OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Fire Opal" by Sabrina Beretta.]

If this book was going to court, the role of the prosecuting attorney would be to stand up in front of the judge and jury and provide evidence that this book is unworthy of critical acclaim. The defense attorney, on the other hand, would argue on behalf of this book. As both defense and prosecution, I'll provide the collected evidence, and you, the jury, will render a verdict.

The Fire Opal by Sabrina Beretta takes on the harrowing topic of continuing to live after the death of a child. Sarah Mayfield is the protagonist of this story, a woman who is trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered family and a broken heart. As a defense attorney living in Boston, Sarah is accustomed to trials in the courtroom but has trouble facing trials in her personal life. Thomas O'Brien, Sarah's love-interest, is a prosecuting attorney who works for Sarah's ex-husband and who is now filling Sarah's vacated position in the office. Throughout this narrative, readers are given glimpses of trials – crimes ranging from sexual harassment to murder. Moving on, being free to laugh again and experience joy, falling for another man – these are areas of life that Sarah is still struggling with a couple of years after the death of her oldest daughter, Olivia. She still has her younger daughter, Hope, in her life, but the fear of introducing her to a new man is also overwhelming for Sarah.

So, what's the story here? It's pretty much the evolution of Sarah and her burgeoning romantic relationship, periodically dispersed with trials and family matters. Sadly, even with excellent writing, the plot is rather lackluster – a pity because it has the potential to be so much more.

The vast majority of the book is spent on Sarah fretting over her relationship with her love interest, Tom. She agonizes over the ethics of something so small as having coffee with him, but she is constantly checking her phone in hopes of text messages or missed calls from the man while in meetings with her employer and clients. At times it seems like Sarah can barely perform her job because she is so distracted by her budding relationship. Tackling the topic of dating a new man with her husband is also worrying Sarah, and, understandably, telling her living daughter that she is dating causes her distress. All the while, it seems that her focus is centered on one man and that the other people in her life are used as excuses to fret over a new relationship.

A scandal concerning her ex-husband is mentioned various times but not really explored in depth, and that is frustrating since it seems to be such a large part of Sarah's personal story. I also expected the death of Sarah's daughter, Olivia, to be a more significant focus in this story, but once again, it seems like it was only mentioned when Sarah was using it as a deterrent to beginning a new relationship and pushing Tom away. In my opinion, this story would be much more interesting if it followed Sarah's current journey in every other chapter and told Olivia's story leading up to her death in the rest of the chapters, maybe even from Olivia's perspective. Due to the negatives mentioned, this book is rated 3 out of 4 stars.

Technical errors in this work are rare, and the author’s writing style is superb even though the story is lacking. I see a lot of potential. Although the depth of the tale disheartened me, I was never bored. I wasn't impressed with Sarah's character, but Thomas O'Brien is well written. Readers will see him evolve and will potentially applaud him for his patience with Sarah. I think that romance fans will appreciate this book as well as individuals who would like to get a glimpse into the inner-workings of a courtroom. There are a couple of intimate scenes, but they are handled tactfully and are not too explicit. Now it is up to you, the jury, to decide whether The Fire Opal is worth reading.

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The Fire Opal
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Like JuliaKay's review? Post a comment saying so!

Seems like a very dramatic book with full of twists and turns.

Romance mixed with procedural is definitely my cup of tea. Bonus point if there is family drama and superb writing. I'm adding this to my reading list, thanks!

I agree that the central plot should be Sarah dealing with Olivia's death rather than romantic interests. Thanks for your insightful review.

I liked the way you started off your review, very eye-catching. I'm not sure if I'll pick this particular book up since the plot didn't interest me, but great review.

"The vast majority of the book is spent on Sarah fretting over her relationship with her love interest, Tom. She agonizes over the ethics of something so small as having coffee with him, but she is constantly checking her phone in hopes of text messages or missed calls from the man while in meetings with her employer and clients. At times it seems like Sarah can barely perform her job because she is so distracted by her budding relationship. Tackling the topic of dating a new man with her husband is also worrying Sarah, and, understandably, telling her living daughter that she is dating causes her distress. All the while, it seems that her focus is centered on one man and that the other people in her life are used as excuses to fret over a new relationship. "

This paragraph pretty much summed up the book for me. Unlike you, I actually was quite bored. I completely agree with the assessment about Sarah. I found her incredibly hard to like. I was very surprised at how little time is spent discussing either Olivia or Hope. I mentioned in my unpublished review that I was close to the end of the book before I had any idea of Hope's age. I gave it only 1 star and found very few positive comments to make.

I think only one court case as a subplot would have made Tom and Sarah's work lives more interesting. The ones presented were given in minor detail, basically to justify the fact that the author decided to make them lawyers.

I really like your idea to share Olivia's point of view.

the review has depth and tells a lot about the main characters and the flow of the plot line.

This does feel like a very dramatic, internally conflicted book. Your review was really good, and the opener was quite creative. I'm interested in reading this book eventually!

Fantastic review! I feel like you wrote everything that needed to be said without giving away too much. I am quite sad that the story doesn’t talk much about Olivia’s death, as I’m already very curious as to what happened. I may still give it a read anyways. Thank you so much for the insightful review!

I liked your unique beginning and end. It has to take a very interesting plot to get me to read a romance book. I am afraid this one does not cut it for me, so I will pass. Thanks for your review.

It’s a well written and informative review, but it does point to the verdict that I will probably not be reading this one anytime soon. Pity that the author has gone to so much trouble to write the book, and yet has failed to do her characters and the plot justice in the end. Thank you for your observations.

The beginning of your review really piqued my intrigue, but the storyline as you described proved quite disappointing to me. I agree that this book could do much better with insertion of backstories, otherwise the plot seems totally out of context. Thanks for your honest review!

Thank you for the interesting review.

You are right, the book seems to have great potential - if only the author can rework the storyline. Thanks for the entertaining review. Still can't give a verdict - the evidence on both divides is overwhelming.

Having one very intense court case running throughout the course of the story would have been great!

kfwilson6 wrote: ↑15 Oct 2018, 10:21 "The vast majority of the book is spent on Sarah fretting over her relationship with her love interest, Tom. She agonizes over the ethics of something so small as having coffee with him, but she is constantly checking her phone in hopes of text messages or missed calls from the man while in meetings with her employer and clients. At times it seems like Sarah can barely perform her job because she is so distracted by her budding relationship. Tackling the topic of dating a new man with her husband is also worrying Sarah, and, understandably, telling her living daughter that she is dating causes her distress. All the while, it seems that her focus is centered on one man and that the other people in her life are used as excuses to fret over a new relationship. "

This paragraph pretty much summed up the book for me. Unlike you, I actually was quite bored. I completely agree with the assessment about Sarah. I found her incredibly hard to like. I was very surprised at how little time is spent discussing either Olivia or Hope. I mentioned in my unpublished review that I was close to the end of the book before I had any idea of Hope's age. I gave it only 1 star and found very few positive comments to make.

I think only one court case as a subplot would have made Tom and Sarah's work lives more interesting. The ones presented were given in minor detail, basically to justify the fact that the author decided to make them lawyers.

I really like your idea to share Olivia's point of view.