Available now:

The Bronze Horseman

Tatiana and Alexander

The Summer Garden

****4.5/5 stars

A grand, sweeping tale of romance, sex, and adventure against the backdrop of World War II Russia, and beyond

Recommended readers:

• If all-encompassing romance and sex in a decent historical backdrop is your thing, read this.
• If you are interested in a true war story with more unexpected and lasting effects, read City of Thieves by David Benioff instead. It is excellent, and proves that sometimes pure fiction is only half as interesting as someone’s actual life story.
• Better yet, keep your options open and your likes disparate, and read both.

Here’s my Rankings:

• 4/5 for characters
• 5/5 for plot
• 4.5/5 overall
• 4/5 steaminess

REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:

The Bronze Horseman series is one of those people REALLY seem to be obsessed with, drawing both lovers and haters, and not much in between.  I myself was both of these throughout, particularly through the first novel, in which you are introduced to a soldier and his girl in the midst of the Siege of Leningrad, aka The Most Selfish People On The Entire Planet. The rest of their story won me over, however, and I was glad I read it.

In short, there’s a lot going on here.  One reviewer said that it was a series that will hit you where you live, and I found that to be true, for myself as well as other reviewers who either praised it or mocked it from the origin point where they lived. Whether you read it for the sex, the romance, the war, the survival story, or the regular life that comes after,  she ties together all the wars of the 20th century like a historian- impressive- then tackles Communism, Americanism, marriage, love, sex, and children, all through the love story of  a mid century Russian woman who wants to work and a very flawed hero man with a serious case of shell shock and control issues that you for some reason can’t help but mostly adore. And all this by one author. Marvel at that, if nothing else. A lot of reviewers complained about this. I for one was pretty impressed.  Their story was huge, and I found myself along for the ride whether I liked it or not.   This is a historical romance that comes full circle and leaves nothing out. Usually you just get the love story; this one adds what happened next, and it’s not always pretty.