Review: Dreaming Anastasia

Dreaming Anastasia

Joy Preble

Copyright 2009, Sourcebooks

Anne is a normal teenage girl worried about completely normal things like school, the parentals, ballet and that ever so important drivers licence. Her brother died of cancer 2 years ago so the whole family's a bit stressed but lately Anne's been having these really awkward dreams. She's in a basement and whoever's mind she's in is watching her whole family die. Their being murdered one by one and as she's reaching for her mothers hands two giant hands come from the sky and swoop her up to safety - and entrapment. It's more than just a dream. Anne is reliving the last known moments of Anastasia Romanov and her royal family.

When uber-hot yet stalkerish Ethan enters the picture you'd expect her to say something like: "Hey, that hot Russian guy is staring at me! Score!" But instead Anne is calm and collected - and unswayed by his appearance. For the most part. When they literally run into each other sparks fly, but not in the way you'd expect.

This isn't just a story of girl meets/likes boy. This is the story of the famous Russian Romanov family who was gunned down, all except one. One that disappeared. One that the world believes dead. One that still lives. This is the story of finding her, of releasing her, of a life that has been on hold for over a hundred years.

Joy Preble did a masterful job of tying together Russian history, fairy tales, the current day and a potential love story. The swoon is slow building, Anne doesn't just fall in love and sleep with him because he's hot and she's single. She's just not that kind of girl. Anne is a compassionate heart and a careful soul. She thinks hard about everything and knows that blinding herself to any one thing could be the most dangerous thing she could do.

I'm wondering. Are all Russian guys smoldering hot, conscious of rights and wrongs and so dang good at being the rough and tough good guy?! I mean, Dimitri from Vampire Academy was my intro to steamy Russian guys but Ethan shares a lot of Dimitri's personality. He's careful but not overly, he knows his desires but struggles to keep them in check, he's compassionate but not weak.

And again, a book set in Chicago. Which I LOVE. Love, love, love. Dreaming Anastasia is like Chicago. An amazing city with the perfect mixture of history and modernization. Sky-scrapers and unique architecture. Love and compassion meet in the middle with a slow burning swoon that makes you smile while reading in public. : ) If you are a fan of history and/or fairy tales you will love this book! Pick it up and give it a try!!