Sunny Shelly’s Review: Last Words, by Shari J. Ryan

Cover Design: MadHat Books

Release Date: October 9, 2017

Synopsis

Last Words, where Non-Fiction meets Fiction, and the lines in between are blurred by forbidden love.

Amelia – 1942:

The inside of my closet held the last bit of my freedom before I was torn from my home and shoved onto a dark train.

Our destination was even darker. “Women and children to the right. Men to the left,” they shouted at us.

Everything was taken from me, leaving only the smoke filled air, piercing screams, and soul-burning cries.

I was slowly starved and weakened to the bone, but there was a man—a Nazi—who brought me extra food. He called himself a prisoner too, but he scared me, and I wondered if he was the enemy I should fear the most.

Emma – Current Day:

My grandmother hid her past in an old diary under her bed. The tattered, brown leather book sat there for years until she asked me to find it and read her unspoken words. Now, her stories and secrets are consuming every moment of my life.

She’s dying … and asking for a man no one in our family has ever heard of.

I never imagined a hand-written book could change my entire life, but it has. It opened my eyes to a new beginning, and I learned that love is not the unsaid word my grandmother has refused to speak. It’s an action—it’s longevity, taboo and sometimes forbidden. Do we fight for what’s wrong, or do we spend our lives searching for what’s right?

Last words were never spoken because love doesn’t stop until a heart is no longer beating.

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Heartbreaking Stars

Last Words is devastatingly beautiful. Forget about forbidden romances between stepsiblings, or a teacher and student. This beautiful love affair between a young Nazi soldier and a Jewish girl that begins in a Holocaust concentration camp and spans DECADES is one of the truest forbidden romances you could ever imagine. Charlie’s love for Amelia is so selfless, so pure, so beautiful, and the way that Amelia cries out for him in her dying days was heartbreaking.

As Amelia sends her granddaughter Emma to retrieve her locked-away diary, I couldn’t wait to dig into the pages of the past along with Emma. The chapters alternate between the present day and Amelia’s 1942 memories, but the story flows seamlessly, taking the reader on a true rollercoaster ride of emotions. Even Emma’s own situation in finding love again with Jackson was tender and sweet and emotional.

Last Words is so unlike the other Shari Ryan book I’ve read — and I was amazed by how she brought this story to life. Manservant had me laughing out loud constantly; Last Words had me weeping in my bed at midnight. I was so engrossed in this story, I read it over the course of a single day, staying up into the early hours of the morning to see how Charlie and Amelia’s story concludes. It was well worth the book hangover.

What would be your last words? This story will stick with me for a very long time. Brava, Shari.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Amazon US ~ http://amzn.to/2xrSfHU
Amazon UK ~ http://amzn.to/2hXM3Fj
Amazon CA ~ http://amzn.to/2wG9YMk
Amazon AU ~ http://amzn.to/2yQ9ML6

Goodreads

Giveaway

Signed Paperback of Last Words & $10 Amazon Gift Card

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Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b1257f8d186/?

About the Author

Shari J. Ryan is an International Bestselling Author of heartbreakers and mind-benders. Shari was once told she tends to exaggerate often and sometimes talks too much, which would make a great foundation for fictional books. Four years later, Shari has written eleven novels that often leave readers either in tears from laughing, or crying.

With her loud Boston girl attitude, Shari isn’t shy about her love for writing or the publishing industry. Along with writing several International bestsellers, Shari has split her time between writing and her longstanding passion for graphic design. In 2014, she started an indie-publishing resource company, MadHat Books, to help fellow authors with their book cover designs, as well as assistance in the self-publishing process.

While Shari may not find many hours to sleep, she still manages to make time for her family. She is a devoted wife to a great guy, and a mother to two little boys who remind her daily why she was put on this earth.