And Italian interment camps are something that the government has barely acknowledged even happened.
I was completely swept up in the storytelling. It is a beautiful story that left me breathless. I'm so happy I won this, I probably wouldn't have known about it, otherwise.
tlandrews's review against another edition
4.0
This book started out slow. In fact it wasn't until half way through that it really started to pick up. Then, the last 1/4 I couldn't put it down. I did skim entire pages because he over described things. This book was so sweet and sad at the same time. Plus, it had a tiny bit of suspense in it. Who's Lily going to pick? Sigh...so sweet!
rachelreadwhat's review against another edition
4.0
Very good book, but the ending left me feeling...vaguely unsatisfied.
slopez20's review against another edition
5.0
“I'm just a girl Jake"
"I think you're that, and much, much more."
Another long moment. Lily found herself returning his smile, finding her own sense of knowing. And suddenly she felt at ease, a sense of mysterious calm.”
― Jeffrey Stepakoff, Fireworks Over Toccoa
What can i say about this book? i went into it not knowing much about it and i have never heard of this author or this book before, but i was in the mood for another romantic read after The Longest Ride and this one was just what i needed. This book really just tugs at your heart strings and makes you fall in love with these characters. I found my self connecting with Lily the most because you cant help but find a little bit of yourself in her. The story starts with a young couple just setting out soon after engagement and drastically changes to present day where a grandmother is giving her granddaughter her wedding dress, all the while thinking her choice isn't the right one. When the granddaughter finds a newspaper with a article from a museum on an artifact they found a piece of paper with a formula written in Italian Called Lilly Star, and once she shows it to her grandmother she recognizes it immediately as something she lost so many years ago. The story is set in motion after that and you get the back story from Lily herself telling her granddaughter and the museum curator her story to authenticate that the formula is hers. It all starts in the summer after the war has ended and Lily is expecting her husband back after 3 years away after only being married for a week Lily is restless and rethinking her life and what will happen once her husband returns.Lily finds solace in a man named Jake an outsider pyrotechnics man curating the fireworks show. In the course of 4 days they fall in love he is only in her hometown to put on the Fireworks show for the arrival of the soldiers but by chance meeting it all started with a Firework and it ends with one. Jake and Lily's romance is equal to Titanic or just as great as Nicholas Sparks The Notebook. And i honestly flew through this book and really enjoyed it it was just so magical and really romantic how the author chooses to tell the story. If you want to be swept away with a great love story that tugs at your heart and really makes you feel all the feels this book is definitely for you. I would love to read more of his work because this is debut novel and for a first book it was really great. I fell in love with the characters and i fell in love with the story telling.
"I think you're that, and much, much more."
Another long moment. Lily found herself returning his smile, finding her own sense of knowing. And suddenly she felt at ease, a sense of mysterious calm.”
― Jeffrey Stepakoff, Fireworks Over Toccoa
What can i say about this book? i went into it not knowing much about it and i have never heard of this author or this book before, but i was in the mood for another romantic read after The Longest Ride and this one was just what i needed. This book really just tugs at your heart strings and makes you fall in love with these characters. I found my self connecting with Lily the most because you cant help but find a little bit of yourself in her. The story starts with a young couple just setting out soon after engagement and drastically changes to present day where a grandmother is giving her granddaughter her wedding dress, all the while thinking her choice isn't the right one. When the granddaughter finds a newspaper with a article from a museum on an artifact they found a piece of paper with a formula written in Italian Called Lilly Star, and once she shows it to her grandmother she recognizes it immediately as something she lost so many years ago. The story is set in motion after that and you get the back story from Lily herself telling her granddaughter and the museum curator her story to authenticate that the formula is hers. It all starts in the summer after the war has ended and Lily is expecting her husband back after 3 years away after only being married for a week Lily is restless and rethinking her life and what will happen once her husband returns.Lily finds solace in a man named Jake an outsider pyrotechnics man curating the fireworks show. In the course of 4 days they fall in love he is only in her hometown to put on the Fireworks show for the arrival of the soldiers but by chance meeting it all started with a Firework and it ends with one. Jake and Lily's romance is equal to Titanic or just as great as Nicholas Sparks The Notebook. And i honestly flew through this book and really enjoyed it it was just so magical and really romantic how the author chooses to tell the story. If you want to be swept away with a great love story that tugs at your heart and really makes you feel all the feels this book is definitely for you. I would love to read more of his work because this is debut novel and for a first book it was really great. I fell in love with the characters and i fell in love with the story telling.
scarls17's review against another edition
3.0
From my bn.com review:
Jeffrey Stepakoff's debut novel is a quick and satisfying read about young love that takes place as World War II is ending.
Lily Davis Woodward is married for only two weeks at age 17 before her husband Paul leaves for Europe to help with the war. Jump ahead three years and the entire town is anticipating the return of their sons, brothers, and husbands. Lily has spent the last three years getting their home ready and being the good southern lady her mother, Honey, raised her to be.
A chance encounter with Jake Russo is where the story really gets going. A pyrotechnics specialist, he is in town to set up the fireworks for the town's July 4th celebration. They only know each other for several days, but so much happens and, as the reader, you will be sucked into those special, passionate days they spend together.
The story is told as a a series of flashbacks so I was reminded of both The Notebook and Titanic. The story is like others you may have read before, but Stepakoff makes it fresh with his descriptions and inclusion of the art of fireworks.
Read this if you want a beautiful, quick story. This would be the perfect book to read while relaxing on a porch swing with a glass of sweat tea on a hot summer day.
Jeffrey Stepakoff's debut novel is a quick and satisfying read about young love that takes place as World War II is ending.
Lily Davis Woodward is married for only two weeks at age 17 before her husband Paul leaves for Europe to help with the war. Jump ahead three years and the entire town is anticipating the return of their sons, brothers, and husbands. Lily has spent the last three years getting their home ready and being the good southern lady her mother, Honey, raised her to be.
A chance encounter with Jake Russo is where the story really gets going. A pyrotechnics specialist, he is in town to set up the fireworks for the town's July 4th celebration. They only know each other for several days, but so much happens and, as the reader, you will be sucked into those special, passionate days they spend together.
The story is told as a a series of flashbacks so I was reminded of both The Notebook and Titanic. The story is like others you may have read before, but Stepakoff makes it fresh with his descriptions and inclusion of the art of fireworks.
Read this if you want a beautiful, quick story. This would be the perfect book to read while relaxing on a porch swing with a glass of sweat tea on a hot summer day.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
1.0
Light, frothy, and insubstantial - like meringue - all egg whites and sugar and air, calories with very little nutritional value.
Reminiscent of The Bridges of Madison County, but even more cliched and sentimental, this story of a 1940's Georgia housewife falling in love with the Italian guy in town to create the fireworks show could have been romantic and touching and fun to read, but just wasn't. The characters are cardboard cutout stereotypes, the sense of place and time is loose at best, and Coca Cola is mentioned often enough that I wonder if the author got product placement from them (yes, I know Coke is a Georgia company).
Honestly, don't bother.
Thanks to the publisher for giving me an advance copy of this to review - I wish I had like it more, but you can't win 'em all.
Reminiscent of The Bridges of Madison County, but even more cliched and sentimental, this story of a 1940's Georgia housewife falling in love with the Italian guy in town to create the fireworks show could have been romantic and touching and fun to read, but just wasn't. The characters are cardboard cutout stereotypes, the sense of place and time is loose at best, and Coca Cola is mentioned often enough that I wonder if the author got product placement from them (yes, I know Coke is a Georgia company).
Honestly, don't bother.
Thanks to the publisher for giving me an advance copy of this to review - I wish I had like it more, but you can't win 'em all.
gabriellensmith's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
littleladyluna's review against another edition
4.0
Fireworks Over Toccoa begins with the discovery of a long-lost gift given to Lily Davis Woodward when she was twenty. Lily, who is now eighty-four, begins to tell the story of four days in 1945 that changed her life forever. At the end of WWII, Lily was excited because her husband was returning home from serving three years in the war, but she was also apprehensive because they had spent but two weeks as a married couple before Paul was shipped out. While preparing for Paul's return, Lily meets Jake Russo, and Italian pyrotechnician just back from the war, who is visiting the small town of Toccoa, Georgia to produce a beautiful fireworks show for the 4th of July. Jake and Lily are instantly drawn to one another and make a connection as brilliant as any of Jake's fireworks. But Paul is returning in just a few days and Lily has to make a choice between living the life she knows everyone expects of her and following her heart.
To be perfectly honest, I almost didn't read this book because it had been compared to Nicholas Sparks's novels, and while he seems like a great guy, I like the movies of Sparks's books better than the books. However, the draw of reading a novel set in a town where I have spent so much time (Toccoa is about half an hour from where I live) was too much for me to ignore. So, though I was a little skeptical at first, the book quickly drew me in and I finished it in a few short hours. The character of Lily was a fun, vibrant one and I enjoyed getting to know her and seeing the relationship between her and Jake develop. The town of Toccoa was almost a character in itself as the author spent a lot of time describing its appearance and Southern charm. I especially enjoyed reading what it was like in Toccoa after the war. I've read many books set during WWII but I have read few about what it was like immediately after here in the States (especially so close to home) and it was a nice change in perspective.
To be perfectly honest, I almost didn't read this book because it had been compared to Nicholas Sparks's novels, and while he seems like a great guy, I like the movies of Sparks's books better than the books. However, the draw of reading a novel set in a town where I have spent so much time (Toccoa is about half an hour from where I live) was too much for me to ignore. So, though I was a little skeptical at first, the book quickly drew me in and I finished it in a few short hours. The character of Lily was a fun, vibrant one and I enjoyed getting to know her and seeing the relationship between her and Jake develop. The town of Toccoa was almost a character in itself as the author spent a lot of time describing its appearance and Southern charm. I especially enjoyed reading what it was like in Toccoa after the war. I've read many books set during WWII but I have read few about what it was like immediately after here in the States (especially so close to home) and it was a nice change in perspective.
thesteinreads's review against another edition
5.0
This was a very enjoyable read! I was sad to see it end. It was a bittersweet romance that you just kept wanting to learn more and more about. Looking forward to more from this author!
aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
3.0
I don't often read contemporary adult romance. Not necessarily because I don't enjoy it, but because I tend to enjoy young adult romance more. I see a book with Nicholas Sparks' named emblazoned on the top though, and feel sort of turned off, he's just not the right author for me. I cannot get into his books, but a few of my friends can. I approached Fireworks Over Toccoa by Jeffery Stepakoff with trepidation. The plot piqued my interest, but one of the cover blurbs mentioned Nicholas Sparks, which is again, sort of a turn off.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here