Reader Reviews
A Life Singular (Part One, Volume One)
It's certainly brave to write a novel that has the effects and challenges of mental health as one of it's main themes. There is still a lot of stigma attached to such things and it probably is not a glamorous subject, often kept behind closed doors. So it was wonderful to see that Lorraine Pestell really embraced it – she didn't shy away from the troubles it can cause, whilst also showing the power those with mental illness, have to overcome. Just like her brilliant protagonist Jeff Diamond. He had a tough start in life, but he turned things around and became an astronomical success. But, in a world obsessed with gossip, he often sees his current success in the celebrity world, taking backstage to his past. This goes up a notch when his other half is taking from him in the most meaningless of ways. How could anything with meaning come from a motiveless shooting of the woman her loved?
The first part of Jeff's journey through loss was really emotional, so heart-felt and just beautifully told. Positivity and hope really shines through and that really made me smile, especially when the world can seem so bleak sometimes.

There is so much happening in what is a beautiful story about life and love. Even more appealing than your typical love story is how the author has embedded into the storyline some of the more difficult social questions that we often avoid addressing, making it more intellectual than your typical love story.
I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

Contemporary Fiction with Love & Loss
A Life Singular Part One is the first book in the Life Singular Drama. This is a love story that deals with social issues of today including mental illness and loss of a spouse. It is captivating, yet emotional. Sad yet lovely.
A truly real story that could be taken straight out of today's newspaper headlines.
Highly recommended extraordinary read!!

I’m always looking for quality series as I like being able to continue on with the story.
In this book, the first book of the series, the author sets the stage for what is to come. I’ve also read the 2nd book but there will be no spoilers given.
The only thing I'll say is the author does a good job of letting you think one thing and then doing a really nice twist when you definitely don't expect it. It kept me on my toes throughout the story.
If you’re like me and like solidly written stories with plenty of details and no lags, I think you’ll become a fan of the author and move straight into each book that follows the one you are reading.
I’ve just finished the second book and found the quality of writing to be as good as this one. If you are looking for a good series – put this author on your list.

A great read by a great author!
The description for this book hooked me instantly and I began reading the second I downloaded this book.
This was a great read with zero lags. A good portion of this book centered around finding the person responsible for a high profile murder and then the subsequent court trial. It was hard for me to put this book down at night as I wanted to know what would happen next.
I definitely recommend this author as rarely does a book keep me as interested as this one did.

A Wonderful Series Begins Here!
There’s a strong romantic element at the beginning of this story that really sets the stage nicely for the reader to understand the two characters ( Jeff and his wife Lynn).
When there is a tragic turn to their 20 year anniversary, the author smoothly takes us into the mystery of what happened and also the matter of how one person moves on after a tragic loss.
The characters are well created and there is plenty of details to give this story the layers needed to keep one reading.
The author has the ability to move the reader through the emotions being experienced – from love to anguish to feelings raked raw – the reader has his finger on the pulse of what is going on (said and unsaid) with each character.
This book definitely hooked me on wanting to know what would happen next and I’ll say now – I liked the second and third book too.

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A Life Found (book 2)
So having read the second instalment of this epic, I am now well and truly hooked. My initial reservations about the length have been negated by the slightly quicker pace to part two, and the additional level of polish. It is also slightly shorter than part one.
Dealing with bereavement, Jeff reminisces how he and Lynn met as he writes his autobiography, and Pestell has captured the sense of romance perfectly. This only emphasises the tragedy of events in book 1. Jeff was a handsome songwriter from a tough background, who managed to book himself an unlikely date with tennis player / pop star, Lynn. The skeletons in Jeff's closet gave him many doubts about the unfolding relationship, but Lynn's trust gradually helped him to heal the scars of the past. What I particularly loved was how this was very much a warts-and-all relationship, how the pair accepted and understood who the other was, and formed such a powerful bond as a result. This made their love seem so real.
The sex scenes are hot and steamy, the tender moments are intimate and powerful, and the balance of it all is near-perfect. This is a great sequel/prequel of what is becoming a very impressive series, and I urge those who are daunted by the length to not be put off; it is quality that matters, and this series has it in abundance. A Life Singular part 2 is in my opinion even better than book one!

Contemporary Romance/Saga with Love & Loss - Captivating
A Life Singular Part Two is the second book in the Life Singular Drama.
This is a love story that deals with social issues of today including mental illness and loss of a spouse. It is captivating, yet emotional. Sad yet lovely.
A truly real story that could be taken straight out of today's newspaper headlines.
Highly recommended gripping read!!

The second book in this series takes us back in time. Told from Jeff’s (our main character) perspective, we learn how he and Lynn first met and experience the chemistry that the pair had together.
In the first book it was evident Jeff and Lynn had a very special relationship and marriage. In this book we learn about their past together and the bond they forged before Lynn’s sudden and untimely death.
I’m almost finished with the third book in the series and I’ll only say this – I think once you start this series, you’ll be like me- glad there is a next book in the series when you finish the current one.
Well written, with plenty of details – the author has created a family saga that not only tugs at your heartstrings but also has some good mystery, court room scenes and drama.

Just as great as the first book!
I liked the first book in the series a lot.
In this book I was pleasantly surprised that the author peeled the layers back a bit more to reveal Jeff and Lynn’s story of how they met and the details of their early life together.
I was glad that the second book was written this way as it gave me a lot more insight about the pair. It also gave insight regarding how a person may cope with the sudden loss of a spouse. In this case, our main character, Jeff, decides to write the story of how and he Lynn first met.
This was a sweet love story but also bittersweet as I knew it was being written after the character Lynn had died.

I read the first book and found the story to be well written. The courtroom scenes were detailed and kept my interest.
I was glad to open this book and see that the author did something a bit different – instead of moving on, we instead went back to the past.
Told from Jeff’s viewpoint, the reader learned how Jeff and Lynn met and their early days together. This book really meshed well with the first book and gave me a solid look at both characters.
This is a solidly written series that has drawn me in to the story from the beginning. The ending was good and made me eager to continue the series.

Epic love story
Still reeling from the loss of his soulmate and wife, the other half that made him a whole, Jeff is writing his autobiography. The wealthy and generous celebrity becomes lost in the world he shared with Lynn, her goodness, her perfection and her strength that she so generously shared with the world while leaving the best for him. It was Lynn who saw beyond his “issues” and accepted him for who he was and he is finding that without her, he may have remained lost in his own private hell. With her letters and diaries to guide him, as well as the reams of press coverage that chronicled their public life, he learns to see himself through her eyes and begins to piece together a story of love, need and loss. His biggest concern was how much to tell, how much to reveal about their life together, but how could anyone truly understand him without knowing what she did for him? How could his story be told without sharing the wonder of this woman he loved and lost? Extremely revealing, yet from the heart, Jeff reconstructs their beginning, one day at a time.
A Life Singular: Part Two by Lorraine Pestell slowly unfolds into a beautiful canvas of love, hope, pain and loss as her main character excises his demons telling his story. Ms. Pestell’s work flows smoothly through each scene, taking on a life of its own as her main characters become like flesh and blood, no holds barred, raw with emotion, insecurity and the amazement of love. This is another of those books to be savored, slowly, with the powerful presentation made by its author.
Please do NOT be daunted by the size of each novel, they have so much to reveal and there is not a single wasted or excess word or emotion. I read a little each evening and loved the world I was taken to. I will say, one must remember the time frame of this book, young people with voracious "appetites", all part of the realism of Lorraine Pestell’s masterpiece.

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A Life Found (book 2)
A Life Entwined (book 3)
So finally I have found time to read book three in this epic series, and what a ride it has been so far! To recap, in book one Jeff lost his wife in a shooting and his perfect world fell apart. He was convinced he could feel his wife's presence around him and his children as the murder trial was under way, and this made the process even more intense for him. In book two Jeff is feeling sentimental as he writes his autobiography. We get to see how young songwriter Jeff, met tennis player / pop star Lynn and began an unlikely romance. Book two acted as a prequel to book one.
Book three follows in the vein of book two in that it again explores Jeff and Lynn's past, this time in even more detail. We find out more about the adversity the couple faced, the complications that arose from being in the spotlight, their secrets and so on. Again Pestell has demonstrated her sheer mastery of characterisation and emotional complexity. In Jeff and Lynn she has forged a couple so strong, I feel kind of mad she killed Lynn off in book one! But again, the tragedy just adds to the emotional intensity of the entire experience.
If you have read the first two books, this purchase is a no-brainer. If you have not read any, go get book one and accept my apology for the spoilers!

Great series! Enjoyed all of them very much!
Picking up smoothly where the second book in this series left us, we continue to learn of Jeff and Lynn’s past together and how they struggled to overcome countless barriers and be together as intended.
This was a story of true soul mates colliding and recognizing their destiny together, even if it wasn’t evident to others at the time.
The story is told from Jeff’s perspective. He is writing the story of his life with his late wife and the reader sees the past as well as the present in this book.
As with the previous two books in this series, the story was well written and held my interest throughout.

I have to say – this series did not unfold – at all- as I expected. It is that turn of events that made me like this author and her writing style.
She thinks outside the box – crafting a series that begins with what thinks is the end of a relationship due to the tragic death of a spouse.
Then we go back to the past (book 2) and really dig into the past (book 3).
The author manages to bring the past to life not only for us but also for Jeff and his children. We see a realistic portrayal of someone who while grieving still manages to find a way to honor his late wife’s life and keep her memory alive.

I recommend this series and look forward to Part 4.
I read the first two books in this series and was more than eager to find out what would happen next. Book 3 definitely does not disappoint.
In the first book, the author manages to show us that Jeff and Lynn were soulmates.
Looking back, I see that this was no small feat for the author as the reader really did not know that much about the couple in the beginning of the first book.
In this book, the story in the first book and second book meshes very smoothly with this one and all the dots continue to connect. This is not just a story of the past being retold but one also sees the life of the storyteller himself as he works hard to move forward in life and also keep his beloved wife’s memory alive.

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A Life Lived (book 4)
**I was given the first four books in this series in exchange for fair and honest reviews**For those who are unfamiliar with this series, the first thing I must say is you need to start with book one. In book four, widow Jeff continues with his autobiography and shares more of his life with his beloved Lynn. Having read the first three books, I feel I know these (fictional) people on a personal level, having shared so much of their experiences.
A Life Singular is a romance story told with such care and attention to detail that I struggle to believe the author is not recapping real events. The exploration of love, of morality, of adversity of many kinds is wonderfully woven into the subtext in a thought-provoking but non-pedantic way. Subjects such as mental illness are carefully and authentically touched upon. The birth of children is beautifully handled and adds an additional layer of emotion to proceedings.
