Review: Echo from Mount Royal by Dave Riese

When I was offered to read and review this book, I just couldn’t refuse, because like many of my favorite romance stories, it’s told from one of the characters’ perspective decades after the story itself happened. It’s the idea of all this time that’s passed, and how human feelings can survive all of it that shocks me every time. Remember how Titanic begins? With this old, fragile woman, talking about her first love with such feeling; with the contrast of modern days and the grandeur of the 20’s; with this incredible journey that you know from the start is doomed. I guess that’s what makes these stories so powerful – the anticipation of tragedy, and the understanding that this is what life is made of. The shocking realization that what we may see as dull or stupid now, will one day become part of our best memories. Rebecca’s story is just like that. In 2014, she’s 81 years old, but it doesn’t keep her from telling the reader about what Montreal was like in 1951 in vivid detail. Back then, she was eighteen, a college student ready to fall in love for the first time. Her Catholic-Jewish family belonged to a working class, and so, when she meets Sol, a handsome boy from a wealthy Orthodox family, it’s obvious that their love story won’t be an easy one. However, the family conflict doesn’t have the power over Rebecca’s beliefs that love can overcome any troubles, and naïve or not, she’s what I call the strong female character. She finds a place in Sol’s world with a stubborn confidence, and troubles or not, she lets her love for him change her life forever. This is a realistic, well-written story about class, religion, prejudices, and shattered dreams that won’t leave indifferent anyone who’s into women’s literature or the romance genre. A big thanks to the author for sharing a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

#indieauthors #review