Ms.Keels' novel, Love Unfeigned, is a powerfully beautiful story of a love that spans a decade. The lyrical quality of her prose carries you from the first page to the very last. Watching Lorraine and Isaiah grow from children to adults, seeing the ups and downs they had to endure to be able to come to that place where Grace and Love resides....... it was incredible. I'll tell you that. ( )

What of an author that can take mere words, play with them and transform a simple tale of love into an experience to be revered and treasured. “Love Unfeigned” by Nadine C. Keels is such a novel. I savored each expression and word choice in Ms. Keels loving novel. She is a skilled word-tress – please forgive me for creating another word, but it’s befitting considering the talents of this wonderful author.

“Love Unfeigned” chronicles the love of Lorraine and Isaiah, even before they knew or truly understood what love was. The word choice was very sophisticated, even for the younger versions of these lovers; nevertheless, there is something passionate and enticing of taking a slew of intellectual terms and filling up such a story. I found myself pausing to breathe in and allow Ms. Keels love of words to fill my soul.

If you are in need to a perfectly enticing love affair, one that draws on your senses, heart, emotions and mind, then I implore you to journey into the mind of Nadine C. Keels. ( )

Within the first few pages of “Love Unfeigned,” readers will confirm with Keel’s biography that she is a poet. There is an attention to language and its visual impact rarely seen with authors of any genre. There is a musicality and emotion inherent in the words chosen that will pick a reader up and carry them through the story lending intensity to the movements of the characters though the timeline of the story. There is a hint of Toni Morrison who famously agonized for weeks over the house number in “Beloved” to come up with exactly the right number that would add to the story and lend credibility to the characters. Keel’s work has a similar sense of great thought and specific choices made. The nicknames “Braces” and “Itty Bitty” at the start are as much descriptors as names.

We watch the characters grow up together and while we only get little snippets of their lives they are snippets that feel as though they have meaning. Moments branded in memory. The POV shifts between “Me” and “She” very organically. Keels balances the objective and subjective shifts perfectly. I have called literature art before but I think this story qualifies as a visual masterpiece. Readers will look askance at me and wonder if I’m overstating. Perhaps but Lorraine and Isaiah’s story is an immersive experience.

If you like classic literature, stories of the human experience and romance novels, “Love Unfeigned” is the novella for you. ( )