The Sisters of Winter Wood
The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner is $2.99! I mentioned this one in a previous Hide Your Wallet because I love magical realism. Reader say this book is incredibly atmospheric, but the chief complaints seem to be there’s romance (ew, yuck!) and the amount of Yiddish/Hebrew words. If you’re not familiar with them or Judaism in general, you may feel lost.
Captivating and boldly imaginative, with a tale of sisterhood at its heart, Rena Rossner’s debut fantasy invites you to enter a world filled with magic, folklore, and the dangers of the woods.
In a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya have been raised on the honeyed scent of their Mami’s babka and the low rumble of their Tati’s prayers. But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell-despite their mother’s warning to be wary of strangers. And this is not the only danger lurking in the woods.
As dark forces close in on their village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret passed down through generations. Faced with a magical heritage they never knew existed, the sisters realize the old fairy tales are true…and could save them all.
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Bound for Eden by Tess LeSue is $1.99! This is the first book in the Frontiers of the Heart historical western series. It also features a heroine who disguises herself as a boy to join a wagon train. New reviewer Lara Diane mentioned this in Whatcha Reading and said it rocked her world.
The first novel in a new western historical romance series that will take readers for the ride of their lives on the Oregon Trail.
Alexandra Barratt has found the perfect man—it’s a shame he thinks she’s a boy…
Fleeing from the murderous Grady brothers, Alexandra disguises herself as a boy and joins a frontier party heading West, with her brother and sister in tow. The wagon train is captained by the irresistible Luke Slater, who’s never met a woman he couldn’t charm.
At first, Alex can’t believe the way every woman in town falls at Luke’s feet, including her suddenly flirtatious sister. But when she sees him naked in the bathtub, she finds herself swooning over him too. If only she could wash the muck of her face and show him who she really is. Unfortunately she has more pressing concerns…
The Gradys aren’t about to let Alex, nor the small fortune she stole from them, slip through their fingers. Only by maintaining her ruse does she have a chance of protecting her family. But fate, it seems, is conspiring against her.
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RECOMMENDED: Forever Mine by Erin Nicholas is $1.99! Elyse loved this one and gave it an A:
If you need to just feel really good for awhile, or you really love cosplay or comics or guys who specialize in blood disorders, this book is absolutely your catnip. It’s “read in one sitting good.”
Maya Goodwin doesn’t believe in holding back. Ever. As a cop, she never hesitated to throw herself into harm’s way to save someone. Even after an injury on the job forces her to retire, she’s not afraid to keep risking it all to get the life she wants. With a new career teaching martial arts to kids already underway, she’s looking forward to the future – and taking a chance on the unbelievably hot Dr. Alex Nolan.
Maya – daring and spontaneous – is the exact opposite of what Alex always thought he wanted. But when a nine-year-old daughter he never knew existed shows up on his doorstep, Maya is the one who helps them hold it together. With love on the line, will the guy who’s always played it safe be willing to take the biggest risk of all?
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!The Fearless King
The Fearless King by Katee Robert is $2.99! This is the second book in the Kings contemporary romance series, though I think it works as a standalone. This one also has a fake relationship! Readers say this one started off strong, but the heroine’s repetitive inner monologuing became tedious. It has a 3.9-star rating on Goodreads.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Contract comes a sexy romance full of family secrets, riveting suspense, and a pretend boyfriend who makes one woman start to feel things that are all too real.
Journey King is an expert at managing the family business. But when her father returns to Houston hell-bent on making a play for the company, Journey will do anything to stop him, even if that means going to Frank Evans for help. Frank deals in information, the dirtier the better. Rugged and rock solid, he’s by far her best ally — and also the most dangerous.
Frank knows better than to get tangled up with the Kings. But something about Journey’s rare vulnerability drags him deep into enemy territory…and into her darkest past. Pretending to be her boyfriend may be necessary for their plan to work, but Frank soon finds helping Journey is much more than just another job – and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.
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“…and the amount of Yiddish/Hebrew words. If you’re not familiar with them or Judaism in general, you may feel lost.” Amanda, I’m speechless. Replace Yiddish/Hebrew with French/Italian/Spanish/Arabic/Hindi and Judaism with Catholicism/Islam/Hindi/Zoroastrianism and rewrite those sentences. Why would you say that? It’s not only problematic to those who are overly familiar with Judaism but not so much with Christianity and are lost much of the time but is incredibly condescending to readers of Smart- not Stupid- Bitches. Please convince me that it was a momentary oversight.
I listened to Sisters of the Winter Wood, so I didn’t realize that one sister’s POV chapter were written in “verse” (creative line break verse, it doesn’t really seem to adhere to any real rules?) that would have annoyed me to no end had I read it. I also know a little bit about the blood libel case in Dubossary, which is a recent event in the story; however Sisters leans in *hard* to the fairy tale elements that I kept forgetting it’s set in the early 20th century. There is an extensive author’s note at the end, which helps ground some things.
So I guess I’d recommend it if you really like Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” or are familiar with Jewish folklore.
@A.B. Chechik: I would make that same comment for any other suggestions you mentioned, if any book we featured on the site relied on its readers to know XYZ for a more thorough reading experience. Personally, I consider myself a Smart Bitch, but test me on any basic religious tenets and I’d flounder in a heartbeat.
I do apologize if my comments were hurtful in any way, or if you felt I was implying readers weren’t knowledgeable about other religions on languages. Perhaps I should rephrase in that the book relies on a lot of implied knowledge of Yiddish and Judaism.
I read all of Tess LeSue’s books and they were the perfect combination of old-school western romance adventure and drama and more modern romance heroes and heroines. Thoroughly enjoyed, would recommend
I read a sample of The Sisters of the Winter Wood and immediately put it on hold. It looks so good! Yes, it’s heavy on the use of Yiddish, Hebrew, and occasionally Ukranian, but my understanding is that there’s a glossary at the back for anyone feeling confused. I’m soooo excited to see 1) a Jewish story, 2) a Jewish story that isn’t just about 21st century secular American Jews, and 3) a Jewish story written by an Orthodox woman. Can’t wait to read it!
You okay, A. B. Chechik?
I’m a little lost, but if you were upset, I’ll listen to you.
I know some stuff about Objibwe and professors who struggle to teach it, and if you felt upset, I could empathize with you. Feel free to hash out your thoughts.
@Nicolette, I can’t speak for A.B. Chechik (and since tone is lost on the internet, I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic and what relationship knowing people who teach Ojibwe has to what they said, so I’m here to listen to you, too) but personally, I do think there’s a more positive way of framing how a book portrays Jews than to say that readers who aren’t familiar with Yiddish/Hebrew and with Judaism may feel lost. It just seems so discouraging to readers, when framed that way! Language and religion are a huge part of atmosphere. When I watch foreign films, I don’t need to understand every word and concept; it’s not a story about my experience, so I’m there to soak it in and enjoy a peek into someone else’s life.
Having read the first few chapters, I can say that the amount of not-English might be intimidating to someone who’s used to understanding every word, but the important connotations can be inferred. If a character says, “I’m not sorry I converted; I believe in Eloykim,” you can infer that she is saying that she believes in some core tenet of whatever she converted to. You don’t need to know that “Eloykim” is the transliteration of the Yiddish pronunciation of one of the Hebrew words that refer to G-d, with an extra “k” in there to make sure that you’re not using the actual word, which–while not the true Name–is holy enough that you shouldn’t use it in vain. The plot doesn’t rest on that sort of thing, you know?
I also (and Amanda, please don’t take this as criticism, because I realize that you haven’t read the book and probably didn’t pick through the reviews with the same detail that I did) noticed most of the reviews that I saw complaining about the amount of Yiddish and Judaism were, shall I say, suspiciously negative about it. Like, ok, you thought that the book was “overwhelmed” by its Jewish content? And were upset that it contained no Jewish culture and too much Jewish religion? Real side-eye from me. So like I said, can’t speak for Chechik, but I was like, mad excited to hear about a book with lots of my own religion and culture in it, and then a bit disappointed at a comment that might dissuade readers from trying to engage with that.
Oh wow, sorry for the essay! Guess who’s procrastinating?
@HannahS: It’s definitely hard to find a balance when most of the books in BoS aren’t ones I personally have read and then have to parse through positive/negative reviews to find common threads that people liked or struggled with.
I had no idea there’s a glossary, for example! And if there’s a glossary in the back, then that definitely makes things easier for readers who don’t have a lot of knowledge in a certain area.
I’m a reader who will Google whatever I don’t understand in a book, but there are other readers who want everything they need to know contained within a text. I do appreciate the comments, though, as it always helps the way I interact with books and their promotion.
Honestly, the thing I liked most about Sisters of the Winter Wood is that it wasn’t a Holocaust story. Those are important stories to tell, please don’t misunderstand, but they are not the *only* story to tell.
A.B. Chechik, Hindi is a language. Hinduism is a religion.
Hindi =/= Hinduism (Sanskrit is the language associated with Hinduism). Just letting you know as the words could be misunderstood to be interchangeable from your comment.
Peace.
As a reader I’d like to know if a book contains a lot of words in a different language than it’s written in. The helpfulness of a glossary depends on the format you’re reading in. Flipping back in easier with a paper book than it is on e-reader. Audiobooks? Yeah, not going to happen.
I read noin-fiction on paper, sci-fi and fantasy on kindle and romance I listen to.
I’ve been interested in Sisters for a while because the tone sounds like it might be somewhere near Tender Morsels and Uprooted and I love those two books a lot. Amanda, I took your sentence to mean “you might want to do some googling” which was helpful to me, I like retellings, especially ones that are not the main 5 Grimm tales, but those 5 get retold so much because everyone knows how they goes. @HannahS somehow I am not surprised at a tone in some of the reviews, although I wish I was. I know when I’m reading outside my experience I’m not going to catch everything, but the point is to experience more than if I’d stuck with what I’m familiar with, it’s definitely a good thing.
Anyway, thanks to you all for the tips on the glossary. I think I will pick up a hardcopy 🙂
I am a Russian-Jew woman, which means I have some familiarity with Judaism but not a lot. I honestly LOVED THE SISTERS OF THE WINTER WOOD, and was excited to see a story that’s not Holocaust and that took place in a land I left long ago. Some knowledge of Judaism is essential to understand the story, but yes there is glossary and explanations. I didn’t find myself lost or floundering when reading it. I found myself home, in fact.
http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=69013
My review for fresh fiction website