Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

OUR TIME to DANCE: A Mother’s Journey to Joy by Eva Doherty Gremmert – Epilepsy, Biography, Parenting

Our Time to Dance: A Mother’s Journey to Joy by Eva Doherty Gremmert demonstrates the importance of advocacy for those who are disabled, intellectually or otherwise.

In the early morning of August 18th, 1979, Eva Doherty Gremmert awoke with a contraction. A young mother already, Eva is worried about how she will cope with caring for two infants. She tried to calm her concerns by remembering that babies typically arrive easier and more quickly the second time around; however, the delivery ends up being long and exhausting. Once her son Nick arrived, Eva could not shake the feeling that something might be wrong. For the first several months of Nick’s life, doctors actively ignored her concerns and told her nothing was wrong with her son.

A mother knows best, and with a lot of courage and determination, Eva and her husband Arden finally find a doctor that listens and agrees with their concerns.

Their world becomes full of physical therapy and pediatric neurological appointments. When Nick reaches school age, Eva and Arden also become very involved in ensuring he receives the right educational program. Sometimes, a whole new program needed to be created. The road is often tricky, but Nick is full of life and love, and of course, dancing.

Eva crafts Our Time to Dance into a beautiful story of a mother’s unyielding love. She holds nothing back as she describes her fears of motherhood and the emotional toll of caring for her intellectually and physically disabled son. This book ultimately is not just about Nick’s particular story but also about the importance of advocating for those with disabilities and their families. Eva describes many instances where educational professionals could not provide Nick with the proper program and, subsequently, underestimated his unique abilities and potential to learn.

The structure of the book has two timelines that transition back and forth.

One timeline begins just before Nick is born – the other picks up when Nick reaches adulthood and experiences more severe seizures. This results in his doctor’s suggestion that they prepare for the possibility of his passing. Eva and Arden decide to take a big road trip so that Nick can visit friends, possibly for the last time. As they depart, Gremmert reflects on the many challenges throughout Nick’s life, from physical therapy and his education. On every page of this story, readers see Nick’s abundant love and joy with everyone he meets.

Eva hopes that by writing Our Time to Dance, readers will “find the strength and hope they need and the joy they desire.” Finding the good in difficult situations makes going through them a little easier.

The powerful message contained in Our Time to Dance makes the book a treasure, and is sure to help those who live with and work with persons with disabilities. Gremmert won First Place in the CIBA 2019 Journey Book Awards for narrative non-fiction for her inspirational work. Highly recommended!

March 16, 2022
GUINEVERE: At the Dawn of Legend (Tales and Legends for Reluctant Readers) by Cheryl Carpinello – Children’s Arthurian Folk Tales & Myths, Children’s Ancient Civilization Fiction, Children’s Girls and Women Books

What happens when a young strong-willed princess does not want to take the throne? Find out in the much-anticipated second book in the Middle-Grade fiction series, the Guinevere Trilogy by Cheryl Carpinello, in Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend.

Cedwyn & Guinevere return with even more adventures than in the first book. The first story ends with the dynamic duo bolting into the forest with their bows drawn; but now, Guinevere aims her arrows not at an enemy, but at everyone around her. She’s fighting with her father, her father’s magician, and even herself.

Guinevere, it seems, is spoken for. Unlikely as it may seem, she is now engaged to be married to King Arthur.

The thought of marriage to a man more than twice her age makes her anxious and upset. Guinevere tries to convince her father that she does not want the engagement, but all of her attempts are thwarted. In a form of rebellion, she sneaks out in the middle of the night to go for a ride on her horse. Riding her trusty steed always calms her nerves and helps her think.

As she rides on, she encounters a magical beast – a unicorn and, of all people, her father’s magician and confidante, Merlyn. Does the chance meeting between the girl and the beast have any significance? Readers won’t be able to put the book down!

Carpinello presents her Middle-Grade work with fast-paced action, stunning imagery, and characters that jump off the page.

Descriptions of Guinevere riding on her horse in the moonlight, waves crashing against the beach as she goes, will work to enthrall young readers. Even more, Carpinello, a former educator, develops her series with the reluctant reader in mind, balancing scenes of action against those dealing with some tough, real-life issues such as death, marriage, and family relations.

Carpinello sets her story firmly in the Middle Ages, where war, smoke and violence are common.

Readers will enjoy the dynamic and believable characters contained within Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend. The events and descriptions feel authentic to the time, as well, and are woven into the storyline seamlessly. Carpinello offers an extensive glossary in the back of the book to help readers gain insight and perspective into the story. There may be a few missing words from the glossary, but overall, young readers will be able to pick up clues to word meanings via the surrounding text. Make no mistake, this novel is compelling and will hook even reluctant readers immediately.

Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend belongs next to the other fun-loving Medieval tales for the Middle-Grade crowd. While there is no doubt the story benefits from reading the series in order, this book can and does stand on its own. All in all, this novel will find its audience with those who yearn for adventure and love the intrigue of the Middle-Ages.

Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend by Cheryl Carpinello won First Place in the CIBAs 2018 Gertrude Warner Book Awards for middle-grade fiction novels.

March 14, 2022
The DEVIL’s BOOKKEEPERS: The Noose Tightens, Book 2 by Mark H. Newhouse – Jewish Literature, Jewish Historical Fiction, WWII Historical Fiction

Mark H. Newhouse, son of German Holocaust survivors, includes the very personal and poignant first-hand sourced materials made available to him by the Yale University Press in his important historical fiction series, The Devil’s Bookkeepers. This inclusion lends a ribbon of humanity and compassion that raise the series to premiere status – a study, if you will, of the immutable human spirit. Newhouses’ series should encourage all who read it that hope is a gift and kindness and understanding is the answer to hate. It is a gripping story of love and survival that will haunt you until it’s shocking climax.

From the first day of 1942, the conditions in the Jewish ghetto of Lodz, Poland, deteriorate. In Mark H. Newhouse’s historical fiction novel, The Devil’s Bookkeepers: Book 2, The Noose Tightens, those who thought their situation would get better now wish to survive and save their loved ones, But can they?

The narrator Bernard Ostrowski, an engineer, should have enjoyed the prime of his life. He married a beautiful young wife, Miriam, who gave birth to their newborn daughter Regina. Ostrowski landed a lucky position in the records office of the ghetto’s leader, Chaim Rumkowski (an actual historical figure drawn by the author in dark, realistic detail). Rumkowki uses brutal force to forge the ghetto prisoners into a manufacturing hub for the Nazis in a still hotly debated effort to save its residents as the Nazi noose inexorably tightens.

Ostrowski’s team includes a young man named Singer. And as the war continues to escalate, Singer urges Ostrowski to escape with his wife and child. Singer even promises to help them do so. However, Singer disappears, leaving an astonishing letter declaring his love for Miriam behind. The letter torments him as he tries to survive and save Miriam and his daughter.

In the meantime, the Nazis begin deporting Jews from Poland – to where, no one knows.

Rumkowski receives news that will shatter the bookkeepers’ faith in his leader’s basic decency. As the Nazis ramp up the expulsion of Jews from the city. Ostrowski, finally realizes that the noose is closing on everyone in the ghetto. Starving and weakened, he and Miriam must attempt to escape.

Newhouse opens each chapter with brief vignettes from the primary sourced materials that will chill the reader.

This book offers truth enmeshed with a well-crafted, imaginative, and credible story that will change and challenge readers. Newhouse wishes that in absorbing it, we may all say, “Never again to anyone.”

The Devil’s Bookkeepers series by Mark H. Newhouse is highly recommended and won the Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Fiction Series Awards.

Read our review of the first book in The Devil’s Bookkeepers series, The Noose, here.

March 9, 2022
A SEASON in LIGHTS: A Novel in Three Acts by Gregory Erich Phillips – Contemporary Literature

Gregory Erich Phillips’ A Season in Lights is a well-crafted, engaging exploration of creatives, each following their heart and trying to reach their dream.

Against backdrops of the 1980s AIDS crisis and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, the story entwines the lives of a 30-something dancer and an older musician as they strive to make their artistic mark in the cultural capital of New York City.

Here in a two-fold unveiling, the story comes to life from the first-person perspective of Cammie, a starry-eyed aspiring dancer from Lancaster, PA, and the third-person reveal of Tom, a more seasoned black pianist. He longs for a classical career but is too often labeled a jazz musician. Cammie first encounters Tom in a studio dance class where he’s taken a job as the musical accompanist. Befriended by the gay dance instructor, Tom heeds the worldly advice offered about surviving in the Big Apple. “All you’ve got to do is convince people that you belong. You’ve got to tell them who you are before they tell you.”

Phillips’ masterful narrative is layered with a backstory for each character, with details revealing multi-dimensional individuals.

Small town Cammie is close to her ailing father; she has a troubled yet artistically talented sister; and a mother who seems to carry everyone’s burdens. Cammie harbors guilt for leaving behind family obligations to follow her own path. Tom has tried to leave behind his own familial ties. Unfortunately, with an absent father who landed in prison for dealing drugs, and an older brother who seems headed in a similar direction, Tom is hesitant about the consequential outcome of such connections. Within their May/December style romance, these primary characters find solace and understanding with relatable family concerns and the need to venture beyond expectations and comfort zones.

As a dancer and musician himself, Phillips clearly draws on his own knowledge and experience to render authentic, believable characters in his writing. Here, personal experience from the NY stage easily translates to the page. Capturing the lighted spectrum of Broadway, the back alley theaters, and side-street clubs, the city becomes a character unto itself. The city seems alive as a place for second chances with its vibrant electric pulse.

In a nod to Broadway, Phillips presents his novel in three acts.

While the overall narrative effortlessly alternates between earlier times and the present day, the trio of segments maintains an appropriate momentum to propel events forward. Whether considering the classic themes of sibling rivalry, racism, and interracial romance, or the more contemporary struggles of theatrical LGBT community prejudice, drug addiction, or the new need for social distancing, the topics are well incorporated throughout the story line.

From the worry and fear showcased in HIV testing and AIDS-related complications ignited in the ’80s to the stress and anxiety of shutdowns, casualties, and the unknowns of the more recent COVID19 virus, Phillips highlights the extraordinary opportunities for friendship and healing. Even though the city and its inhabitants are scarred, the hope remains that New York will rebound. A surprise twist in the book’s final moments sheds a brighter light on the central characters, the NYC community, and the world at large in recognizing that we’re all in this together.

A Season in Lights is a modern-day tale featuring artists, dancers, and musicians and their efforts to honor the famous NY song adage, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” Through passion, grit, and determination against the odds, the final reveal is a lesson about making the most of the moment. Phillips has done an outstanding job with this creative, literary presentation that will indeed have readers looking for an encore.

A Season in Lights: A Novel in Three Acts by Gregory Erich Phillips won Grand Prize in the CIBA 2020 Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary Literature – and is a novel that comes with high recommendations.

March 7, 2022
PAUSE by Sara Stamey – Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Family Fiction, Literary Fiction
Sara Stamey’s Pause features a hero who defies gravity, a scintillating setting, and a lovely backdrop for this riveting story.

This story is about women: strong, weak, abused, cherished, divorced, cancer survivors, mothers, sisters, friends, frenemies. It is a book about survival and hope, about getting back to self to reemerge into a life worth living.

Meet Lindsey, a fifty-two-year-old divorced woman going through menopause, living alone with her two cats, and worrying about her 1 and ¾ breasts. Readers will be hooked from the very beginning with the first of many poignant and funny journal entries. Here is Lindsey’s reality: a middle-aged woman suffering hot flashes that sear her skin and cause spells of nausea, who suffers PTSD from an abusive spouse.

Lindsey never thought of herself as a victim, though.

The fact that she walked on eggshells around Nick becomes a reflection of Lindsey’s parents’ relationship. Her father’s abuse of the mother and the mother’s frailty combined with her refusal to accept help and get out of the situation leave Lindsey feeling helpless and trigger her PTSD.

A certifiable mess, Lindsey seeks out an old flame, Newman. And at least for her, the flame ignites, and Lindsey finds herself falling in love. Newman, however, never opens up to her or becomes more available than a part-time lover. When she meets Damon, she is torn between being treated like a queen by a man ten years younger than her or as a booty-call by Newman.

Stamey weaves these issues and more into her novel, giving her protagonist a chance to try on life again after surviving cancer and divorce.

Lindsey’s spiritual awakening occurs as she works as a medical transcriber at a local hospital. While typing up a rush job on an emergency case, she discovers that a friend’s son was admitted with head trauma. The doctor who did the neurosurgery regularly botches the surgery, either killing his patients or leaving them vegetables. She informs the parents of her fears about this doctor while launching a full-scale lawsuit against the hospital that knowingly kept this doctor on staff and destroyed their son’s chances for recovery.

She gets fired for breach of confidentiality and finds herself unemployed, but her original plan to pursue environmental writing, essays, articles, and books after graduating from college beckons. She finds her first topic while riding through a park slated to become a hospital parking lot. She submits her essay about endangered owls living in the trees there; the piece is published and becomes instrumental in saving the space. The paper’s editor recognizes her talent and approaches her with another project with an environmental theme, and Lindsey agrees. A new career blossoms for her, which builds her up instead of tearing her apart.

Stamey develops Lindsey as a woman who won’t succeed until she takes charge and stands up for herself and her dreams.

Lindsey must learn to heal and move beyond cancer, the divorce, and the PTSD of the abuse. Readers will adore Lindsey for all of it. Powerfully written with melodic imagery, Stamey draws her readers in. Be prepared to cry, laugh, and cheer for Linsey as she finally takes the leap of faith necessary to begin believing in herself.

Stamey’s Pacific Northwest backdrop is captured in her skillfully crafted narrative. Readers are with Lindsey on the rapids, riding bikes through a maple forest, or walking beside a salmon-filled stream. We sit with her looking out over the Pacific Ocean at sunset and watching eagles as they hunt along the shore. Stamey’s brush strokes are deft, and her palette is rich as she creates this story’s world.

Stamey’s Pause is a riveting tale of one woman’s exploration to discover herself in a world where she has been dominated and controlled. She learns to take back control and finds herself whole and healed.

Pause is beautiful and thought-provoking and comes highly recommended. This title won 1st Place in the 2020 CIBA Somerset Book Awards for Contemporary and Literary Fiction.
March 4, 2022
MYSTERY in HARARE: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa by M.J. Simms-Maddox – Terrorism Thriller, Historical African Fiction, Travel Adventure Thriller

In M.J. Simms-Maddox’s atmospheric thriller, Mystery in Harare: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa, a former legislative aide’s wedding day turns deadly.

As the second installment of The Priscilla Trilogy opens, Priscilla J. readies to walk down the aisle in an American church to marry Jonathan. Not the man of her dreams, but the man she believes may be right for her. Love isn’t exactly on the table, but Priscilla hopes it will be in the future.

Before she can even take her vows, her soon-to-be husband is murdered in cold blood in front of her and those in attendance. Priscilla catches a glimpse of the murderer before succumbing to unconsciousness. She’s been drugged, and the kidnappers will confound and surprise readers.

When Priscilla gains consciousness, she is no longer in the United States but in the hinterland of Zimbabwe, Africa.

Priscilla is plunged into the murky and precarious world of the oppressive Apartheid regime in South Africa. How and why are the questions readers must discover for themselves. Suffice it to say, her endurance is tested repeatedly, she must learn how to look out for herself even as she struggles to find out the reasons behind the bloodshed in the church.

M.J. Simms-Maddox presents a thoughtful and compulsively readable story complete with a beguiling beginning. The tale spins into several twists and turns that readers will not see coming. The author aptly displays the toughness of the Southern part of Africa and its vibrancy and fluidity. Capturing this duality and melding it with the political atmosphere in America during the 1980s is the summit of this novel. Further, the book has obvious relevance to actual historical events.

Mystery in Harare comes with exceptionally well-drawn characters and a creatively imagined plot that gives it a resonant and all-embracing echo.

The beautifully evoked African settings and accompanying descriptions make this a real stand-out in cerebral mysteries. Simms-Maddox brings the reader along, making us feel a part of the story, careening down the path with Priscilla in all her experiences. Indeed, the author creates in Priscilla an individual with a formidable spirit and charisma that will appeal to many readers. The book concludes with a satisfying ending, but this is not the end of the series. One more title will complete the Priscilla trilogy.

Mystery In Harare is undoubtedly a successful terrorism thriller novel and a good place to start understanding the underbelly of the period of Apartheid in South Africa and its implications on all of its citizenry.

Mystery in Harare: Priscilla’s Journey into Southern Africa by M.J. Simms-Maddox won First Place in the CIBAs 2019 Mystery and Mayhem Book Awards and comes highly recommended.

March 2, 2022
The PRICE For GLORY by M.N. Snitz – 20th Century Wartime Historical Fiction, Family Saga, Wartime Fiction

In The Price for Glory, author M.N. Snitz delivers a compelling multi-generational epic tale of warfare and passion with roots in ancient lore.

Abraham Steinnermann grows up in a family dwelling in the same German Black Forest where the great Teutonic warrior, Arminius, held off the incursion of Roman soldiers in the first century. This legacy of war and triumph infuse his destiny, sending him down paths that even he, a somewhat narcissistic young man, could never imagine – until forced to live it.

Bright and handsome, Steinnermann makes up only a few Jews who are accepted at the notably antisemitic Heidelberg University.

As he studies high finance, his talent for numbers becomes evident, landing him a job in Germany’s banking community as Hitler rises to power. Steinnermann admires Hitler’s determination to recoup his nation’s esteem. For several years, even as the war heats up and Jews become the obvious target, the intelligent young banker continues to excel without harm.

Steinnermann’s luck, however, cannot hold in Hitler’s Germany.

One day, two Nazi soldiers come for him. Soon, he struggles to stay alive in the hell of a concentration camp. But Fortune or Fate smiles once again on the young man when a camp guard notices his talent. Steinnermann is offered a job that will lead to his being one of the few survivors.

As the Allies move in, so does the Red Cross.

Steinnermann meets the beautiful Merriam, a Red Cross volunteer, and falls in love. The attraction is mutual. The two maintain a long-distance correspondence when Steinnermann relocates to America. Once there, his perspicacity in finance will land him in a selected, fated role. He sends for and marries the woman he adores. His memories of the war and the many times he dodged death are transmuted to the next generation, within the mind of his son Jack, who must serve in Vietnam.

Snitz, who served in the US Military in Vietnam and was an observer of the Israeli Yom Kippur War, draws together many threads to create his vast tapestry of a multi-generational tale in The Price for Glory.

He successfully creates in his central character a man the reader may “love to hate” – someone whose skills and intelligence are admirable but whose arrogance and boastfulness seem a colossal deficit. As the story progresses though, Snitz’s protagonist wins the reader over by surviving the deep sorrows and immense perils he faces along the way.

Wordsmith Snitz seems at home within his story.

A student of classical literature, who avows writing his first novel in fifth grade, Snitz aptly portrays the feelings of women like Merriam embroiled in a long-distance romance. He depicts the emotions of men like Steinnermann, who are tortured by an insane enemy, and showcases the young Jack who is enmeshed in the terrible duties of warfare.

The Price for Glory is a lengthy saga taking place on three continents and within the minds of those – young and brash, and old and wise – who carry the understanding of that price all too heavily. This novel is highly recommended.

February 25, 2022
ACROSS the DISTANCE: Reflections on Loving and Where We Did & Did Not Find Each Other by Christina A. Kemp – Memoirs, Biographies of Women, Dysfunctional Families

In her nonfiction debut Across the Distance, Christina Kemp showcases a collection of eight personal stories that delve into the most poignant relationships throughout her life.

The well-crafted narratives encompass relationships with her parents, brother, childhood friends, boyfriends, and mentors as they moved in and out of her life. Themes of love, loss, distance, self-preservation, and healing rise to the surface.

Within the book, Kemp ponders the course of a romantic relationship as she realizes that love cannot make underlying differences disappear. At thirteen years old, her father died, and Kemp analyzes how she was able to come to terms with his death, reflecting on his kindness and heroic deeds. Several years later, she is diagnosed with the same condition that took her father; she feels as if she carries her father’s memory in the cells of her own body.

There is a clear distance between herself and her mother. Harmful and passive-aggressive tendencies placed the two at odds. While Kemp appreciated the Saturday morning conversations they often shared, her mother seemed more concerned with criticism than connection. The woman could shove her daughter across the room without reason. Regarding her rage, the author aptly describes it as “hot explosive sandbags that otherwise leaked at the seams.” Eventually, Kemp learned to accept the child/parent schisms.

With a background in counseling psychology, Christina A. Kemp delivers an in-depth assessment of her personal connections that will resonate with readers.

Examining these relationships brings clarity to familial ties and how they affect every other relationship in life. Indeed, Kemp better understands how to love on her own terms and realizes when to leave a relationship. One could spend a lifetime attempting to understand the landscape of relationships that make us who we are.

Each of the stories opens with a simple black & white photo.

The magpie cat, Lucy, stretches on hind legs, looking for an escape beyond the confines of her new island home. The model beauty of Kemp’s mother shows with full wavy hair and makeup, a scarf tied jauntily around her neck. A lone sailboat on distant waters captures the lingering loss of her father. Each image renders a stark, yet ethereal quality connected to Kemp’s life.

Kemp’s styling renders the beauty and harshness of significant moments in artful detail.

One day, the author overhears a lively conversation between a father and daughter about college plans; it is with shame and sorrow that Kemp realizes she’ll never share that experience. And then, amidst the rural surroundings of a northwest island, she considers the natural beauty of the changing seasons. The colorful descriptions and intimate detail throughout the text prove refreshing. Consider, “the island winds playing like a symphony.”

Across the Distance is most definitely a personal journal. However, even as the author finds catharsis in her stories, readers, too, will find meaning in the telling.

Readers are invited to take the book as a sequential whole or read one story portrait at a time. Either way, they will gain insight and understanding as they journey through this book and explore the intimate workings of relationships.

Across the Distance will appeal to those who seek to understand the connections and divisions we so often encounter in our lives.

February 21, 2022
RUNNING WITH CANNIBALS by Robert W. Smith – Philippine-American War, Historical Fiction, Military History

Robert W. Smith tells the story of a forgotten war and the fractured peace that follows in his powerful historical fiction novel, Running with Cannibals.

It has been said that “War is hell.” It has also been opined that “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” Running with Cannibals is a no-holds-barred, candid portrayal of a war that is glossed over in U.S. history, the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902. It was the first war fought overseas by the U.S.

Running with Cannibals begins with an unnamed man on the run from an unjust accusation bought with blood and money.

At first, the reader may wonder how this man ends up halfway around the world to the Philippines, a soldier hiding among other soldiers.

Through the eyes of Sergeant Ethan Cooper, the reader has an intimate view of the self-fulfilling shibboleths that empower and provoke the U.S. Army into stupidity, atrocity, and self-aggrandizement. They squander the genuine possibility of cooperation and partnership with the Filipinos who were colonized by Spain.

Running with Cannibals is a story where the truth sets one man, Ethan Cooper, free of the past that dogs his every step. He keeps his head down, desperately trying not to draw attention to himself. So afraid of being seen, Cooper participates in committing monstrous acts against the Filipino people with his fellow soldiers – even against his better judgment.

When Cooper and his unit leave the capital for the remote villages on a mission that is doomed to fail because of the ignorance and racism of its commanding officer, Cooper’s eyes and the reader’s are fully opened to the U.S. true intent to subdue and subjugate the Filipinos into starvation and death. The more brutality Cooper sees, the more he questions what he’s been told. Not just about the supposed enemy, but about his own side.

Running with Cannibals is both an adventure and a philosophical and sometimes even angst-ridden journey told through a very close third-person point of view.

Smith crafts his story with exceptional skill, enabling readers an up-close look at Cooper’s ultimate metamorphosis. Ethan Cooper’s desperate desire to not see what is going on all around him does change over the course of his adventures into a soul-searching journey of purpose and fulfillment.

Running with Cannibals is an epic tale of war, hell, and redemption that will stick with readers long after reading the last page. Highly recommended.

February 16, 2022
SOULMATED (Joining of Souls Book) by Shaila Patel – Paranormal Romance, YA Paranormal, Coming of Age

Eighteen-year-old Liam Whelan must balance the pressure and danger of his new role leading his entire empath clan while searching for a fabled ‘soulmate’ in Shaila Patel’s paranormal romance novel, Soulmated.

Since the age of six, guided by his father’s visions, Liam and his family have traveled across the United States, moving from town to town searching for the girl destined to “join” with Liam. However, no empath in centuries has found a soulmated union. No one knows what joining actually means. Liam tires of his parents’ search for what he considers a fantasy girl, but he agrees to give up one more year of his life. The family moves to North Carolina for Liam’s senior year.

Laxshmi Kapadia will graduate a year early. Her mother, an overprotective and overbearing widow, plans Laxshmi’s entire life. Either her daughter attends med school or marries a proper Indian boy. Neither prospect appeals to Laxshmi, who wants to major in dance and doesn’t even want to start dating, let alone get married. So, when she meets the handsome new boy two doors down from her house, she doesn’t understand why he’s so drawn to her, unaware of her latent empathic abilities.

Liam marvels at Laxshmi’s power, smitten with her mesmerizing eyes. But as the two become closer, a strange power begins to emerge, a force that threatens their lives and draws the attention of the enemies that Liam must face as a leader.

Liam and Laxshmi bear the weight of responsibility, both to the family and themselves.

At barely eighteen, Liam has to prove himself worthy to lead his clan. He embraces the great honor but fears the added burdens of becoming the “prince.” In addition to his rigorous schooling, he constantly reviews the financial documents of his people to be sure of their success. His heightened empathic abilities make him an asset to the entire empath world and a dangerous wildcard. Liam doesn’t want to control the Group of Elders, but his father pushes him toward that future. This responsibility combines with his remarkable potential, and Liam becomes lost in his abilities.

Laxshmi struggles under no less responsibility.

Her father died five years ago, and since then, Laxshmi’s mother has focused entirely on her. Mrs. Kapadia struggles financially and determines that her daughter must do better by becoming a doctor or marrying a wealthy man. Though she balks at her mother’s control, Laxshmi can’t help but feel she must be the dutiful daughter to keep a promise made to her father. Can Laxshmi give up on her dreams for the sake of her mother? Laxshmi honors her mother’s wishes to stay away from all boys, especially those who are non-Indian, though it means she may be missing out on a genuine love with Liam.

Ironically, both Liam and Laxshmi find a certain freedom in the responsibility of a relationship with each other. Though they must invest great emotion, they make that trade for the chance to choose their paths. Rather than being burdened by another’s emotions, they make each other stronger.

Shaila Patel’s Soulmated won 1^st Place in the 2015 CIBA Paranormal Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction.

February 11, 2022