My Life Untold by S.S. Gee Buro

My Life Untold

By:  S.S. Gee Buro

Genre:  Historical Fiction

ISBN:  1493734628

Pages:  286

My Life Untold, by S.S. Gee Buro, is a historical novel set during the Civil War. The lead character, Magda Kline, is the daughter of German immigrants who settle on a farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the 1860s. Magda’s parents love her, giving her a wonderful, carefree childhood. Magda finds love when her father, Jonas, hires a farm hand—Lars Sulter. Lars is a strong, quiet type who falls for Magda and eventually asks for her hand in marriage.

About this time, war comes to the United States—what will become the Civil War. Yankees believe the war will end after a few weeks or months, with young men volunteering to serve their country. Lars volunteers, much to Magda’s dismay. They promise to marry once he returns from the war. Little did they know the tragedies they would go through in the ensuing weeks and months ahead.

Madga, the main character, is well written and believable. You can feel the joy in her carefree upbringing and the love she has for her parents, and their tender love for her. From the beginning of the story, Madga come to life and you feel as if you’re witnessing her life and feelings. All of Buro’s characters are realistic—you care for each one of them.

Buro did a lot of research for this book, which is apparent if you are a Civil War history buff. She captures the fear of people living near and on the battlefields, the aftermath of war and the horrible way war makes some people behave. Her scenes of Andersonville are horrifyingly realistic. Be warned—some of the scenes in the story are quite graphic (not with sex)—there are graphic after-battle scenes and descriptions of wounds, etc.

I enjoyed reading this book—it actually felt like I was reading Magda’s diary. The book grabs you from the beginning, making it hard to put down until you’ve finished the story. Buro paints realistic scenery—you feel like you’re right there in the 1860s—the coldness of river water will leave you shivering. The entire story was great, up until the end.  The ending felt too contrived and abrupt. It left me hanging, rather than feeling as if the story was complete.

My LifeUntold is a great story you’ll not soon forget. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction that contains romance and tragedy. You won’t regret reading My Life Untold!

Disclosure:  I purchased this book with my own funds and have not been in any way compensated for this review. 

Dragon Rose--A Delightful Tale

Book Details

Name: Dragon Rose

By: Christine Pope

ISBN-10:  0615718523

Kindle Ebook

Publishing Date: November 15, 2012 (Second Publishing)

Length:  274 pages

If you love the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, you’ll enjoy Dragon Rose (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms). Pope takes the story and sets it in a fantasy land where magic is almost dead, but there are a few malevolent curses remaining from the time of the mages. The setting for the story begins in Lirinsholme, a town that is part of the “Latter Kingdoms,” which are regions that survived the mage wars.

Lirinsholme lies in the shadow of the “Dragon of Black Keep,” who turns out to be Theran Blackmoor. He was cursed into dragon form by a mage, and has lived in this condition for 500 years by the beginning of the story. Every few years, the dragon signals his need of a bride from Lirinsholme. The town elders gather to write all the names of marriageable girls on slips of paper and draw the name of the next girl to become the dragon’s bride. The bride is never heard from again, which leads the townspeople to believe becoming the dragon’s bride leads to certain death once they enter the dragon’s home.

This story’s heroine is Rhianne Menyon, who is the eldest of three daughters born to a poor potter and his wife. As the eldest daughter, Rhianne’s expected to marry a rich husband who can help the financial stability of her family and aid her sisters with dowries.

The story begins when Rhianne is caught in the act of doing work that women should never do—painting pottery. This is considered man’s work. With the approval of her parents, Rhianne had been helping out with pottery painting while he father was too ill to work. As a result of this shameful discovery, Rhianne’s fiancé decides to end their engagement and a huge scandal results when the townspeople learn of Rhianne’s shameful conduct unbecoming a woman.

In the meantime, the dragon has signalled his need of a bride. The elders spring into action and gather all the marriageable girls together for the dragon’s bride drawing. Rhianne and her best friend Lilianth (who’s about to be married to a local love) are forced to attend the drawing, as both are of marriageable age. When Lilianth’s name is drawn, Rhianne volunteers to become the dragon’s bride in her place.

Rhianne is taken away to what she and her family believe to be certain death. She travels to the dragon’s castle, to realize the marriage will take place almost immediately. She doesn’t meet Theran until the wedding ceremony, where she sees a tall man hidden under a cloak and cowl. They are married and then have a wedding feast, where they are they only guests. There is no wedding night.

Rhianne is given her own suite of rooms in the castle, where she is provided with jewels, dresses and more. She is overwhelmed by the fact that these were the possessions of the dragon brides before her. However, Rhianne is given servants who look after her and is granted permission to paint as she will.

Each night Rhianne and Theran have dinner together, getting to know one another through every day chit chat. Theran is always covered in the cloak and cowl, so Rhianne is never able to see his face. He also wears gloves at all times, though some inner heat seems to emanate from him. Theran seems to want to keep her at arm’s length and Rhianne is left to wonder why the dragon needs to take a bride, when they do not have a typical marriage. She finds the castle is rife with mysteries and secrets that none will discuss with her. Rhianne wants to learn what happened to the previous dragon’s brides and what will eventually befall her own fate.

Pope has a talent for keeping the mystery going, while building the relationship between Rhianne and Theran. She keeps you hooked to the book—you don’t want to put it down—until you get to the end. Then you want more!

All the characters are believable, especially Rhianne and Theran. Theran on occasion displays his terrifying shape as a dragon, which leaves you concerned for Rhianne’s eventual fate. Pope generates the emotions Rhianne feels, making them come alive for the reader. The setting of the castle and the fantasy world are also well-developed and realistic. The romance between Rhianne and Theran is sweet and chaste, though Pope lets Rhianne have the normal longings a bride has for her husband.

I read this book while I was sick with a bad cold. It made for great reading—I didn’t want this book down, and only did so when I was too tired to read further!

I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy a good fantasy/mystery/clean romance novel. This book is #2 in the Tales of the Latter Kingdoms series.

*Disclosure:  I bought this book with my own funds and have not received any compensation for this review. This review is my own opinion. 

Welcome to Sher's Kindle Bookshelf

Welcome to Sher's Kindle Bookshelf! This blog is devoted to sharing ebooks with from my Kindle bookshelf with you. These ebooks are all available on Amazon's Kindle Store--some of them are free, while others are paid.

I fell in love with the Kindle about three years ago, when my daughter gave me one as a birthday present. What a wonderful to gift! I have the (now old) Kindle 2 with keyboard and 3G connectivity. The Kindle has been with along most everywhere I travel and has added to my expat life in a huge way.

I'm an American expat living in the Czech Republic. It's possible to find books in English here, but they are very expensive. Ordering books can also be costly. The Kindle is perfect, as I can download books in English for a very small charge or free. This way I never run out of reading material. There is a virtual library on my Kindle!

Amazon offers an entire family of Kindle readers and tablets. Not only do they offer ereaders and tablets, but Amazon also offers a Kindle Reader app for the iPad, iPod, iPhone and Mac computers. The Kindle reader app is also available for Android devices. The Kindle apps have a great set of features, but one of my favorites is the sync feature that allows you to read an ebook on multiple devices and pick up right where you left off. For instance, say you're reading Moby Dick and are on section 1000-1076. If you have the app installed on another device all you have to do is ask the app to sync at that position, and then go to your other device, hit sync and begin reading right where you left off. This is a nice feature when you have multiple gizmos you use as ereaders.

The Kindle family and Kindle apps really do make it easy to read anywhere, at any time. The ereaders and tablets are just the right size to throw into your backpack, purse or briefcase. You can take an entire library with you wherever you go.

As you can see, I'm completely "in love" with my Kindle! It has been a wonderful addition to my life. The Kindle comes in many different price points, making it an accessible gizmos for most people. You never have to be without a book again!

Be sure to check back--I'll start posting about some of my favorite books that can be found in the Kindle Store! Until then, happy reading!