Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: After the Rain Author: Karen-Anne Stewart ISBN:  9781491824719 Publisher: Authorhouse Part of a Series: Rain Trilogy Type of book: Human trafficking, FBI, capturing, coming of age, growing up, sacrifices, strong heroine, horrid past, relationships, friendship, hacking Year it was published: 2013 Summary: "A story intricately crafted with amazing characters and scenes that will leave a lasting image on readers. Raina is the perfect heroine, sweet and caring, but strong at the same time. The risks she is willing to take to save and protect others left me in awe. A great series with romance and suspense." Christine Janes - SheReadsAlot.com Finally able to put her harrowing past to rest, Raina looks forward to her future with Kas, but the Ghost has other plans. As the FBI team gets closer to taking down the largest human trafficking ring in the modern world, the Ghost begins a wicked game, making Raina the pawn and the target. Never before en...

Name of Book: The Reflections of Queen Snow White Author: David C Meredith ISBN/ASIN:   B00FLF4JAG Publisher: Amazon Digital Services Type of book: Fantasy, fairytale, reflections, magic mirror, relationships, psychology, stepmother, struggles, strength, triumph, feminism Year it was published: 2013 Summary: What happens when "happily ever after" has come and gone? On the eve of her only daughter, Princess Raven's wedding, an aging Snow White finds it impossible to share in the joyous spirit of the occasion. The ceremony itself promises to be the most glamorous social event of the decade. Snow White’s castle has been meticulously scrubbed, polished and opulently decorated for the celebration. It is already nearly bursting with jubilant guests and merry well-wishers. Prince Edel, Raven's fiancé, is a fine man from a neighboring kingdom and Snow White's own domain is prosperous and at peace. Things could not be better, in fact, except for one th...

Book to be reviewed: The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein A lush, exquisitely rendered meditation on war, The Gods of Heavenly Punishment tells the story of several families, American and Japanese, their loves and infidelities, their dreams and losses, and how they are all connected by one of the most devastating acts of war in human history. In this evocative and thrilling epic novel, fifteen-year-old Yoshi Kobayashi, child of Japan’s New Empire, daughter of an ardent expansionist and a mother with a haunting past, is on her way home on a March night when American bombers shower her city with napalm—an attack that leaves one hundred thousand dead within hours and half the city in ashen ruins. In the days that follow, Yoshi’s old life will blur beyond recognition, leading her to a new world marked by destruction and shaped by those considered the enemy: Cam, a downed bomber pilot taken prisoner by the Imperial Japanese Army; Anton, a gifted architect who he...

Name of Book: The Spirit Keeper Author: K.B. Laugheed ISBN: 978-0-14-218033-4 Publisher: Plume Type of book: 1747-1748, travel, Pennsylvania, Irish family, alcohol, classes, ranks, lessons, romance, Native American male/Irish female Year it was published: 2013 Summary: A fiery frontier woman falls deeply in love with her Native American captor on an epic journey The thirteenth child conceived of miserable Irish exiles, Katie O’Toole dreams of a different life. Little does she know that someone far away is dreaming of her. In 1747, savages raid her family home, and seventeen-year-old Katie is taken captive. Syawa and Hector have been searching for her, guided by Syawa’s dreams. A young Holyman, Syawa believes Katie is the subject of his Vision: the Creature of Fire and Ice, destined to bring a great gift to his people. Despite her flaming hair and ice-blue eyes, Katie is certain he is mistaken, but faced with returning to her family, she agrees to join them. She s...

Name of Book: Ida's Story Author: Steven A Segal ISBN: 978-1-62295-940-2 Publisher: Tate Publishing and Enterprises Type of book: Kansas, history, saga, multi-generational, 1870s-1948, family, mother-son relationships, New York, secularism, wealth, upper class, mental institution, orphanage, separation, newspaper, airplane company, business, favoritism, corruption Year it was published: 2012 Summary: As he pulled up and shut down the engine, he took a deep breath to calm himself, and in that instant, the flash of anger he had felt the night he was torn from his mother returned. He shook it from his mind, slid out of the seat, and went up the stairs to the front door. Ida opened the door and threw her arms around his neck with exactly the same loving abandonment he had seen her often leap into his father's arms so many years ago. She hung onto her boy, hung on tight with her face buried in his shoulder and sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, fi...

Name of Book: Ade, A Love Story Author: Rebecca Walker ISBN: 978-0-544-14922-9 Publisher: New Harvest Type of book: Africa, 1990s, lost identity, travel, relationship, love, giving up, civil war, culture shock Year it was published: 2013 Summary: In this stunning debut novel, Rebecca Walker turns her attention to the power of love and the limitations of the human heart. When Farida, a sophisticated college student, falls in love with Adé, a young Swahili man living on an idyllic island off the coast of Kenya, the two plan to marry and envision a simple life together—free of worldly possessions and concerns. But when Farida contracts malaria and finds herself caught in the middle of a civil war, reality crashes in around them. The lovers’ solitude is interrupted by a world in the throes of massive upheaval that threatens to tear them apart, along with all they cherish. Haunting, exquisite, and certain to become a classic, Adé will stay with you long after you put...