12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recipe for a Perfect Book:, November 27, 2009
This review is from: Fireworks Over Toccoa (Hardcover)
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In large pot add one part "The Bridges of Madison County", two parts "The Notebook", cover with Coca Cola and sprinkle with one heaping teaspoon pyrotechnics. Consume in front of a crackling fire with a bottle of your favorite wine, keeping tissues handy in case of overflow.
Author Stepakoff has crafted the perfect book. I was so riveted by FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA that I stayed up half the night reading. I won't describe the plot because the product description has already done that. What I will do is rave about how engrossing the characters were, and how gripping the plot, and how deep the heartache is in this fine little book which is destined to be a national bestseller. It has all the ingredients of a hit movie, as well.
The only drawback that I could find was one lengthy and overly graphic love scene, which may somewhat limit the scope of the reading audience. I know I would think twice before passing it on to, say, one of my mother's friends. And I most definitely would not want to be the high school teacher suggesting that his students read it, although I know they would LOVE it.
That said, the rest of the book is flawless. One will laugh, cry, think, and ponder their life's choices while reading FIREWORKS OVER TOCCOA. Read this book as soon as you can get your hands on a copy. It's that good.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
If only the writing were as dazzling as the fireworks......, January 21, 2010
This review is from: Fireworks Over Toccoa (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
In Fireworks over Toccoa, we are transported back to the end of World War II, when Lily was awaiting the return of a husband she hadn't seen for three years, and had only known in marriage for two weeks. A few days before his return, Lily fell suddenly in love with Jake, a pyrotechnics specialist she met in a field, under the fallout of dazzling fireworks. Decades later, discovering a memento of past love, she tells her story to a museum curator and her granddaughter, Colleen, who is anxious about her impending marriage.
Unlike most reviewers here, I cannot rave about Fireworks Over Toccoa, although I recommend it with reservations. It is a mildly enjoyable read, oriented toward lovers of romance, with the same theme as Bridges of Madison County, but lacking R.J. Waller's flair with simple, evocative language.
However, the novel does have believable characters and realistic, natural dialogue. It allows us to experience yearning for all-encompassing soul-and-body love, to taste it fully but confront the difficult choice of whether to let it go. It enables us to enter into the minds of the characters, and experience both romantic fulfillment and the confusing clash of conflicting emotions, such as Lily experienced after an evening with Jake: "She just stared at him, pondering. Had he changed his mind? Had she imagined it? Was she the one initiating it? She suddenly realized that she was sitting in this car, but she wasn't starting it. She was ready to stay and ready to go."
On the other hand, we do frequently have to tolerate trite language, and occasionally ponderous descriptions: "As she looked up, light refracted in the tawny trails still lingering like viscous nectar from a great tupelo comb hewn and oozing and over the clouds."
Having spent time in kudzu-infested wilderness, I liked the magic of the kudzu-covered cabin. La Stella di Lily, fireworks formulas, and the coca cola glass art all were intriguing. The reference to the legend of the Cherokee princess was an effective although obvious metaphor. The lovemaking scene sensuously and tenderly evoked Lily's complete but momentary physical and emotional fulfillment.
But for the most part, Jeffrey Stepakoff's writing doesn't "sing"; it barely hums. Although the focus on fireworks in post-War Georgia is original, the story and characters are not. I also was distracted by unnecessary mundane details (the preparation of lunch) and extraneous characters surrounding Colleen whom we did not need to know. As a story within a frame - Colleen getting married and her grandmother's storytelling - it fully involves us in a past reminiscence, but leaves us feeling incomplete in regard to our character in present time.
While the author elaborates fully upon the pleasures of emotional awakening and romance, he presents the choice of duty in a few dry words, when he could have made the satisfactions of commitment and responsibility more appealing. Making the adult choice is not only sacrifice of personal desires. It has its own substantial and enduring rewards.
Lovers of escapist romance are likely to delight in this novel. Readers seeking quality fiction will probably be disappointed, but may still enjoy a few hours of Jake and Lily's fireworks.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely, Delightful, and Delicious, November 21, 2010
This review is from: Fireworks Over Toccoa (Hardcover)
Holy crap I love this book!!! From the first chapter, NO from the first page I fell in love. The moment I read on the back cover that Stepakoff had been involved with many wonderful TV shows, including Dawson's Creek, I was very curious about the story. I don't know if that is the reason I could not stop relating the book to other books, TV shows and movies but every time I turned the page I was reminded of something else I loved. I caught myself - unsurprisingly - remembering some of my favorite moments in Dawson 's Creek (Grams' one great kiss). Fireworks Over Toccoa has the Southern charm of a Sarah Addison Allen novel but the way it was told kept reminding me of Titanic.
I continued to think I would find something, just one negative thing, because this book couldn't really be this good and finally, towards the end, I knew it was going to be a bit too predictable (which isn't even the worst thing I can say about some books) and then BAM! my whole predictable ending was shot down, as well as a chance of finding a flaw in the story. This was truly a lovely, delightful and delicious story. It made me want to sit down with a Coca-Cola in a bottle and watch some fireworks.
I love that the story came about after Stepakoff began research for a TV pilot that never came to be. The characters were so real, and I was so lost in the story that I forgot to wonder which parts of the story were actually real.
Love it!!
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