Title: No Other Name
Author: Robert Beatty
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1728343082
Pages: 97
Genre: Romance / Action & Adventure
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina

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Love and romance are two of the most complex emotions and aspects of life we will go through or search for. Some people can find the love of their life when they least expect it, while others will spend their whole life searching for someone who doesn’t exist. Everyone has their own definition of love, but far too often our love for someone can be unrequited because we put unrealistic expectations on a person. As Tony Robbins once said, “We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.”

In author Robert Beatty’s novel No Other Name, the author explores the concept of romance and heartbreak. A young man with dreams of settling down and continuing the work of his family’s farm as his ancestors had done for years meets and falls in love with a young woman who runs into town seeking to escape her past. While he gives her his love, she struggles to return it back to him, having been burned too many times to open what’s left of her heart. When tragedy strikes, the young man’s life is changed forever, and he is sent on a dark and deadly path in the early 20th century.

This is a true character study in every sense of the word. Protagonist Samuel is a tragic figure to be sure, a small-town farm boy who only seeks a family and stability, much like his father and his father before him have had. The story expertly blends romance and drama into the narrative, and what makes the author’s tale so intriguing is that from the book’s first pages, readers know the romance and story is not going to end the way most would hope it would. This is a story of how violence changes people, from the victims of violence who never quite recover to those who either chose or are forced into violent confrontations, and the ramifications they have on their lives and their psyche overall.

This is the perfect read for those who love tragic love stories and action-packed period pieces. As a fan of the genres, I was instantly drawn to this narrative that blended the tragic romance aspect of The Notebook with the action and violence of films like Saving Private Ryan and A History of Violence. The story felt very cinematic in the way the author wrote it, and almost felt like it could very well be a mini-series event.

A lengthy, tragic yet engaging read, author Robert Beatty’s No Other Name is a must- read action/adventure and romance story. The novel truly engages the readers on a deeper and personal level, and its narrative only is as strong as its cast of characters, especially Samuel. The deep emotional struggle of this young man in love, along with Clarinda and her tragic history affecting how she interacted with others and the trajectory for which her life would take, makes this story both heartbreaking and immersive all at once, and becomes a must-read novel like no other.

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