Every Last Kiss (The Bloodstone Saga) [Versión Kindle]

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What would you do if you held Fate in your hands? 17-year old Macy Lockhart has the weight of the world on her shoulders. For thousands of years, she has been a Keeper in the ancient organization, the Order of the Moirae... and she literally holds fate in her hands. But this is something that she forgets because her memories are wiped clean in every life until it is time for her cycle to start again. For the last two thousand years, this has never been a problem. Until now. And now...Fate, the very thing that Macy was born to keep, is being challenged and she has only one choice: To return to a previous life to fix it; a life where she was Cleopatra's handmaiden, Charmian. And that's not all. Unless she interferes with the fabric of time, the very thing she has returned to repair, her soul mate will die leading Marc Antony's forces against Rome. Can she really stand aside and allow the love of her life to die all over again?
Paperback, 250 pages
Published May 2nd 2011 by Lakehouse Press (first published April 21st 2011)

Three stars: I enjoyed this book and recommend it with some reservations.

What would you do if you held fate in your hands and had the ability to change destiny? Our heroine Macy/ Charmaine grapples with this monumental question. Macy is not a normal seventeen year old, she is a Keeper belonging to an ancient magical order known as the Moirae. Macy is destined to guide her ward, someone of great historical importance predetermined to change history. Unfortunately, people decided for historic greatness have shortened lives with tragic endings and she too suffers the same demise. She is reborn time and time again with her memory swept clean; to follow her set path. In order to achieve her predestined goals, Macy must make great personal sacrifices. When the story opens Macy is a normal modern day teenager dealing with the typical problems of any seventeen year old. Then a strange visitor returns to her a magical, powerful bloodstone. Grasping the stone her mind is deluged with all the memories of her previous lives. She suddenly finds herself swept back to her life as Charmaine, 2000 years ago where she lived in Egypt and served as Cleopatra's most trusted hand maiden. She is confronted with a heart wrenching decision. Will she follow Fate's design and meet her fated death alongside Cleopatra or will she choose love and save her soul mate? What would you do?

What I Liked:

Traveling back to ancient Egypt was fun and educational. This book was well researched. I appreciated all the archeological facts that were sprinkled throughout. Ms. Cole has a nice, fluid writing style. This novel is filled with rich, vivid descriptions. Her words brought Cleopatra's world back with all it's decadence and splendor. I loved her intoxicating and detailed depictions of all of the scents; from Cleopatra's perfume, to the lotus garden and the sumptuous banquets. I felt like I was walking in Cleopatra's Egypt and breathing all the aromas.
The story was detailed and complex. I admired the way the author mixed modern day, ancient Egypt and Greek mythology. She weaves a complex and intricate tapestry. Combining historic figures such as Cleopatra, Marc Antony and Charmaine with the mythological Fates, add a dash of magic and time travel and you have the workings of an intriguing, exciting plot.
I liked the romantic aspect of the story. It tears at your heart strings when Charmaine is forced to make her decision; will she save Hasani her soul mate and great love or follow the will of the Fates. Luckily, I was happy with the final outcome.
Price point: at the time of this review, I purchased this book on amazon.com for $.99. A definite bargain and well worth the price.

And The Not So Much:

For me the depiction of Cleopatra did not come across as authentic. Cleopatra's use of modern vernacular was distracting. It was obvious that Ms. Cole researched Cleopatra heavily but her portrayal did not work for me. I guess everyone has their own ideas regarding the famed queen of the Nile. The author does do a great job with her descriptions and she also provides stories pertaining to Cleopatra's history. I did appreciate the intricate details of Cleopatra's costume and makeup. She truly must have been a glamourous woman.
The time shifts in the middle became confusing at some points. Then there are the two mysterious priests, Annen and Ahmose each with their own agenda. Annen sends Charmaine back in time to supposedly correct something in the past. He also desires for her to learn to wield the great power she possesses in her bloodstone in order for her to go against the pre-determined fabric of time. He claims that Fate is not determined that she can choose. Ahmose is Charmaine's guide. His purpose is to keep her on her path of destiny. These two flicker in and out of the story creating confusion. At the end of the story I questioned why Annen wanted Charmaine to go back. What was his intention and what did he want corrected?
While I enjoyed Ms. Cole's writing style, the middle portion of the story lagged a bit. The temporal shifts muddled the storyline. Also there were portions that were repetitive. The phrase we would die within the week was repeated numerous times. I kept thinking aren't we down to a couple of day(s) but it seemed it was always a week.

Overall this is a complex and intriguing story about reincarnation and destiny. An interesting book that takes you on a tour of ancient Egypt. Read this for the history and get lost in the romance. It is a fun, refreshing book especially at the bargain price of

$.99. It is the first in a trilogy. The second and third books are both now available on amazon.com for a great low price.

Favorite Quotations:

"How was someone supposed to say goodbye to the person that they loved more than life, without being able to say the actual words?"

"Your soul will always know mine, my friend. We will always be connected, all throughout time. And even though we will appear in different ways, our souls will always be the same."

"My soul recognized his. We stood like magnets, drawn to each other. Time, it seemed, was not our enemy after all. It was air and space and hours. Anything worth having was able to withstand it."

This is an awesome story and the author has an amazing ability to give words a life of their own. I couldn't quit reading it the first time nor could I the second time - and I normally don't re-read books! But this one is totally all consuming - I couldn't get it out of my mind for days after finishing reading it. It awakens a hunger in you for more and I can hardly wait for the sequel to come out! It's not all romance, not all mystery, not all history, and not all comedy..it's a complete balance and each part compliments the other components. I would definetly recommend this as a "must read"!!

The premise of this book is fascinating! After a pretty harsh break up, Macy finds herself sucked back in time to ancient Egypt. Not only does she travel back in time but she learns that she's a pretty serious player in the supernatural efforts of the Fates, trying to prevent the timeline as it's supposed to be from being altered.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction, and although this era is one I don't read a lot of books set in, I really loved the details Courtney Cole provided. She was able to weave in reference to the way people dressed, ate and behaved as well as the architecture that surrounded them, without ever sacrificing the forward momentum of the plot. Her vision of ancient Alexandria is an amazing place to be.

Macy spends most of her time in this book in the person of Charmain, Cleopatra's closest attendant, confidant an childhood friend. Charmain was a interesting girl, at both modern due to the memories from Macy that she brought back in time with her and classical with all the knowledge she held of who she was in that particular life time. I liked Charmain. I think she balanced the troubles sent her way nicely, at least when she wasn't obsessing over the man she loved in that lifetime, Hasani.

Which brings me to Hasani. So there are a few things we learn quickly about Charmain's love: he's hot, he's stacked and he LOVES his woman. It would be easy to overplay this hand, and it can be particularly difficult to show the strength of a character's feelings for another character without going overboard, but I think Ms. Cole did a good job here. I liked the romance between Charmain and Hasani. I liked that it was clear that their affection ran both ways and I could really feel the strength of the bond they shared was strong enough to last through lifetimes. It was truly very sweet.

Cleopatra and Marc Antony also figure quite prominantly in this story and I love the behind the scenes look at these historical figures that Ms. Cole provided in her book. She put real flesh and blood on the bones of what we know about these people from history books and made them individuals with wants and needs, fears and desires of their own. In particular, I adored Cleopatra, who seriously almost stole the story with the strength of her character (which is actually very IN character if one thinks about it).

But what would a story be without a villain?? And this story has a couple! The most immediate villain is Pothinus, a truly vile character who is just SO easy to hate. He causes most of the trouble in this book and I will say when he gets his comeupance it is really satisfying!

Behind Pothinus, though, is a longer range trouble maker, one I suspect we'll see in future books: Annen. Like Charmain's care-taker, Ahmose, Annen is a aegis, one of an order of priests who protect, guide and possibly maintain control over the power of the keepers. But Annen is tired of blind allegance to the Fates and he wants Charmain to be his tool to move toward chaotic free will. It's clear that Charmain is reluctant to listen to him at all, except Annen knows her weakness: her love for Hasani and her loathing to lose him in the violent deaths they're both fated to have in this lifetime!

Bottom Line: I loved this book! It was a fast read that kept me interested and had me rooting for Charmain to keep the line of history flowing correctly while I felt for the sacrifices she would have to make to do so.

And I was completely fascinated by the mythos that Ms. Cole constructed around the idea of the Fates and the Keepers. I can't wait to read the next book, Fated, to find out more!