Asylum
by Betsy Adams
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
BLURB:
Adela is an immigration judge from one of San Diego’s wealthiest Mexican-American families. She was raised to believe she has nothing in common with the asylum seekers in her courtroom. Paul left behind his life as a Manhattan lawyer to volunteer at the border. He has lost faith in the system, but not those who still turn to it for justice. Adela and Paul come to the Tijuana/San Diego border searching, but neither one knowing exactly what for—until they find each other. Against the backdrop of the “Remain in Mexico” policy and restrictions on asylum, Adela and Paul fight for love in a system that seems determined to destroy it.
Excerpt:
“Hmmm.” Adela felt Paul’s shoulder warm against hers. “Any advice on the propriety of say…dessert?”
Paul laughed and scratched his chin in mock consternation. “Let’s see. Should dinner lead to dessert…I’d have to advise caution.”
“Oh?” Adela wondered if Paul heard her disappointment.
“Dessert is not something to be entered into lightly,” Paul said slowly, deliberately. He was facing her now, parting Adela's hair with his fingertips, then tucking it behind her ears to reveal her face. His eyes said, I need to see you for this.
“Of course,” Adela agreed, growing weak in the knees. She surreptitiously slid her hand back to the railing to steady herself.
Paul didn’t stop at her ears. He ran his fingertips through her hair like he had never felt hair before, like it was precious and could only be handled with the greatest of care.
“There must be a meeting of the minds,” he said. “An understanding of the risks.”
“Yes, there are risks…” Adela longed for him to touch her skin, not just her hair.
Paul cupped the rounds of her shoulders, his hands caressing the length of her arms until his fingers interlaced with hers. His thumbs made little circles on her palms as Adela thought, Damn he knows how to touch a woman.
“Does the attorney recognize,” Adela said, “that dessert means it would be impossible for him to have cases in this judge’s court?”
“Regretfully, yes…”
“But a capable attorney like him would win in any court, with any judge.” Adela relished the late day smell of him mixed with the salty sea air. She eyed the dip of his collarbone perfectly framed by his open collar, rising and falling from his mounting desire.
“Is that so?” Paul chuckled into her ear before he kissed her neck.
Adela let her head fall to the side, giving him more territory to explore.
“Most definitely.”
“Well that's good.” Paul held Adela's face in his hands. “Because some desserts are just…irresistible.”
Paul lifted Adela's chin and his lips fell on hers. Adela melted into him in a smooth, effortless consent. Paul’s hands ran down the sides of her ribs, the length of her hourglass figure, and found her hips. One gentle tug unleashed a rapture between them as forceful as the crashing waves below.
My Review:
Asylum gives us insight into the laws of immigration and the “Remain in Mexico” policy. Asylum follows an immigration judge, Adela, a Mexican-American from one of the wealthiest families in San Diego whose family raised her to believe that she has nothing in common with the asylum seekers.
Yeah, well, Adela does not exactly believe that and tries everything she can help asylum seekers by working as an immigration judge at the border. Adela tries to help the people there to hopefully make their lives a little bit better and to see that they get the justice they deserve which isn’t easy when our justice systems is broken and in need of a fix.
A lawyer Paul Carter, from one of the top law firms in New York, gave up his life and his job to volunteer at the border to help people seeking asylum in America. Paul has lost all faith in the system and just wants to see justice served.
You know when I first picked up Asylum and read about Adela’s first case that made me stop and take a pause wondering if I was going to be able to read it or not. It made me sad and mad at the same time. But I carried on not knowing what I was going to find and I am glad I did or at least part of me is.
Although I wasn’t surprised by what I read after that I was heartbroken on several occasions to know that such evil goes on in the world and right in our own back door so to speak.
You know Asylum is supposed to be a love story between Adela and Paul but their love story is not what stood out for me. What stood out for me are the asylum seekers and what goes on at the border and how they are treated. I think about the reason they are seeking asylum. What happened to them that makes them want to leave their families and the only life they know to go to an unknown place. I mean that has got to be horrific enough all by itself.
I know I can never put myself in their place or imagine what they have been through but I do think about what it would be like for me to leave the only home I know and go to a strange place where I don’t know anyone or where to go or what to expect.
I would like to recommend Asylum to everyone but I know that it is not for all. I recommend Asylum hoping that it could be an eye-opener for some. I also recommend it hoping that it could also be a heart opener too.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Betsy Adams is a pen name adopted to honor two smart, romantic women - Betsy Ross and Abigail Adams.
Betsy Ross chose love over her Quaker religion and her family. At the age of twenty-one, she eloped with fellow upholstery apprentice and non-Quaker John Ross. After their union, Betsy’s family and the Quaker community cut all ties with her. In her eighty-four years, Betsy was married three times and ran a successful upholstery business. There is much more to Betsy Ross than sewing the first American flag. Someone make a biopic, please!
The love between Abigail and John Adams is legendary, and documented in over 1,000 intimate and cerebral letters. In 1776, Abigail famously told her husband that the new nation must “remember the ladies,” but in the pages of their letters, these two lovers were equals in their passion for each other and ideas.
Betsy Adams lives with her family in a coastal town on Long Island (New York). She is the creator of the Americans in Love romance series. In these novella-length books, couples divided by the issues of our day try to find their happily ever after.
Author Links:
Website ~ Instagram ~ Facebook
Book Links:
Amazon ~ Reedsy Discovery ~ Goodreads
The book will be on sale for $0.99.
1 comments:
Thanks for the great post, I enjoyed following it!
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