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Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn’t muddling through some crisis-real or imagined-you’ll find her blogging memoir at AnnLeeMiller.com. Over 100,000 copies of Miller’s debut novel, Kicking Eternity, have been downloaded from Amazon.
Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
The Art of My Life (New Smyrna Beach Series Book 4) by Ann Lee Miller is the story of Cal and Aly. Cal has only loved Aly all his life. When he is set free from jail after being charged with possessing marijuana, he decides to change for the better. His only wish now is to earn Aly's love. He convinces her to use her post as a loan officer in a local bank and grant him a loan to start a business. The story revolves around the dreams, expectations and hopes of two people who are dealing with personal issues like addiction, guilt, insecurity, anger, abandonment and bad choices. Will they be able to come together and rebuild their lives?
The character portrayals of both Aly and Cal are done well. Cal is addicted to pot and Aly is a nymphomaniac. Both of them deal with a lot of pain which is palpable to readers as the story progresses and it ends on a positive note of healing, forgiveness and restoring friendship. The story has a good message for readers and the incidents and the characters are real and relatable.
The author creates a world of reality through the story of two imperfect people who are in love and who struggle to cope with their failures. Though the main theme deals with other issues like forgiveness and healing, the romantic angle between Cal and Aly is woven subtly through the story. The descriptions are detailed and it's nice to see two characters learn from their mistakes and mature into two responsible adults.
