Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons

Wow where to begin? I have heard some people did not like Tatiana and Alexander very much but I loved it! I found this book to be very emotional. After The Bronze Horseman I did not think Paullina Simons could give me much more to cry over but I was wrong!

Tatiana and Alexander takes us through three stories simultaneously. First the back story of Alexander and his loving parents and their struggle in their new country. Second the story of Tatiana and her new life in America with her new son. And finally Alexander's hard and difficult time in the Soviet Union as he tries in vain to make his way back to Tatiana's arms.

I really loved learning more about Alexander. It was quite interesting to read about his childhood and upbringing.  Then we learn how Alexander became a man and how he got involved with the evil Dimitri. We journey with Alexander through his war/prison life and along the way get to hear some of his memories of his time with Tatiana. Those were by far my favorite parts.

Reading about Alexander being left behind in the Soviet Union was very sad and difficult but it was just as sad reading about Tatiana adjusting to her new lonely life. People always seem to be drawn to Tatiana. They are concerned for her, care about her and try to help her become normal again. However Tatiana struggles to move on and in many ways she just doesn't want to.

All in all I found the novel very exciting. Expect action and betrayal and a couple of old faces popping in. I found myself wondering the whole time I read Tatiana and Alexander if our two heartbroken lovers would ever reunite. It is very hard to imagine how their reunion would ever be possible being separated by countries, ocean, war and prison but if there is a will there is a way...... now on to the third and final book The Summer Garden!

The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons

The Bronze Horseman is a love story. The story takes place in 1941 Russia right at the start of the war with Germany. The star of our tale is seventeen year old Tatiana who hasn't a care in the world. That is until she meets Alexander, a twenty-two year old officer in the Red Army.

Without spoiling too much there are very big reasons why these two cannot be together. All seems hopeless for them but fear not this is no Wuthering Heights. I guarantee you there is love there it just takes sometime to get to it and being a mature adult woman it was nice to see there are some *ahem* lusty adult moments, very detailed but somehow managing not to be romance novelish. Being that the war has just begun there is a lot of heartbreak, starvation and eventually even death for our cast of characters. But don't let that scare you; there is also life and love and passion!

The detail is amazing. Paullina Simons takes you everywhere from the shabby communal living apartments, to the wartime front line, to a little village by the river. You will be taken from the long hot white nights of summer in Leningrad to the dead cold harsh winter and back again. You will be there with Tatiana as she struggles within herself to please her family and go through the excitement and the unknown of our hero Alexander's mysterious past and his dangerous secret.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the larger format paperback and still manages to fill up 810 pages! For me it was quite the page turner and I could hardly put it down. In fact I read the whole book in just three days and I kept going back to reread my favorite parts. Luckily the story is not finished with the Bronze Horseman and there are two more novels in the series (Tatiana and Alexander, The Summer Garden) which just happened to arrive on my doorstep yesterday : ) I highly recommend this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.