Pulling off the passionate love story embedded in a truly epic narrative is a difficult thing to do. Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind remains the blueprint for the genre, while Tolstoy's War and Peace carries off the literary honours with the Pierre/Natasha/André ménage, itself a blueprint for Mitchell's Brett/Scarlett/Ashley musical chairs. Paullina Simons' ambitious The Bronze Horseman weighs in at nearly 700 pages, and it's quickly apparent that the Russian-born author has the measure of this kind of epic romantic saga. The power of her descriptive writing, the vividness of the historical detail and, most of all, the strength of her central characters mark out her novel as a considerable achievement.

Simons was born in Leningrad and emigrated to the US in the 1970s. She sets her love story in the war-torn Leningrad of 1941. Utilising as her setting this phantasmagoric city of decaying splendour, Simons expertly involves the reader in the fate of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, living a penurious existence with their brother and parents. Their lives are ineluctably changed when Hitler invades Russia in June 1941. On that day, Tatiana meets a confident and attractive young officer, Alexander. As the Russian winter wreaks its havoc and the bombs fall, Alexander and Tatiana struggle with their growing love in the face of death and destruction. Simons' most impressive coup here is to ensure that the troubled love affair at the centre of her narrative is not engulfed by the terrifying conflagration that surrounds her characters. Tatiana in particular is drawn with a truly felicitous grasp of character: idiosyncratic, strong-willed and charismatic, she possesses all the requisite qualities to support a tale such as this.

However, the author isn't content to merely soothe and stir the reader: by using Hitler's war machine on the one hand and the dehumanising Soviet system on the other, she is able to make some powerful statements about the durability of the human spirit, but never at the expense of descriptive passages refulgent with power and beauty:

The train station crumbled like wet paper. Tatiana crawled from the beams and the fire, but there was nowhere for her to go. Through the smoke she could feel bodies around her. Hot and faint, she felt for them with her hands. The gunfire came from right outside the door, but when the lattice beam fell from the ceiling, all sounds faded away, all faded away and there was no more fear. Only regret was left. Regret for Alexander.

--Barry Forshaw

Brilliant, 21 Apr 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.

To gobble it up quickly or savour it?, 29 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on the reviews, especially the one stating that they weren't really into war books or books set in Russia but they loved it anyway. It took me a few weeks to start reading it, but once I started...I could not stop even if I wanted to. I was so hooked. After the first few chapters I went out and ordered the sequel because I knew I was going to want it.

Beautifully written with heart stopping moments, once this book was finished I turned it over and read it again.

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever Written, 11 Nov 2007
Having just read The Bronze Horseman and the following sequels I am completely emotionally exhausted! Anyone who loves a hero and a heroine will adore this story.
Forget all the cynical reviews re: historical facts! Who cares what year the Germans started using Tiger tanks! The only important facts in this book are the love between Tatiana and Alexander which could be felt through every single page from the moment they met. I have cried endless tears through it all and it became so much a part of my life that my "Alexander" and I will be going to St Petersburg to experience the White Nights of the city and to gaze upon the statue of THE BRONZE HORSEMAN.
Paulina Simons is the most gifted writer I have come across in a while. Having read "Girl in Times Square" three times I decided to buy all of her books that she has written.
Her characters come so vividly to life in every book.

This is certainly NOT the best book ever written, ALL of them are !!!!

But be aware that your life will come to a standstill until you have finished reding them all !!!

One word .........WOW!, 28 Apr 2007
Having read Tully, Eleven Hours, Girl in Times Square etc, I did want to read The Bronze Horseman but have to admit that I was put off by the fact that it was set in Russia in World War Two and so it sat on my bookshelf for nearly 12 months!

I am so glad I didn't deny myself any longer as this book is amazing. I am ashamed to say that I had no knowledge of what happened in Russia in in the second World War and found The Bronze Horseman compulsive reading and a real eye opener.

Needless to say I have bought the next book in the series, Tatiana & Alexander, and intend to start reading it soon although I think I might leave it a little while as I see that the third book in this series, The Summer Garden, is due to be published in paperback in July so I might try and resist Tatiana & Alexander for a month or so to prolong the enjoyment!

A Masterpiece..., 06 Apr 2007
I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons work ('Tully' is fantastic), but had never really fancied this novel - the Russian War theme sounded depressing and dreary and I avoided it for a good couple of years. You can therefore imagine my delight when I finally did purchase this book and found it absolutely unputdownable. From beginning to end, this tale is absorbing, intelligent and beautifully written. Exploring the complexities of wartime as I can only imagine; I cried buckets! So please dont be put off by the blurb (if the idea of a War story bores you to tears)...
My only stipulation is to ensure you have the follow on novel - 'Tatiana and Alexander' - ready as you'll be desperate to continue with the story. Paullina Simons at her very very best - I loved this.

Brilliant, 21 Apr 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.

To gobble it up quickly or savour it?, 29 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on the reviews, especially the one stating that they weren't really into war books or books set in Russia but they loved it anyway. It took me a few weeks to start reading it, but once I started...I could not stop even if I wanted to. I was so hooked. After the first few chapters I went out and ordered the sequel because I knew I was going to want it.

Beautifully written with heart stopping moments, once this book was finished I turned it over and read it again.

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever Written, 11 Nov 2007
Having just read The Bronze Horseman and the following sequels I am completely emotionally exhausted! Anyone who loves a hero and a heroine will adore this story.
Forget all the cynical reviews re: historical facts! Who cares what year the Germans started using Tiger tanks! The only important facts in this book are the love between Tatiana and Alexander which could be felt through every single page from the moment they met. I have cried endless tears through it all and it became so much a part of my life that my "Alexander" and I will be going to St Petersburg to experience the White Nights of the city and to gaze upon the statue of THE BRONZE HORSEMAN.
Paulina Simons is the most gifted writer I have come across in a while. Having read "Girl in Times Square" three times I decided to buy all of her books that she has written.
Her characters come so vividly to life in every book.

This is certainly NOT the best book ever written, ALL of them are !!!!

But be aware that your life will come to a standstill until you have finished reding them all !!!

One word .........WOW!, 28 Apr 2007
Having read Tully, Eleven Hours, Girl in Times Square etc, I did want to read The Bronze Horseman but have to admit that I was put off by the fact that it was set in Russia in World War Two and so it sat on my bookshelf for nearly 12 months!

I am so glad I didn't deny myself any longer as this book is amazing. I am ashamed to say that I had no knowledge of what happened in Russia in in the second World War and found The Bronze Horseman compulsive reading and a real eye opener.

Needless to say I have bought the next book in the series, Tatiana & Alexander, and intend to start reading it soon although I think I might leave it a little while as I see that the third book in this series, The Summer Garden, is due to be published in paperback in July so I might try and resist Tatiana & Alexander for a month or so to prolong the enjoyment!

A Masterpiece..., 06 Apr 2007
I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons work ('Tully' is fantastic), but had never really fancied this novel - the Russian War theme sounded depressing and dreary and I avoided it for a good couple of years. You can therefore imagine my delight when I finally did purchase this book and found it absolutely unputdownable. From beginning to end, this tale is absorbing, intelligent and beautifully written. Exploring the complexities of wartime as I can only imagine; I cried buckets! So please dont be put off by the blurb (if the idea of a War story bores you to tears)...
My only stipulation is to ensure you have the follow on novel - 'Tatiana and Alexander' - ready as you'll be desperate to continue with the story. Paullina Simons at her very very best - I loved this.

The Love Story continues, 25 Aug 2008
I haven't been disappointed with any of Paullina Simons book and this was no exception. I have been waiting for the follow up to The Bronze Horseman, Tatiana & Alexander and it was worth waiting for. Lots of joy and heartache and a brilliant story. I couldn't put it down.

Weak ending spoils excelllent book, 24 Jul 2008
I am a great fan of Paullina Simons - Tully is one of my favourite books - and for nine-tenths of The Summer Garden I thought it was well up to her usual high standard. But after Chapter 16, it is as though someone else has been given the job of finishing the book - and preferably before supper.

The stagey and pointless exposition of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) ruins the atmosphere (how appropriate!) and reads like Michael Crichton at his most preachy. Then it gets worse with a breathless gallop through who married whom, divorced, had kids, remarried....

Read to the end of the Vietnam adventure, then read the last couple of pages and you will be giving this book five stars.

A little drawn out, 20 Feb 2008
Like everyone else, I bought this book because I could not get enough of Tatia and Shuru. I wasn't disappointed with the writing style just the fact that the story of T & A went from a beautiful, heart wrenching start in Bronze Horseman to an ordinary, everyday finish here in Summer Garden. I couldn't have done without reading the 2nd book (Tatiana and Alexander) but I feel I could have given this one a miss.

My Favorite of the Three!, 11 Feb 2008
I'm absolutely enamored with this series!

In the first two novels in the Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons, she throws our two protags, Alexander and Tatiana, into peril from the outset- starting with the siege of Leningrad during WWII on through their eventual escape to America in the late 1940's.

When the second book ended, I couldn't see how Simon's could squeeze any more gripping material out of Tatiana and Alexander's lives. But she wonderfully surprised me.

As the blurb for The Summer Garden states, their story was only beginning.

The Summer Garden starts where the story left off before the epilogue of Tatiana and Alexander(Or The Bridge to Holy Cross to you Brits and Ozzies!). Though Alexander has joined Tatiana and their son Anthony in the US, part of him is still in the gulag Tatiana rescued him from, unable to move forward and unable to allow himself to live after seeing, and causing, so much death and destruction.

But Tatiana is a fierce one and doesn't give up so easily. They travel all over the US trying to find a place they can call home, and along the way, bring him to a place of healing. I found this one to be much more sexual then the first two- almost erotic really- but that too had it's purpose, a metaphor if you will, for the spiritual melding their marriage so desperately needed after their time apart.

They travel all over the US trying to find a place to call home, and along the way, bring Alexander to a place of healing. They end up in Arizona, on a parcel of land Tatiana bought with the money Alexander's mother horded away after his father zealously gave up their US citizenship and hauled his family to the Soviet Union during the pre-war years.

You would think that after all they had been through- sieges, starvation and the total destruction of their families and homeland- that all the pain was behind them and that nothing could break them. But you would be wrong. They find that peaceful life can be way may more dangerous with it's insidious fingers plucking at them until they become something they never thought they would.

This is why I fell for this book in a much deeper way then even the first two. I have found in life that the big things, like death and pain, are far easier to survive then the little things that can eat you away before you even realize it. Like the slow dripping of water that erodes a massive stone, we are often unaware of the things that constantly hit us until all that we thought we were is almost totally gone. Although the big things define us and show us what we can be, it's the little things and how we deal with them, that show us what we are. And so it was for Tatiana and Alexander.

We follow them through the years, through bad decisions and successes, births and deaths, through children growing up and themselves growing apart ... and back together again, until the very end when we see them with their family, white haired but still in as much love as the day when Alexander crossed the street to meet a skinny blond hair girl innocently eating ice cream, waiting for her life to begin.

Alexander is the ultimate Alpha hero. Strong, brooding, flawed and intense. Despite outward appearances, Tatiana has a core of steel and an insight into human nature that matches him pound for pound. The little tidbits of Tatiana's former life that Simons throws into The Summer Garden, only reinforces that fact, and I for one loved that part of the story telling, though I can imagine some people would have found it extraneous.

Tatiana and Alexander's love was so deep, so intense, that it became their greatest strength as well as their greatest weakness and it became the strength of these novels as well.

Although I know these books are not for everyone- their huge, sweeping and daunting at times- they are so worth the time invested. My wish is for everyone to find a book that moves them as much as these have with me!

Bit of a mixed bag..., 05 Jan 2008
'The Bronze Horseman' and 'Tatiana and Alexander' were two parts of a story that I thoroughly enjoyed - PS's characterisation and plot were faultless and it was with trepidation and surprise that I picked up this, the third novel to the series - I felt 'Tatiana and Alexander'finished off this tale nicely.
As much as it pains me to say, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two (...but then I LOVED the first two...) and found myself speed reading the flashbacks to Tatiana's childhood and wondering where else we could possibly be taken in terms of storyline. Parts of it were engrossing and everything I have come to expect of a novel from PS, but other parts were dull and lacking in movement. It also 'felt' different from the first two - whereas their love for each other made me weep then, in this part, I just felt it was all a little overdone and, dare I say it, bordering on tedious...
I know I'll be upsetting other diehard PS fans, but I feel I need to ne honest, buy the other two definately but save this one for a rainy day...

Tatiana and Alexander continues Paullina Simons' truly epic tale. The previous instalment, The Bronze Horseman, introduced the charismatic characters of Tatiana Metanova, a strong willed, idiosyncratic teenager and Alexander, a young officer in the Red army. Set against the background of war torn Leningrad, the novel described their dangerously passionate love affair, while cataloguing the horrors of Hitler's invasion of Russia in June 1941.

In Tatiana and Alexander, Tatiana is 18 years old and pregnant with Alexander's child. Believing herself to be a widow she has escaped to America and is working as a nurse on Ellis Island. Her life is good, her baby son is beautiful, and her new friends entertaining, but her heart calls out for Alexander. Alexander, meanwhile, has been arrested by Stalin's secret police and is awaiting death, accused of being a spy and a traitor. In a series of flashbacks his childhood is revealed. His father, a committed communist, removed his family from a comfortable life in America "to live what we believe" in poverty stricken Russia. Alexander, an American, has been serving in the Russian Red Army in attempt to protect himself. Wounded, beaten, betrayed, the memory of Tatiana is the only thing that stops him from despairing--"you were my only life force".

Tatiana and Alexander powerfully describes the triumph of the human spirit in a world of sadness and loss. As Tatiana says: "We walk alone through this world, but if we are lucky, we have a moment of belonging to something, to someone, that sustains us through a lifetime of loneliness". --Eithne Farry

Brilliant, 21 Apr 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.

To gobble it up quickly or savour it?, 29 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on the reviews, especially the one stating that they weren't really into war books or books set in Russia but they loved it anyway. It took me a few weeks to start reading it, but once I started...I could not stop even if I wanted to. I was so hooked. After the first few chapters I went out and ordered the sequel because I knew I was going to want it.

Beautifully written with heart stopping moments, once this book was finished I turned it over and read it again.

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever Written, 11 Nov 2007
Having just read The Bronze Horseman and the following sequels I am completely emotionally exhausted! Anyone who loves a hero and a heroine will adore this story.
Forget all the cynical reviews re: historical facts! Who cares what year the Germans started using Tiger tanks! The only important facts in this book are the love between Tatiana and Alexander which could be felt through every single page from the moment they met. I have cried endless tears through it all and it became so much a part of my life that my "Alexander" and I will be going to St Petersburg to experience the White Nights of the city and to gaze upon the statue of THE BRONZE HORSEMAN.
Paulina Simons is the most gifted writer I have come across in a while. Having read "Girl in Times Square" three times I decided to buy all of her books that she has written.
Her characters come so vividly to life in every book.

This is certainly NOT the best book ever written, ALL of them are !!!!

But be aware that your life will come to a standstill until you have finished reding them all !!!

One word .........WOW!, 28 Apr 2007
Having read Tully, Eleven Hours, Girl in Times Square etc, I did want to read The Bronze Horseman but have to admit that I was put off by the fact that it was set in Russia in World War Two and so it sat on my bookshelf for nearly 12 months!

I am so glad I didn't deny myself any longer as this book is amazing. I am ashamed to say that I had no knowledge of what happened in Russia in in the second World War and found The Bronze Horseman compulsive reading and a real eye opener.

Needless to say I have bought the next book in the series, Tatiana & Alexander, and intend to start reading it soon although I think I might leave it a little while as I see that the third book in this series, The Summer Garden, is due to be published in paperback in July so I might try and resist Tatiana & Alexander for a month or so to prolong the enjoyment!

A Masterpiece..., 06 Apr 2007
I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons work ('Tully' is fantastic), but had never really fancied this novel - the Russian War theme sounded depressing and dreary and I avoided it for a good couple of years. You can therefore imagine my delight when I finally did purchase this book and found it absolutely unputdownable. From beginning to end, this tale is absorbing, intelligent and beautifully written. Exploring the complexities of wartime as I can only imagine; I cried buckets! So please dont be put off by the blurb (if the idea of a War story bores you to tears)...
My only stipulation is to ensure you have the follow on novel - 'Tatiana and Alexander' - ready as you'll be desperate to continue with the story. Paullina Simons at her very very best - I loved this.

The Love Story continues, 25 Aug 2008
I haven't been disappointed with any of Paullina Simons book and this was no exception. I have been waiting for the follow up to The Bronze Horseman, Tatiana & Alexander and it was worth waiting for. Lots of joy and heartache and a brilliant story. I couldn't put it down.

Weak ending spoils excelllent book, 24 Jul 2008
I am a great fan of Paullina Simons - Tully is one of my favourite books - and for nine-tenths of The Summer Garden I thought it was well up to her usual high standard. But after Chapter 16, it is as though someone else has been given the job of finishing the book - and preferably before supper.

The stagey and pointless exposition of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) ruins the atmosphere (how appropriate!) and reads like Michael Crichton at his most preachy. Then it gets worse with a breathless gallop through who married whom, divorced, had kids, remarried....

Read to the end of the Vietnam adventure, then read the last couple of pages and you will be giving this book five stars.

A little drawn out, 20 Feb 2008
Like everyone else, I bought this book because I could not get enough of Tatia and Shuru. I wasn't disappointed with the writing style just the fact that the story of T & A went from a beautiful, heart wrenching start in Bronze Horseman to an ordinary, everyday finish here in Summer Garden. I couldn't have done without reading the 2nd book (Tatiana and Alexander) but I feel I could have given this one a miss.

My Favorite of the Three!, 11 Feb 2008
I'm absolutely enamored with this series!

In the first two novels in the Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons, she throws our two protags, Alexander and Tatiana, into peril from the outset- starting with the siege of Leningrad during WWII on through their eventual escape to America in the late 1940's.

When the second book ended, I couldn't see how Simon's could squeeze any more gripping material out of Tatiana and Alexander's lives. But she wonderfully surprised me.

As the blurb for The Summer Garden states, their story was only beginning.

The Summer Garden starts where the story left off before the epilogue of Tatiana and Alexander(Or The Bridge to Holy Cross to you Brits and Ozzies!). Though Alexander has joined Tatiana and their son Anthony in the US, part of him is still in the gulag Tatiana rescued him from, unable to move forward and unable to allow himself to live after seeing, and causing, so much death and destruction.

But Tatiana is a fierce one and doesn't give up so easily. They travel all over the US trying to find a place they can call home, and along the way, bring him to a place of healing. I found this one to be much more sexual then the first two- almost erotic really- but that too had it's purpose, a metaphor if you will, for the spiritual melding their marriage so desperately needed after their time apart.

They travel all over the US trying to find a place to call home, and along the way, bring Alexander to a place of healing. They end up in Arizona, on a parcel of land Tatiana bought with the money Alexander's mother horded away after his father zealously gave up their US citizenship and hauled his family to the Soviet Union during the pre-war years.

You would think that after all they had been through- sieges, starvation and the total destruction of their families and homeland- that all the pain was behind them and that nothing could break them. But you would be wrong. They find that peaceful life can be way may more dangerous with it's insidious fingers plucking at them until they become something they never thought they would.

This is why I fell for this book in a much deeper way then even the first two. I have found in life that the big things, like death and pain, are far easier to survive then the little things that can eat you away before you even realize it. Like the slow dripping of water that erodes a massive stone, we are often unaware of the things that constantly hit us until all that we thought we were is almost totally gone. Although the big things define us and show us what we can be, it's the little things and how we deal with them, that show us what we are. And so it was for Tatiana and Alexander.

We follow them through the years, through bad decisions and successes, births and deaths, through children growing up and themselves growing apart ... and back together again, until the very end when we see them with their family, white haired but still in as much love as the day when Alexander crossed the street to meet a skinny blond hair girl innocently eating ice cream, waiting for her life to begin.

Alexander is the ultimate Alpha hero. Strong, brooding, flawed and intense. Despite outward appearances, Tatiana has a core of steel and an insight into human nature that matches him pound for pound. The little tidbits of Tatiana's former life that Simons throws into The Summer Garden, only reinforces that fact, and I for one loved that part of the story telling, though I can imagine some people would have found it extraneous.

Tatiana and Alexander's love was so deep, so intense, that it became their greatest strength as well as their greatest weakness and it became the strength of these novels as well.

Although I know these books are not for everyone- their huge, sweeping and daunting at times- they are so worth the time invested. My wish is for everyone to find a book that moves them as much as these have with me!

Bit of a mixed bag..., 05 Jan 2008
'The Bronze Horseman' and 'Tatiana and Alexander' were two parts of a story that I thoroughly enjoyed - PS's characterisation and plot were faultless and it was with trepidation and surprise that I picked up this, the third novel to the series - I felt 'Tatiana and Alexander'finished off this tale nicely.
As much as it pains me to say, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two (...but then I LOVED the first two...) and found myself speed reading the flashbacks to Tatiana's childhood and wondering where else we could possibly be taken in terms of storyline. Parts of it were engrossing and everything I have come to expect of a novel from PS, but other parts were dull and lacking in movement. It also 'felt' different from the first two - whereas their love for each other made me weep then, in this part, I just felt it was all a little overdone and, dare I say it, bordering on tedious...
I know I'll be upsetting other diehard PS fans, but I feel I need to ne honest, buy the other two definately but save this one for a rainy day...

Also called Tatiana and Alexander, 30 Jan 2008
This is indeed the sequel to the Bronze Horseman - the best book by far and why oh why has noone made the film of it yet? - and is written in similar style. I stuck with it as I loved the first one so much. It is worth the read if you like romance! Eleven Hours was unputdownable - read in three days - and completely different. No romance but 100% suspense instead - and not for the weak constitution!

Ahhh...., 30 Jan 2008
I ordered this sequel after reading the first chapter of The Bronze Horseman, so convinced was I that I would be desperate to read it straight after. And I wasn't wrong. I was so moved and sucked into Tatiana and Alexander's lives that I needed to know more (I ordered the 3rd book after a few chapters of T & A). Reading them back to back was quite full on and I now have a head full of one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.

Not a 5 star like TBH as I found this book a little more violent and focused on fighting (when all I really wanted to know was 'what happens to Tatia and Shura'!?). Also, while I appreciate the flashing back to the past was important for setting the scene I did find it a little distracting at times.

Still, a beautifully written book that will be sure to satisfy Tatiana and Alexander fans. Ahh....

Truely excellent, 29 May 2007
I recently read The Bronze Horseman and throughly enjoyed it (see previous review) and couldn't wait to delve into the sequel - Tatiana and Alexander to continue further with them in their quest to find each other again and I certainly wasn't disappointed!

As with the Bronze Horseman you are gripped from the very first pages and it is a compulsive page turner and set at a great pace. This book concentrates a little more on Alexander and his life prior to meeting Tatiana and adds to the understanding of them and their relationship.

I would recommend that The Bronze Horseman is read prior to this book although I am sure it would be very enjoyable on it's own, I think it would be a shame not to have the whole Tatiana and Alexander experience! Can't wait to the third and final book in this series to come out in paperback at the begining of July!

To sum this book up EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT.

Read it., 24 Jan 2007
"The Bronze Horseman" trilogy has - within an hour of starting the first book - become my favourite story (and I say story instead of stories, because they cannnot be separated in my mind). And story is such a pale word to use to describe it.
Reading "Tatiana and Alexander" without having first read "The Bronze Horseman" will deprive you of fully knowing the characters and their history. While "Tatiana and Alexander" is considered the sequel to "The Bronze Horseman", in many ways it is the same story told from Alexander's point of view (where "The Bronze Horseman" was more so from Tatiana's). The repetition is in no way unnecessary or boring - it actually adds more depth and more emotion to characters that you could not imagine being more real.
"Tatiana and Alexander" overviews Alexander's childhood, his life in the Soviet Union with his parents, with Tatiana, and after Tatiana. It it comprised of flashbacks to his past, flashbacks to emotionally powerful scenes with Tatiana, and also has chapters of Tatiana in her new life.
Read it. It is powerful and heart-wrenching, and leaves you praying for characters that you want to see have the happily-ever-after that they so desperately fight for.

A Sequel That Really Lives Up To It's Predecessor, 10 Apr 2006
Here, in 'Tatiana & Alexander' Paullina Simons finally achieves what she attempted with the first novel 'The Bronze Horseman' and creates a love story that is both deceptively simple and yet an epic.

I would not advise reading this before the first book as it deals with much of the same plot in a more detailed fashion, and you will not get the full effect of the layered narratives if you read them out of order. On the other hand, if you have already read the first book there is no point in you reading this review- you will already be a devotee of both Simons' gorgeous dialogue, narrative and imagery.

One thing that impressed me about this novel was its elaboration on the violent undercurrents of the first novel: here Alexander's 'addiction' to violence and need to protect his wife is fully explored and worked through, not simply pushed under the carpet as with most romance novels. The appearance of a character assumed to have died in the first novel (not wanting to give too much away here) is also a brave move by the author and sets the novel up for a completely emotionally satisfying climax.

One small gripe I have is that the novel is called 'Tatiana & Alexander' here in the UK, and 'The Bridge to Holy Cross' in other countries- the latter title is infinitely preferable in my opinion because it expresses the epic nature of this work and does not merely reduce it to a romance novel. However, this is a tiny problem and probably only annoys me, although obviously it has not spoilt my enjoyment of the novel.

Brilliant, 21 Apr 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.

To gobble it up quickly or savour it?, 29 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on the reviews, especially the one stating that they weren't really into war books or books set in Russia but they loved it anyway. It took me a few weeks to start reading it, but once I started...I could not stop even if I wanted to. I was so hooked. After the first few chapters I went out and ordered the sequel because I knew I was going to want it.

Beautifully written with heart stopping moments, once this book was finished I turned it over and read it again.

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever Written, 11 Nov 2007
Having just read The Bronze Horseman and the following sequels I am completely emotionally exhausted! Anyone who loves a hero and a heroine will adore this story.
Forget all the cynical reviews re: historical facts! Who cares what year the Germans started using Tiger tanks! The only important facts in this book are the love between Tatiana and Alexander which could be felt through every single page from the moment they met. I have cried endless tears through it all and it became so much a part of my life that my "Alexander" and I will be going to St Petersburg to experience the White Nights of the city and to gaze upon the statue of THE BRONZE HORSEMAN.
Paulina Simons is the most gifted writer I have come across in a while. Having read "Girl in Times Square" three times I decided to buy all of her books that she has written.
Her characters come so vividly to life in every book.

This is certainly NOT the best book ever written, ALL of them are !!!!

But be aware that your life will come to a standstill until you have finished reding them all !!!

One word .........WOW!, 28 Apr 2007
Having read Tully, Eleven Hours, Girl in Times Square etc, I did want to read The Bronze Horseman but have to admit that I was put off by the fact that it was set in Russia in World War Two and so it sat on my bookshelf for nearly 12 months!

I am so glad I didn't deny myself any longer as this book is amazing. I am ashamed to say that I had no knowledge of what happened in Russia in in the second World War and found The Bronze Horseman compulsive reading and a real eye opener.

Needless to say I have bought the next book in the series, Tatiana & Alexander, and intend to start reading it soon although I think I might leave it a little while as I see that the third book in this series, The Summer Garden, is due to be published in paperback in July so I might try and resist Tatiana & Alexander for a month or so to prolong the enjoyment!

A Masterpiece..., 06 Apr 2007
I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons work ('Tully' is fantastic), but had never really fancied this novel - the Russian War theme sounded depressing and dreary and I avoided it for a good couple of years. You can therefore imagine my delight when I finally did purchase this book and found it absolutely unputdownable. From beginning to end, this tale is absorbing, intelligent and beautifully written. Exploring the complexities of wartime as I can only imagine; I cried buckets! So please dont be put off by the blurb (if the idea of a War story bores you to tears)...
My only stipulation is to ensure you have the follow on novel - 'Tatiana and Alexander' - ready as you'll be desperate to continue with the story. Paullina Simons at her very very best - I loved this.

The Love Story continues, 25 Aug 2008
I haven't been disappointed with any of Paullina Simons book and this was no exception. I have been waiting for the follow up to The Bronze Horseman, Tatiana & Alexander and it was worth waiting for. Lots of joy and heartache and a brilliant story. I couldn't put it down.

Weak ending spoils excelllent book, 24 Jul 2008
I am a great fan of Paullina Simons - Tully is one of my favourite books - and for nine-tenths of The Summer Garden I thought it was well up to her usual high standard. But after Chapter 16, it is as though someone else has been given the job of finishing the book - and preferably before supper.

The stagey and pointless exposition of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) ruins the atmosphere (how appropriate!) and reads like Michael Crichton at his most preachy. Then it gets worse with a breathless gallop through who married whom, divorced, had kids, remarried....

Read to the end of the Vietnam adventure, then read the last couple of pages and you will be giving this book five stars.

A little drawn out, 20 Feb 2008
Like everyone else, I bought this book because I could not get enough of Tatia and Shuru. I wasn't disappointed with the writing style just the fact that the story of T & A went from a beautiful, heart wrenching start in Bronze Horseman to an ordinary, everyday finish here in Summer Garden. I couldn't have done without reading the 2nd book (Tatiana and Alexander) but I feel I could have given this one a miss.

My Favorite of the Three!, 11 Feb 2008
I'm absolutely enamored with this series!

In the first two novels in the Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons, she throws our two protags, Alexander and Tatiana, into peril from the outset- starting with the siege of Leningrad during WWII on through their eventual escape to America in the late 1940's.

When the second book ended, I couldn't see how Simon's could squeeze any more gripping material out of Tatiana and Alexander's lives. But she wonderfully surprised me.

As the blurb for The Summer Garden states, their story was only beginning.

The Summer Garden starts where the story left off before the epilogue of Tatiana and Alexander(Or The Bridge to Holy Cross to you Brits and Ozzies!). Though Alexander has joined Tatiana and their son Anthony in the US, part of him is still in the gulag Tatiana rescued him from, unable to move forward and unable to allow himself to live after seeing, and causing, so much death and destruction.

But Tatiana is a fierce one and doesn't give up so easily. They travel all over the US trying to find a place they can call home, and along the way, bring him to a place of healing. I found this one to be much more sexual then the first two- almost erotic really- but that too had it's purpose, a metaphor if you will, for the spiritual melding their marriage so desperately needed after their time apart.

They travel all over the US trying to find a place to call home, and along the way, bring Alexander to a place of healing. They end up in Arizona, on a parcel of land Tatiana bought with the money Alexander's mother horded away after his father zealously gave up their US citizenship and hauled his family to the Soviet Union during the pre-war years.

You would think that after all they had been through- sieges, starvation and the total destruction of their families and homeland- that all the pain was behind them and that nothing could break them. But you would be wrong. They find that peaceful life can be way may more dangerous with it's insidious fingers plucking at them until they become something they never thought they would.

This is why I fell for this book in a much deeper way then even the first two. I have found in life that the big things, like death and pain, are far easier to survive then the little things that can eat you away before you even realize it. Like the slow dripping of water that erodes a massive stone, we are often unaware of the things that constantly hit us until all that we thought we were is almost totally gone. Although the big things define us and show us what we can be, it's the little things and how we deal with them, that show us what we are. And so it was for Tatiana and Alexander.

We follow them through the years, through bad decisions and successes, births and deaths, through children growing up and themselves growing apart ... and back together again, until the very end when we see them with their family, white haired but still in as much love as the day when Alexander crossed the street to meet a skinny blond hair girl innocently eating ice cream, waiting for her life to begin.

Alexander is the ultimate Alpha hero. Strong, brooding, flawed and intense. Despite outward appearances, Tatiana has a core of steel and an insight into human nature that matches him pound for pound. The little tidbits of Tatiana's former life that Simons throws into The Summer Garden, only reinforces that fact, and I for one loved that part of the story telling, though I can imagine some people would have found it extraneous.

Tatiana and Alexander's love was so deep, so intense, that it became their greatest strength as well as their greatest weakness and it became the strength of these novels as well.

Although I know these books are not for everyone- their huge, sweeping and daunting at times- they are so worth the time invested. My wish is for everyone to find a book that moves them as much as these have with me!

Bit of a mixed bag..., 05 Jan 2008
'The Bronze Horseman' and 'Tatiana and Alexander' were two parts of a story that I thoroughly enjoyed - PS's characterisation and plot were faultless and it was with trepidation and surprise that I picked up this, the third novel to the series - I felt 'Tatiana and Alexander'finished off this tale nicely.
As much as it pains me to say, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two (...but then I LOVED the first two...) and found myself speed reading the flashbacks to Tatiana's childhood and wondering where else we could possibly be taken in terms of storyline. Parts of it were engrossing and everything I have come to expect of a novel from PS, but other parts were dull and lacking in movement. It also 'felt' different from the first two - whereas their love for each other made me weep then, in this part, I just felt it was all a little overdone and, dare I say it, bordering on tedious...
I know I'll be upsetting other diehard PS fans, but I feel I need to ne honest, buy the other two definately but save this one for a rainy day...

Also called Tatiana and Alexander, 30 Jan 2008
This is indeed the sequel to the Bronze Horseman - the best book by far and why oh why has noone made the film of it yet? - and is written in similar style. I stuck with it as I loved the first one so much. It is worth the read if you like romance! Eleven Hours was unputdownable - read in three days - and completely different. No romance but 100% suspense instead - and not for the weak constitution!

Ahhh...., 30 Jan 2008
I ordered this sequel after reading the first chapter of The Bronze Horseman, so convinced was I that I would be desperate to read it straight after. And I wasn't wrong. I was so moved and sucked into Tatiana and Alexander's lives that I needed to know more (I ordered the 3rd book after a few chapters of T & A). Reading them back to back was quite full on and I now have a head full of one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.

Not a 5 star like TBH as I found this book a little more violent and focused on fighting (when all I really wanted to know was 'what happens to Tatia and Shura'!?). Also, while I appreciate the flashing back to the past was important for setting the scene I did find it a little distracting at times.

Still, a beautifully written book that will be sure to satisfy Tatiana and Alexander fans. Ahh....

Truely excellent, 29 May 2007
I recently read The Bronze Horseman and throughly enjoyed it (see previous review) and couldn't wait to delve into the sequel - Tatiana and Alexander to continue further with them in their quest to find each other again and I certainly wasn't disappointed!

As with the Bronze Horseman you are gripped from the very first pages and it is a compulsive page turner and set at a great pace. This book concentrates a little more on Alexander and his life prior to meeting Tatiana and adds to the understanding of them and their relationship.

I would recommend that The Bronze Horseman is read prior to this book although I am sure it would be very enjoyable on it's own, I think it would be a shame not to have the whole Tatiana and Alexander experience! Can't wait to the third and final book in this series to come out in paperback at the begining of July!

To sum this book up EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT.

Read it., 24 Jan 2007
"The Bronze Horseman" trilogy has - within an hour of starting the first book - become my favourite story (and I say story instead of stories, because they cannnot be separated in my mind). And story is such a pale word to use to describe it.
Reading "Tatiana and Alexander" without having first read "The Bronze Horseman" will deprive you of fully knowing the characters and their history. While "Tatiana and Alexander" is considered the sequel to "The Bronze Horseman", in many ways it is the same story told from Alexander's point of view (where "The Bronze Horseman" was more so from Tatiana's). The repetition is in no way unnecessary or boring - it actually adds more depth and more emotion to characters that you could not imagine being more real.
"Tatiana and Alexander" overviews Alexander's childhood, his life in the Soviet Union with his parents, with Tatiana, and after Tatiana. It it comprised of flashbacks to his past, flashbacks to emotionally powerful scenes with Tatiana, and also has chapters of Tatiana in her new life.
Read it. It is powerful and heart-wrenching, and leaves you praying for characters that you want to see have the happily-ever-after that they so desperately fight for.

A Sequel That Really Lives Up To It's Predecessor, 10 Apr 2006
Here, in 'Tatiana & Alexander' Paullina Simons finally achieves what she attempted with the first novel 'The Bronze Horseman' and creates a love story that is both deceptively simple and yet an epic.

I would not advise reading this before the first book as it deals with much of the same plot in a more detailed fashion, and you will not get the full effect of the layered narratives if you read them out of order. On the other hand, if you have already read the first book there is no point in you reading this review- you will already be a devotee of both Simons' gorgeous dialogue, narrative and imagery.

One thing that impressed me about this novel was its elaboration on the violent undercurrents of the first novel: here Alexander's 'addiction' to violence and need to protect his wife is fully explored and worked through, not simply pushed under the carpet as with most romance novels. The appearance of a character assumed to have died in the first novel (not wanting to give too much away here) is also a brave move by the author and sets the novel up for a completely emotionally satisfying climax.

One small gripe I have is that the novel is called 'Tatiana & Alexander' here in the UK, and 'The Bridge to Holy Cross' in other countries- the latter title is infinitely preferable in my opinion because it expresses the epic nature of this work and does not merely reduce it to a romance novel. However, this is a tiny problem and probably only annoys me, although obviously it has not spoilt my enjoyment of the novel.

Perfection personified..!, 20 Sep 2008
There aren't words to describe how wonderfully delicious this book is. I recieved it as a birthday present about 2 years ago and i reckon since then ive read it about 100 times, i even took it with me when i went travelling around the world! i dont think i own a more battered book, ive got antique books that look newer than this one. From the plot to the character interactions Paullina never fails to deliver. Perfection personified so to speak!

Addictive, 30 Aug 2008
This book was amazing, I lost myself in it for 3 days and then handed it over to my mum who complained only because she no longer had a life as she couldn't put it down. I have not read any of her other books but am very eager to now. At points I had to put it down as it was too overwhelming to read. I would recommend it to anyone, one of the best books I have read in my life.

Read it in every spare minute I had., 18 Feb 2008
I only manage to read 4 or 5 books a year, but once I had finished this one I didn't want to put it away. I was sad when it ended as the characters are so well portrayed that they become part of your life as you read the book. There are so many emotions running through this story, and I think Paullina pulls the characters together at the right time, building up to a frenzy of emotion. Laugh and cry. I did.

A Real Stunner, 20 Dec 2007
The author may be better known for her historical fiction, but it's this contemporary tale that's a real stunner. New York, a missing woman, a seriously screwed family, politics, peyote...this novel has it all. But really, the less you know about the novel, the better, for there are true shocks and surprises. Keep your eye out for Milo, one of the most unforgettable characters I've ever come across. The 602 pages were read over the span of about five days, so my memory didn't hold up so well: `Who's that? Did we hear about that guy earlier in the novel and I've just forgotten?' The novel may warrant a reread to jog your memory, but it was the mystery itself that was the most intriguing part of the story - this is a good read.

Fantastic!, 29 Jul 2007
I chose this book as it was on a listmania where the reader had also read and enjoyed several books that I had so I figured there was a good chance I'd like this too. I was right - I LOVED it!

I took it on holiday with me as it is such a thick, meaty book and I figured it may take a while to read, but I got so into it that it actually took no time at all to read. The chapters are short and also the type that make you think "just one more chapter til I put it down" and then you get to the end of the next one and think "just one more....".

This is an unusual love story with some unexpected events. The love and, above all, friendship between Lily and Spencer is beautiful and very moving. I don't want to ruin it for anyone by revelaing what happens but it truly is what it says on the back of the book....a story about love, friendship, lies and betrayal. I have never read any of Paullina Simons books before but I will most definitely reading more.

I really, truly enjoyed this and I hope you do as much as I did.

Brilliant, 21 Apr 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.

To gobble it up quickly or savour it?, 29 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on the reviews, especially the one stating that they weren't really into war books or books set in Russia but they loved it anyway. It took me a few weeks to start reading it, but once I started...I could not stop even if I wanted to. I was so hooked. After the first few chapters I went out and ordered the sequel because I knew I was going to want it.

Beautifully written with heart stopping moments, once this book was finished I turned it over and read it again.

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever Written, 11 Nov 2007
Having just read The Bronze Horseman and the following sequels I am completely emotionally exhausted! Anyone who loves a hero and a heroine will adore this story.
Forget all the cynical reviews re: historical facts! Who cares what year the Germans started using Tiger tanks! The only important facts in this book are the love between Tatiana and Alexander which could be felt through every single page from the moment they met. I have cried endless tears through it all and it became so much a part of my life that my "Alexander" and I will be going to St Petersburg to experience the White Nights of the city and to gaze upon the statue of THE BRONZE HORSEMAN.
Paulina Simons is the most gifted writer I have come across in a while. Having read "Girl in Times Square" three times I decided to buy all of her books that she has written.
Her characters come so vividly to life in every book.

This is certainly NOT the best book ever written, ALL of them are !!!!

But be aware that your life will come to a standstill until you have finished reding them all !!!

One word .........WOW!, 28 Apr 2007
Having read Tully, Eleven Hours, Girl in Times Square etc, I did want to read The Bronze Horseman but have to admit that I was put off by the fact that it was set in Russia in World War Two and so it sat on my bookshelf for nearly 12 months!

I am so glad I didn't deny myself any longer as this book is amazing. I am ashamed to say that I had no knowledge of what happened in Russia in in the second World War and found The Bronze Horseman compulsive reading and a real eye opener.

Needless to say I have bought the next book in the series, Tatiana & Alexander, and intend to start reading it soon although I think I might leave it a little while as I see that the third book in this series, The Summer Garden, is due to be published in paperback in July so I might try and resist Tatiana & Alexander for a month or so to prolong the enjoyment!

A Masterpiece..., 06 Apr 2007
I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons work ('Tully' is fantastic), but had never really fancied this novel - the Russian War theme sounded depressing and dreary and I avoided it for a good couple of years. You can therefore imagine my delight when I finally did purchase this book and found it absolutely unputdownable. From beginning to end, this tale is absorbing, intelligent and beautifully written. Exploring the complexities of wartime as I can only imagine; I cried buckets! So please dont be put off by the blurb (if the idea of a War story bores you to tears)...
My only stipulation is to ensure you have the follow on novel - 'Tatiana and Alexander' - ready as you'll be desperate to continue with the story. Paullina Simons at her very very best - I loved this.

The Love Story continues, 25 Aug 2008
I haven't been disappointed with any of Paullina Simons book and this was no exception. I have been waiting for the follow up to The Bronze Horseman, Tatiana & Alexander and it was worth waiting for. Lots of joy and heartache and a brilliant story. I couldn't put it down.

Weak ending spoils excelllent book, 24 Jul 2008
I am a great fan of Paullina Simons - Tully is one of my favourite books - and for nine-tenths of The Summer Garden I thought it was well up to her usual high standard. But after Chapter 16, it is as though someone else has been given the job of finishing the book - and preferably before supper.

The stagey and pointless exposition of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) ruins the atmosphere (how appropriate!) and reads like Michael Crichton at his most preachy. Then it gets worse with a breathless gallop through who married whom, divorced, had kids, remarried....

Read to the end of the Vietnam adventure, then read the last couple of pages and you will be giving this book five stars.

A little drawn out, 20 Feb 2008
Like everyone else, I bought this book because I could not get enough of Tatia and Shuru. I wasn't disappointed with the writing style just the fact that the story of T & A went from a beautiful, heart wrenching start in Bronze Horseman to an ordinary, everyday finish here in Summer Garden. I couldn't have done without reading the 2nd book (Tatiana and Alexander) but I feel I could have given this one a miss.

My Favorite of the Three!, 11 Feb 2008
I'm absolutely enamored with this series!

In the first two novels in the Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons, she throws our two protags, Alexander and Tatiana, into peril from the outset- starting with the siege of Leningrad during WWII on through their eventual escape to America in the late 1940's.

When the second book ended, I couldn't see how Simon's could squeeze any more gripping material out of Tatiana and Alexander's lives. But she wonderfully surprised me.

As the blurb for The Summer Garden states, their story was only beginning.

The Summer Garden starts where the story left off before the epilogue of Tatiana and Alexander(Or The Bridge to Holy Cross to you Brits and Ozzies!). Though Alexander has joined Tatiana and their son Anthony in the US, part of him is still in the gulag Tatiana rescued him from, unable to move forward and unable to allow himself to live after seeing, and causing, so much death and destruction.

But Tatiana is a fierce one and doesn't give up so easily. They travel all over the US trying to find a place they can call home, and along the way, bring him to a place of healing. I found this one to be much more sexual then the first two- almost erotic really- but that too had it's purpose, a metaphor if you will, for the spiritual melding their marriage so desperately needed after their time apart.

They travel all over the US trying to find a place to call home, and along the way, bring Alexander to a place of healing. They end up in Arizona, on a parcel of land Tatiana bought with the money Alexander's mother horded away after his father zealously gave up their US citizenship and hauled his family to the Soviet Union during the pre-war years.

You would think that after all they had been through- sieges, starvation and the total destruction of their families and homeland- that all the pain was behind them and that nothing could break them. But you would be wrong. They find that peaceful life can be way may more dangerous with it's insidious fingers plucking at them until they become something they never thought they would.

This is why I fell for this book in a much deeper way then even the first two. I have found in life that the big things, like death and pain, are far easier to survive then the little things that can eat you away before you even realize it. Like the slow dripping of water that erodes a massive stone, we are often unaware of the things that constantly hit us until all that we thought we were is almost totally gone. Although the big things define us and show us what we can be, it's the little things and how we deal with them, that show us what we are. And so it was for Tatiana and Alexander.

We follow them through the years, through bad decisions and successes, births and deaths, through children growing up and themselves growing apart ... and back together again, until the very end when we see them with their family, white haired but still in as much love as the day when Alexander crossed the street to meet a skinny blond hair girl innocently eating ice cream, waiting for her life to begin.

Alexander is the ultimate Alpha hero. Strong, brooding, flawed and intense. Despite outward appearances, Tatiana has a core of steel and an insight into human nature that matches him pound for pound. The little tidbits of Tatiana's former life that Simons throws into The Summer Garden, only reinforces that fact, and I for one loved that part of the story telling, though I can imagine some people would have found it extraneous.

Tatiana and Alexander's love was so deep, so intense, that it became their greatest strength as well as their greatest weakness and it became the strength of these novels as well.

Although I know these books are not for everyone- their huge, sweeping and daunting at times- they are so worth the time invested. My wish is for everyone to find a book that moves them as much as these have with me!

Bit of a mixed bag..., 05 Jan 2008
'The Bronze Horseman' and 'Tatiana and Alexander' were two parts of a story that I thoroughly enjoyed - PS's characterisation and plot were faultless and it was with trepidation and surprise that I picked up this, the third novel to the series - I felt 'Tatiana and Alexander'finished off this tale nicely.
As much as it pains me to say, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two (...but then I LOVED the first two...) and found myself speed reading the flashbacks to Tatiana's childhood and wondering where else we could possibly be taken in terms of storyline. Parts of it were engrossing and everything I have come to expect of a novel from PS, but other parts were dull and lacking in movement. It also 'felt' different from the first two - whereas their love for each other made me weep then, in this part, I just felt it was all a little overdone and, dare I say it, bordering on tedious...
I know I'll be upsetting other diehard PS fans, but I feel I need to ne honest, buy the other two definately but save this one for a rainy day...

Also called Tatiana and Alexander, 30 Jan 2008
This is indeed the sequel to the Bronze Horseman - the best book by far and why oh why has noone made the film of it yet? - and is written in similar style. I stuck with it as I loved the first one so much. It is worth the read if you like romance! Eleven Hours was unputdownable - read in three days - and completely different. No romance but 100% suspense instead - and not for the weak constitution!

Ahhh...., 30 Jan 2008
I ordered this sequel after reading the first chapter of The Bronze Horseman, so convinced was I that I would be desperate to read it straight after. And I wasn't wrong. I was so moved and sucked into Tatiana and Alexander's lives that I needed to know more (I ordered the 3rd book after a few chapters of T & A). Reading them back to back was quite full on and I now have a head full of one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.

Not a 5 star like TBH as I found this book a little more violent and focused on fighting (when all I really wanted to know was 'what happens to Tatia and Shura'!?). Also, while I appreciate the flashing back to the past was important for setting the scene I did find it a little distracting at times.

Still, a beautifully written book that will be sure to satisfy Tatiana and Alexander fans. Ahh....

Truely excellent, 29 May 2007
I recently read The Bronze Horseman and throughly enjoyed it (see previous review) and couldn't wait to delve into the sequel - Tatiana and Alexander to continue further with them in their quest to find each other again and I certainly wasn't disappointed!

As with the Bronze Horseman you are gripped from the very first pages and it is a compulsive page turner and set at a great pace. This book concentrates a little more on Alexander and his life prior to meeting Tatiana and adds to the understanding of them and their relationship.

I would recommend that The Bronze Horseman is read prior to this book although I am sure it would be very enjoyable on it's own, I think it would be a shame not to have the whole Tatiana and Alexander experience! Can't wait to the third and final book in this series to come out in paperback at the begining of July!

To sum this book up EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT.

Read it., 24 Jan 2007
"The Bronze Horseman" trilogy has - within an hour of starting the first book - become my favourite story (and I say story instead of stories, because they cannnot be separated in my mind). And story is such a pale word to use to describe it.
Reading "Tatiana and Alexander" without having first read "The Bronze Horseman" will deprive you of fully knowing the characters and their history. While "Tatiana and Alexander" is considered the sequel to "The Bronze Horseman", in many ways it is the same story told from Alexander's point of view (where "The Bronze Horseman" was more so from Tatiana's). The repetition is in no way unnecessary or boring - it actually adds more depth and more emotion to characters that you could not imagine being more real.
"Tatiana and Alexander" overviews Alexander's childhood, his life in the Soviet Union with his parents, with Tatiana, and after Tatiana. It it comprised of flashbacks to his past, flashbacks to emotionally powerful scenes with Tatiana, and also has chapters of Tatiana in her new life.
Read it. It is powerful and heart-wrenching, and leaves you praying for characters that you want to see have the happily-ever-after that they so desperately fight for.

A Sequel That Really Lives Up To It's Predecessor, 10 Apr 2006
Here, in 'Tatiana & Alexander' Paullina Simons finally achieves what she attempted with the first novel 'The Bronze Horseman' and creates a love story that is both deceptively simple and yet an epic.

I would not advise reading this before the first book as it deals with much of the same plot in a more detailed fashion, and you will not get the full effect of the layered narratives if you read them out of order. On the other hand, if you have already read the first book there is no point in you reading this review- you will already be a devotee of both Simons' gorgeous dialogue, narrative and imagery.

One thing that impressed me about this novel was its elaboration on the violent undercurrents of the first novel: here Alexander's 'addiction' to violence and need to protect his wife is fully explored and worked through, not simply pushed under the carpet as with most romance novels. The appearance of a character assumed to have died in the first novel (not wanting to give too much away here) is also a brave move by the author and sets the novel up for a completely emotionally satisfying climax.

One small gripe I have is that the novel is called 'Tatiana & Alexander' here in the UK, and 'The Bridge to Holy Cross' in other countries- the latter title is infinitely preferable in my opinion because it expresses the epic nature of this work and does not merely reduce it to a romance novel. However, this is a tiny problem and probably only annoys me, although obviously it has not spoilt my enjoyment of the novel.

Perfection personified..!, 20 Sep 2008
There aren't words to describe how wonderfully delicious this book is. I recieved it as a birthday present about 2 years ago and i reckon since then ive read it about 100 times, i even took it with me when i went travelling around the world! i dont think i own a more battered book, ive got antique books that look newer than this one. From the plot to the character interactions Paullina never fails to deliver. Perfection personified so to speak!

Addictive, 30 Aug 2008
This book was amazing, I lost myself in it for 3 days and then handed it over to my mum who complained only because she no longer had a life as she couldn't put it down. I have not read any of her other books but am very eager to now. At points I had to put it down as it was too overwhelming to read. I would recommend it to anyone, one of the best books I have read in my life.

Read it in every spare minute I had., 18 Feb 2008
I only manage to read 4 or 5 books a year, but once I had finished this one I didn't want to put it away. I was sad when it ended as the characters are so well portrayed that they become part of your life as you read the book. There are so many emotions running through this story, and I think Paullina pulls the characters together at the right time, building up to a frenzy of emotion. Laugh and cry. I did.

A Real Stunner, 20 Dec 2007
The author may be better known for her historical fiction, but it's this contemporary tale that's a real stunner. New York, a missing woman, a seriously screwed family, politics, peyote...this novel has it all. But really, the less you know about the novel, the better, for there are true shocks and surprises. Keep your eye out for Milo, one of the most unforgettable characters I've ever come across. The 602 pages were read over the span of about five days, so my memory didn't hold up so well: `Who's that? Did we hear about that guy earlier in the novel and I've just forgotten?' The novel may warrant a reread to jog your memory, but it was the mystery itself that was the most intriguing part of the story - this is a good read.

Fantastic!, 29 Jul 2007
I chose this book as it was on a listmania where the reader had also read and enjoyed several books that I had so I figured there was a good chance I'd like this too. I was right - I LOVED it!

I took it on holiday with me as it is such a thick, meaty book and I figured it may take a while to read, but I got so into it that it actually took no time at all to read. The chapters are short and also the type that make you think "just one more chapter til I put it down" and then you get to the end of the next one and think "just one more....".

This is an unusual love story with some unexpected events. The love and, above all, friendship between Lily and Spencer is beautiful and very moving. I don't want to ruin it for anyone by revelaing what happens but it truly is what it says on the back of the book....a story about love, friendship, lies and betrayal. I have never read any of Paullina Simons books before but I will most definitely reading more.

I really, truly enjoyed this and I hope you do as much as I did.

Not her best book, 30 Mar 2008
I love Paullina Simons; Tully, the Girl in Times Square, The Bronze Horseman etc. are amazing reads. Whilst the Road to Paradise is enjoyable and well written it doesn't have the same ability to pull you in like most of her other books.

Even so well worth a read, just don't expect the same 'magic' that you usually find in Paullina's books.

bit dissapointing, 18 Mar 2008
Having read The Glrl in Times Square and LOVED it, i had high expectations about this book as i find her style of writing interesting and i was totally hooked into the characters in The Girl in Times Square.
i found the characters really annoying in The Road to Paradise and felt constantly irratated by Shelby and how she was such a PUSHOVER! Gina was a spoilt, selfish little girl and it didnt let up much throughout the book. the concept of the story was quite interesting and i did like Candy as a character but it didnt capture me enough to turn my opinion around.
I did hope that perhaps the characters might develop and evolve and become much more likeable but unfortunatly that didnt happen.
so all in all a dissapointing read.

Recommended, 26 Feb 2008
I've read a few of Paullina's books now and undoubtedly she knows how to tell a tale. This book was enjoyable and, as with all of her books I've read, I raced through it. She paints the picture well of the 3 young women's experiences, thoughts and feelings on their journey cross country, with a real element of suspense. The plot is easy to follow, harrowing in parts but ultimately hopeful.
My one gripe is the dialogue between the characters on religion - these conversations (which took up page after page) were, in my opinion, a poorly disguised way of persuading the reader of Paullina's own beliefs.

Road to Paradise, 16 Dec 2007
Paullina is the best there is, and her latest book is no exception. I held my breathe as I travlled across the USA with these 3 teenagers, and lost my heart to Candy, the youngest of the trio, but the wisest, the hardest and yet the softest. As they drove into a future they never knew was theirs, the road was filled with profound experiences, painful truths, stomach aching laughter and warm tears. From page one to the final chapter, I held my breath, I was riveted, I was lost in the world that Paullina can so successfully take us to, time after time. You will love them, hate them, become infuriated with them and be constantly trying to warn them, and you will miss them so much when you close this book.

Brilliant, 21 Apr 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.

To gobble it up quickly or savour it?, 29 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on the reviews, especially the one stating that they weren't really into war books or books set in Russia but they loved it anyway. It took me a few weeks to start reading it, but once I started...I could not stop even if I wanted to. I was so hooked. After the first few chapters I went out and ordered the sequel because I knew I was going to want it.

Beautifully written with heart stopping moments, once this book was finished I turned it over and read it again.

The Most Beautiful Love Story Ever Written, 11 Nov 2007
Having just read The Bronze Horseman and the following sequels I am completely emotionally exhausted! Anyone who loves a hero and a heroine will adore this story.
Forget all the cynical reviews re: historical facts! Who cares what year the Germans started using Tiger tanks! The only important facts in this book are the love between Tatiana and Alexander which could be felt through every single page from the moment they met. I have cried endless tears through it all and it became so much a part of my life that my "Alexander" and I will be going to St Petersburg to experience the White Nights of the city and to gaze upon the statue of THE BRONZE HORSEMAN.
Paulina Simons is the most gifted writer I have come across in a while. Having read "Girl in Times Square" three times I decided to buy all of her books that she has written.
Her characters come so vividly to life in every book.

This is certainly NOT the best book ever written, ALL of them are !!!!

But be aware that your life will come to a standstill until you have finished reding them all !!!

One word .........WOW!, 28 Apr 2007
Having read Tully, Eleven Hours, Girl in Times Square etc, I did want to read The Bronze Horseman but have to admit that I was put off by the fact that it was set in Russia in World War Two and so it sat on my bookshelf for nearly 12 months!

I am so glad I didn't deny myself any longer as this book is amazing. I am ashamed to say that I had no knowledge of what happened in Russia in in the second World War and found The Bronze Horseman compulsive reading and a real eye opener.

Needless to say I have bought the next book in the series, Tatiana & Alexander, and intend to start reading it soon although I think I might leave it a little while as I see that the third book in this series, The Summer Garden, is due to be published in paperback in July so I might try and resist Tatiana & Alexander for a month or so to prolong the enjoyment!

A Masterpiece..., 06 Apr 2007
I am a huge fan of Paullina Simons work ('Tully' is fantastic), but had never really fancied this novel - the Russian War theme sounded depressing and dreary and I avoided it for a good couple of years. You can therefore imagine my delight when I finally did purchase this book and found it absolutely unputdownable. From beginning to end, this tale is absorbing, intelligent and beautifully written. Exploring the complexities of wartime as I can only imagine; I cried buckets! So please dont be put off by the blurb (if the idea of a War story bores you to tears)...
My only stipulation is to ensure you have the follow on novel - 'Tatiana and Alexander' - ready as you'll be desperate to continue with the story. Paullina Simons at her very very best - I loved this.

The Love Story continues, 25 Aug 2008
I haven't been disappointed with any of Paullina Simons book and this was no exception. I have been waiting for the follow up to The Bronze Horseman, Tatiana & Alexander and it was worth waiting for. Lots of joy and heartache and a brilliant story. I couldn't put it down.

Weak ending spoils excelllent book, 24 Jul 2008
I am a great fan of Paullina Simons - Tully is one of my favourite books - and for nine-tenths of The Summer Garden I thought it was well up to her usual high standard. But after Chapter 16, it is as though someone else has been given the job of finishing the book - and preferably before supper.

The stagey and pointless exposition of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) ruins the atmosphere (how appropriate!) and reads like Michael Crichton at his most preachy. Then it gets worse with a breathless gallop through who married whom, divorced, had kids, remarried....

Read to the end of the Vietnam adventure, then read the last couple of pages and you will be giving this book five stars.

A little drawn out, 20 Feb 2008
Like everyone else, I bought this book because I could not get enough of Tatia and Shuru. I wasn't disappointed with the writing style just the fact that the story of T & A went from a beautiful, heart wrenching start in Bronze Horseman to an ordinary, everyday finish here in Summer Garden. I couldn't have done without reading the 2nd book (Tatiana and Alexander) but I feel I could have given this one a miss.

My Favorite of the Three!, 11 Feb 2008
I'm absolutely enamored with this series!

In the first two novels in the Bronze Horseman trilogy by Paullina Simons, she throws our two protags, Alexander and Tatiana, into peril from the outset- starting with the siege of Leningrad during WWII on through their eventual escape to America in the late 1940's.

When the second book ended, I couldn't see how Simon's could squeeze any more gripping material out of Tatiana and Alexander's lives. But she wonderfully surprised me.

As the blurb for The Summer Garden states, their story was only beginning.

The Summer Garden starts where the story left off before the epilogue of Tatiana and Alexander(Or The Bridge to Holy Cross to you Brits and Ozzies!). Though Alexander has joined Tatiana and their son Anthony in the US, part of him is still in the gulag Tatiana rescued him from, unable to move forward and unable to allow himself to live after seeing, and causing, so much death and destruction.

But Tatiana is a fierce one and doesn't give up so easily. They travel all over the US trying to find a place they can call home, and along the way, bring him to a place of healing. I found this one to be much more sexual then the first two- almost erotic really- but that too had it's purpose, a metaphor if you will, for the spiritual melding their marriage so desperately needed after their time apart.

They travel all over the US trying to find a place to call home, and along the way, bring Alexander to a place of healing. They end up in Arizona, on a parcel of land Tatiana bought with the money Alexander's mother horded away after his father zealously gave up their US citizenship and hauled his family to the Soviet Union during the pre-war years.

You would think that after all they had been through- sieges, starvation and the total destruction of their families and homeland- that all the pain was behind them and that nothing could break them. But you would be wrong. They find that peaceful life can be way may more dangerous with it's insidious fingers plucking at them until they become something they never thought they would.

This is why I fell for this book in a much deeper way then even the first two. I have found in life that the big things, like death and pain, are far easier to survive then the little things that can eat you away before you even realize it. Like the slow dripping of water that erodes a massive stone, we are often unaware of the things that constantly hit us until all that we thought we were is almost totally gone. Although the big things define us and show us what we can be, it's the little things and how we deal with them, that show us what we are. And so it was for Tatiana and Alexander.

We follow them through the years, through bad decisions and successes, births and deaths, through children growing up and themselves growing apart ... and back together again, until the very end when we see them with their family, white haired but still in as much love as the day when Alexander crossed the street to meet a skinny blond hair girl innocently eating ice cream, waiting for her life to begin.

Alexander is the ultimate Alpha hero. Strong, brooding, flawed and intense. Despite outward appearances, Tatiana has a core of steel and an insight into human nature that matches him pound for pound. The little tidbits of Tatiana's former life that Simons throws into The Summer Garden, only reinforces that fact, and I for one loved that part of the story telling, though I can imagine some people would have found it extraneous.

Tatiana and Alexander's love was so deep, so intense, that it became their greatest strength as well as their greatest weakness and it became the strength of these novels as well.

Although I know these books are not for everyone- their huge, sweeping and daunting at times- they are so worth the time invested. My wish is for everyone to find a book that moves them as much as these have with me!

Bit of a mixed bag..., 05 Jan 2008
'The Bronze Horseman' and 'Tatiana and Alexander' were two parts of a story that I thoroughly enjoyed - PS's characterisation and plot were faultless and it was with trepidation and surprise that I picked up this, the third novel to the series - I felt 'Tatiana and Alexander'finished off this tale nicely.
As much as it pains me to say, I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two (...but then I LOVED the first two...) and found myself speed reading the flashbacks to Tatiana's childhood and wondering where else we could possibly be taken in terms of storyline. Parts of it were engrossing and everything I have come to expect of a novel from PS, but other parts were dull and lacking in movement. It also 'felt' different from the first two - whereas their love for each other made me weep then, in this part, I just felt it was all a little overdone and, dare I say it, bordering on tedious...
I know I'll be upsetting other diehard PS fans, but I feel I need to ne honest, buy the other two definately but save this one for a rainy day...

Also called Tatiana and Alexander, 30 Jan 2008
This is indeed the sequel to the Bronze Horseman - the best book by far and why oh why has noone made the film of it yet? - and is written in similar style. I stuck with it as I loved the first one so much. It is worth the read if you like romance! Eleven Hours was unputdownable - read in three days - and completely different. No romance but 100% suspense instead - and not for the weak constitution!

Ahhh...., 30 Jan 2008
I ordered this sequel after reading the first chapter of The Bronze Horseman, so convinced was I that I would be desperate to read it straight after. And I wasn't wrong. I was so moved and sucked into Tatiana and Alexander's lives that I needed to know more (I ordered the 3rd book after a few chapters of T & A). Reading them back to back was quite full on and I now have a head full of one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read.

Not a 5 star like TBH as I found this book a little more violent and focused on fighting (when all I really wanted to know was 'what happens to Tatia and Shura'!?). Also, while I appreciate the flashing back to the past was important for setting the scene I did find it a little distracting at times.

Still, a beautifully written book that will be sure to satisfy Tatiana and Alexander fans. Ahh....

Truely excellent, 29 May 2007
I recently read The Bronze Horseman and throughly enjoyed it (see previous review) and couldn't wait to delve into the sequel - Tatiana and Alexander to continue further with them in their quest to find each other again and I certainly wasn't disappointed!

As with the Bronze Horseman you are gripped from the very first pages and it is a compulsive page turner and set at a great pace. This book concentrates a little more on Alexander and his life prior to meeting Tatiana and adds to the understanding of them and their relationship.

I would recommend that The Bronze Horseman is read prior to this book although I am sure it would be very enjoyable on it's own, I think it would be a shame not to have the whole Tatiana and Alexander experience! Can't wait to the third and final book in this series to come out in paperback at the begining of July!

To sum this book up EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT.

Read it., 24 Jan 2007
"The Bronze Horseman" trilogy has - within an hour of starting the first book - become my favourite story (and I say story instead of stories, because they cannnot be separated in my mind). And story is such a pale word to use to describe it.
Reading "Tatiana and Alexander" without having first read "The Bronze Horseman" will deprive you of fully knowing the characters and their history. While "Tatiana and Alexander" is considered the sequel to "The Bronze Horseman", in many ways it is the same story told from Alexander's point of view (where "The Bronze Horseman" was more so from Tatiana's). The repetition is in no way unnecessary or boring - it actually adds more depth and more emotion to characters that you could not imagine being more real.
"Tatiana and Alexander" overviews Alexander's childhood, his life in the Soviet Union with his parents, with Tatiana, and after Tatiana. It it comprised of flashbacks to his past, flashbacks to emotionally powerful scenes with Tatiana, and also has chapters of Tatiana in her new life.
Read it. It is powerful and heart-wrenching, and leaves you praying for characters that you want to see have the happily-ever-after that they so desperately fight for.

A Sequel That Really Lives Up To It's Predecessor, 10 Apr 2006
Here, in 'Tatiana & Alexander' Paullina Simons finally achieves what she attempted with the first novel 'The Bronze Horseman' and creates a love story that is both deceptively simple and yet an epic.

I would not advise reading this before the first book as it deals with much of the same plot in a more detailed fashion, and you will not get the full effect of the layered narratives if you read them out of order. On the other hand, if you have already read the first book there is no point in you reading this review- you will already be a devotee of both Simons' gorgeous dialogue, narrative and imagery.

One thing that impressed me about this novel was its elaboration on the violent undercurrents of the first novel: here Alexander's 'addiction' to violence and need to protect his wife is fully explored and worked through, not simply pushed under the carpet as with most romance novels. The appearance of a character assumed to have died in the first novel (not wanting to give too much away here) is also a brave move by the author and sets the novel up for a completely emotionally satisfying climax.

One small gripe I have is that the novel is called 'Tatiana & Alexander' here in the UK, and 'The Bridge to Holy Cross' in other countries- the latter title is infinitely preferable in my opinion because it expresses the epic nature of this work and does not merely reduce it to a romance novel. However, this is a tiny problem and probably only annoys me, although obviously it has not spoilt my enjoyment of the novel.

Perfection personified..!, 20 Sep 2008
There aren't words to describe how wonderfully delicious this book is. I recieved it as a birthday present about 2 years ago and i reckon since then ive read it about 100 times, i even took it with me when i went travelling around the world! i dont think i own a more battered book, ive got antique books that look newer than this one. From the plot to the character interactions Paullina never fails to deliver. Perfection personified so to speak!

Addictive, 30 Aug 2008
This book was amazing, I lost myself in it for 3 days and then handed it over to my mum who complained only because she no longer had a life as she couldn't put it down. I have not read any of her other books but am very eager to now. At points I had to put it down as it was too overwhelming to read. I would recommend it to anyone, one of the best books I have read in my life.

Read it in every spare minute I had., 18 Feb 2008
I only manage to read 4 or 5 books a year, but once I had finished this one I didn't want to put it away. I was sad when it ended as the characters are so well portrayed that they become part of your life as you read the book. There are so many emotions running through this story, and I think Paullina pulls the characters together at the right time, building up to a frenzy of emotion. Laugh and cry. I did.

A Real Stunner, 20 Dec 2007
The author may be better known for her historical fiction, but it's this contemporary tale that's a real stunner. New York, a missing woman, a seriously screwed family, politics, peyote...this novel has it all. But really, the less you know about the novel, the better, for there are true shocks and surprises. Keep your eye out for Milo, one of the most unforgettable characters I've ever come across. The 602 pages were read over the span of about five days, so my memory didn't hold up so well: `Who's that? Did we hear about that guy earlier in the novel and I've just forgotten?' The novel may warrant a reread to jog your memory, but it was the mystery itself that was the most intriguing part of the story - this is a good read.

Fantastic!, 29 Jul 2007
I chose this book as it was on a listmania where the reader had also read and enjoyed several books that I had so I figured there was a good chance I'd like this too. I was right - I LOVED it!

I took it on holiday with me as it is such a thick, meaty book and I figured it may take a while to read, but I got so into it that it actually took no time at all to read. The chapters are short and also the type that make you think "just one more chapter til I put it down" and then you get to the end of the next one and think "just one more....".

This is an unusual love story with some unexpected events. The love and, above all, friendship between Lily and Spencer is beautiful and very moving. I don't want to ruin it for anyone by revelaing what happens but it truly is what it says on the back of the book....a story about love, friendship, lies and betrayal. I have never read any of Paullina Simons books before but I will most definitely reading more.

I really, truly enjoyed this and I hope you do as much as I did.

Not her best book, 30 Mar 2008
I love Paullina Simons; Tully, the Girl in Times Square, The Bronze Horseman etc. are amazing reads. Whilst the Road to Paradise is enjoyable and well written it doesn't have the same ability to pull you in like most of her other books.

Even so well worth a read, just don't expect the same 'magic' that you usually find in Paullina's books.

bit dissapointing, 18 Mar 2008
Having read The Glrl in Times Square and LOVED it, i had high expectations about this book as i find her style of writing interesting and i was totally hooked into the characters in The Girl in Times Square.
i found the characters really annoying in The Road to Paradise and felt constantly irratated by Shelby and how she was such a PUSHOVER! Gina was a spoilt, selfish little girl and it didnt let up much throughout the book. the concept of the story was quite interesting and i did like Candy as a character but it didnt capture me enough to turn my opinion around.
I did hope that perhaps the characters might develop and evolve and become much more likeable but unfortunatly that didnt happen.
so all in all a dissapointing read.

Recommended, 26 Feb 2008
I've read a few of Paullina's books now and undoubtedly she knows how to tell a tale. This book was enjoyable and, as with all of her books I've read, I raced through it. She paints the picture well of the 3 young women's experiences, thoughts and feelings on their journey cross country, with a real element of suspense. The plot is easy to follow, harrowing in parts but ultimately hopeful.
My one gripe is the dialogue between the characters on religion - these conversations (which took up page after page) were, in my opinion, a poorly disguised way of persuading the reader of Paullina's own beliefs.

Road to Paradise, 16 Dec 2007
Paullina is the best there is, and her latest book is no exception. I held my breathe as I travlled across the USA with these 3 teenagers, and lost my heart to Candy, the youngest of the trio, but the wisest, the hardest and yet the softest. As they drove into a future they never knew was theirs, the road was filled with profound experiences, painful truths, stomach aching laughter and warm tears. From page one to the final chapter, I held my breath, I was riveted, I was lost in the world that Paullina can so successfully take us to, time after time. You will love them, hate them, become infuriated with them and be constantly trying to warn them, and you will miss them so much when you close this book.

Pointless, 19 Nov 2008
Women seem to like this, and in fact it was a woman that recommended it to me. A woman that I would describe as a "bimbo". The plot is very poor, disappointing and directionless - there are no twists or anything else of interest to it. One for the girls, I suppose.

Tully, 01 Oct 2008
It's clever, sad and beautifully written, yes it will make you look at life but you must be warned, only to be read when everything is wonderful in your life to cope with the depressing nature.

My favourite book of all time., 21 Sep 2008
This book is a simply a master piece. I have read it about 6 times since I first read it when I was 17. Everytime I pick up, I just cannot put it down. It is such a good book.

It decribes the life of a simple girl and all the mistakes she seems to make.

I see a lot of myself in Tully. I leant the book to my cousin and after reading it she said she saw a lot of herself in Tully then I passed the book onto my best friend who also said she saw herself in Tully. All three of us are very different but thats the beauty of Tully, she represents all girls. Each of us will see a part of us in her.

Beautifully written, the book explores the issues of friendships, relationships and family. As Tully grows into a woman, we, the readers grow with her. We laugh with Tully and we cry with Tully through the book.

I loved the book when I first read it and after 7 years, I continue to love it. Read and u will be surprised.

nothing compares to u, 10 Aug 2008
This is quite simply my favourite book ever. I have read it many times over the years and every time I gain a new perspective on the story. I won't go in to detail......just read it. It's brilliant!

What's to like.....?, 04 Jun 2008
I seem to have mi