Meet My Character Meme

I thank Camelia Miron Skibba who invited me to take part in this blog hop. You can find more about  Cami  and her compelling books here:

                          http://authorcameliamironskiba.com/ 

The process is very simple. I highlight, within this Character Meme Blog Hop, a main character from my paranormal romance                  
                                                  Shadows of the Past.

 1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

As my story evolves on two levels, past and present, I introduce the main leads of both parts: Genevieve and Anne.

 2) When and where is the story set?

Genevieve lives in Middle Ages Britain, while Anne lives in present day England.

3) What should we know about him/her?

Genevieve is a girl living in a village, whose life is affected by tragic loss. Anne is a smart business woman.

 4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?

Genevieve meets all kind of predicaments but her main enemy is St Mary’s Abbess, Sister Clementa who, out of jealousy, wants to see her dead.

Anne is betrayed by her best friend and business partner Gillian who has a short affair with Anne’s fiance, Neil.

 5) What is the personal goal of the character?

Genevieve wants to find peace and a tranquil life after tragedy hits her at an early age, but she falls in love with the wrong person, Andrew, the nuns’priest.

Anne makes an attempt to reconcile with her former fiancee, at the same time trying to fulfill Genevieve’s mute plea.

 6) Is there a working title for this novel, and can we read more about it?

  Shadows of the Past is the title of the e-novel

Here’s a link to the trailer that can give you more clues about it.

 7) When can we expect the book to be published?

The novel was released in December 2012 by Wild Child Publishing, USA.

You can buy my book  here:
Wildchildpublishing

I tag some of my fellow author friends from around the world. Read the interesting characters they share with us, next week, here:

Mary Forbes: http://marymforbes.wordpress.com/
Susan Day: http://www.susandayauthor.com/
Jessica Nichols: http://jessicanichollsauthor.wordpress.com/

Reviews (XV)

Badger "Badger" (South Carolina)   Posted on Goodreads
This review is from: Shadows of the Past (Kindle Edition) 

Carmen Stefanescu demonstrates an appreciation of language that weaves beautifully through the pages of Shadows of the Past. She pins together stories of two women, one from the late Middle Ages and the other a modern business woman, and she does this in a way that defies traditional character roles. Her smooth transitions between the time periods in which these women lived blend their passions and heartaches, as if only days separated them. Neither is able to rid herself of her past, Genevieve from the memory of her brutal father and then the equally harsh Abbess, and Anne from a lover's betrayal.

And then there's that forest, with its haunting silence where even dried leaves crush quietly beneath their feet, and the hounds of Hell circle just out of sight. But, they can't resist the urge that draws them deeper and deeper into it, that dark place where nightmares live.

Stefanescu spices the plot with Old Bertha. Her potions and spells rival Shakespeare's witches; although, she never dances around the cauldron. But, dance or not, she seems to bring Genevieve equal measures of hope and despair. Perhaps the same is true for Anne with Neil. Therein lies the charm of this love story, nothing and no one is fully good or bad, not even the heroines. And, that makes them relatable to all of us. Well, maybe the Abbess was all bad.

In all this, a romance crosses the ages, crosses centuries, without fading or losing any of the fire that sparked it. For a tap on your heart and a tingle in your spine, right down to the last page, I invite you to join Genevieve and Anne in their joys and sorrows and, yes, their fears in this tightly-written story. 4 Stars

Review XIV

Read from July 19 to 23, 2013

Julia Hendrix's review 5 of 5 stars

BLURB

When Anne and Neil leave on a one-week holiday hoping to reconcile after a two-year separation, little do they know that destiny has other plans for them. Their discovery of human bones and a bejeweled cross in the hollow of a tree open the door to the supernatural realm and the anguished life of Genevieve, a nun from medieval England.

Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve her eternal rest?

The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.

Review

I enjoyed reading this book, Shadows of the Past. Following the Anne's life and the newly found knowledge of her connection to her past. It was a unique page turner, one that kept you guessing and wondering what was to happen next. There were moments where I wanted to cringe and turn away from what was happening. Other times where I wanted to scream at the characters to run away.

Anne not knowing what she was getting herself into following the voice inside her head, visions and dreams.  She and Neil find themselves in a predicament where turning back is not an option. To solve the mystery of their own past, they must keep going.

Will Anne's past haunt her for the rest of her life? Will Neil and Anne get out of this alive? Genevieve is adamant about finding peace once and for all...

About the Author

Carmen was born in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire Count Dracula.

She graduated the Bucharest University, the Germanic Languages Faculty. Teacher of English and German in her native country and mother of two daughters, Carmen Stefanescu survived the grim years of communist oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the books.

Links

Goodreads

Amazon

B&N

Reviews (IX)

February 21, 2013 - by Liz (http://www.thebookwranglers.com/p/who-we-are.html)

4 of 5 stars

Read from February 19 to 21, 2013

We start off with a quick look into the life of Genevieve, a 15th century nun who is meeting the love of her life, a priest named Andrew to talk about leaving the Abbey. When you start the book, you think that Genevieve and Andrew's love is the reason they decide to leave the church. But once the story really starts rolling you see that Genevieve has not had an easy life. In fact, she's struggled through more than most people could handle in a lifetime by the time she's just 14. She thought she'd found her place in the world when she arrived at the Abbey and met the Mother Superior who was "more mother, and less superior". Living happily there for four years, she learn to love her surroundings, her fellow nuns, and the lifestyle. But when a new Abbess comes to take over, Genevieve's hard-won life of peace is changed forever.
We also follow the life of Anne, a woman on vacation in England with her former lover Neil. They are avid mountaineers and we join them mid-trek through a rather ominous forest. The purpose of the trip is to reunite them after a two year separation due to infidelity on Neil's part. When Anne starts having strange visions of a certain 15th century nun, she learns more and more about what happened to Genevieve all those years ago. Anne wonders about what part she plays in Genevieve's life and death as they unravel the nun's story.

The two stories are equally compelling because something is connecting these two women who lived over 500 years apart ...the question is: Are they joined by mutual love or desperate hate?


The Best Thing: The dual narrative was done really, really well. Especially with the added challenge of flashbacks and paranormal activity. I was impressed by the masterful way the stories were melded and the seamless historical elements that were included throughout. The research and knowledge on a range of subjects that was shown in this book was impressive for the genre its in.


The Worst Thing: I felt there was a problem with the modern romance part of the story. The character of Neil didn't seem authentic. There was no real insight into who he was as a person and, instead, he seemed to be a tool for relaying bits of information and a prop to fill the reincarnation parts of the story. The romantic relationships in the story came off as a bit hokey in general, which was disappointing because the story itself was such a fascinating one. It was also surprising because the paranormal aspects of the story were flawlessly executed.


Overall: Definitely worth a read and it serves as an interesting book in terms of crossing genre lines. I'm an avid young adult, fantasy, and classic novelist, so to read and truly enjoy a paranormal, historical romance was a wonderful surprise! 4 out of 5.

Reviews (V)

January 27, 2013 - by Cassie  (http://fiction-fairies.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-shadows-of-past-by-carmen.html)

Title: Shadows of the Past

Author: Carmen Stefanescu

ebook provided by author for an honest review

Reviewed by: Cassie

What we say: mysterious and magical!

Summary (from Goodreads.com)

When Anne and Neil leave on a one-week holiday hoping to reconcile after a two-year separation, little do they know that destiny has other plans for them. Their discover of human bones and a bejeweled cross in the hollow of a tree open the door to a supernatural realm and the anguished life of Genevieve, a nun from medieval England.

Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve her eternal rest?

The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.

Shadows of the Past isn't a book I would normally read; I usually read only YA because I'm pretty picky. And my dad would throw a fit if he saw romance/adult book covers. That being said, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with this! Despite what the cover may suggest, this has few romantic aspects (you know, steamy hot scenes) which was kind of a relief to me. Why? Well, my older brother somehow saw my phone while I was skimming a romance book and never looked at his little sister the same way again.

Anyways! So.

Shadows of the Past switches back and forth from the past and the present. I'm fine with this, and it actually was a really good choice. It made me intrigued by the historical mystery, yet kept it so that I wasn't so fed up with it that I quit the book. Normally I don't do historical fiction, but the parts of this book that were historical fiction actually made me like the book more.

Now, we don't really get much look into the characters- an aspect I was 'eh' about. Usually the characters make or break the book for me. If the characters are really well done, I LOVE the book, and vice versa. In Shadows of the Past, it's done in 3rd person, so we don't really get much insight to the characters. I still felt pretty sad for Genevieve and Andrew, but I felt a bit detached from them.

With a refreshing plot, thought-worthy mystery, and sweet romances, Shadows of the Past is a book you should definitely give a try. I didn't even have an inkling as to what happened to the nun and priest in the past, and although I couldn't relate to the characters because they were older and pretty seriously in love, I still enjoyed them.