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Pello Island #1
Cassia
This edition is currently out-of-print.
alternate cover image of ASIN: B008A6LD1G
Can we change our destiny? The answer, according to the gods of Rome, is no. Nona spins her wheel and our fates are sealed within the thread that runs through her fingers; Decima measures the thread, determining length of our lives, and when our time on Earth is over, Morta's shears cut the thread sending us to the Elysian Fields. It is as it should be. Until an arrogant,drunken god hurls his trident at a tiny, inhabited island instead of a lifeless rock, causing a cataclysmic crisis on Olympus.
This part of the Pello Island quartet is about Cassia. When we meet her, she is a contemporary woman living a strange life like no other. But her first life began long ago in an ancient city ruled by an emperor. As she struggles to make peace with her current incarnation, Cassia recalls her past and the circumstances that led to her existence in 21st century America.
In ancient Rome, Cassia lived on a quiet street in a townhouse attached to her father's shop. At twelve, her father, Quintus, tells her that she is to marry a despicable man. The marriage will elevate the ambitious merchant to a noble status, and Quintus cares not that he will be sacrificing his daughter's happiness to satisfy his own vanity. Cassia's sadness over her fate is not lost on her closest allies - her maid, Novia, and Flavius, the man who runs her father's shop. While they conspire to save her from a fate worse than death, Cassia obediently agrees to marry the man her father chose for her.
Fate intervenes, however, and Cassia is saved from the marriage, but soon, her father is once again scheming to use his daughter to gain a title. As luck would have it, he stumbles across a young nobleman,Darius, a narcissistic blackguard in desperate need of cash, and a bargain isset. But fate intervenes again and Darius finds himself attracted to the lovely Cassia as she falls deeply in love with him. Their union is destined to end in tragedy, though, and events soon lead them both to Pello Island, a prison colony in the Mediterranean Sea just south of Sicily.
alternate cover image of ASIN: B008A6LD1G
Can we change our destiny? The answer, according to the gods of Rome, is no. Nona spins her wheel and our fates are sealed within the thread that runs through her fingers; Decima measures the thread, determining length of our lives, and when our time on Earth is over, Morta's shears cut the thread sending us to the Elysian Fields. It is as it should be. Until an arrogant,drunken god hurls his trident at a tiny, inhabited island instead of a lifeless rock, causing a cataclysmic crisis on Olympus.
This part of the Pello Island quartet is about Cassia. When we meet her, she is a contemporary woman living a strange life like no other. But her first life began long ago in an ancient city ruled by an emperor. As she struggles to make peace with her current incarnation, Cassia recalls her past and the circumstances that led to her existence in 21st century America.
In ancient Rome, Cassia lived on a quiet street in a townhouse attached to her father's shop. At twelve, her father, Quintus, tells her that she is to marry a despicable man. The marriage will elevate the ambitious merchant to a noble status, and Quintus cares not that he will be sacrificing his daughter's happiness to satisfy his own vanity. Cassia's sadness over her fate is not lost on her closest allies - her maid, Novia, and Flavius, the man who runs her father's shop. While they conspire to save her from a fate worse than death, Cassia obediently agrees to marry the man her father chose for her.
Fate intervenes, however, and Cassia is saved from the marriage, but soon, her father is once again scheming to use his daughter to gain a title. As luck would have it, he stumbles across a young nobleman,Darius, a narcissistic blackguard in desperate need of cash, and a bargain isset. But fate intervenes again and Darius finds himself attracted to the lovely Cassia as she falls deeply in love with him. Their union is destined to end in tragedy, though, and events soon lead them both to Pello Island, a prison colony in the Mediterranean Sea just south of Sicily.
229 pages, ebook
First published June 8, 2012
4 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
A.L. Jambor
46 books53 followersA.L. Jambor lives in Florida with her husband, Hans. Amy began writing at the tender age of fifty-eight when she was inspired by a photo of her granddaughter. The result was But the Children Survived, an apocalyptic story about how a pharmaceutical company’s greed led to the destruction of North America. From there, Amy began writing fantasy mysteries that incorporated both her love of puzzles and her humor. Nick Dandino and Lord Percival Plep are two of her protagonists – the first a PI in heaven, the second an English lord reincarnated as a pudgy terrier named Libby. She has also written an historical time travel series and a dark crime thriller. You can find all her books on Amazon.com's KDP program and available with Kindle Unlimited.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 21, 2014
Cassia, and Darius as well as Dulcia and Amatus, were reincarnated, with all their memories of their prior lives, intact. Cassia was 15 when she fell in love with Darius. (We all remember our 1st love...) The story is interesting and I was so curious to read what will happen next, that I could not move away from my Kindle. I love mythology. The combination of paranormal and mythology blended well resulting in an above average mythology story... I am looking forward to reading the sequel, Darius Pello Island 2.
June 19, 2015
First off, I don't know who wrote the Amazon/Goodreads description, but they left out pretty important details.
Cassia, Darius, Amatus, and Dulcia are Ancient Romans who have been "reincarnated" since their {original} deaths with the memories of all their past lives. I use quotation marks because they aren't born, but put into bodies of twenty- or thirty-somethings.
The description of the book is pretty spot on in regards to what happens in Ancient Rome, which encompasses about 3/4 of the book. The other 1/4 takes place today and is actually where the book starts.
Cassia wakes up in a strange apartment, in a strange body, and Jambor takes us from there. We meet Darius and Amatus and learn that this reincarnation is a little different than the previous ones. Not only do our characters look eerily like their Ancient Roman selves, but this is their last chance to get it right. As readers, we don't yet know what "it" is. What we do know is somebody keeps dropping the ball, everybody dies {again}, and they have to start all over.
I imagine after 2,000 years of doing this, everybody is just anxious to move of - physically and spiritually. {See what I did there?}
The book moves back and forth between Ancient Rome and the world of today. We learn a little more back story - why they have so much money, who keeps dropping the ball, and how they're been able to live all these different lives.
The story itself kept me entertained. Ancient Rome Cassia drove me crazy - but I'll just attribute that to the fact that she was 15 and Darius was her first love. We've all been there and you're lying if you say otherwise.
There wasn't a whole lot of character development either. Yes, I could definitely tell a difference between Ancient Rome characters and 2012 characters, but the Roman ones just kind of stood in place as far as that aspect of the story. {I imagine we'll see some development as we move on I'm the story.} Some sentences were a bit choppy and I would've liked a bit more flow to them. I could have had more showing and less telling, especially as some telling details were a bit on the side of "Gee, you don't say" with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
For being one of the core four, Amatus has a small role is this novel. Obviously he'll be playing a bigger part later seeing as he's one of the lucky ones who gets multiple do-overs.
Cleverly enough {that is if you're interested enough to read the second novel}, Jambor doesn't get too in detail about the WHY of their reincarnations. Cassia makes a comment to Amatus that he "shouldn't have been there" to which he replies "I made my choice. I've never regretted it." Interesting.
This novel is mostly backstory - here's what happened 2,000 years ago and here's what happening now. {I am planning on reading part 2.}
Overall, it's a nice and easy read. Being a little less than 200 pages it did not take me long to read, but {as I said earlier} the story held my interest and kept me curious. I do wish the descriptions on Amazon and Goodreads included the details of their reincarnations, but I guess that's what people like me are for. :)
Cassia, Darius, Amatus, and Dulcia are Ancient Romans who have been "reincarnated" since their {original} deaths with the memories of all their past lives. I use quotation marks because they aren't born, but put into bodies of twenty- or thirty-somethings.
The description of the book is pretty spot on in regards to what happens in Ancient Rome, which encompasses about 3/4 of the book. The other 1/4 takes place today and is actually where the book starts.
Cassia wakes up in a strange apartment, in a strange body, and Jambor takes us from there. We meet Darius and Amatus and learn that this reincarnation is a little different than the previous ones. Not only do our characters look eerily like their Ancient Roman selves, but this is their last chance to get it right. As readers, we don't yet know what "it" is. What we do know is somebody keeps dropping the ball, everybody dies {again}, and they have to start all over.
I imagine after 2,000 years of doing this, everybody is just anxious to move of - physically and spiritually. {See what I did there?}
The book moves back and forth between Ancient Rome and the world of today. We learn a little more back story - why they have so much money, who keeps dropping the ball, and how they're been able to live all these different lives.
The story itself kept me entertained. Ancient Rome Cassia drove me crazy - but I'll just attribute that to the fact that she was 15 and Darius was her first love. We've all been there and you're lying if you say otherwise.
There wasn't a whole lot of character development either. Yes, I could definitely tell a difference between Ancient Rome characters and 2012 characters, but the Roman ones just kind of stood in place as far as that aspect of the story. {I imagine we'll see some development as we move on I'm the story.} Some sentences were a bit choppy and I would've liked a bit more flow to them. I could have had more showing and less telling, especially as some telling details were a bit on the side of "Gee, you don't say" with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
For being one of the core four, Amatus has a small role is this novel. Obviously he'll be playing a bigger part later seeing as he's one of the lucky ones who gets multiple do-overs.
Cleverly enough {that is if you're interested enough to read the second novel}, Jambor doesn't get too in detail about the WHY of their reincarnations. Cassia makes a comment to Amatus that he "shouldn't have been there" to which he replies "I made my choice. I've never regretted it." Interesting.
This novel is mostly backstory - here's what happened 2,000 years ago and here's what happening now. {I am planning on reading part 2.}
Overall, it's a nice and easy read. Being a little less than 200 pages it did not take me long to read, but {as I said earlier} the story held my interest and kept me curious. I do wish the descriptions on Amazon and Goodreads included the details of their reincarnations, but I guess that's what people like me are for. :)
May 23, 2013
See original post here!
I received a copy of this book for an honest review.
Plot:
Waking up with drugs in her system in her own vomit is nothing new to Cassia. When Cassia wakes up in a new body she heads back to her real home in New York. Cassia and the others think this is just another life run through due to Darius messing up again, but circumstances are very different this time. If Darius doesn’t do his job like he’s supposed to this time he and all the others involved in their past will be locked out of passing over and be put in Purgatory or Hell.
Now Cassia must remarry Darius and Darius must stay away from the gambling places. Everyone’s bodies look the same as they did before nearly two thousand years ago, and the Gods have made it so everything they do reminds them of their life before, the life that started it all.
Characters:
Cassia: Cassia’s life has been a constant struggle. Her back story is great and shows how she became the woman she is in the current story.
Darius: Darius in my opinion is a real butt face. He’s a coward which he shows and admits to on more than one occasion in this story. He’s a gambling addict and has been in all of the lives h. He seems to have no feelings for others and only looks out for himself. He also continually letting his daughter die because he was “busy and didn’t feel like it.”
POV:
The point of view is all over the place in this story. Almost everyone in the story who is a character of any kind has their point of view told. The story is all over the place because I had a hard time figuring out who was telling the story at what time. It was a bit aggravating.
Setting:
The story is told from all the characters in New York City but the internal story takes place in Rome.
Overall reaction:
I wasn’t a big fan of this novel for a couple reasons: the p.o.v. was all over the place, the characters personalities were severely lacking. While the story was detailed enough to make a great story the characters were very aggravating.
Cover:
I love the cover a whole bunch it’s beautifully done and creative.
Title:
I don’t really get the title since Pello Island isn’t really mentioned until the end or show too much relevance.
I received a copy of this book for an honest review.
Plot:
Waking up with drugs in her system in her own vomit is nothing new to Cassia. When Cassia wakes up in a new body she heads back to her real home in New York. Cassia and the others think this is just another life run through due to Darius messing up again, but circumstances are very different this time. If Darius doesn’t do his job like he’s supposed to this time he and all the others involved in their past will be locked out of passing over and be put in Purgatory or Hell.
Now Cassia must remarry Darius and Darius must stay away from the gambling places. Everyone’s bodies look the same as they did before nearly two thousand years ago, and the Gods have made it so everything they do reminds them of their life before, the life that started it all.
Characters:
Cassia: Cassia’s life has been a constant struggle. Her back story is great and shows how she became the woman she is in the current story.
Darius: Darius in my opinion is a real butt face. He’s a coward which he shows and admits to on more than one occasion in this story. He’s a gambling addict and has been in all of the lives h. He seems to have no feelings for others and only looks out for himself. He also continually letting his daughter die because he was “busy and didn’t feel like it.”
POV:
The point of view is all over the place in this story. Almost everyone in the story who is a character of any kind has their point of view told. The story is all over the place because I had a hard time figuring out who was telling the story at what time. It was a bit aggravating.
Setting:
The story is told from all the characters in New York City but the internal story takes place in Rome.
Overall reaction:
I wasn’t a big fan of this novel for a couple reasons: the p.o.v. was all over the place, the characters personalities were severely lacking. While the story was detailed enough to make a great story the characters were very aggravating.
Cover:
I love the cover a whole bunch it’s beautifully done and creative.
Title:
I don’t really get the title since Pello Island isn’t really mentioned until the end or show too much relevance.
October 10, 2012
As soon as I started reading this book I was sucked in. The idea of the story is great--Greek mythology, love, murder and star-crossed lovers. Shifting back and forth from present day to 2000 years ago, we slowly start to learn who the characters are and how they started in their first lives. We see bits and pieces of the overall big picture, but even at the end of the book, we still don't know why they are constantly reincarnated throughout the years, and how they got involved in the situation in the first place.
It could use some more description words, more show instead of tell. Overall though, this book was a quick, fun read and I am going to start on the second one ASAP to find out more of the past and future!
It could use some more description words, more show instead of tell. Overall though, this book was a quick, fun read and I am going to start on the second one ASAP to find out more of the past and future!
June 20, 2012
I loved writing this series. I really hope you enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews