Review Shadows of the Past

Review: Shadows of the Past

   Shadows of the Past

Publish date: 4^th December 2012

Publisher: Wild Child Publishing

Genre: paranormal/light romance/light horror.

 Blurb 

Anne's relationship with her boyfriend Neil has disintegrated. After a two-year separation, they pack for a week vacation in hopes of reconciling. But fate has other plans for them.
The discovery of a bejeweled cross and ancient human bones opens a door to a new and frightening world--one where the ghost of a medieval nun named Genevieve will not let Anne rest. This new world threatens not only to ruin Anne and Neil's vacation but to end all hopes of reconciliation as Anne feels compelled to help free Genevieve's soul from its torment.
Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve find her eternal rest?
The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.

My Review:

The book is exactly what the blurb promises to be: a beautiful and touching paranormal love story that plays on the idea that love transcends time and soul mates will always search for each other.

First, I loved the premise of the book: the restless soul of a young nun from the XVth century leads Anne, its present day reincarnation, towards the place where the nun's body has been abandoned centuries ago without being aloud to find peace.

Secondly, I loved the shift between present and past, between Anne's and Genevive's stories and the way their stories are woven together. Carmen plays the visions/apparitions/dreams card and the fact that in spite of telling the story of two different female protags, she manages to create background for both Genevive and Anne.

Thirdly, I liked the descriptions the author used to put everything in place - I'm not usually a big fan of thorough descriptions, but this book is one of the few exceptions.

I'd say Carmen managed to write a beautiful, touching love story that transcends time, about overcoming adversity and one's learning, personal growth and transformation and a second love story about choices.

The end of the book is a happy one if just a little gloomy, which is understandable for such a tragic story (promising more, maybe? - I hope so). 

I felt for Genevive's lack of luck, I loved Anne for her strenght and I loved the  book.

Author bio:

            Carmen Stefanescu was born in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire Count Dracula, but where, for about 50 years of communist dictatorship, just speaking about God, faith, reincarnation or paranormal phenomena could have led someone to great trouble - the psychiatric hospital if not to prison.
            Teacher of English and German in her native country and mother of two daughters, Carmen Stefanescu survived the grim years of oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books. 

            She has dreamed all her life to become a writer, but many of the things she wrote during those years remained just drawer projects. The fall of the Ceausescu’s regime in 1989 and the opening of the country to the world meant a new beginning for her. She started publishing. Poems first, and then prose. Both in English.

Find her on:

Goodreads

Amazon

Google+

Blog

 

Carpe Diem

April 15th - The Wheel of Fortune

silent mid-spring clouds -

young gypsy reading the cards

near an acacia ***

foretold destiny -

a May rain washes away

all my misfortune

my fate's dual coin -

tossing up the dry  branches,

down they go again

my faith and my fate -

walking by a water stream

searching direction

karma comes and goes -

in Mother Earth's ancient laws

I find my justice

NaHaiWriMo

April 15th - odour and ornaments

robed in small sharp thornes,

perfuming my green garden,

roses' pale blossoms

tasting like spring day -

red poppies smile at the sun 

in wheat fields odour

*** I'm not a racist I'm just playing on stereotypes