I have been fortunate to be given a copy of this book by the author through Love Books Group in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Evanthia’s Gift: Book One in The Gift Saga – Women’s fiction/ contemporary romance – Women’s fiction 2106 Reader’s Favorite Award finalist – Available in print, kindle and audible
Review
Anastacia Fotopoulos has moved to the USA after the horrors of the second world war in order to educate herself and so take a step closer to fulfilling her dreams. She hadn’t anticipated falling in love and marrying the first handsome man to come her way, nor less to then be cruelly betrayed by those closest to her. It is 1956 and she finds herself alone, pregnant and ashamed to return home to Greece. She is fortunate in the support of her wonderful friends Stavros and Soula, also first generation Greek immigrants, and her Uncle who gives her employment to keep a roof over her and her new baby daughter’s heads. The last thing that she expects is to attract the attentions of another young Greek man from her student days, and when her friends try to match make her with Alex she is determined to resist. She will never put her future in the hands of a man again.
Ana has no idea that Alexandros Giannakos has loved her since he first knew her, and he wins her over with his perseverance and love for both her and daughter Sophia. Their friends have had two children, Dean and Demi, and life for the close Greek American families is good. But secrets have been kept, with the best of intentions by all involved, and these will affect life in the future. The storyline skips forward to the teenage years of the children, and whilst the girls are closer than sisters, a deeper relationship develops between Dean and Sophia. Their Greek heritage remains extremely important to the families, particularly the older generation, and teen Dean cannot bear to have his life mapped out by his parents – he wants to be an American boy who goes to college and finds his own way in the world. As a result, he refuses to acknowledge his feelings openly for Sophia and as he pulls away from the family traditions, Sophia too has her young heart broken.
Life continues for the families. Dean marries a college girl and goes to work for his father in law, Demi marries her secret childhood sweetheart and Sophia throws herself into her career as a dancer. Along the way family secrets emerge that threaten to splinter relationships, and the rock the families to the core.
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If you enjoy family dramas that span generations, without sugar coating life, then you will love this novel. The historical element of life in war torn Greece was fascinating, as was the story that was so common to many immigrant New York families be they Greek, Italian, Irish….the author is herself a second generation Greek American, and she appears to have exactly the right understanding between the need for embracing their heritage and culture for the older family members, to the desire to be American youngsters and growing up in America for the youngsters. The friction was palpable in the writing.
The characters all grow and develop throughout the course of the novel as life throws both expected and unexpected joys and sorrows at them. Ana remains at the core of the story, and I love the way in which both she and Soula are presented as the strong women keeping the wheels of their family life oiled and turning. The secret to this is food! I recognised in this book one of my own close friends, who moved to London from Athens in the 1980s, and is the most amazing homemaker and cook. My kids love to go to her house and she feeds us all in a very similar way to Ana and Soula in the story. The descriptions of the food are enough to make the reader’s mouth water, but then the author will offer up a wonderful gem every few chapters with a complete Greek recipe. Imagine my delight when I also found that the author has a recipe website! I am so excited to try cooking some of these mouth-watering delicacies!
Evanthia’s Gift is a love story that covers generations, continents, different loves lost and found – but it is so much more than a love story, it is a story of human life and emotions over a fifty-year period. I wanted to shout at the characters when the miscommunication caused problems and altered the course of lives and changed choices made. I cheered when decisions ended well, and I shouted and cried at the bad decisions and the sorrows that life dishes up. This book depicts real life – not everything can be planned, not everything is sugar coated and joy is tempered with sadness. If you haven’t guessed I loved this book and am really looking forward to the next one in the series….and yes, you will find out who Evanthia is and just what her gift is.
Five Stars from me!
Karithopita – An Easy to Make Greek Walnut Cake from Cheffie’s Kitchen
About the Author (from Goodreads)
Effie Kammenou is a believer that it is never too late to chase your dreams, follow your heart or change your career. She is proof of that. At one time, long ago, she’d thought that, by her age, she would have had an Oscar in her hand after a successful career as an actor. Instead, she worked in the optical field for 40 years and is the proud mother of two accomplished young women.
Her debut novel, Evanthia’s Gift, is a women’s fiction multigenerational love story and family saga, influenced by her Greek heritage, and the many real life accounts that have been passed down. She continues to pick her father’s brain for stories of his family’s life in Lesvos, Greece, and their journey to America. Her interview with him was published in a nationally circulated magazine.
Evanthia’s Gift: Book One in The Gift Saga was a 2016 award finalist in the Readers Favorite Awards in the Women’s Fiction category. Waiting for Aegina: Book Two in The Gift Saga is Kammenou’s latest release.
Effie Kammenou is a first generation Greek-American who lives on Long Island with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not writing, or posting recipes on her food blog, cheffieskitchen.wordpress.com, you can find her cooking for her family and friends.
As an avid cook and baker, a skill she learned from watching her Athenian mother, she incorporated traditional Greek family recipes throughout the books.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater Arts from Hofstra University.
Member of Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association & Romance Writers of America
I can’t believe that another week has gone by and it is time for Monday magic again! Have you finished your Easter chocolates yet? There hasn’t been much eating for me this past week with 3 days of clear fluids and yet more bowel prep for a hospital investigation….third time lucky, hurray and thank god!!! I had already decided that if my body hadn’t played ball this time, my mind was going to tell the doctors where the scope could be shoved…..Anyway this is a story for another spoonie post!!
I wrote a poem about my brain fog last week and it has played a long visit alongside its brother fatigue this weekend. My balance has been seriously off kilter and as I went over backwards in the bathroom this morning, the lovely girl couldn’t stop laughing “You look like you’re doing the limbo Mum!”. She did catch me though, ha, ha, ha. I have been reading a couple of your blogs about journals and bullet points – and decided I must start actually doing this. Whilst I am up to date with my reading, writing my book reviews has been a bit more of a challenge and my dodgy mind has got the dates completely muddled. Apologies authors – there will be reviews for everything I have promised.
I’m not the only one in need of a journal plan….the lovely girl has devised a lovely revision plan but now she has to get down to actually doing the work, so far so good! I don’t think the same can be said for her big brothers!! Have I mentioned before that she is allowed to use a laptop to help with the hand and wrist pain from her Ehlers Danlos Syndrome? Hubby and I took a massive step last week when we allowed her to go a concert to see Declan Mckenna in North London with friends – and they made their own way home. Conditions were put in place….”text when you leave” “call when you get to the overhead train” “let us know when you’re back”….if anything goes wrong, if the concert over runs, etc etc both your brothers are in London…..We sat here with hubby watching Twitter for the times of the support act finishing, when would young Declan go on stage…and we knew that the venue has an 11pm curfew.
Image by Emma Swann on DIY Mag
Of course the girls were fine – she couldn’t text when they got out as they had to rush to get across London for the last train. But as parents our hearts were in our mouths whilst we had to let go of our baby…..guess what the most surprising thing was? Both her big brothers called home to check if we had heard from her….the student engineer at half past midnight! They do care really….
But back to some blogs for you to check out this week….I couldn’t resist sharing one about Hotter shoes teaming up with Marie Curie cancer care & daffodils (as a MC nurse in a previous life!), and I have sent out for supplies for the no bake energy balls recipes. For some really inspiring stories please read Debs World (her beautiful writing made me cry) and also the book review by Jazmin – Chessy Prout is a remarkable young lady who spoke out about her rape by a fellow pupil at school, the response of others about her and her strength of character. I have also added a couple of extra posts today as I sit watching the Commonwealth Games. These young ladies are both swimmers and have both won gold medals at these games, overcoming huge personal obstacles on the way. I have written about Siobhan Marie O’Connor here in the past and Sophie Pascoe is a great ambassador for parasports.
In case you mixed it – voting is now open for the Bloggers Bash Awards so don’t forget to vote for your favourites.
I was fortunate to be given an ARC of this book by the author & publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
This is the third book in the Mortiswood series, the young adult fantasy fiction following the story of Kaelia and in this case I would recommend that the other two books are read first: Mortiswood Kaelia Arising and Mortiswood Kaelia Falling. (Book Review “Mortiswood: Kaelia Awakening” – a little magic in the ordinary)
The story continues with Kaelia having been reunited with her mother and father, but also discovering that her mother is the goddess Vanadis who guided her early on in the tale. After a short time with her family, Kaelia and Bay (her Vallesm boyfriend) must return to their own world to battle with the Salloki and their evil leader Thom, who plan to take over the human Earth. They find that Thom and his new wife Cadence, previously human but now a Draugr, have wreaked havoc in Margate and killed many humans – and these bodies are now inhabited by Salloki souls preparing for battle. Are you keeping up?
Bay is outraged to find that his father, head of the Vallesm (human/wolf), does not believe that his relationship with Kaelia can survive and instructs him to pair with a Vallesm girl. This view point seems to be borne out when Kaelia disappears for weeks with Bran. Do you remember him? Bran and Kaelia are described as the opposite sides to a coin, he the darkness to her light and they draw on the other’s strengths enhancing their own powers. There is an attraction between them that neither can shake off, even if Kaelia desperately wants to for Bay’s sake, and Bran has ulterior motives for winning Kaelia’s trust. Kaelia is experiencing a darker side to her magic now as the darkness seems to speak to her more and more.
Determined not to let whatever magic was deceiving her, win, Kaelia charged
back out into the corridor and, using her magical speed, flew through corridor
after corridor, up and down staircase after staircase until the light outside had
slipped into darkness.
‘Why won’t you let me go?’ Kaelia pulled at her hair and collapsed in a heap
outside the room with the bed.
‘You don’t want to leave,’ Bran said, startling Kaelia. He held a crystal
candelabra in one hand, wax dripping from the burning tips of the three gold
candlesticks and running over the crystal.
‘Of course I do. Stop playing tricks on me. This is your doing. I don’t know what
you’re playing at and I don’t care, just stop whatever it is and let me out.’ She
jumped up and glared at Bran. ‘I’ll fight you if I have to.’
‘There’s no need to be stroppy with me, I’m not doing anything.’ Bran set the
candelabra on the small stand beside the chair outside of the bedroom and folded
his arms over his slender chest. ‘It’s all part of the tower’s protection. You can
leave if you want to but if you don’t want to, you can’t. It’ll keep you here until
you really want to leave. It’s the tower’s way of keeping you safe.’
‘I don’t want your stupid tower to keep me safe. I’m quite capable of looking
after myself.’
Bran reached her in two easy strides. Sparks of cool purple light crackled from
them both as he pressed close against Kaelia, trapping her between him and the
wall. ‘The tower knows the secrets you can’t speak, those you can’t admit even to
yourself.’
‘Rubbish!’ Kaelia shivered from the transference of power.
Such a feeling, a powerful, intoxicating feeling.
Only achievable with Bran.
No-one else.
No-one else could make her feel like this.
They were two sides of a coin.
Night and day.
Dark and light.
Kaelia shook her head. No, it was the power surge talking, not her, she was
nothing like him and needed nothing from him!
Yet part of her yearned for it, the power they shared whenever they touched.
Right then and there it was as if she needed it so much she couldn’t live without
it.
Meanwhile Calix, another human friend, has been taken by Thom to be turned into a Draugr – will Kaelia be able to reach him in time? The battles and deceptions rage throughout the tale, until Kaelia is left at the end in no doubt as to what her destiny really means.
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It is very difficult to give a succinct outline of the story and give no spoilers…in fact there is so much action in this chapter of the Mortiswood tales that it impossible to make it succinct. It feels like being on a rollercoaster ride as the tale lurches from one action packed event to another with such high energy and speed. I love the way that the realms of the fantasy world are woven into our mundane world, with crucial battle scenes happening at the seafront at Margate! The writing is colourful and bright, painting a great image of the characters and the action – the descriptions of the bone furniture in the Salloki fortress are particularly gruesome! The characters all go from strength to strength – goodies & baddies! – developing their good or evil sides, their mystical powers and using their humanity. The relationships between the characters continue to weave in and out of love, deception, alliances and sworn enemies. This is not the final instalment of the Mortiswood story and Ms Dickerson leaves us on the edge of our seats with a cliff-hanger…..
Another thoroughly enjoyable, easy to read tale – Mortiswood remains a guilty pleasure for this middle-aged mum!! 4 stars.
Gina Dickerson lives by the Thanet coast on the north-eastern tip of
Kent within the UK, with her family and bouncy Siberian husky.
Having previously worked for a Local Authority, and been a Systems
Supervisor for the departmental database, Gina is now a full-time
author and designer. Her books include the dark urban fantasy
Mortiswood Tales series, Lies Love Tells – part of the thrilling romantic
suspense Eastcove Lies series, dark fairy tales The Pennington
Christmas Curse and Always Golden, as well as a collection of her dark
short stories, Underleaf.
Gina has also written newspaper articles, and was a fashion and
shopping columnist for her local newspaper, as well as having had short
stories and poetry published in anthologies. She designs book covers
and other promotional material under the name RoseWolf Design, and
belongs to the author co-operative Authors Reach.
Happy Easter, everyone! Hope that you have all had a great Easter weekend – here in the UK we are having a typical British Bank Holiday with awful weather. It is wet, windy and playing havoc with my stretchy joints. So I’ll just have to self medicate with chocolate……
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The lovely girl finished school last week for the Easter break, but not before an evening event to celebrate nearing the end of her GCSE course with her parents and teachers. I was given my instructions beforehand about what I could and couldn’t talk about…..”in other words, don’t embarrass me, Mum!” The evening, called the Lilac Reception, gave the girls the opportunity to dress up – if they wished – and for the parents to mingle, consume nibbles & wine and be entertained by a roving magician in a bright red suit. I believe I just about passed the mum test until the end of the night when I asked the photographer to take a pic of the lovely girl and her friends!!
Now the revision starts in earnest, for both the lovely girl and the student engineer – who will soon require a new tag as finals and graduation are looming, and the student tag will be a thing of the past. Whilst our girl has been making decisions for A levels (and has already altered her choices) the student engineer has been applying for jobs….software engineering, but I understand no more than that as I think he speaks a different language to me!! As for the middle young man-child, we haven’t seen a great deal of him as he catches up with old school friends by night and sleep by day!
Even though there are no little kids in this house now, the amount of chocolate that we have accumulated over the last few days is a bit obscene. Add to this the cakes for family afternoon tea yesterday and the special Easter/late birthday cake for the politics student – healthy diet is not a word to describe our current intake! So to continue with the same theme, I thought that I would create a fun list of chocolate inspired blog posts for you today.
So grab a cuppa (hot chocolate if you fancy!), sit back and check out some chocolatey blog posts on this Easter Monday.
PainPalsBlog 