On Tour: The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos and a Giveaway!

The Precious One

The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos

Paperback, 368 pages

Publication date: March 24th 2015 by William Morrow & Company

From the bestselling author of Belong to Me, Love Walked In, and Falling Together comes a captivating novel about friendship, family, second chances, and the redemptive power of love.

In all her life, Eustacia “Taisy” Cleary has given her heart to only three men: her first love, Ben Ransom; her twin brother, Marcus; and Wilson Cleary — professor, inventor, philanderer, self-made millionaire, brilliant man, breathtaking jerk: her father.

Seventeen years ago, Wilson ditched his first family for Caroline, a beautiful young sculptor. In all that time, Taisy’s family has seen Wilson, Caroline, and their daughter Willow only once. 

Why then, is Wilson calling Taisy now, inviting her for an extended visit, encouraging her to meet her pretty sister — a teenager who views her with jealousy, mistrust, and grudging admiration? Why, now, does Wilson want Taisy to help him write his memoir?

Told in alternating voices — Taisy’s strong, unsparing observations and Willow’s naive, heartbreakingly earnest yearnings — The Precious One is an unforgettable novel of family secrets, lost love, and dangerous obsession, a captivating tale with the deep characterization, piercing emotional resonance, and heartfelt insight that are the hallmarks of Marisa de los Santos’s beloved works. 

Purchase The Precious One 

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

My thoughts about The Precious One ~~ 

I read another one of Marisa's books, Falling Together, and just absolutely fell in love with her writing. I have been so excited to read her newest novel. And The Precious One is such a great read.

This story is about Taisy and Willow, half-sisters who have only seen each other once in their lives. We learn about each of them as they tell their stories in alternating chapters of the book. Taisy's father left when she was a teenager and let me tell you, he was not an easy man to live with. But when he calls out of the blue and wants Taisy to write his life story, she travels to see him. But she is not the same, meek young girl he left behind. She is now a strong woman who can stand up to her father.

Willow is Wilson's young daughter in his new family and she has not had an easy life. But it is all she has ever known so she accepts things the way they are. That is, until her father suffers a heart attack and she has to start attending the local high school. Then she sees what she has been missing.

'But I knew the deeper reason for the caveat, the one that was behind every decision her made, and that was that he wanted to keep me safe and uncorrupted forever, keep me from turning out like the Others, the Earlier Ones, because he loved me more than anyone in the world. He never said this, not in so many words, but he didn't have to. I knew.'

The story focuses on Taisy and Willow. We watch them as they get to know each other and try to make this 'new' family model work. Then the author goes and throws in a past love relationship of Taisy's and there is a whole lot of emotion and angst all around.

'To employ a cliché, what I learned is that in order to have a silver lining, you need clouds, and my new life had plenty of those, clouds upon clouds upon clouds.'

The Precious One is a beautifully written story about family, love, secrets, finding oneself, and strength. There is such emotion and growth of these characters and this story was a delight to read. The characters were flawed but real, just like in real life. I loved some and wanted to throttle others. I love it when authors can make me feel so strongly about their characters. You will definitely want read The Precious One! I highly recommend it.

'None of them mattered, none. I stood in the back of the library, drawing myself upright, easing my shoulders back, reminding myself of the truth I had so recently learned: nothing can touch you, not guilt or fear or sisters who are not sisters; no one can hurt you, not enemies or loneliness or friends who stop being friends when other people show up; you can rise above anything, anything, everything when you are in love.'

About the author

Marisa de los Santos was a poet for a very long time, with an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and a Ph.D. from the University of Houston. Her first book, FROM THE BONES OUT, a collection of poems, was published in 2000.

She and her husband, writer David Teague, lived in Center City, Philadelphia for a number of years before moving to Wilmington, Delaware in spring of 2003. That summer, Marisa began writing what would become her first novel LOVE WALKED IN (Dutton, 2006). LOVE WALKED IN was translated into fourteen languages, was optioned by Paramount pictures, and was a trade paperback bestseller. William Morrow published her second novel BELONG TO ME in April 2008, and it was an instant New York Times Bestseller.

Marisa, David, and their two children, Charles and Annabel, live in Wilmington, where Marisa takes as many ballet classes as she can, volunteers at her kids' school, and is working on her third novel.

Connect with Marisa

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Visit other stops on the TLC Book Tour

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!