Obsession (Year of Fire)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obsession (Year of Fire)

by Florencia Bonelli

Released in English: 7/23/13

 

 

I absolutely loved this very long and suspenseful book!    It is a whopping 611 pages so it has plenty of time to develop all the characters.   The main female character is Matilde, a pediatric surgeon, who is from Buenos Aires, Argentina.   She is in the airport, about to go to Paris to learn French, with her best friend and fellow doctor, Juana.  They are taking an intensive French language class to prepare for a trip to the Congo, where they plan to work as medical missionaries.   On the flight, Matilde meets Eliah Al-Saud, who is a Saudi Arabian prince with an Italian mother, who principally lives in France.   He is a great character, with many facets to his life, his past and his character. Of course, he is a very strong, very protective male who takes over the young doctor's life in a short time. He was a military pilot and now is involved in many secretive military activities.   Matilde is very beautiful, smart but vulnerable and they fall in love fast, despite their many differences.  It turns out that their families have known each other for many years, which brings complications.   One of the many things I like about this book is that even though it has the typical storyline of a not so wealthy younger woman with an older, wealthy man, they both have been married before meeting. Also, the author does a wonderful job describing the many locales in which the story takes place, including Paris, London, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv and more. The story has a lot of dramatic twists and turns and plenty of steamy scenes.  The book also has a host of secondary characters to make the story interesting, including Juana, Matilde's BFF, Eliah's friend, Shiloah, who is an Israeli politician, Roy, Maltilde's husband and good friend of her father, Celine, Matilde's sister and a top European model.  Both Eliah and Matilde keep secrets from each other, that come out near the end of the story, leading to some dramatic consequences which set up the next part of the trilogy, which takes place in the Congo. The Spanish version of Obsession (Year of Fire) book came out about two years ago and the second part of the trilogy is also out in Spanish.  I looked all over for news of the Congo book being translated, but can't find it.  I hope it is translated soon. The third part is called Gaza, and I can't find it in Spanish or English, yet.  I really look forward to reading the rest of this great love story.

 

 Ms. Bonelli is from Argentina and writes her books in Spanish, so this book was translated with mostly good results.  Some of the translation is a bit off, such as Eliah refers to his mom as his "old lady."  To native English speakers, old lady commonly refers to a girlfriend, not a mother.  But, all in all, the translation is well done.   And, for the  $3.99 on Amazon, you can have many hours of reading fun!  Obsession (Year of Fire) can be bought on Amazon and from other booksellers.  It is called Caballo de Fuego in the Spanish version, which means "Horse of Fire," which refers to the type of Chinese zodiac sign he was born under and his secret name he uses at work.

 

 

FIVE STARS

 





All He Wants



I absolutely loved this book!  It was a keep me up at night sort of read!  Dominic Knight, the hero, is a wealthy, handsome billionaire who meets Kate just as she graduates from college...remind anyone of another very popular series?  Definitely sounds like 50 Shades of Grey, but the story departs rapidly from that book, in that Kate is a lot stronger character.  She is whip smart and fights her attraction to Dominic the whole book, as she knows he is troubled and into lots of kinky sex stuff she is not used to.   The steam in this book is very hot, and well written!  Also, I liked the descriptions of the many exotic locales that Dominic and Kate visit such as Amsterdam's red light district and the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong.  Plus, I love that Dominic, the strong Alpha male, shows a tender side when he is with Kate, that he is not sure of how to deal with.  Isn't that true of many of us when in love?  But, the story leaves a lot of questions unanswered...so I am looking for the next installment, which is not scheduled to be released until Dec. 17, 2013. And, there will be a further installment to complete the trilogy at an undetermined date. The little taste of Part II, All He Needs, included at the end of this book, is intriguing!

All in all, a very quick but intriguing read well worth the $4.99 I paid to Amazon!  All He Wants can be found there and other booksellers.  C. C. Gibbs is the pen name for bestselling author, Susan Johnson. 

 

5 STARS

 



Eternally North

 

 

Eternally North

by Tillie Cole

Released: 5/5/13

 

 

I loved this book, but not at first!  The book starts out with the story for Natasha's betrayal by her boyfriend in one of the most hilariously written "caught in the act" situations I have read, but the witty quips seemed to be all there was to it until you get about a third of the way in. After seeing her boyfriend with another, Tash, as she is called by most of her family and friends, goes to seek consolation with her best friend, Tink, short for Tinkerbell, since he is an outrageously naughty gay man.  They end up randomly choosing to move from their small town in England to Calgary, Canada, where Tash becomes a teacher to rich kids.  One of her students' brothers is a very famous, very large, tattooed movie star named Tudor North.  When they meet in the back room of a restaurant, another hilarious scene unfolds including Tash doing a "slut drop" dance scene, without realizing she has an audience.   One of the many things I like about the book is that they do not instantly fall in love, but instead, slowly build up to it. As the story progresses, you learn that both Tash and Tudor have deep secrets and hurtful pasts.  The way the work through them is a great read, with lots of wit and funny one-liners!  Tink steals the show many times with his antics.  It is definitely a fun book!

 

When I bought this novel, it was only $2.99 on Amazon and well worth the price.  This is Tille Cole's first effort and I hope she writes many more, including the second part of this series.



Eternally North can be found on Amazon and other booksellers.

 

5 STARS

 



 

 

 

 

 



 





Kristen Ashley is the best!

If you love strong male characters and great female leads, read any of Kristen Ashley's books.   I love all of them, but some of my favorites are Sweet Dreams, Motorcycle Man, Knight, For You and The Golden Dynasty.   If you are looking for a good romance to sweep you away, read The Golden Dynasty.  It is the tale of Circe and Lahn.  Circe is a modern girl who suddenly finds herself in a fantasy world, where women are treated as property of the menfolk.   She is literally hunted down by the mightiest warrior in the land, Lahn.  The story unfolds with lots of twists and turns.  The warrior has a surprisingly sweet side and Circe learns to adapt to the ways of a totally different world.  It was so good, I read it all the way through once and then started over and read it again! Plus, Kristen Ashley's books are usually priced at $3.99 on Amazon, which is a really good deal for her full length, steamy and well written romances!  It is #2 in the Fantasyland Series, but can be read as a stand alone.  The other two in the series, Wildest Dreams (#1) and Fantastical (#3) are also good, but I like this one the best, with Wildest Dreams being second best in the series.

The Golden Dynasty

by Kristen Ashley

released 8/22/11