The Illusion of Certainty

Uncertainty is the only certainty there is - John Allen Paulos

Most of us try to carefully monitor and control the events of our lives. It has never seemed easier. Or so we think. We have so many electronic tools to coordinate our schedules, instantly stay in touch, book restaurant reservations, buy movie tickets, buy books, buy furniture, buy clothes, pay bills, do banking and stay on top of the pieces of our daily existence.

It makes us feel like we are in control. It makes us think we know what our children, co-workers, spouses, and friends are doing. Then something happens that we do not expect.

There is a serious illness or a death. There is the loss of a job or an economic downturn. People and events behave in ways we did not expect. Suddenly we think there is uncertainty introduced into our well-ordered world.

But what we fail to recognize is that the uncertainty has been there all the time. (Prologue).

Two sets of lives will meet at a cross roads that will intersect the participants and adversely affected their lives forever. In the novel, The Illusion of Certainty by Greg Messel, the reader is in for quite a treat. Not since such great classic romance stories like Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, has there been such a great writer who can create romance and inspiration out of the characters he pulls the reader into the lives of.

The novel opens with Marc Wilson, a resident of Portland, Oregon, a successful businessman, happily married and on the verge of seeing his oldest son off to UCLA and his daughter to follow to the University of Oregon a few years later. However Marc has been noticing some changes in his wife Aimee. Besides working late nights at the hospital, she hasn't been the same all summer. She's distant, distracted, and avoiding Marc for some odd reasons. She chalks off his questions to just being so tired with her job, but Marc feels there is something more.

Seeking the advice of his best friend since college, John Robertson, a successful doctor, married to Tina along with their two daughters, they spend a Sunday afternoon golfing where Marc unloads his concerns to John. He advises that they all take a trip, just the four adults to their beach house in Cannon Beach, without the kids to help Aimee get away from work and get back in touch with Marc.

It all seems like it works after a long weekend, until late one night while picking up his car, he sees Aimee heading into an underground parking garage at a local hotel, while she's supposed to be working late. What he finds there, will change his life and the path it's on forever.

Next we meet, Alexandra Mattson, a successful attorney in Portland who finally meets the man of her dreams, Sean, while saving the life of an neighbor's daughter. Sean is the police officer who responds in more ways than one. After making sure Alex is well enough to return home, he asks her out and finds out that she has saved more than one life that day. She just saved her own as she begins to fall hard for Sean.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and Greg Messel for my honest review and once again we have a grand slam, out of the park, home run with this romantic fiction. Set in various locations around Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, London, England, and even Paris, France, the reader will be captivated in a perfect story you will not want to put down until you finish the last word on the page. The only thing wrong with it, is that it's over too soon, but the reader leaves with a sigh and a smile in their hearts. A MUST READ for any fan of romantic stories of love, hope and faith. This one wins a perfect 5 out of 5 stars in my book and thank you Greg for adding another book to a permanent home in my personal library.

For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this book, please check out the links below:

The Illusion of Certainty by Greg Messel

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