Stacy Alesi

THE FABERGE SECRET by Charles Belfoure

April 15, 2021

From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Charles Belfoure takes readers on a breathless journey from the gilded ballrooms of Imperial Russia to the grim violence of the pogroms, in his latest thrilling historical adventure.

St Petersburg, 1903. Prince Dimitri Markhov counts himself lucky to be a close friend of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. Cocooned by the glittering wealth of the Imperial court, the talented architect lives a life of luxury and comfort, by the side of his beautiful but spiteful wife, Princess Lara. But when Dimitri is confronted by the death and destruction wrought by a pogrom, he is taken aback. What did these people do to deserve such brutality? The tsar tells him the Jews themselves were to blame, but Dimitri can’t forget what he’s seen.

Educated and passionate, Doctor Katya Golitsyn is determined to help end Russian oppression. When she meets Dimitri at a royal ball, she immediately recognizes a kindred spirit, and an unlikely affair begins between them. As their relationship develops, Katya exposes Dimitri to the horrors of the Tsar’s regime and the persecution of the Jewish people, and he grows determined to make a stand . . . whatever the cost.

A novel set in the Russia of late 19th and early 20th century, a period leading up to both World War I and the Russian revolution. Dimitri Markhov is a Prince of the realm and consequently a member of a privileged class living a life of unbelievable luxury and completely insulated against the circumstances of most of the population. He has studied to become an architect and unlike most members of his social class works at the profession. He enjoys a friendship with Nicolas Romanov, the current Tsar of the country. He is in a loveless but sort of pleasant marriage with Lara who spends all her time in a life dedicated to maintaining her station using Dimitri’s money to do so.

Dimitri is suddenly confronted with a pogrom against a Jewish community and is forced to revise his opinion of Russia’s realities. His friend the Tsar is certain that the Jews are instigating the violence against themselves and openly condones a continued policy of pogroms.

Dr. Katya Golitsyn is a medical doctor and a member of a group opposed to the continuance of the status quo in Russia. She and Dimitri meet at a royal ball. They strike up a conversation finding a strange attraction stemming from the easy flow of the talk and understanding between them. Slowly but surely Katya draws Dimitri into a recognition of the realities of the real world and the horrors of life beyond the gay unfeeling existence of Dimitri’s peer group all the while finding a love between them.

The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 shows the depth of the poor leadership in Russia showcasing an easy win of the war by Japan coupled with the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Russian men. It also pushes the Tsar into fostering more actions against the Jews as a means of setting them up as scapegoats to blame the war’s loss on.

Belfoure has done an excellent job researching the period he writes about and makes it easy for the reader to enter into that world. I felt, though that his ending was too sudden and did not properly set up the characters in a situation that they would mostly have fallen into. Perhaps the author is planning a continuation of the book and is leaving the story open to more readily move into that. If he does so, I want to get that novel as well as others he will write also making that my suggestion for the reader.

4/2021 Paul Lane

THE FABERGE SECRET by Charles Belfoure. Severn House Publishers; Main edition (January 5, 2021). ISBN: 978-0727890863. 256 pages.

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SECOND FIRST IMPRESSIONS by Sally Thorne

April 14, 2021

From the publisher:

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Hating Game and 99 Percent Mine comes the clever, funny, and unforgettable story of a muscular, tattooed man hired as an assistant to two old women—under the watchful eye of a beautiful retirement home manager.

Dazzle (n): Brightness that blinds someone temporarily.

Position Vacant: Two ancient old women residing at Providence Retirement Villa seek male assistant for casual exploitation and good-natured humiliation. Duties include boutique shopping, fast-food fetching, and sincerely rendered flattery. Good looks a bonus—but we aren’t picky.

An advertisement has been placed (again!) by the wealthy and eccentric Parloni Sisters. The salary is generous and the employers are 90 years old, so how hard could the job be? Well, none have lasted longer than a week. Most boys leave in tears.

Ruthie Midona will work in Providence’s front office, and be at the Parloni’s beck and call, forever. That’s sort of her life plan. If Ruthie can run the place in her almost-retired bosses’ absence, with no hijinks/hiccups, she has a shot at becoming the new manager. She might also be able to defend her safe little world from Prescott Development, the new buyer of the prime site. Maybe after all that, she can find a cute guy to date. All she needs to do is stay serious—and that’s what she does best.

Until, one day, someone dazzling blows in to town.

Teddy Prescott devotes his life to sleeping, tattooing, and avoiding seriousness. When Teddy needs a place to crash, he makes a deal with his developer dad. Teddy can stay in one of Providence’s on-site maintenance cottages—right next door to an unimpressed Ruthie—but only if he works there and starts to grow up.

Ruthie knows how this sweetly selfish rich boy can earn his keep—and be out of her hair in under a week. After all, there is a position vacant…

It’s hard to believe in this day and age that there is a young woman, a twenty-five year old woman, who believes herself ready to live in a retirement village forever. Yet somehow it feels true here, and you can’t help but root for Ruthie to wake up and realize she has a whole lotta life in front of her.

When Ruthie’s boss goes on an extended vacation, she leaves Ruthie in charge, and she hires a temp, Mel, to help out. Things are changing at the retirement village though; there is a new owner, the Prescott family, and they are known for shaking things up. The first they did was give everyone’s contract an end date for the following year. But Ruthie is bound and determined to show them what a good little business this is. Providence is home to forty townhomes owned by very wealthy people, including the Parloni’s. Ruthie loves all her old people, but especially these two women, who are eccentric and entertaining. When the Prescotts show up, father and son, with the father seeking employment for his son, Teddy, the old women hire him.

Teddy is as laid back as it gets. A natural born wanderer, he couch surfs until he lands in Providence, where his job includes daily humiliation but somehow he doesn’t mind. Especially if he gets to live on the other side of the very thin wall from Ruthie. Ruthie is security and order, something his life has always lacked. But she cannot believe this gorgeous man could possible be interested in her.

Mel is determined to get Ruthie out into the dating world and works very hard at it. She forbids Ruthie from dating Teddy, explaining he is way out of her league but while Ruthie definitely believes that, she also can’t help falling for the sweet man. There are also endangered tortoises, business start-up stress, and a makeover – not to mention the angst these characters go through to find their happy ending.

This is another fun read from Thorne, who has become one of my go-to authors for light, humorous love stories. If you want to escape for a few hours, look no further.

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SECOND FIRST IMPRESSIONS by Sally Thorne. William Morrow Paperbacks (April 13, 2021). ISBN: 978-0062912855. 352 pages.

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THE BEIRUT PROTOCOL by Joel C. Rosenberg

April 13, 2021

A Marcus Ryker Series Political and Military Action Thriller, Book 4

From the publisher:

From the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author!

A game-changing peace treaty between Israel and the Saudis is nearly done.

The secretary of state is headed to the region to seal the deal.

And Special Agent Marcus Ryker is leading an advance trip along the Israeli-Lebanon border, ahead of the secretary’s arrival.

But when Ryker and his team are ambushed by Hezbollah forces, a nightmare scenario begins to unfold. The last thing the White House can afford is a new war in the Mideast that could derail the treaty and set the region ablaze. U.S. and Israeli forces are mobilizing to find the hostages and get them home, but Ryker knows the clock is ticking.

When Hezbollah realizes who they’ve captured, no amount of ransom will save them―they’ll be transferred to Beirut and then to Tehran to be executed on live television.

In the fourth installment of Rosenberg’s gripping new series, Marcus Ryker finds himself in the most dangerous situation he has ever faced―captured, brutalized, and dragged deep behind enemy lines.

Should he wait to be rescued? Or try to escape? How? And what if his colleagues are too wounded to run?

This is the CIA’s most valuable operative as you have never seen him before.

Joel C. Rosenberg is the author of 16 novels, the majority set in a Middle East background. He has an uncanny knack of hitting upon situations in that region that that are in the process of occurring or shortly do take place. His current novel, although published with the situation in place was undoubtedly written prior to the epic signing of peace agreements between Israel and previous enemies of theirs. These accords are, therefore, prophetic in nature although certainly based on the author’s close knowledge of regional shifts.

Marcus Ryker is the main protagonist in the novel, and an individual that has appeared previously in four of Rosenberg’s books. The story opens with Ryker leading a small force out of Israel reconnoitering the border with Lebanon in preparation for the forthcoming visit of the U.S. president’s envoy in order to take part in the signing of the negotiated peace accords. They have not crossed the border out of Israel but are attacked by a contingent of Hezbollah soldiers coming from Lebanon. Most of the accompanying Israeli troops are killed in the attack and Marcus, his assistant, and an Israeli minor officer are taken prisoner. The attack and the abductions are seemingly without reason with both the Israelis and Lebanese authorities blindsided by the attack and the kidnappings.

By coincidence at the same time as the attack the supreme leader of Iran passes away from the cancer he has been fighting with infighting among the ruling committee beginning to shape up to name the successor. What does Iran and it’s changing of rulers have to do with the kidnapping is a basic part of the reasons for that happening. Other factors involved in the unfolding events are first that Marcus’ assistant is a female and certainly in danger of being raped and the Israeli minor official is the nephew of the Prime Minister. And there is another coincidence involved when one of the Hezbollah soldiers taking part in the raid turns out to be the younger brother of one of the main officers of that group.

Marcus and his two companions are subjected to beatings and torture to obtain any information they may have. Certainly, if Hezbollah knew of Marcus’ true identify they would publicly execute him or even sell him to Iran for their public trial and subsequent execution. And bringing the Israeli Prime Minister to a trial would be devastating for that country. The group was prepared for these eventualities and had false IDs ready. The Hezbollah are led to believe that they have three Americans in their hands all employees of the State Department. Thinking possibly to have sold their captives as Israelis the price goes up when it is thought that they now have three Americans to barter.

Rosenberg has given his readers one continuous adrenaline rush from the start with the capture by terrorists to an ending which clearly sets up the next book by the author. An all-night read – of course how could it be anything but.

4/2021 Paul Lane

THE BEIRUT PROTOCOL by Joel C. Rosenberg. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (March 9, 2021). ISBN: 978-1496437891. 364 pages.

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THE NINE LIVES OF ROSE NAPOLITANO by Donna Freitas

April 6, 2021

From the publisher:

A deeply moving novel about a woman who thought she never wanted to be a mother–and the many ways that life can surprise us

In every woman there are many stories . . .

Rose Napolitano is fighting with her husband, Luke, about prenatal vitamins. She promised she’d take them, but didn’t. He promised before they got married that he’d never want children, but now he’s changed his mind. Their marriage has come to rest on this one question: Can Rose find it in herself to become a mother? Rose is a successful professor and academic. She’s never wanted to have a child. The fight ends, and with it their marriage.

But then, Rose has a fight with Luke about the vitamins–again. This time the fight goes slightly differently, and so does Rose’s future as she grapples with whether she can indeed give up the one thing she thought she knew about herself. Can she reimagine her life in a completely new way? That reimagining plays out again and again in each of Rose’s nine lives, just as it does for each of us as we grow into adulthood. What are the consequences of our biggest choices? How would life change if we let go of our preconceived ideas of ourselves and became someone completely new? Rose Napolitano’s experience of choosing and then choosing again shows us in an utterly compelling way what it means, literally, to reinvent a life and, sometimes, become a different kind of woman than we ever imagined.

A stunning novel about love, loss, betrayal, divorce, death, a woman’s career and her identity, The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano is about finding one’s way into a future that wasn’t the future one planned, and the ways that fate intercedes when we least expect it.

After several young adult and nonfiction books (Consent: A Memoir of Unwanted Attention,) Freitas debuts an extraordinary, multi-faceted novel for adults. Rose Napolitano is a young woman on the precipice of a life-changing decision: whether to have a child. A staunch feminist professor of sociology, Rose has never wanted children. She was explicit about that while dating her husband, Luke, and he proclaimed that he was of the same mind. But a few years into their seemingly happy marriage, his parents start exerting their influence in hopes of getting a grandchild. Luke caves, and eventually Rose agrees to start taking prenatal vitamins, and that is where the story starts. And starts again. Because this is no ordinary story of a young couple moving on to the next stage of familyhood; instead we get a glimpse into all the different lives Rose could have. Nine different lives, some more fully realized than others. Starting one morning in 2006, Rose and Luke fight over the prenatal vitamins, and the outcome of that fight changes depending on the life Rose chooses, from having a baby or not, to affairs or not, to the breakup of the marriage or not, until it ends in 2025.

Verdict: This is a serious yet fantastical look at relationships, family, and feminism told in a unique voice, and book groups should take note. The closest readalikes are Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and Replay by Ken Grimwood.

I’ve seen this compared to the movie Sliding Doors, (available on Amazon Prime, IMDB TV, & Hoopla,) so I watched it. The movie is a shallow comparison. Once again, Pamela Dorman Books comes through for me. Don’t miss it.

©Library Journal, 2021

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE NINE LIVES OF ROSE NAPOLITANO by Donna Freitas. Pamela Dorman Books (April 6, 2021). ISBN 978-1984880598. 384 pages.

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ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED by Farah Heron

April 3, 2021

From the publisher:

A “delectable” romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement to the boy next door to enter a couples cooking contest (Farrah Rochon, USA Today bestselling author).

When it comes to bread, Reena Manji knows exactly what she’s doing. She treats her sourdough starters like (somewhat unruly) children. But when it comes to Reena’s actual family—and their constant meddling in her life—well, that recipe always ends in disaster.

Now Reena’s parents have found her yet another potential Good Muslim Husband. This one has the body of Captain America, a delicious British accent, and lives right across the hall. He’s the perfect, mouthwatering temptation . . . and completely ruined by the unwelcome side dish of parental interference.

Reena refuses to marry anyone who works for her father. She won’t be attracted to Nadim’s sweet charm or gorgeous lopsided smile. That is, until the baking opportunity of a lifetime presents itself: a couples’ cooking competition with the prize of her dreams. Reena will do anything to win—even asking Nadim to pretend they’re engaged. But when it comes to love, baking your bread doesn’t always mean you get to eat it too.

Featured in Buzzfeed, Brit & Co, PopSugar, Oprah.com, Goodreads, The Nerd Daily and Frolic

This was such a fun read. I loved the characters and really feel like I got to know them, especially the main characters but even some of the secondary characters. I always love any kind of food connection, especially when it is food I’m not as familiar with and this book checked off all those boxes. Lots of tension, drama, and of course a happily ever after!

Reena has a large, very close family. It’s bad enough her father just hired someone in hopes she would marry him; he also gave him the apartment across the hall from Reena. The attraction is real until Reena finds out about the matchmaking. She is determined to find her own man, despite how many men her dad and her aunties bring by for her.

There is a lot of humor here with the family and with the cooking competition and I mean laugh out loud funny, but the sexual tension is also high. I couldn’t put down this swoon-worthy read and I highly recommend it.

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ACCIDENTALLY ENGAGED by Farah Heron. Forever (March 2, 2021). ISBN 978-1538734988. 368 pages.

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A MAN AT ARMS by Steven Pressfield

April 2, 2021

From the publisher:

From the acclaimed master of historical fiction comes an epic saga about a reluctant hero, the Roman Empire, and the rise of a new faith.

Jerusalem and the Sinai desert, first century AD. In the turbulent aftermath of the crucifixion of Jesus, officers of the Roman Empire acquire intelligence of a pilgrim bearing an incendiary letter from a religious fanatic to insurrectionists in Corinth. The content of this letter could bring down the empire.

The Romans hire a former legionary, the solitary man-at-arms, Telamon of Arcadia, to intercept the letter and capture its courier. Telamon operates by a dark code all his own, with no room for noble causes or lofty beliefs. But once he overtakes the courier, something happens that neither he nor the empire could have predicted.

In his first novel of the ancient world in thirteen years, the best-selling author of Gates of Fire and Tides of War returns with a gripping saga of conquest and rebellion, bloodshed and faith.

Steven Pressfield very aptly brings us back into the tumultuous world of the Roman Empire at a time when Christianity was spreading throughout the known world. The period was the second century A.D. with Rome actively attempting to crush the spread of the religion due to the feeling that belief would negate loyalty to the empire. The protagonist used by Pressfield as the principal character is Telamon of Arcadia. Telamon is a veteran of army service with one of the Roman legions in which he spent almost 20 years as a mercenary. He fought wherever he was sent and against anyone selected as an enemy of the Roman empire. It is important to note that the Roman legionnaire undoubtedly was the best trained in the world at that time. Telamon is currently in Judea which was conquered by Rome and found almost impossible to administer.

The story begins with a young boy named David spots Telamon being arrested. The warrior drops his kit while being taken away and David picks it up following him. During his arrest Telamon is approached by the commander of the legion he served in and offered money to do a certain job for Rome. A man and his young daughter who was deaf and dumb had been arrested at the same time as Telamon but had seized a horse and escaped. The commander of the Roman troop broached that Telamon would be well paid if he went after the escapees and brought back a letter held by the father and which had a great value due it’s attachment to the new religion.

David took the opportunity to bring Telamon’s kit to him and succeeded in attaching himself to the man. Later, when the warrior came upon the girl and her father, the girl also became part of the small group when it was learned that it was her not the father who had the valuable letter. Along with a lady named as “witch” and not totally in sync with the others the four travel throughout the world around Judea. Their adventures and findings are certainly within the range of very probable based on the research evidenced on the part of the author for this book. He has written other well received books in the past and is famous for the quality of the research going into his novels. It has been too long a period since his last book and I would hope that we will see his next work in due course.

4/2021 Paul Lane

A MAN AT ARMS by Steven Pressfield. W. W. Norton & Company (March 2, 2021). ISBN: 978-0393540970. 336 pages.

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CORONAVIRUS DIARY: April 1, 2021

April 1, 2021

No April Fool’s Day here…

Meet Jonah Arlo Alesi, my first grandchild! Today was Jonah’s due date, but as my daughter-in-law put it, “Our April Fools baby played the ultimate prank and arrived a month early!” Yes, Jonah arrived 4 weeks early, all 5 pounds, 5 oz. of him. He hung around the hospital for a bit, but came home in time for his grandparents to visit. He is the first grandchild on both sides, and we are all beyond thrilled!

Needless to say my time and attention has been focused elsewhere these days, but I will be back here posting soon enough. I just looked at my list and I have over 20 books to review! I have definitely been slacking. So for a sneak preview, here are some thoughts on the historical romances I’ve read lately.

I’ll start with Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta Chase, the second entry in the Difficult Dukes series, which I loved – Chase is always a sure thing for me, as is Lorraine Heath. Heath’s latest, Scoundrel of My Heart, is the first book of a new series, Once Upon a Dukedom, and was a fast, sexy read. I am looking forward to the next book.

The Worst Duke in the World by Lisa Berne, is book 5 of the Penhallow Dynasty and it was a really fun read. How can you not like a book that features a loveable pig named Duchess? I didn’t love the only other book I’d read by this author, but this one will lead me to read more Berne for sure.

Never Kiss a Duke is the first book of a new series, Hazards of Dukes, by Megan Frampton, another must read author for me. She always tells a good story, and I love her sense of humor. Eva Leigh has the third book in her Union of the Rakes series, Waiting for a Scot Like You, and it was terrific! She’s another author that I never miss.

One of my long time favorites, Eloisa James, has a new addition to her Wildes of Lindow Castle series, Wilde Child, that was a total delight, especially if you are a fan of Shakespeare. When she isn’t writing bestselling historical romances (over 7,000,000 in print!), James is a Shakespeare professor at Fordam University, and that knowledge comes into play here, with fascinating results. I am trusting that her explanation of why actors call Macbeth the “Scottish play” and never say the name in the theater is true and not what I’d heard before. Worth the read for that tidbit alone!

A new-to-me author, Amalie Howard, wrote The Rakehell of Roth, the second book of the Regency Rogues series, but I hadn’t read the first book. No matter, this was an enjoyable read – enough that I am going to find the first book to read. Plus I loved the oh-so-purple cover! Another new author for me was Eva Devon, and I loved The Spinster and the Rake, the first book of her Never a Wallflower series, which the publisher describes as “blend of My Fair Lady meets Pride and Prejudice with a twist!” That worked for me!

I am also extremely grateful that my husband and I got our first Covid Vaccines. We are due for the second one next week. It hasn’t been easy in Florida with a governor who is most concerned with his big donors and not at all concerned with keeping everyone or anyone else alive or safe. He gave exclusive vaccine rights to Publix after a quarter of a million donation from Publix. Communities where large donations were made got pushed to the head of the line for vaccines. Fun times in Florida.

Florida officials call for FBI to investigate governor Ron DeSantis ‘for linking vaccines to donations’

The announcement that the state is partnering with Publix on vaccination sites comes a month after the supermarket chain made four $25K donations to governor’s political committee.

Back to my sweet grandson – I miss him and my son and daughter-in-law terribly. Jonah is changing so much day to day! Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

As always, thanks for reading and stay safe!

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WIN by Harlan Coben

March 31, 2021

In this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller from Harlan Coben, a dead man’s secrets fall into the hands of a vigilante antihero—drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family’s estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors — and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead — not only on Patricia’s kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case — with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III — or Win, as his few friends call him — doesn’t know how his suitcase and his family’s stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism — and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn’t: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.

The very versatile Harlan Coben presents a new character in his latest book. He uses his Myron Bolitar series of novels as a point of departure to give life to Windsor Home Lockwood III. or Win as he is called. Win had the good fortune to be born a member of the old money super rich crowd. He has no need to work but has kept himself busy and one of his skills is knowledge of most of the unarmed offensive techniques that exist including karate, Jiu Jitsu and others. A veritable walking weapon but not a bully. He counts Myron as one of his good friends and there are enough references to Bolitar and his sayings and opinions to solidify the relationship. Myron is an ex-basketball player who has become a sports agent and continually finds himself involved in solving murders for his clients. The initial novel with Win puts him into a similar position having to investigate not only murder but decades old disappearances of people.

Twenty years ago Win’s cousin Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a home robbery of her house and kept in a remote cabin for several months subject to constant rape. She managed to escape but neither the attackers nor the items they stole during the robbery were ever found. Fast forward to the present when a rich recluse was found murdered in his upscale westside Manhattan apartment. When the police arrive, they find a painting by Vermeer and a leather suitcase both traced to Win Lockwood. He decides to look into the situation and finds himself involved with the disappearance of six people and his cousin’s kidnapping all occurring at the same time about twenty years ago.

The novel utilizes Win as the sole narrator and he is given a wisecracking personality as well as a showcase for the wisdom of Myron Bolitar, who does not appear but is referenced several times. I’m in the position of being a fan of the author reading everything he writes. I therefore look forward to Win joining Harlan Coben’s list of go to characters and getting his share of adventure either with or without Myron.

3/2021 Paul Lane

WIN by Harlan Coben. Grand Central Publishing (March 16, 2021). ISBN: 978-1538748213. 384 pages.

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Eternal by Lisa Scottoline

March 30, 2021

From the publisher:

#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline offers a sweeping and shattering epic of historical fiction fueled by shocking true events, the tale of a love triangle that unfolds in the heart of Rome…in the creeping shadow of fascism.

What war destroys, only love can heal.

Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as the best of friends despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist; Marco the brash and athletic son in a family of professional cyclists; and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy, kind-hearted and thoughtful, the son of a lawyer and a doctor. Their friendship blossoms to love, with both Sandro and Marco hoping to win Elisabetta’s heart. But in the autumn of 1937, all of that begins to change as Mussolini asserts his power, aligning Italy’s Fascists with Hitler’s Nazis and altering the very laws that govern Rome. In time, everything that the three hold dear–their families, their homes, and their connection to one another–is tested in ways they never could have imagined.

As anti-Semitism takes legal root and World War II erupts, the threesome realizes that Mussolini was only the beginning. The Nazis invade Rome, and with their occupation come new atrocities against the city’s Jews, culminating in a final, horrific betrayal. Against this backdrop, the intertwined fates of Elisabetta, Marco, Sandro, and their families will be decided, in a heartbreaking story of both the best and the worst that the world has to offer.

Unfolding over decades, Eternal is a tale of loyalty and loss, family and food, love and war–all set in one of the world’s most beautiful cities at its darkest moment. This moving novel will be forever etched in the hearts and minds of readers.

I have been a long time Scottoline fan; I love her legal mysteries, her standalone thrillers, and her nonfiction, often written with her daughter, Francesca Serritella. But this book opens a whole new chapter for Scottoline. She told me this was the book she has always wanted to write, and that it took her twenty years to get here. I imagine a lot of that time was spent researching, as the details in this story ring true.

I have read many books set during the Holocaust, or around it, but this book, Eternal, was different. Many years ago I visited the Temple in Rome, and saw the Jewish ghetto, but this book brought it to life. I got to know the people and how they lived. Most importantly, Scottoline captures this very specific slice of Italian history but in a very personal way, through her characters of Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro.

Difficult at times but always engrossing, this is an excellent read. Historical fiction about WWII abounds, but for me at least, this was a fresh new angle, and how often do you hear that. Book groups will find lots to talk about, so take note. Reviews have been uniformly excellent, and I concur. Sure to make my best books of the year list – don’t miss it!

3/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ETERNAL by Lisa Scottoline. G.P. Putnam’s Sons; 1st edition (March 23, 2021). ISBN: 978-0525539766 . 480 pages.

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From Paul Lane

This novel is a five star book of course, but I found it so much more. It is also an emotional adventure that cannot be left in mid read. Must be finished in one captivating gulp. The theme is the coming of age of three people in a period of turmoil in Italy. The country had been taken over by Benito Mussolini in 1922 when as head of the newly formed fascist party set up a coup d’état becoming dictator of the country. Italians knew that any form of dissent would be met with repression, up to and including death.

Elisabetta, Marco and Sandro are the three principal characters utilized to tell the story. They were friends from childhood loving each other at first platonically, then later moving into romantic love. Elisabetta wondered which of the others she would eventually marry and both Marco and Sandro grew into dreams of being with her. Sandro was Jewish and faced his parent’s desire for him to marry within the religion. Growing up and looking for their future is interrupted by World War II and Mussolini bringing Italy into the war on Germany’s side. In order to please Hitler Mussolini promulgated a set of laws and rules modeled after the infamous Nurenberg laws that in effect removed Jews and certain other minorities from Italian citizenship. Also taking away their ability to work, own businesses and practice their religion. Eventually the Nazis took over Italy to prevent the country from moving towards alliances with the allies who were at war with Germany.

Elisabetta, Marco and Sandro come of age in this strained climate existing in Italy. The situation goes from bad to worse as Nazi troops stationed in Rome where the three live become a law unto themselves demanding and getting without possibility of review anything they desire. The author tells of a situation in which the Nazis demand a huge amount of gold from the Jewish community to benefit the German army. If they don’t come up with the gold the threat is that 200 Jews will be transferred out of the area. The community with help from others, including the Vatican manage to raise the gold. Not a surprise when the Nazis do send 200 Jews out ending up in the death camp at Auschwitz.

My recommendation for any reader is to read this novel and possibly make the same determination as I did which is that it is a classic. I am not in a position to indicate if it is Scottoline’s best book. She does have many excellent works to her credit and there is no problem in reading others and enjoying them.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi

WE COULD BE HEROES by Mike Chen

March 18, 2021

Jack Swyteck Novel, Book 17

From the publisher:

An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.

Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.

Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.

When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.

Our story opens as a young man is holding up a bank. Not with a gun mind you, but by controlling the minds of the bank personnel and the people currently at the bank intending to do the normal business one does while there. A woman he has just mind controlled falls down and our hero Jamie begins to fret about what happened to her to cause her collapse. Just then, Zoe, a part-time deliverer of meals and a woman possessed of super strength and the ability to fly jumping off tall buildings with a single bound, appears on the scene with the obvious intent of capturing Jamie and delivering him to the police. In the melee occurring with the robbery and the fainting of the woman, Jamie escapes and Zoe goes back to delivering the meal she is carrying.

Shortly after, the dynamic duo quite unexpectedly meets in a memory loss support group that both have been attending. You see superman and wonder woman each have the same experience. Their memories only go back two years when they awoke in an apartment and began trying to resurrect a past that is beyond them while coming to grips with the superpowers they have. The bright idea of teaming up to work on recuperating their memories hits them both and so they begin. Hard to tell if Chen is writing a comedy or attempting to begin stories of super heroes but both our leading characters turn out to be more than a little neurotic.

Their search for their roots and subsequent falling in love is entertaining and charming. What happens to them and the results of their search is documented in a plot grounded in science fiction and the description of two flawed characters seeking out their roots while handling a really diverse world not too friendly to them. An attractive book and one conducive to cause readers to look for more of the same in future novels.

3/2021 Paul Lane

WE COULD BE HEROES by Mike Chen. MIRA; Original edition (January 26, 2021). ISBN: 978-0778331391. 336 pages.