Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

Maria Zannini Maria Zannini has outdone herself with this follow up book to Touch of Fire picks up exactly where book 1 Touch of Fire when the author released her book True Believers last year and I was one of the early reviewers of her new series. I totally loved the wonderful Time Travel, Fantasy Romance series that she created with Leda the female lead and Grey the plainfolk male character who she falls in love with and has adventure after adventure culminating in a leap through time 1200 years into the past...Unlike the first book though this is a much more intense and personal read, the author has stated that inspiration for this series has come from her own life and experiences she has faced in the past... Some of those experiences were harrowing and traumatic and they translated into one heck of a tale that will keep readers going late into the night once they open the first page... I love a book that draws me in and keeps me turning the pages to see what happens, Apocalypse Rising accomplished that and in doing so it gave me a deeply emotional reading experience as well... Some of my favorite parts of the story were where the mongrel dog Bone made his appearance, one time in particular when he was defending Leda's friend Cassandra had me laughing out loud and at the same time cringing for poor Bone as his actions were not well received by her attacker and his friends!The relationships between the characters from that of Leda and Grey, to Grey and Rowena were so richly portrayed that it was almost like being in the same room with them as they interacted with each other.. I especially got a kick out of the scene where Leda and Grey come across Rowena and the rest of the women who help them when they appear in the past as the women are part of a witch coven and are doing a moonlit ceremony for which they strip nude and Grey has to be led away by Leda after he gets an eyeful!This was one of the lighter moments in the book...I also stepped into the characters shoes from time to time, felt what Leda felt and saw what she saw and it affected me very deeply the more I read and the ending had me crying tears of relief, tears of joy and tears of sorrow all at the same time!There is a lot that takes place in the book, I will not go into more of the specifics of the story because I hate spoilers, I will say that there are going to be some very strong reactions from readers and some of them may not be favorable... I feel however that the realism and the darkness that make up parts of this story are what give it the depth and enchantment of a true epic fantasy, it will make you think and it will make you feel for the characters both primary and secondary and that is what a truly wonderful reading experience is all about!Fans of Fantasy, Time Travel, Paranormal Suspense and Romance as well will enjoy this book... I strongly suggest you do get a copy of the first book in the series either in Kindle or Paperback version and read Touch Of Fire first so Apocalypse Rising makes more sense as there is quite a bit of back story you will miss otherwise!I hope that we are at some point in the future allowed to revisit this series, I want more answers and to know what happens after the ending of the book!