Review by: Anaka the Great

Out of the Ashes
by Lori Dillon

Published March 18, 2012 by Amari Press

Theirs was a love destined to be -- torn apart by the wrath of Vesuvius

Pompeii, AD 79

David and Sera are soul mates meant to be together, if only their bumbling guardian angels could do their job right...

First united in Pompeii as a privileged merchant's daughter and a slave gladiator, their young love is cut short when Vesuvius unexpectedly erupts. After several botched attempts, their angels get one final chance to bring the couple together and personally escort them back to war-torn Italy, nearly two thousand years later.

WWII, 1943

Sera is now an archeologist excavating the ruins of Pompeii. David is an American soldier masquerading as an Italian, sent to spy on the Germans camped near the ruins. With the help of their earth-bound angels, they soon find each other again as they excavate the ruins.

But will deception, the horrors of war, and the forgotten tragedy of their past lives, prevent them from unearthing the love of a lifetime?

For a complete review which may contain SPOILERS, please click 'Read More' below:
Out of the Ashes and into your heart; this imaginative and emotional novel by Lori Dillon will have you wanting to go back in time. When it comes to archaeology, Serafina, also named Sera, really does know her stuff. In the middle of WWII in the contemplated country of Italy, Sera has studied archaeology and completely devoted her life to it. That is until one American spy captivates her attention.

David, a red white and blue soldier is working as a spy for Allied troops, and takes up a job near a German camp digging at the ruins of a once powerful city. Pompeii, the city which now lays beneath 15-20ft of volcanic ash and debris, once held the beginning of these two soul mates' tale. After a crushing catastrophe of the monstrous volcano Vesuvius, the two lovers get a fourth chance at a happily ever after. Now I say fourth because their lives are held by the fragile hands of two old married guardian angels, named Marsha and Hershel. No matter how much they try, they always seem to mess up the soul mates lives together, but this is their last time to truly get it right.

Sera is not at all transfixed with the tall, dark, and handsome David, who has deceived everyone into believing he is Italian. And David isn't too thrilled to be working side by side with a violently tempered female. Nonetheless, the two's journey has just begun, and the road to a happily ever after is a crucial one.   

You will be turning each page with blistering speed, while the ups and downs will surely make you frustrated enough to smack your own lover's arm at some point in the book. But if you keep reading, this romantic story will make you laugh while also pulling at your heart strings. It is just one of those stories that makes you wish you didn't read it, so you can read it over.
6/6/2012 06:05:23 pm

In short I found Miss Dillon's style sluggish. The context was over-worded, the dialogue bland and the opening reminded me of E.E. Doc smith's Triplanetary, Vol 1 of the Lensman series. I closed the book half-way through the second chapter and finished reading just the dialogue. The pace was too slow for me,.

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