Anastasia Forever

Anastasia Forever

Joy Preble

Copyright 2012, Sourcebooks

Release Date: 8/1/2012

First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH, GINGER! When I heard ARC's were going to be available at a Texas Convention I almost lost my mind...and my credit card...because, By God, if I had to fly to Texas...But Ginger was there for me! (Hubs didn't much like the idea of a spur of the moment trip to Texas for one book lol) And THEN Joy Preble signed it. Life = Made.

As for you guys - 2 Weeks!! You're almost there!!! I'll make this even easier for you. Follow this link and pre order your copy now.

On to the story!!

Anne is the long lost relative of Viktor, the illegitimate son of Tsar Nicholas - the father of Anastasia Romanov. Anne has recently learned this as well as the fact that her grandmother is a Rusalka (Russian mermaid) and that she alone can set Anastasia free from the hut of Baba Yaga, where she has been trapped since the Romanov's were gunned down. She's also obtained smokin hot Russian brotherhood member and senior citizen (hey, he's like 100 years old!), Ethan, as her boyfriend. I envy the CRAP out of this girl. Well, most of the time, the times she's not able to kiss Ethan she's fighting for her life, public safety, her family, learning all about Russian "stories" that turn out to be truth, all kinds of stuff like this make me kind of glad I'm "normal"! Did I mention she's been to Baba Yaga's hut?! And more importantly, returned from it?!

Now, she harnasses some of Baba Yaga's power and there is more work to be done. Viktor is up to something. He was supposed to lose his immortality...so why didn't he die? Stories inside of stories, secrets inside of secrets.

I. Love. These. Books. Joy Preble is a genious mastermind. The way she's able to weave stories from Russian folklore and parts of their beautiful language into a story that holds the essence of men that would have walked the days the stories were still known by all simultaneously with a modern day girl being thrown from her normal Chicago life into the middle of it all is nothing short of breathtaking.

The writing style varies with a depth I'm not sure any other author I've read has been able to duplicate. Between Viktor, Baba Yaga, Ethan, Anne and Tess - there's a party going on in her head that I would love to be privy to! And while I'm mentioning Tess. I want her to be my best friend!! Loyal to a fault, strong, beautiful, protective - she's everything you could hope for in a best friend.

Aside from the fact that I think EVERYONE should read this series and I believe that EVERYONE would love them - there's also the catchy factor that I think educators will enjoy. I was sucked into this series in a very strong way, I devoured the first two and while waiting for book three decided I needed to know more about their world. Since then, I've purchased and read multiple Russian folklore stories and developed an itch to learn the language. Like I said earlier, the writing jumps between Tess and Anne who are very modern and live in a world that readers will recognize and connect with; they will also hear from and be introduced to a world usually buried deep in the pages of dusty history books. Not to mention, you find a student who starts the books. They like the story. They're interested in Anastasia. Now you can get them into history. Joy Preble's books are a gateway drug to knowlege, push it to everyone you know!!