The sinking of the Gustloff is the largest maritime disaster, yet the world still knows nothing of it. I often wonder, will that ever change or will it remain just another secret swallowed by war?

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WOAH. What an incredible book!

It was vastly different than the usual books I read. I’m usually a pretty hardcore Romance genre reader, but this story swept me away! I read it in a single day and had tears in my eyes in the end (letters always make me cry) and I keep thinking about this story in the back of my mind. I just can’t let go.

Whenever I’m going through a major book hangover, I like to try and switch up the genre I read. Given my intense love of reading, doing this allows me to still read, while trying something new, and yet allowing my emotions from my previous book the time to settle. So this time, I tried this book. Even though it’s not the kind of book I’d usually read, something about the cover, the title, and blurb really grabbed my attention.

The writing was absolutely incredible. Flawless and profound. This author is a very gifted storyteller. But her method in this book was unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Each chapter was literally only 1-3 pages long (!!) and each chapter was told from the points of view of four of the main characters (it switched each time). While it was weird at first, I caught on quickly to the rhythm and found that it totally worked for this story. In fact, I found it was astonishingly effective at portraying such a large-scale story as this, one that had so many different storylines converging in on each other, in a manner that made it completely character-driven. I genuinely loved it. The YA Historical Romance genre is nowhere near what I usually read, but I’m so glad I decided to read this particular one! It was powerful and beautifully written.

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.

Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.

As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, this bestselling and award-winning author lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

The story begins with all these different characters, for different reasons, all trying to make their way to docks, where they hope to board a ship that will take them to safety. But in order to get there, they first had to survive a dangerous journey on land through enemy check points, under fire from all sides, in danger of becoming victims of the brutal winter, in the middle of one of the largest wars in history.

A nurse.
A blind girl.
A shoemaker.
A mysterious soldier.
A pregnant teen.
A delusional sociopath.
A wandering boy.
A devastating war.
A bitter winer.
Thousands of miles.
One ill-fated sea voyage.

The chapters are all very short like I mentioned but every single one of them packs a punch and ends strong — which is really a testament to the power of this author’s writing. The upside to this storytelling method too is that there is no fluff in the book at all. You’re told everything you need to know and nothing more. Everything has meaning. And everything drives the story forward.

Things get quite intense the more you read, especially when the different storylines begin to converge. It’s like, you desperately want them all to stay together, and you naturally want them to get to safety and even though you know the ship is doomed, a part of you can’t help but hope that it isn’t. So it’s like counter-intuitive. You should be wanting all their plans to fall apart so that they can be safe. It’s such an interesting internal conflict to go through as a reader because you naturally want to root for their plans to work out.

Now, not to belittle the value of even one human life, but I just want to put some things into perspective for you to give you a sense of scale. The Titanic (which is widely known as one of the most famously tragic maritime disasters), lost 1,503 passengers when it went down. The Wilhelm Gustloff was built to carry 1,463 people. On the day it was sunk, it was carrying 10,574. It is estimated that 9,400 people died. The Titanic took two hours and forty minutes to sink. The Wilhelm Gustloff took less than an hour.

How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky.

When the torpedos hit, my heart was racing. I’d just spent a huge chunk of this book getting invested in these characters lives. Characters who I knew wouldn’t all be able to make it. It was beyond intense.

Also, while this is absolutely not a Romance at all, there is actually a little bit of a romance within one of the storylines, and I’m just going to come out and tell you that that romance does get a HEA. I don’t want you to think this is a book where everyone just dies in the end. That’s not the case. There is a lot of loss. But ultimately, this is both a story of loss and survival.

The ending left me with tears in my eyes. Letters always make me cry in book. And I was so surprised that my reaction at the very end was a smile on my face despite the tears… Like I said, this genre is not one I usually read or recommend from, but this particular book stood out to me and made me want to read it. If you’re in the mood to read something different, or maybe if this is a genre you already love, give this a try!

The final thing I want to leave you with is a quote from the author’s note at the back of the book…

Every nation has hidden history, countless stories preserved only by those who experienced them. Stories of war are often read and discussed worldwide by readers whose nations stood on opposite sides during battle. History divided us, but through reading we can be united in story, study, and remembrance. Books join us together as a global reading community, but more important, a global human community striving to learn from the past.

What determines how we remember history and which elements are preserved and penetrate the collective consciousness? If historical novels stir your interest, pursue the facts, the history, memoirs, and personal testimonies available. These are the shoulders that historical fiction sits upon. When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them.

Please, give them a voice.

Rating: 4.5 stars. Standalone YA Historical Fiction.

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“It doesn’t seem to matter how far away I go or how many years go by. I’m starting to accept that there will always be some part of me that is going to hold on to some part of you.”

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I absolutely loved this book!! It captured my attention from the very first chapter and I couldn’t stop reading until I reached the end. The story was full of heart and the beautiful writing captured the intense emotions of a second chance romance flawlessly. I highly recommend this as a top favorite!

The Fable Of Us is about a rich girl, Clara, who went against everything her family wanted and fell in love with Boone, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, when they were just teenagers. She followed her heart and that led her to him, but something (which you find out) tore them tragically apart and she left town. Until one day, seven years later, when she returns home for her sister’s wedding and ends up face-to-face with the one boy she’d never been able to forget. This is where the book begins.

In a desperate attempt to not be left alone with her conceited, judgmental family, she offers him ten thousand dollars to be her plus one for the week and the wedding. Despite all the pain and clouded history between them, he still can’t refuse the only girl he’s ever loved — even if she did break his heart.

“Are you asking me to show up at your family’s place… [to] pose as your date for the wedding?”

I shook my head. Hard. “As my plus one. That’s all.”

He didn’t miss it either. Something that resembled the stirrings of a smirk worked it’s way into his expression. “As your boyfriend.”

He wasn’t going to make this easy… “As my plus one.”

His smirk became as pronounced as it got. His head tipped just a bit, his eyes flashing, and his mouth turned up in a hint of a smile. “As your lover?”

My fingers curled into my palms. “As. My. Plus. One.”

And over the week, as they spend time together, they become close again and eventually uncover out the truth behind the horrible event that tore them apart… A secret that calls into question everything that happened. And something that gives them a second chance at love.

He smelled like my childhood. Like the best years of my life… 

I wanted to bury my face in his shirt and breathe him in until I’d had my fill, but if this next week was ever going to work, I couldn’t let past feelings and history bleeding the picture. 

I couldn’t wreck him again — and I couldn’t let him wreck me.

Ohhhhhh you guys!! I could feel the emotional turmoil these characters were going through. Even though the whole story is written from her perspective, I found that I connected strongly to both of them. Even from the first moment that they saw each other when she came back to down, all the intense emotions between hit me strong. Tension. Anger. Love. Pain. Longing. Desire. Forgiveness. I felt it all!

Where had we gone wrong? Where had all of that love gone? I knew about the mistakes we’d made, sure, but how had we let them tear us apart? Why had we let them break us? Fast forward seven years to us living separate lives on opposite sides of the country, and I still felt like every part of me was being pulled in his direction.

Second chance romances have always been one of my most favorite kinds of stories to read because I love the feeling you get of seeing these two people who you know in your heart are meant for each other, but not yet knowing the reason behind why they were torn apart. Then as you read, you uncover their past and the missing pieces come together to complete the picture and pave the foundation for their future. I just love it. And while I have many favorites, I can definitely say that this was one of the best I’ve read!

The writing is also incredibly strong! As I read, I highlighted quotes non-stop! Such as this one…

“Because I love her. I don’t just stop loving someone because they made a mistake… When you love someone, do it right and love them forever. Don’t leave them wondering the whole time when it’s going to run out or expire.”

Boone was an incredible hero. Kind, protective, not afraid to stand up for his girl no matter who he was facing. Seriously I just wanted to hug him. And he has so many moments in the book that just made me want to cheer him on! I have no doubt that anyone who reads this book will fall in love with him too.

Clara was a really interesting heroine. I really liked her! I could feel her conflict over trying to and wanting to please her family, and yet needing to just stand on her own. Even though there were times that she did make more concessions than I probably wouldn’t have (for example, I would have been less forgiving of them than her), I appreciated her desire to be independent and loved watching her and Boone support each other.

Her family was downright awful. The things they said and did to them were just plain ugly! But the way that Clara and Boone stood together in the face of all the hate just made me so proud of them!

Actually, one of the things I loved most about the book was the way Clara and Boone actually talked to each other. Sure, there’d been misunderstandings in their past, but in the present day, it was crystal clear that they’d both matured over their years apart. I really appreciated seeing that clear contrast — it’s really nice to see that kind of character growth. I loved that they were quite communicative and openly discussed their feelings and issues. You could just tell that they were meant to be with each other. It just felt right.

“I’ve only ever had one someone special, and she turned me off to the whole idea of ever having another one.”

I read this book practically in one sitting. I wasn’t even intending to read the book at that particular time. I knew I wanted to read it at some point though so I just wanted to take a peek at the first chapter to see how I felt about it. Well, that chapter hooked me and before I knew it, I was half way through (and of course totally in love with it). By that time, I tried to put the book down for the night but then I just lay awake thinking about it so I had to get back up and keep on reading. I finished at 4AM with my heart filled with happiness. Don’t you just love it when a book captures your heart like that?? It’s the best feeling!

Here’s another example of how much I loved the book. I don’t buy paperback books until I know I’ve loved the story. That makes it so that everything I read is in eBook form, and then all the paperbacks on my shelves are all favorites. Literally making my bookshelves into “favorites shelves”. Well… I went and purchase the paperback of this book when I hit 50%. That almost never happens, but I already knew. There was no doubt this was going to be a favorite.

This book was absolutely wonderful. The writing was strong, the story was additive, the emotions were intense, and I fell in love with this couple. If you’re looking for a new book to be swept away in, try this!

Rating: 4.5 — 5 stars. Standalone New Adult Romance.

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That must be what he does — he uncovers your secrets, your fears, your flaws — and  he uses them against you. 

He did it to Celine.
And now he’s doing it to me.

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Thrilling, addictive, and filled with hidden secrets that kept me guessing the whole way through, He Will Be My Ruin kept me reading for hours without stopping. I loved it!

Technically, this is a Suspense novel, but I strongly feel like it’ll appeal to fans of Romance. It’s quite sexy even though it doesn’t tell a love story.  Maybe we can call it Sexy Suspense? That might work best.

Honestly, I’d best describe it as an incredibly solid read. By that I mean a few things. First, it’s very well written. KA Tucker has several books under her belt and I’ve loved her writing for a long time. But this book had clear strength to its writing that very much impressed me. Second, the plot was clearly was very throughly thought out (meaning, there’s really no fluff and everything happened for a reason as the layers of the story unfolded and came together). And finally, the story was quite believable. There was no suspension of believe or leap you had to take in order to believe what happened. It honestly felt quite like what I imagine could happen if a woman was investigating the suspicious death of her friend.

So, what’s the book about? Well, the blurb actually does a great job of giving you just enough to intrigue you, but not enough to ruin any plot points, so I’ll just paste that in:

The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series makes her suspense debut with this sexy, heartpounding story of a young woman determined to find justice after her best friend’s death, a story pulsing with the “intense, hot, emotional” (Colleen Hoover) writing that exhilarates her legions of fans.

A woman who almost had it all . . .

On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin. 

On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

The prologue is what immediately hooked me into the story. In the span of less than two pages, I was completely drawn into this woman’s life-threatening plight and countless questions about why she was there, how this happened, who did it, and more coursed through my mind.

I found it fascinating to read because you begin with just this simple story about a woman naturally and yet quietly curious about the circumstances surrounding her best friend’s supposed suicide and even though no one else wants to believe her, she relentlessly pursues her gut instinct. As she slowly begins to piece together and simultaneously unravel her late friend’s life, she finds these little things that don’t add up, or don’t fit into the picture correctly… clues that lead her to believe that maybe she was right all along.

But it’s such a natural progression as you read. The more she investigates, the more hidden secrets are revealed, and the clearer the picture (that no one else saw) becomes.

From a more technical standpoint, I found this book to be very well structured and paced. The chapters were just the right length. Each one revealed something new or in some way drove the story forward. And each one ended on a strong note that delivered appropriate oooomph!

I gingerly unfold the paper that’s obviously been handled many times, judging by the crinkles in it.

My eyes widen. 

A naked man fills one side. He’s entrancingly handsome… lying on his back, one muscular arm disappearing into the pillow beneath his head, a white sheet tangled around his legs, not quite covering the goods…

Who the hell is this guy and why didn’t I ever hear about him? And where is he now? Where were they together last?

Does he know that she’s dead?

…  I slowly fold the paper back up. Celine’s cursive scrawl decorates the back side in purple ink. Words I hadn’t noticed before.

Words that make my heart stop now.

‘This man was once my salvation. Now he will be my ruin.’

Along the way, I had certain suspicions about who I thought did what. I don’t want to give anything away but I’ll say that I was right about some things, wrong about others, and then some things just totally took me by surprise. I actually think it was a great balance, there was enough that I was ‘right’ about to make me feel good about my virtual sleuthing, but enough that I was surprised with to make me impressed with the intricacy of the story.

Here’s all I’ll say: TRUST YOUR GUT INSTINCT!

Haha this is the fun part about reading suspense stories — finding out whether or not you were right about your suspicions… or not?

This really was a fantastic, solid mystery suspense novel. It keeps you guessing, then makes you guess again. It has twists and turns you’ll never see coming and a cohesive, believable story that’ll make you wonder… who can you actually trust?

Rating: 4.5 stars. Standalone suspense novel.

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