Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Beyond Believing Author: D.D. Marx ISBN: 978-0-9972481-0-4 Publisher: Self published Part of a Series: The Beyond Series Type of book: coincidences, romance, meetings, friendships, death, cancer, chef, travel, falling in love, spirit guide, following dreams Year it was published: 2017 Summary: When Olivia gets news of her best friend Dan’s fatal car accident, her life is shattered. Consumed with grief and struggling to find any meaning or purpose to life, she trudges along with a gaping void in her heart. Finally, when her frustration reaches its peak, Olivia decides to put her trust in the depth of friendship the two of them shared. That trust finally allows him to breakthrough to her, and Dan begins to guide Olivia through the twists and turns of her life, leading to something new and entirely unexpected. When Olivia exposes a gigantic internal scandal at work, her career implodes. With no job and nowhere to turn, she escapes to Palm Springs for t...

Name of Book: First Crush Last Love Author: Elizabeth McKenna ISBN: 9781548371739 Publisher: 2017 Type of book: First crushes, second chances, domestic abuse, 1980s, 1990s, homosexuality, high school, friendship, high school reunion, marriage, stalking, child abuse Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Remember your first crush? How your heart raced and your cheeks flushed whenever you saw him? Jessie Baxter does, and it’s happening again. Ten years ago, despite her best efforts, Lee Archer wanted to be just friends. Now, he wants more, but Jessie's still recovering from a psycho ex-husband. Can she learn to trust again and make her first crush into her last love? Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel will have you remembering the angst of high school, the grief of a failed relationship, and the happiness of true love. Characters: Main characters include Jessie, Lee Archer and Billy. Other characters such as Jessie's and Lee's best friends are there, but ...

Name of Book: Tribal Affairs Author: Matt Dallmann ISBN: 9780692894668 Publisher: Self published Type of book: Genies, YA, fantasy, modern times, secrets, father/daughter relationship Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Dahlia, a centuries old genie, lies hopelessly trapped in a damaged golden locket charm attached to an ankle bracelet. Its owner, sixteen-year-old Liana, wears it for the first time during her father Jamison’s opening night illusion spectacular. Not only does its presence cause Jamison to folly his performance, but it also starts a chain of bizarre events that lead to a showdown with Dahlia’s mortal enemy, Stefan, and an unsuspecting romance between Liana and his son. Characters: Main characters include Liana who is a teenager and is struggling with a fear that she will turn out like her mom as well as being there for her beloved father. Unfortunately I have not found her a very interesting character. For me, Taffi was more interesting and comp...

Name of Book: Seven of Us Author: Francesca Hornbeck ISBN:  B01MSAMY8Y Publisher: Berkley Year it was published: 2017 Summary: A warm, wry, sharply observed debut novel about what happens when a family is forced to spend a week together in quarantine over the holidays... It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she’s been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family. For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other’s orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the cultur...

Name of Book: Woman Enters Left Author: Jessica Brockmole ISBN: 978-0-399-17851-1 Publisher: Ballantine Books Type of book: 1952, 1926, road trip, car, Hollywood, friendship, romance, secrets, coming-of-age, death, radium, cancer, seize the day Year it was published: 2017 Summary: A woman sets out on a cross-country road trip, unknowingly tracing in reverse the path her mother traveled thirty years before. In the 1950s, movie star Louise Wilde is caught between an unfulfilling acting career and a shaky marriage when she receives an out-of-the-blue phone call: She has inherited the estate of Florence “Florrie” Daniels, a Hollywood screenwriter she barely recalls meeting. Among Florrie’s possessions are several unproduced screenplays, personal journals, and—inexplicably—old photographs of Louise’s mother, Ethel. On an impulse, Louise leaves a film shoot in Las Vegas and sets off for her father’s house on the East Coast, hoping for answers about the curious inheritance...

Name of Book: Twilight Empress Author: Faith L Justice ISBN: 9780692460511 Publisher: Raggedy Moon Books Type of book: 410-451, 461, Roman Empire, Ravenna, Italy, Vandals, Goths, King of Goths, alliances, marriages, politics, barbarians, protection, family, Emperor, Empress, Augusta Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Twilight Empress tells the little-known story of a remarkable woman—Galla Placidia, sister to one of the last Roman Emperors. Roman princess, Gothic captive and queen—Placidia does the unthinkable—she rules the failing Western Roman Empire—a life of ambition, power and intrigue she doesn’t seek, but can’t refuse. Her actions shape the face of Western Europe for centuries. A woman as well as an Empress, Placidia suffers love, loss, and betrayal. Can her strength, tenacity and ambition help her survive and triumph over scheming generals, rebellious children, and Attila the Hun? Or will the Dark Ages creep closer and bring down the Empire? Characters: ...

Name of Book: The Quest for the Crown of Thorns Author: Cynthia Ripley Miller ISBN: 9781911261124 Publisher: Fort Knox Robinson Publishing Part of a Series: The Long Haired Saga Type of book: 454-455, Constantinople, Rome, mystery, travel, servants, the crown and thorns of christ, marriage, teamwork, murder Year it was published: 2017 Summary: AD 454. Three years after the Roman victory over Attila the Hun at Catalaunum, Arria Felix and Garic the Frank are married and enjoying life on Garic's farm in northern Gaul (France). Their happy life is interrupted, when a cryptic message arrives from Rome, calling Arria home to her father, the esteemed Senator Felix. At Arria's insistence, but against Garic's better judgment, they leave at once. Upon their arrival at Villa Solis, they are confronted with a brutal murder and the dangerous mission that awaits them. The fate of a profound and sacred object--Christ's Crown of Thorns--rests in their hands. Th...