Book Club Girl: Belong to Me (Love Walked In #2) by Marisa de los Santos

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Pick:

Belong to Me (Love Walked In #2)

by Marisa de los Santos 

Everyone has secrets. Some we keep to protect ourselves, others we keep to protect those we love.

A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to leave urban life behind and head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she and her beloved husband, Teo, have made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships in her new home. Cornelia's mettle is quickly tested by judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt. Perfectly manicured, impeccably dressed, and possessing impossible standards, Piper is the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she would find in suburbia. A saving grace soon appears in the form of Lake. Over a shared love of literature and old movies, Cornelia develops an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman who has also recently arrived in town, ostensibly to send her perceptive and brilliant son, Dev, to a school for the gifted.
Marisa de los Santos's literary talents shine in the complex interactions she creates between these three women. She deftly explores the life-altering roller coaster of emotions Piper faces as she cares for two households, her own and that of her cancer-stricken best friend, Elizabeth. Skillfully, de los Santos creates an enigmatic and beguiling character in Lake, who draws Cornelia closer even as she harbors a shocking secret. And from the first page until the exhilarating conclusion, de los Santos engages readers with Cornelia, who, while trying to adapt to her new surroundings, must remain true to herself. As their individual stories unfold, the women become entangled in a web of trust, betrayal, love, and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined, and that ultimately teaches them what it means for one human being to belong to another.

 Tiaras Book Club:  WISCONSIN

1) Piper was a complex character. She was quick to judge other people without really knowing their full story and was very hard to take in the early part of the book. But as the story goes on you get to understand Piper better and get to know why she is the way she is. Have you ever been judged too quickly by another person or did you yourself prejudged a person and later see you were very wrong about them?

2) How would you deal with a HUGE surprise from your partners past coming to light that changes the entire path for your family? Would you fight to make it work or would you not forgive and move on without them?

3) When it comes to love do you follow your heart or do what you feel is expected of you by your friends and neighbors?

Answers from the group!

Emily:

1.  Piper was hard to take and I was honestly very turned off by her, but as the story went on you see that her intentions were in the right place and by the end I was rooting for her to find true happiness and not care what anyone thought!  I used to care what people thought of me when I was younger and then as I grew older I surrounded myself with people who love me for me…the rest can buzz off!!

2.   It would depend on the situation, but there is pretty clear list (that my hubby knows) that are unforgivable acts and the rest I would do what I could to make it work!

3.  Always follow the heart...if you are not truly happy then nothing is ever really worth it!

Sara D:

#1. sadly I judge all the time. Even though it hurts when it happens to me, its just instinct to do. I make assumptions or believe what others say before taking the time to find out for myself.

 #2. I hate surprises so at first I may be upset but would want to talk it through and stand by those I'm committed to.

#3. I will always follow my heart. Life is too short to not do what makes you happy. You will never please everyone around you so please yourself!

Sara L:

#1. When I read the beginning of the book I did not like Piper at all. I remember thinking, "I could never deal with a friend, neighbor etc like that". She does change throughout the book and I was able to like her character by the end of the story. I have been in many situations where I feel I was judged too quickly but as I have grown older I do not let it bother me like I did when I was younger.

#2.  I like to think that I would stand by my husband through any situation. In this particular book, the husband was just as blown away by the surpise from the past as the wife. If it was something the husband had known and "hidden" I think it would be a little bit harder to forgive and accept.

#3. Once again, as I have gotten older I tend to not care as much about what others think of me or what choices I am making as long as I am happy. There was a time in my life where I may have been more influenced by my friends or families expectations.


Anne B:
1. I am usually shy/uncomfortable when first meeting someone new. I'm quiet until I get to know that person better which sometimes makes them think that either I don't care enough to talk to them or I'm too good to talk to that person.

2. I hope I would forgive no matter what surprise comes to light but since I have never been put in that situation, I am not 100% sure on that.

3.  I definitely follow my heart! If it feels good to me, I don't listen to anyone.

Mandy:

1.  I am not one to judge by past or present.  I go with the flow and see what happens.

2.  I am pretty forgiving and tend to try to work things out before I go my seperate way.

3.  Always follow heat.

Sasha:

1)  I use to be extremely shy until I got to know someone better, which caused many people to think i was snobby. Unfortunately in today's society more often then not people are very judgmental, you need to prove your worth knowing. It made me sad to think that others were judging me before really getting to know me. After moving to a new country being shy was no longer an option if I had any hopes of having a social circle.

2)  If there's an extreme betrayal of my trust I struggle being able to put my faith back into that person, if I can't trust them then there's no foundation to build up from. That being said I believe that family is worth fighting and I would do everything in my power to try and repair and damage that was done.

3)  I am one who follows my heart, I find my mind can deceive me and if I over think things it can get complicated. So I trust my heart and see where it leads me.

Monica:

1.  I definitely have been on the receiving end of a quick judgment. I am pretty sure it happened last week and I gotta tell ya it doesn’t feel that great. However, I know I have an opinion about many people I may not know really well. I am not sure if it is a good/bad thing to form a judgment about someone without all the facts.  But, I get older I have learned to trust my instincts a lot more than I used to.

2. I have to say I have been with my husband so long that I had a hard time thinking of a situation that would make me not want to fight for him. Then I thought of something and I still think I could work with anything.

3.  I think I like to think I follow my head. The reality is that I follow my heart because it is what brings the most joy.

Kimberly:

1. I used to catch myself pre-judging quiet/reserved people and thinking that they were stuck up instead of getting to know them and realizing that they were just uncomfortable socializing because they were quite or reserved by nature. Now, I'm not a very judgmental person, but I've been through a lot in my life, and I have the motto that you should not judge a person until you know his/her story.

2. I think that my willingness to forgive would depend on what the HUGE surprise is. If it is something that my partner and I can work through together, I could probably forgive them. I would like to say that I would fight for him, but I haven't been in that situation, so it's hard to say what I would do. It's a lot easier to make an opinion based on a character or another person's experience. When it's your own situation, it's much harder to make the decision yourself.

 3. When it comes to love, I follow my heart, and I am lucky because the love of my life is very well-loved by all of my family and friends. My dad loved him too!  

Sarah:

1. Never prejudge or you miss out on what could be your next best friend.

2.  I will work through anything until there is no sign that is is worth fixing...then I pull myself up and move on!

3.  Head, then heart!


Mrs Mommy Booknerd's Review: 
I really enjoyed BELONG TO ME.  I felt like you were able to view some of the best and worst times through many sets of eyes..each character offering a point of view so very much their own.  I found that I misjudged some of the characters and found that as the book went on I learned to appreciate them for their imperfections and struggles.  Each character faced some amazing highs and some very deep lows, but it was because of friendship, love and choosing your own path (without influence of others) that leads these characters into new, unexpected paths...paths that put them right where they were meant to be.  4 stars