King of My Scars by Abby North; Whoever Romances in Vegas Stays in Vegas

 

King of My Scars by Abby North; Whoever Romances in Vegas Stays in Vegas

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Abby North’s Suspenseful Romance novel, King of My Scars, can be a bit paint by numbers in terms of romance but it doesn't shy away from darker and more disturbing topics like domestic abuse, battered person syndrome, stalking, and self-esteem issues.

Ariana has fled her abusive husband, Aaron. She leaves their swank Los Angeles home for Las Vegas hoping to move on. She is rescued in a tight spot by Denham King, hotelier, who moves her to one of his penthouse suites. He's handsome, charming, helpful, and kind but Ariana is reluctant to pursue a romance with him. She has had two previous bad relationships and isn't sure she is ready for #3. Then again the third time could be the charm.

Ariana is a strong yet vulnerable lead character. North expertly details how her trauma affected many of her actions in the present. Her trauma is realistically described and depicted and despite being put into a new romance. It doesn't shy away from her fear and reluctance to embark on another serious relationship.

That she has had two abusive relationships is a very understandable detail. She fled her first boyfriend Jonny who stalked her so much that she moved cross country and changed her name. When she encountered Aaron, she was susceptible to the love bombing, the manipulation, the controlling masquerading as caring, and the sharp criticisms coming from her latest lover.

While one would expect Ariana to recognize the signs and flee immediately from the scene, that isn't always the case. She was so determined to believe that her prior relationship was a one-time thing that she justified the abuse until it was too late. There is also a part of her that believed that she deserved the abuse that she was given. 

She emerged as someone with low self-esteem, PTSD, and battered person syndrome. She may have been able to physically leave the situation but mentally and emotionally, she's still there.

This perspective helps to understand the context of her struggles so they make sense. She is in danger a few times and is rescued by Denham. While it can be cringy and some would say dated, in this specific situation it works. She has extreme PTSD from both of her bad relationships so of course she would be on edge and feel helpless. These situations probably aren't helping either.

Ariana is naturally cynical and mistrusts Denham. Even though he's handsome, wealthy, charming, and empathetic, she is still living in the mindset of reluctance and caution that were her survival instincts during her previous relationships. After all, if Aaron was able to play the part of a nice guy before revealing his true colors, who’s to say that Denham isn't doing the same?

I don't know if North intended this but there are times when the Reader doubts Denham 's sincerity. There are a few red flags like when he uses his vast wealth to solve problems, hides information from Ariana, or veers towards arrogance. While Denham is written as a better alternative to Ariana's exes, he could become yet another abuser in her life and Ariana might have fallen into familiar and toxic territory. 

Perhaps these are traits that make Denham a multi-layered flawed character, but it could also be a commentary that Ariana’s suspicions are not entirely wrong. At least, Denham is aware of those traits and works on them so Ariana doesn't end up with more of the same.

The Las Vegas setting is also a subtle play on the book's themes of relationships. It is a city of glitz and spectacle where one can't always tell fantasy from reality at first. Someone is drawn to a casino for the atmosphere and the opportunity to win easy money. A few hours later they give away their life savings and have to go to Gambler's Anonymous. 

Ariana’s exes and Denham are like that, good looking, flashy, charming, charismatic and appear like nice guys to her. She is drawn in by the fantasy and then is left battered by the reality of her ex's abusive natures. 

What sets Denham apart from them, is that he is able to transcend the initial illusion that often comes with first meeting someone who creates instant attraction. He is able to show through his actions that he is a good man and has the patience to wait for Ariana to recognize that. 

He is the reality of love that lives within the Vegas illusions and helps Ariana to live in that reality as well. 

Where The Streetlight Ends by Bradley Butts; Being Laramie Buchanan Another Boulder Girl by Cynthia L. Clark, The Courage of Two Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer and The Fight For Freedom of Conscience in Early America by Nancy Kelley

 

Where The Streetlight Ends by Bradley Butts

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery 

Bradley Butts’ Horror Anthology is a strange but brilliant combination of classic supernatural campfire tales and postmodern existentialist terror. It reminds us that when it comes to paranormal horror, evil can be found in any form, in any setting, and in any time.

“The Doodle”

Alex, a high school student, has written conversations with a sentient doodled figure on the wall. 

The conflict between The Doodle and Alex are chilling as The Doodle recognizes and uses Alex's loneliness for friends and skepticism against him. The Doodle is a character that intentionally starts out as welcoming and friendly. There are moments where its presence is almost adorable like when it tells Alex that it is his friend. 

It becomes possessive and sinister when it feels abandoned by Alex. For example, it doesn't understand the concept of weekends when Alex is not in school. The smiley face becomes a frown and the wide curious eyes are narrowed in anger. It defaces Alex's notebooks and desks, calls him a bad friend, and threatens to kill him.

Alex's curiosity and eventual terror are multiplied because for a long time believes that he is having conversations with a human who is sending secret messages. His insistence that he is stalked by a human adversary is a means to gain control of this creepy situation. If he attributes it to a human something that can be stopped by normal means like expulsion or arrest. A supernatural presence in the form of a living drawing resists being defeated or contained so could stalk a human in perpetuity.

“The Strange Sound”

A sound affects all who hear it, particularly most of the student body of a high school.

This story recognizes the value of not displaying or telling much and leaving our imagination to do the heavy lifting. We are not given specifics of what the sound is as witnesses compare it to a hum or a whisper. We aren't told where it comes from, why certain students are affected, or what the whispers actually say that upset those who hear it.

The physical, mental, and emotional changes are the focus. The narrator's friend, Sara is one of the first to hear it and she goes from a bright curious teen to a catatonic zombie. She becomes languid, inert, lethargic and is devoid of energy and vitality.

The sound affects other classmates until over half of the student body is afflicted leaving friends, classmates, educators, families, and the entire town at a loss. The physical and mental impact of an unexplained phenomena affecting almost an entire generation cannot be overstated as the kids deal with the mysterious strain of this phenomena and their surviving loved ones have to cope with the loss and aftermath.

“Hangman on the Dark Web”

An innocent round of the spelling game Hangman becomes all too real for the young man playing it on the confidential and exploitative Dark Web.

Many of the stories deal with the fear that can be found through modern technology. This and the next story deal with that subject. This one attacks online fascination with the ghoulish, violence, forbidden, bizarre, and morbid particularly on the Dark Web.

The game goes from a spelling time waster to a psychological trap. The Gamemaster reveals personal information that the Narrator never said. Instead of a generic stick figure in the noose ready to meet its maker, the figure is all too familiar to the helpless Narrator. The only thing that he can do is play to rescue the doomed character.

While many of the stories don't have much of an explanation of where the creepy events originated, this story provides a few hints. The puzzle’s resolution, a famous literary quote, provides a clue. It indicates that the Narrator brought this disaster on himself for being overly curious, not cautious enough, and meddled into dark places where he doesn't belong. To quote the movie Wargames, “The best way to win is not to play.”

“The Filter”

Chloe uses a new filter on her selfie and her picture and face go through painful changes.

This is the second tech related story and covers another online obsession: using AI and filters to improve one's appearance and to make them look more attractive and flawless to followers.  

As Chloe changes her picture, she finds her face becoming painfully distorted to match the image. It does not skimp in describing the torture as her eyes enlarge, her skin is stretched, and her bone structure is manipulated. She is in agony.

Most readers would probably wonder why Chloe doesn't stop altering the filter but it appears that she can't. She is compelled and addicted to changing her appearance and can't stop even when she wants to. She is deprived of her personality and free will and turns into something that only exists to be looked at.

“The Beckoning Call of Black Hollow”

David visits an abandoned wooded area for his forestry studies and is frightened by the local monsters.

After covering modern sensibilities with two tech heavy stories, this one returns to basics. It's a campfire tale about the monsters in the woods with some interesting twists. This story has a strong ominous atmosphere. Everything from the winding trees, the magnified sounds and smells, and the chill in the air already gives an unsettling energy even before the creepy stuff happens. Of course once they start, it gets worse. 

David hears disembodied voices call his name and imitate people in his life to draw him outside to respond. He was warned not to respond to the voices and or go outside to see where they are coming from. This is advice he follows to the letter proving that he has more intelligence and common sense than most horror protagonists. It reminds readers that sometimes what you suspect and hear  can be just as frightening as what you do see.

The monsters themselves are a slight letdown as the approaching feelings and voices were much scarier than their physical presence. However, they are clearly inspired by the most recent infamous monsters that have haunted the Internet and social media communities for a few years now. It adds a current sheen to old tales by saying that the monsters might change appearance but the fears are the same. The fears of loneliness, isolation, the dark, insanity, and the possibility of evil. Those will never leave.

Being Laramie Buchanan Another Boulder Girl by Cynthia L. Clark

Cynthia L. Clark’s Being Laramie Buchanan has a decent lead character with a lot of depth and layers. Unfortunately, it gives her a substandard plot that alternates between too much and not enough.

Laramie Buchanan has plenty of problems. Her mother has died and her father is consumed with grief. She hovers between her job as an events coordinator at an art gallery and Yoga studies. Her love life is also complicated. Her romance with restaurateur Vick ends badly and she is interested in Chance who assists at the resort where she attends her Yoga retreat.

It's an odd contrast when a book succeeds so well with their protagonist but falters so much with the plot that is put around her. The strength of Laramie's character cannot overcome the weakness of the plot or plots. Some things are over explained either in dialogue or narration.The book can't decide whether it's a romance, a family drama, a woman's fiction, a thriller, or a bildungsroman.More twists and unnecessary complications are thrown in a book that didn't need more of them.

It's a shame that Laramie Buchanan does not live in a better book. 

The Courage of Two: Anne Hutchinson, Mary Dyer, and The Fight For Freedom of Conscience in Early America by Nancy Kelley 

This is a review summary. The full review is on LitPick 

Nancy Kelley’s Courage of Two Anne Hutchinson, Mary Dyer, and The Fight For Freedom of Conscience in Early America is a fascinating account of two women who stood for their beliefs, made their opinions known, and refused to be silent in the face of adversity

This is a nonfiction book about Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer, two women who offended the religious establishment in the 1660s with their outspoken views on religion. Hutchinson preached from the Bible during private meetings and Dyer’s embrace of Quakerism put them at the center of controversies in which they were persecuted, arrested, tried, and threatened with exile and death.

Hutchinson showed a lot of spunk and knowledge in sessions and when being confronted by authority. Her Biblical studies were quite detailed and academic. She also had a witty, almost sardonic way of defending herself especially during her trials. Her words offended the Puritan community and she was eventually banished. 

The other deuteragonist, Mary Dyer, had a slow start in the book. She started out as one of Hutchinson’s students and strongest defenders. 

After Hutchinson died, Dyer came into her own. She joined The Society of Friends AKA The Quakers, a sect that Hutchinson would have fit in perfectly. Puritans considered Quakers, especially Quaker women, a threat. They made Dyer an example of their hatred sending her to her death and Quaker martyrdom.

People who are interested in religion will look at women of the past practicing their faith and living according to their beliefs. But even those who are interested in history will be interested in this book about two women remembered for challenging patriarchal authority.

Runebound (The Last Rune of Rungardvik Book 1) by Alessa M. Norwen; Evocative Historical Fantasy About a Kingdom in the Crossroads of Great Spiritual Change

 

Runebound (The Last Rune of Rungardvik Book 1) by Alessa M. Norwen; Evocative Historical Fantasy About a Kingdom in the Crossroads of Great Spiritual Change

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers: Alessa M. Norwen’s evocative Historical Fantasy Runebound, the first book in her The Last Rune of Rungardvik series is about a kingdom caught in the crossroads of great change. Change in religion, change in alliances, change in expected gender and social roles, and a change in conflict and diplomatic relationships between separate kingdoms.

Milena, Princess of Mecklenburg, is arranged to marry Heinrich of Lundberg of the Saxon House of Welf to secure Mecklenburg's standing within the Holy Roman Empire. She is not happy about being sold and given away like a bargaining chip. 

Milena fights her own way. Despite the kingdom being Christian, Milena secretly studies the old Pagan religion and practices intuitive and clairvoyant abilities. She uses her secret practice to fight against this arrangement and to carve her own path.

Milena is a character who strives to find her own agency and independence despite this Christian upbringing which tells her that she should be submissive to male authority like her father, future husband, and the Church. It's a man's world and Milena is told that she has no choice but to accept it.

As previously mentioned Runebound features a kingdom that is on the crossroads of change. Mecklenburg in Pomerania was largely pagan and had several small enclaves with chieftains. Milena's mother, Woizlava was the descendant of pagan chieftains and still practices the old ways though she outwardly identifies as a Christian. 

Her husband, Milena's father Pribislav is a Christian and expects his family to follow suit. However though he holds the Church in high esteem, his conversion has less to do with spiritual reasons and more to do with pragmatism. The Holy Roman Empire is a formidable force that is expanding. Pribislav is simply backing the right horse and siding with the winner.

Milena also recognizes this division through two people in charge of her education: Bishop Anselm, head of the church and Pribislav’s spiritual advisor and Dobrawa, Woizlava’s midwife who trained her in the pagan arts in secret and is now doing the same to Milena. These two represent the clashing faiths that surround the story because unlike Melania’s parents who had to compromise who they were, Anselm and Dobrawa will not.

Bishop Anselm is a conniving manipulator who uses the fear of God as a weapon to maintain his authority. He is the type of person that would thrive in modern day as the living embodiment of the Christian hypocrisy that would ordering murder, rape, genocide on anyone and throw Biblical buzz words and Apocalyptic terms around to make it justifiable. Anselm uses threats, violence, intimidation, abuse, spies, and at one point arson to force his authority.

Anselm is a prominent advisor that keeps Milena at a distance. He knows that she is a threat to him with her intelligence, intuition, and strong will. He stresses the Biblical passages which state women should be subservient to men and that they are the bearers of original sin so Milena’s observation could be considered questionable even potentially Satanic. As long as she is packed away and married off, he is free to dominate Pribislav and rule Mecklenburg from behind the throne.

While Anselm uses Christian doctrine to diminish Milena’s presence, Dobrawa encourages her. Instead of dogmatism directed on behalf of a male God, she tells the princess stories about ancient gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines from Slavic Mythology (Those who are interested in mythologies from around the world will like this beginner's introduction to figures like Perun, Veles, Rod, Mokosh, Morana, Chernabog, The Firebird, and Baba Yagga). 

Dobrawa guides Milena through visualizations where she displays precognitive abilities. Milena is gifted runes that serve as touchstones to communicate with the deities and spirits around her. Instead of telling her to be submissive, Dobrawa inspires her to maintain her own strength and leadership skills.

Milena is able to retain a willful presence despite attempts to censor or stifle her. She challenges an arranged marriage without her consent. Then when the situation becomes dire and marriage veers towards inevitable, she decides that even if she has to get married, she is going to give her future husband a hell of a time. He won't have even the slightest notion that he can control her.

Cambridge Street by Steven Decker; Intimate Family Saga About Italian-American Family

 

Cambridge Street by Steven Decker; Intimate Family Saga About Italian American Family 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: One of the best ways to learn about the past is to research our own family history. This research teaches us where we came from, the struggles that our ancestors faced, what challenges befall them, and our inherited legacy. Steven Decker researched his own family history, the Tomasellos. The results are Cambridge Street, this intimate personal family saga about an Italian family emigrating to the United States during the Roaring Twenties.

The Tomasso Family are forced to leave Sicily because dwindling supplies cannot feed and provide for all of them. So eldest brother Paolo emigrates to the United States with his reluctant wife, Gianna, their children, Gianna's mother Stella, and Paolo’s brothers, the idealistic spiritual Leonardo and the sly criminal Renzo. 

The family settles in the Little Sicily area of Chicago where they face poverty, family conflicts, threats from organized crime, and the sacrifices and ambitions to achieve the American Dream. 

In writing the experiences of the Tomasso Family, particularly the three brothers, Decker reveals the various conflicts and concerns faced by immigrants when they are in a new place and their former roles are challenged. They are forced to find another way to live and adjust.

Paolo and Gianna have to face uncertainty. In Sicily, Paolo was one of several farmers. He worked alongside his father according to the planting and harvesting season. It was a routine existence that he knew when to plant seeds, when to grow and note the progress, when to harvest, when to store and when to eat. It was a cycle that his family knew well.

Also he and Gianna were surrounded by family, uncles, aunts, siblings, cousins, parents, long-time friends, and neighbors. It was a legacy recognized by several generations which contributed, networked and knew that if one person needed help, others were close by.

Now in Chicago, they are out of their comfort zone. Paolo now works in a slaughterhouse for human managers and supervisors who act with more authority than the seasonal weather cycle can. It is hard backbreaking work with very little rewards.

 The fertile fields are replaced by city streets. The peaceful villas by tenement slums. Before Paolo knew that he and his family would be cared for. Now they have the fear of poverty, homelessness, and hunger hovering overhead.

As if that wasn't hard enough, the Tomasso Family are now among strangers instead of family. Gianna in particular feels the loss as she misses the network that she knew and feels uncomfortable around people that she does not. She gives birth to more children, becomes a committed church member, and finds common ground with others around her.

 She and Paolo now have a found family made up of fellow immigrants and American citizens that are in the same situation that they are in: working hard in a new country and hoping for a better day.

Renzo was in a different situation. He is charming, ambitious, and slick. He would prefer to take the easy path to fortune. He assisted criminals by doing leg work, delivered messages and packages, and used his wit to escape from tight spots. He also romanced unattainable women including the wife of a dangerous operative.

At first, Renzo didn't even want to go to America. He wanted to ascend in his fast glamorous life, perhaps becoming a Don in his own right. However, a very spirited discussion with criminal rivals involving gunplay and death threats caused Renzo to change his mind and come with.

Just as in Sicily, Renzo is involved in organized crime but being older, more mature, and away from the insulating protection of his large family and their certain legacy, Renzo is aware that he is pursuing a path that is not just dangerous for him. He is also causing great danger to those around him.

Renzo’s increased loyalty towards his family and his close proximity to the more unsavory aspects of the criminal life force him to face real consequences. In one heartbreaking moment, he realizes how much this lawless pursuit has cost him. 

Leonardo is the quiet scholar in the family and was destined to join the Church as a priest. He has the skills and temperament for this path and he was too even tempered and obedient to question it. It was an expected required path so he followed it. 

While Leonardo acquiesces, his real feelings are ascertained by how quickly he discards it once he lives in America. He declines going to seminary and falls in love. He opts not to serve God behind the cloistered walls of the priesthood.

Instead, Leonardo becomes involved with the community becoming proactive and spiritual but also continuing human pleasures like marriage and fatherhood. He has the best of both worlds: a definite belief in God and a love to share it with.

A tragedy occurs that won't be revealed here but changes the Tomasso Family. They have to face danger, grief, fear, anger, vengeance, redemption, and guilt. 

Those left behind have to weigh whether to seek revenge or move forward. They wonder what the American Dream can possibly mean if it costs too much to pursue and not everyone will be able to achieve it.

Other Lovers (Love, Sex, Poetry, Peace) by Natalia Rachel, Heathcliff Unbound by Robin Robby

 

Other Lovers (Love, Sex, Poetry Peace) by Natalia Rachel 

I mean this in the best way but Natalia Rachel's novel in verse, Other Lovers (Love, Sex, Poetry, Peace) reads like a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I mean that it is a raw, unfiltered, emotionally realistic book about a woman's struggles with romance, dating, sex, relationships, and her own self-worth.

The book is told partly through poetry and partly through first person prose about Lena, a woman who goes through various moments in her love life. She discusses bad romances, sexual desires, emotional openness, fixations and obsessions, emotional compatibility, partner violence, heartbreak, and embarking on new relationships. All with a deft, witty, and insightful hand.

The free verse poetry is structured and confessional. It captures the confusion, sadness, anger, and hope of modern romance. “Kiss of Death” details an abusive relationship. Lena tells her former lover “I let you/Kiss me/Into some kind of/Slow soul death.” He enchants her with love bombing and physical affection. She is captivated though her older self knows that she is in for heartbreak.

Later the picture becomes clear when Lena learns that his kisses come with a price tag. “But also with/Incredible demand/Claiming my body/And banishing/My spirit.” The price of this toxic relationship is the banishment of her free will.

She looks for a man to soothe the abused girl that she once was but instead he adds to her trauma. By the end, Lena has no choice but to end her relationship before she loses herself.

Rachel's prose provides immediacy, raw vulnerability, sardonic insight, and a world weary survivor's instinct. 

“Bad Bitch Good Girl” for example is about Lena feeling caught between the two extremes of being a bitch or a good girl. It's similar to the “Madonna-Whore” Complex where women are objectified into various categories either the sweet nurturing virgin or the passionate sexual nymph and the twain are not supposed to meet. Lena questions these roles wondering why men don't see the whole complex woman instead of what they want to see.

This chapter also discusses Lena’s relationship with Leonardo after an unhappy marriage and divorce. Rediscovering her passions, her relationship with Leonardo is strictly erotic, sexual, and without long term commitment. 

It is a relationship that is not bound to last. When Lena has a flashback of abuse, Leonardo says a few platitudes but lets her suffer through them alone. When Leonardo reveals that he has to leave because of a family emergency, Lena just lets him go. A relationship built solely on sex is not one that allows for emotional complications like PTSD and family strife.

Besides relationships and love, Other Lovers also reveals that Lena is on a journey of personal discovery. One of the final chapters, ”Little Gifts in the Sand,” reveals her resilience. 

Even though she had a long string of bad relationships, Lena realized that she emerged stronger through them. She says, "I rise up/Eventually/Glorious/A phoenix returned.” Like a phoenix she emerged from the flames of unhappiness and became a more centered person with a richer heart, wiser bones, a more humbled heart, and sharper wit. She may not have found love, but she is aware of who she is, what she wants, and she is determined to get it.

Lena learned that being in a relationship is fine but the best and strongest relationship one can have is with themselves.

Heathcliff Unbound by Robin Robby 

I admit that I love to read and write fanfiction. I am always curious about the other aspects of my favorite characters. Where they came from, what is in their future, and what goes on when we're not looking. Fanfiction satisfies my curiosity that wants to fill in those unspoken blanks. 

Robin Robby appears to like fanfiction as well. 

After writing two books that focus on Jane Austen as a lead character, Jane Austen’s Totally Unexpected New York Adventure and Dear Emperor, Yours Jane, Robby switched gears to focus on another giant from English Literature. He focused on the world of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and the brooding, arrogant, passionate Heathcliff.

In Heathcliff Unbound Robby focuses on Heathcliff’s missing years from when he was exiled from Wuthering Heights and his beloved Catherine Earnshaw to when he returned to the Heights, wealthy, domineering, and seeking revenge on those who wronged him.

This novelette takes Heathcliff to the United States where he works for a shipping merchant named Mercer and catches the eye of his independent intelligent daughter, Victoria. However this location is a mere stepping stone to eventually return to Wuthering Heights and Catherine. 

This gives a more modern analytical look at Heathcliff. He is every bit the brooding toxic Byronic anti-hero that Bronte describes him, which makes him detestable in my eyes but romantic in many others’. 

Most of Heathcliff's time is spent moping about the Heights while working for Mercer. He develops a head for business and is able to earn a decent living. A living which will ultimately fund his return to gloat at the scoffers who called him “a foundling G&_$y brat” and made his early years miserable.

 In fact he is so successful at the business that if it weren't for Heathcliff's preordained fate foretold by Bronte, one would wonder why he doesn't just use his business acumen to become an American tycoon and move on with his life. But he wouldn't be Heathcliff otherwise. 

Victoria is a unique presence because she is the exact opposite from Catherine. Steady to Catherine's vulnerable. Intelligent to Catherine's passion. Sharp wit to Catherine's outbursts and withdrawals. Independent to Catherine's neediness. She entertains a relationship with this newcomer and even though she is attracted to Heathcliff, this relationship is not the be all and end all for either of them.

Victoria is merely transitory, a temporary release of buried passions, flickered briefly and ends just as briefly. Victoria thinks that Heathcliff is unlike anyone she has ever met before. Heathcliff thinks that Victoria is a means to an end. He is saving his strongest and deepest feelings for the girl that he left behind.

This novelette is not meant to change anyone's feelings for Heathcliff. It's more of an additional couple of chapters to a larger story to fill in the blanks until his fated return. It's fanfiction but it's interesting fanfiction.

And Then They Fell in Rome by C.L. Rosario; Magical Realism Novel About Love, Coincidence, Fate, and The Power of a Great Bromance

 And Then They Fell in Rome by C.L. Rosario; Magical Realism Novel About Love, Coincidence, Fate, and The Power of a Great Bromance

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers: C.L. Rosario's novel And Then They Fell in Rome, is a powerful Magical Realism Contemporary Fantasy book that says a lot about love, romance, fate, coincidence, synchronicity, and maturity. Mostly it's a book about the importance of friendship between men. A novel that is largely concerned about romance is told primarily from the points of view of a group of male friends, a circular bromance if you will.

A group of friends called the Troubadours meet up in 2021. They are Freddy Bustamante, Juan Fernandez, Charlie Costa, Brian Verdugo, and Jan Luis Larose and are reuniting for the first time since their Senior year in college three years prior. In the middle of their drinks, laughter, and reminisces, a woman appears. She is called “La Bruja” (“The Witch”) or “The Stranger.” She says that she had been following them for some time, entered the minds, and took the forms of people that they met. 

La Bruja has a challenge for the guys. One of them, Jan Luis, was “compromised on a cosmic level” and is in danger of dying young. The only cure is love. The other Troubadours need to help him find love. To make things even more complicated, La Bruja removes the memories of their conversation from The Troubadours’s minds. So they know that they have to help Jan Luis but not how or why.

The book is rich with moments of magical realism with more emphasis on the realism than the magic with the exception of the appearance of La Bruja who comes straight from the latter. Her presence is reminiscent of Latin American novels that fit the magical realism subgenre. She is a mythical and legendary creature in a real world setting. The guys are talking about everyday things in a commonplace setting then BAM, she appears and moves things in a different direction. 

Most of the book focuses on situations that can be magical, mundane, coincidental, or from a more cynical perspective contrived. When the characters, except Jan Luis, go to Rome, a series of serendipitous moments lead them to the right people at the right time. After one relationship is threatened, one of the Troubadours encounters another woman who is connected to his previous lover.

Conversations and encounters are told through multiple perspectives so we don't realize that characters are supposed to meet and fall in love until it happens. Going down the right street, visiting the right cafe, and looking up at the right time leads to a meeting with the love of a lifetime. Even Jan Luis’s later trip to Rome seems to be fated to occur at that specific moment in time.

Similar to works like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, La Bruja 's presence is tied to the real world conflicts concerning the characters. However the two books merge magic with politics, war, colonization, authoritarianism, and other global issues. 

The focus of And Then They Fell in Rome is exclusively on personal friendships, romantic attachments, and the interactions between men and women. Romance in and of itself can be considered magical with people looking and acting like the best versions of themselves to attract and enchant someone else. Sexual and emotional attachments are often described in fantastic ways (“She enchanted me.” “He's so charming.” “I am drawn to your presence.”) 

Even the ideas of creating lasting relationships, finding compatibility, and finding that perfect partnership are actions that often resist being analyzed and quantified because there are always exceptions, variables, emotional experiences and situations leading to other potential outcomes. So this book just injects literal potential magic where figurative magic already existed to give a slight nudge to the characters.

Speaking of characters, this book has some well written multifaceted characters. While La Bruja is my personal favorite, the Troubadours and their love interests convey richness and complexity.

The Troubadours are a group that doesn't play on conventional male stereotypes when guys get together. They aren't looking to drink, party, have wild and crazy adventures, and score as many hot willing babes as possible. They are ready to enter the next stages of their lives, as professionals, committed boyfriends, potential husbands, and maybe someday fathers. They aren't looking for one night stands. They are looking for a lifetime.

The complexities of modern relationships are shown through the Troubadours’s romantic experiences as they look for their potential partners. Juan goes through three separate romances before he realizes that he let his jealous assumptions interfere with what could have been a great relationship. One woman leads him to face his regrets so he can change his future. 

Cinephile Brian keeps comparing his love life to favorite films and hopes to find the leading lady in his life. He is faced with the reality that real people don't act according to a script. They need to be recognized for their frailties, flaws, and insecurities, not his fantasy projections of them.

Former frat boy Freddy is caught between two women: Maddy who represents his lost wayward wild youth and Katelyn who offers a chance at adulthood, maturity, realization, and authenticity. He also has a previous close association with La Bruja and is the only one who remembers her conversation with them and sees the truth that no one else does. 

Charlie is tempted to cheat on his girlfriend with unexpected results. This encounter forces him to confront his own thoughts about fidelity, desires, commitment, and adulthood.

 What about Jan Luis, the central focus of these romantic journeys? His past of an unhappy childhood with separated parents and a previous break up of his own have made him reluctant to seek or accept love. He is in danger of closing himself off emotionally and achieving fulfillment only in dreams and fantasies.

The love interest characters are just as brilliantly written. These are characters with their own stories, identities, and agencies. They aren't there solely to fulfill the Troubadours’s romantic desires but are meant to stand toe to toe in equal footing with them. The relationships happen because the characters work on improving themselves as individuals before they become coupled. 

While the romance and magical realism are important aspects of the story, by far the central relationship is not between the Troubadours and their significant others. It is among the Troubadours themselves.

These are five friends, who are brothers in heart and spirit. The conflict of helping Jan Luis find love becomes a catalyst that leads to their own conflicts and questions. They would be unable to evolve without each other. It's easy to recognize that these men deserve romantic love when we see that they are capable of maintaining a filial love. They are there for each other through university, work, romance, and marriage. Chances are their future kids will have not only loving fathers but four honorary uncles that will protect them with their lives.

It's also a kind of brotherly love that inspires change in each other. They aren't afraid to give one another advice or criticism to say exactly what they did wrong and how they can be better people. It is among the best bromances that I have read in recent novels. They aren't just there for each other in good times but bad as well.

And Then They Fell in Rome is a book that is magical, realistic, romantic, and bromantic.

By The Sword (Guardians of The Crown) by Alison Stuart; English Civil War Backdrops Engaging Romance and Fun Predictable Adventure

 

By The Sword (Guardians of The Crown) by Alison Stuart; English Civil War Backdrops Engaging Romance and Fun Predictable Adventure 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: The focus of Alison Stuart’s Historical Fiction novel By The Sword part of her Guardians of The Crown is not the English Civil War. That's just the historical backdrop. It's not really even a Woman's Fiction about a woman living with and challenging her role similar to The Wedding Shroud by Elizabeth Storrs. Those are parts of it but the main focus is the romance between the main characters.

 The novel is formulaic, runs on far too long, and some of the dialogue and plot points seem to survive on a charcuterie platter consisting solely of Velveeta cheese products. But the characters are winning, their trajectories hold the reader’s interest, and despite being predictable and formulaic, there are charming moments that make you root for these likeable characters.

In 1650 England recently widowed Kate Ashley and her son Tom were facing genteel poverty when they received word from their dying grandfather-in-law. In absence of any male heirs, he designates Tom to inherit the Thornton Family estate. Since he is only a boy, his mother Kate cares for it until he comes of age. She must restore the estate to its former glory and fend off greedy neighbors.

Jonathan Thornton, grandnephew, cousin of Kate's late husband, and exiled because of his loyalty to King Charles, now wants to garner support for the king. He meets the young widow and helps her with the inheritance and defending her new homestead. However, the two become attracted to one another despite avenging armies, a menacing rival of Jonathan's, and Kate's complicated feelings and loyalty to her late husband's family, particularly his handsome cousin.

The novel centers around an appealing couple that carry the book together or separately. Kate is an older character than the usual one that leads Historical Fiction. She is a widow approaching middle age and is already used to being an experienced leader in her household. This is less about a young woman discovering her agency than it is about an older woman maintaining her agency during great change and turmoil.

Kate is uncertain about being around her late husband's estranged family as anyone would be coming to a house of strangers. But she quickly accepts this change and settles into the family. She befriends many of the locals like Jonathan's sister and becomes an indispensable member of the household. It's likely that when Tom comes of age, the Thornton Family estate will be in good hands. 

Jonathan also carries a world weariness that comes with age and experience. He is on the side of the Royalists, even fights alongside King Charles whom he considers a friend. His war time experiences enable him to think fast on his feet which comes in handy when getting himself and Kate out of trouble. He is used to violence and tough situations.

However, we also see someone who probably realizes that he is past his prime as a soldier. The passages where he acts as a father figure to Tom and as a love interest to Kate reveals him as someone who wouldn't mind settling down and has found the right family to do so.

Kate and Jonathan’s romance works pretty well even through the predictable formula. There are plenty of moments where Kate, Jonathan, or both are in a tight spot and need to use fighting prowess, intelligence, or medical know-how to get them out of it.

There are one dimensional antagonists that are no match to the heroes. One has an understandable grudge against Jonathan but is written so broad and reprehensible that their somewhat justifiable reason disappears underneath the veneer of melodramatic boos and hisses.

It's like those old adventure movies and novels where you shake your head amused, know the good guys will survive, but enjoy the cliff hanging excitement and the romance. It's fun but predictable. But remember, predictable can sometimes be fun.