Nadine Brandes: Romanov

By Kelly Bridgewater

From the author of Fawkes comes a magical take on the story of Anastasia Romanov.

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are either to release the spell and deal with the consequences, or to enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Nadine Brandes' Romanov is a masterfully crafted story of forgiveness mingled with history and magic. To be honest, I have never seen the Disney version of Anastasia, so I have nothing to compare this tale to. Brandes takes historical events and adds a little imagination to make a remarkable tale. With a fast moving plot, Brandes takes me for a magical journey from captivity to running from the enemy. The characters were crafted wonderfully and memorable. Brandes writing is top notch and really did an awesome job at describing the setting and using point of view well. Forgiveness is a theme running rampant through the pages of the plot. Nastya learns how important it is to forgive rather than seek revenge. Overall, Nadine Brandes' Romanov is a wonderful take on a historical family and sprinkled with an element of magic and forgiveness. Fans of Nadine Brandes' other works, Morgan Busse, Mary Weber, and Harry Potter might enjoy this novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Romanov by Nadine Brandes, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

About the Author:

From Amazon

NADINE BRANDES once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She is the author of the award-winning Out of Time Series and Fawkes (July 2018) Her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she's not busy writing novels about bold living, she's adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. She and her Auror husband plan to live in a Tiny House on wheels. Current mission: paint the world in shalom. (Taken from Amazon.)