The Amber Keeper 

                So this was a free book I got from my Amazon Prime Membership.  The book description made me get it.  It said there would be a connection between the World and Revolutionary wars in Russia and modern day England.  That sounded interesting and I didn’t know much about Russia during that time, so I put it in my Kindle library.  It took me a few months to get to reading it, so it has been out for a while now.  It’s not a fast read and is great if you just want to relax and get to sleep, but if it must be a “can’t put it down” kind of read for you, just skip this one. 

                I liked the book.  Not much romance, about 7 or 8 pages of it and a kiss at the end.  Not really what I would call “wow” you romance, but the story was engaging.  It goes through the life of a young nanny that is hired by a royal couple in Russia and her life with them and the impact it has on her current family.  It starts out with a suicide of the Daughter and told in flashback scenes from the Grandmother and current scenes from the Granddaughter.  The Granddaughter wants to know more about her Mother’s life and goes to her Grandmother for information.  To tell the Daughter’s story, she has to tell hers first.  It is very engaging.  I think you could have almost skipped the modern day scenes in the book.  The Granddaughter has just moved back after her Mother’s death and she brings a lot of baggage from the married guy and baby daddy that seem unnecessary to tell the story the writer really wants to tell.  Also, the romance the Granddaughter has and the angst about her inherited jewelry studio seem to slow the story down and are not added benefit.  One thing I did really like was how well Freda Lightfoot told of the cold winters, famine, and the uprising in Russia.  She was so descriptive you could almost hear the gunfire and feel the sensation of starving.  So I would say if you can manage to get past a bit of the slow parts in modern day England, and focus on the meat of the story it is a decent read. 

                Again, not a lot of romance, so if you want sex scenes or mushy romantic dinners, this is not the one for you.  A great story is told though. 

Fly Girl