Tsura

This is definitely an emotional ride. Tsura is such a passionate, heart-on-sleeve, and vibrant personality that the reader can’t help but be drawn into her journey. We feel her every soar of passion and romance, all her betrayals, her sorrows, and her struggle to survive. It’s an out-of-control train ride all the way up to the end, ratcheting up the emotional tension with each turn of the page.

At first, I wasn’t that impressed with Tsura. The actions she took in the beginning of the novel struck me the wrong way. Anybody willing to risk the life of those hiding them for a quickie against the outside wall of the house reads as selfish and ungrateful to me.

Yet, once she’s married and in Bucharest, away from Andrei really, I show more started to like her more and more. She grew as a character, maturing as the war and time progressed. She started to see that not everything is in shades of black or white and that the world is a crueler place than her dreams of married bliss with Andrei. Sometimes she would back slide into two-dimensional snap judgments and immature thought patterns, but those lessened in frequency as the book progressed.

I found the setting different from your usual WWII story. Nazi ally Romania isn’t an often written about spot. Seeing how they oppressed and persecuted their Jewish population, propagating huge pogroms like the Iasi pogrom and deporting to Transnistria yet refusing to give their Jews to the Nazis to send to the death camps was an interesting point. I also liked exploring the small resistance movement in Romania through Mihai’s and Tsura’s forging and spying activities.

I do have to say, though, that I ended the book ticked off rather than satisfied. It wasn’t a cliffhanger exactly; the reader isn’t left wondering if Tsura will survive a predicament or if Mihai will escape a situation.

However, there’s such a huge uptick in the emotional tension that builds and builds up to the very end with absolutely no resolution to come down from it. The emotions are of the gut-wrenching, soul-searing, heart-breaking variety. I was to the point of screaming at my Kindle with tears streaming down my cheeks.

And then suddenly: The End. Wait! What?!?!!? That was my reaction. The ending almost felt like emotional blackmail to get you to go get the second book right away. It worked on this reader; I’ve already gotten book two on my Kindle and have started it (thank God for Kindle Unlimited!). But that lack of any emotional resolution whatsoever really kills this book’s final impressions.

Great characters, emotional resonance that are off the charts, and an intriguing setting/timeframe of WWII make this an interesting read. Only the ending kills it; hopefully book two will end differently and give me a better impression of this duology. I’d recommend the book to lovers of romances and character studies in WWII; just have that second book prepared for instant reading and pretend that they’re all one book. Do that and I don’t think the abrupt ending will have as much power. show less

Looks can be deceiving. At first glance the novel's cover looks as if it's advertising paranormal romance, but upon reading it I was delighted to learn that it was indeed a WWII historical romance and the woman on the cover is the gypsy, Tsura. Forced into hiding, Tsura seeks refuge with an elderly couple and a young Jewish man who she falls madly in love with. One evening she is caught by two Nazis outside her hiding place and she is sure the end is near for a gypsy like her. Luckily one of the men is her older brother's best friend and he saves the day by claiming that Tsura is his fiance. In order to secure her safety he forges her identity and marries her, but it's a marriage on paper only, he won't touch her; he knows that she is show more in love with the Jewish boy. Tsura finds it hard to stomach being married to a man who works for the Nazis but she has little choice. Just when they think they are figuring out how to live with their farce of marriage trouble strikes. Will they be able to stand each other? How will they survive? Is evil only in black of white or in shades of gray? A fast paced, riveting read, perfect for fans of historical romance and WWII dramas. I can't wait to dive into the sequel to see how it ends.

I received this book for free from the author in return for my honest, unbiased review. show less