Book Review: "Swimming with Wings" by Lee Libro

Title: Swimming with Wings

Author: Lee Libro

Publisher: Quill Guild

ISBN, PUB Date: 978-1450580434, March 5, 2010

Reviewed by: Denien Robbins for Author Exposure

In Swimming with Wings, Lee Libro takes us back into the 1970's to a small southern town with deep roots in faith healings and evangelism. Lark is 17 and has lived with her older brother since they were both orphaned. They are the last line of a well-known and well-respected family that made it big with the lumber plant in town. The family fortune is long gone and they are only left with the enormous old family home that is filled with secrets.

A river gypsy by the name of Peter Roma comes into Lark’s life. Peter and Lark's fathers were friends years ago and tragically died in a drowning accident. Both men were found dead alongside a river under questionable circumstances, an event that left the townspeople gossiping and suggesting that these men were up to no good.

Peter finds himself fighting his attraction to Lark while trying to save her soul. Lark has little interest in the preaching that Peter does and this sets the scene for a bumpy friendship.

What secrets does the family home hide? What were their fathers doing out by the river the night of their death? And has Peter fallen victim to a cult-like religious group in his quest for a closer relationship with God?

Swimming with Wings unfolds somewhat slowly and meanders a bit, much like a river itself would. Without the use of popular twists that many authors make use of, Lee Libro plods along with her tale towards a well thought-out destination.

This novel is mildly entertaining, if somewhat lacking in excitement. The seemingly loose threads that keep appearing throughout the book are eventually tied up in the end.

I was left feeling a bit flat. A pleasant enough way to pass a lazy Sunday in the South, if you are looking for light reading that does not require much thought or emotional involvement.

I would recommend Swimming with Wings to people who want a good book to pass the time. It would make a nice addition to a lady's purse where she can pull it out for brief reads while waiting in the doctor's office or elsewhere.