What is Em reading now? book review #1 The Secret Wife by Gill Paul

 I must admit this book, The Secret Wife, has sat on my book shelves for probably about 8 or 9 years. I was intrigued by the book description. I mean, haven't we all been caught in the "what if mysteries" of what happened to the Russian Tsar Nicolas and his family and if any of his daughters did escape their fate? I am dating myself with this, but I remember watching an episode of Unsolved Mysteries as a kid, listening to Robert Stack discuss this woman who claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. And of course, who hasn't seen the Disney movie? Since I'm currently in the rough draft stages of book #15 (and perhaps #16), I vowed to take the holiday season off and delve into my rather sizable To Be Read pile. And this was near the top (and the thickest). 

So, here's the back cover blurb: 1914: Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future. Grand Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance – and their lives – in danger . . .

2016: Kitty Fisher escapes to her great-grandfather’s remote cabin in America, after a devastating revelation makes her flee London. There, on the shores of Lake Akanabee, she discovers the spectacular jewelled pendant that will lead her to a long-buried family secret . . .

Going back and forth between 1914 and 2016, we first meet Kitty, our main character for 2016. She's running away from discovering her husband's infidelities and has no where to go but some dilapidated cabin that she inherited from her great-grandfather in New York. Leaving London rather suddenly, she flies over and goes to find a cabin that had been vacant for thirty years. Nature is beginning to take over but she has some serious DIY skills. While cleaning up, she finds this rather beautiful pendant and that's where the mystery takes off.

Of course, now we are taken back to 1914. I have to admit, this historical aspect was a bit slow to get into, forcing my brain to focus on the Russian historical aspect of it. It is not obvious who these characters are yet but hey, it's only chapter one so it's going to take some time. The first four chapters establish the main character of the 1914 timeline - Dmitri Malama, a wounded Russian soldier in the hospital, and the instant liking he takes to his nurse, who happens to be the Grand Duchess Tatiana, the second oldest daughter of Tsar Nicolas.

Then it dips you back into Kitty's dilemma in 2016 and how she eventually learns her great-grandfather Dimitri Yakovlevich was an author. It's best to read the book yourself, but it does get quite intense on the 1914 timelines as the war progresses, and I think the author did very well with handling the disconnect that there had to have been between the Romanov's with their status, and the perception of the country the more the war moved on. 

This turns into being a story of learning ancestors long since passed, learning about your family's history while getting to see the actual thoughts of those ancestors take place, and also about a love that couldn't die. It also is a story of self-realization as Kitty determines she's really just been coasting along in her life, not really putting effort into her direction, just living really in box others think we should be in. 

It's worth the read if you like historical fiction romances with some very blunt scenes (it's not spicy, just gratuitous mentions, I'd say) and some intense scenes where you sincerely feel for the characters and what is happening to them. The Secret Wife by Gill Paul is on Kindle Unlimited so go take a chance on it!

 Now I get to take a look at my TBR pile and see what else I've been hoarding to read....