Category Archives: Cathy Gohlke

Promise me This by Cathy Gohlke
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Synopsis: Michael Dunnagan was never supposed to sail on the “Titanic,” nor would he have survived if not for the courage of Owen Allen. Determined to carry out his promise to care for Owen’s relatives in America and his younger sister, Annie, in England, Michael works hard to strengthen the family’s New Jersey garden and landscaping business.Annie Allen doesn’t care what Michael promised Owen. She only knows that her brother is gone–like their mother and father–and the grief is enough to swallow her whole. As Annie struggles to navigate life without Owen, Michael reaches out to her through letters. In time, as Annie begins to lay aside her anger that Michael lived when Owen did not, a tentative friendship takes root and blossoms into something neither expected. Just as Michael saves enough money to bring Annie to America, WWI erupts in Europe. When Annie’s letters mysteriously stop, Michael risks everything to fulfill his promise–and find the woman he’s grown to love–before she’s lost forever.

Review: I had never had the opportunity to read a book about the Titanic before. However, it is a subject that fascinates me and I enjoy every documentaries that allows me to learn more about it. So when I found out about this novel, I was immediately intrigued. It did not take longer to me to start it.

Michael is a young boy who is trying to escape his past, but it is actually quite difficult. One day, however, he manages to embark on the Titanic when crossing between Ireland and England. But once there, it is difficult for him to know what he wants to do with his life and that until he met Owen. This is a man full of kindness and tenderness. He dreams of one thing, to help others and do everything possible for everyone. So when he discovers Michael shivering with cold in a garden he built, he immediately decides to help him to find a shelter and a purpose to his life. Yet he himself has a lot of trouble but he is trying to help as much as he can. Michael likes Owen more than anyone else, but he can not accept to see him go and leave him in London when he goes to America. He therefore secretly embarks on the Titanic and travels with his friend to a better life. They do however promise to do everything for Annie, the younger sister of Owen, to release her from the hands of her terrible aunt and pay for her trip so she could join them. But the arrival of the war complicate their designs.

I enjoyed the story, it is very touching to see the relationship between Annie and Michael. They have a sensitivity and sadness that resonates and breaks our heart. I must say that they had a very difficult life filled with obstacles of all kinds and we’re still impressed by the persons they manage to become in spite of that. I looked forward to the meeting between Annie and our hero but it is still more complicated. They’re bounded together by their love for Owen, but they realize that it is not the only thing and there is so much more.

It is true that this book was nice but I had a problem, however, that bothered me a little in my reading. Religion does not really bother me when it has an important place in relation to the story, but I think the allusions are too present here actually. Everything is related to it eventually and after a while it becomes heavy. It’s a shame because I would have enjoyed it even more without all that.

It is still a nice discovery, the time spent on the Titanic is actually quite short but it was interesting to discover what happened later, something I had not yet had the opportunity to read.

 

Le Serment du Titanic de Cathy Gohlke
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Résumé : La promesse du naufragé va faire chavirer les coeurs…
Irlande, 1912. Michael embarque clandestinement à bord du Titanic pour fuir la misère. Alors qu’il est sur le point de mourir de faim, Owen le prend sous son aile. Quand le paquebot réputé insubmersible percute un iceberg, Owen se sacrifie pour sauver son ami. Il lui fait promettre de veiller sur Annie, sa petite soeur qui est en danger. Tout en travaillant d’arrache-pied pour lui offrir un avenir meilleur, Michael tente de convaincre Annie de le rejoindre et s’éprend d’elle au fil des lettres qu’ils échangent. Mais peut-elle vraiment laisser libre cours à ses sentiments et avouer son amour à celui qu’elle tient pour responsable de la mort de son frère ? Entre les hésitations de la jeune femme et la Première Guerre mondiale qui ravage l’Europe, Michael n’est pas au bout de ses peines…

Avis : Je n’avais jamais eu l’occasion auparavant de lire un livre au sujet du Titanic. C’est pourtant un sujet qui me fascine et je profite à chaque fois des documentaires pour en apprendre un peu plus. Alors quand j’ai découvert la sortie de ce roman, j’ai tout de suite été très intriguée. Il ne m’a pas fallu plus longtemps pour vouloir le commencer.

Michael est un jeune garçon qui échappe à son passé, mais c’est finalement assez difficile. Il arrive cependant à s’embarquer sur le Titanic lors de la traversée entre l’Irlande et l’Angleterre. Mais une fois arrivé, il est difficile pour lui de savoir ce qu’il veut faire de sa vie et cela jusqu’à ce qu’il rencontre Owen. Ce dernier est un homme plein de bonté et de tendresse. Il ne rêve que d’une chose, aider son prochain et faire son possible pour chacun. Alors quand il découvre Michael transi de froid dans un des jardins qu’il a aménagé, il décide tout de suite de l’aider à trouver un toit et à trouver un but dans sa vie. Pourtant, il a lui-même bien des soucis mais tant qu’il le peut il fait de son mieux. Michael s’attache cependant à Owen plus qu’à n’importe quelle autre personne et il ne peut accepter de le voir partir et de l’abandonner à Londres alors qu’il se rend en Amérique. Il s’embarquera donc clandestinement sur le Titanic et fera le voyage avec son ami vers une vie meilleure. Ils se font cependant une promesse, tout faire pour qu’Annie, la jeune sœur d’Owen soit libérée des liens de sa terrible tante et payer son voyage pour qu’elle les rejoigne. Mais l’arrivée de la guerre compliquera leurs desseins.

J’ai beaucoup apprécié l’histoire, c’est très touchant de voir le fond intérieur d’Annie et Michael. Ils ont une sensibilité et une tristesse qui résonne et nous fend le cœur. Il faut dire qu’ils ont eu une vie très difficile, remplie d’embûches de toutes sortes et on reste admiratif devant les personnes qu’ils sont devenus malgré cela. J’attendais avec impatience la rencontre entre Annie et notre héros mais tout est toujours plus compliqué. Un lien les unit tous les deux, leur amour pour Owen mais ils réaliseront que ce n’est pas tout et qu’il y a beaucoup plus.

Il est vrai que ma lecture a été agréable mais j’ai cependant eu un souci qui m’a un peu embêté dans ma lecture. La religion ne me dérange jamais vraiment quand elle a une place importante par rapport à l’histoire, mais je trouve que les allusions sont ici véritablement trop présentes. Tout s’y rapporte finalement et au bout d’un moment ça devient pesant. C’est un peu dommage car j’aurais vraiment apprécié d’autant plus ma lecture sans tout cela.

C’est tout de même une jolie découverte, le temps passé sur le Titanic est finalement assez court mais c’était intéressant de découvrir un après, quelque chose dont je n’avais pas encore eu l’occasion de connaître.

 

Stacking the Shelves #37
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Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

 Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, 1) – Richelle Mead

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

 A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.
A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.
She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? …or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

 Revelation (The Seven Signs, 1) – Erica hayes

A fallen angel with a mission and a medical examiner who’s lost her faith are fighting for their souls in a glittering, near-future Manhattan…

Blind faith is for fools. That’s what Dr. Morgan Sterling believes. And she’s going to prove it by curing the zombie plague ravaging her city’s slums. She’s certain it’s not a sign of the End of Days, but a nasty disease—until an angel appears in her morgue in a flash of glory.

Luniel is not just a fallen angel. He’s a powerful warrior sworn to fight evil in hopes of a chance at redemption. He’s after the demon princes who are stealing the seven vials of holy wrath which, when perverted, will unleash eternal hell on earth.

To stop the plague, Luniel needs Morgan’s help, and her faith. But Morgan believes science is their salvation. If the zombie plague is a demonic curse—and if Luniel is true—he’ll have to prove it. Even if he loses his heart to true love or his soul to Hell…

Ghosts of Memories (Vampire Memories, 5) – Barb Hendee

With her vampire protector Philip Branté and their human companion Wade Sheffield, a former police psychologist, Eleisha Clevon searches the world for isolated vampires — and offers them sanctuary. She wants to provide a home where she can teach them to follow the Four Laws that will protect them and their kind.

But not all vampires want to live by anyone’s rules but their own. Christian Lefevre has been posing a psychic, catering to the upper crust of Seattle society by making contact with their dead loved ones — and leaving his clients faint and weak after each encounter. Now Eleisha must confront the most deadly predator she has ever faced — or lose everything she has fought to protect…

 Mortal Ties (Workd of the Lupi, 9) – Eileen Wilks

FBI agent Lily Yu is living at Nokolai Clanhome with her fiancé, lupi Rule Turner, when an intruder penetrates their territory, stealing the prototpye of a magical device the clan hopes will be worth a fortune–if a few bugs can be worked out . . .

But the protoytpe can be dangerously erratic, discharging a bizarre form of mind magic—and it looks like the thief wants it for that very side effect. Worse, whoever stole the device didn’t learn about it by accident. There’s a Nokolai traitor in their midst. Lily and Rule have to find the traitor, the thief, and the prototype. One job proves easy when the thief calls them–and his identity rocks Rule’s world.

As they race to recover their missing property, they find Robert Friar’s sticky footprints all over the place. Robert Friar–killer, madman, and acolyte of the Old One the lupi are at war with–an Old One whose power is almost as vast as her ambition to rock the entire world . . .

 Shifting Plains (Shifting Plains, 1) – Jean Johnson

Centuries before the time of the Sons of Destiny, a female shapeshifter became the leader of the people of the Shifting Plains… Tava Ell Var never really knew her mother, but she did know her tragic fate at the hands of a band of cruel shapeshifters—a history set down by Tava’s father as a warning about life on the Shifting Plains. But after her father is murdered, Tava encounters a Shifterai warband fighting to rid the Plains of the terrorizing bandits. Shifterai leader Kodan Sin Siin is sympathetic to Tava’s suffering, but he’s determined to bring the wary young woman to the Plains. Because he knows her secret: She, like he and his men, is a shapeshifter. Once she joins them, he knows that she will see for herself the true fate that awaits her on the Plains, and most of all, lose her fear of his people. And, in time, he knows she will find her place is in their fight—and by his side.

 Le Serment du Titanic – Cathy Gohlke

Irlande, 1912. Michael embarque clandestinement à bord du Titanic pour fuir la misère. Alors qu’il est sur le point de mourir de faim, Owen le prend sous son aile. Quand le paquebot réputé insubmersible percute un iceberg, Owen se sacrifie pour sauver son ami. Il lui fait promettre de veiller sur Annie, sa petite soeur qui est en danger. Tout en travaillant d’arrache-pied pour lui offrir un avenir meilleur, Michael tente de convaincre Annie de le rejoindre et s’éprend d’elle au fil des lettres qu’ils échangent. Mais peut-elle vraiment laisser libre cours à ses sentiments et avouer son amour à celui qu’elle tient pour responsable de la mort de son frère ? Entre les hésitations de la jeune femme et la Première Guerre mondiale qui ravage l’Europe, Michael n’est pas au bout de ses peines…

Soif de Sang (Belladone, 2) – Michelle Rowen

Jillian Conrad va mourir. Si elle ne succombe pas à la Belladone – ce poison qui la rend irrésistible et mortelle pour les suceurs de sang –, ce sont des vampires fous en quête d’immortalité absolue qui auront sa peau. Depuis qu’elle est devenue le dernier rempart entre eux et la fille du défunt roi Matthias, elle n’a plus nulle part où se cacher. Pas même dans les bras de Declan, son amant dhampire. Privé de toutes ses émotions par un puissant sérum, ce dernier n’est plus que l’ombre de lui-même et c’est à Jillian que reviendra la lourde tâche de tous les sauver…