Contemporary fables and folktales weaved around the city, these stories take you to places where the old gods still reside, where the unwary can cross the divide between reality and myth, and the violent plans of men and women are rarely there own.

(Chapter 1 only) In the winter of 1941-1942, Leningrad is under siege, and Karen Hamilton, a seventeen-year-old American musician, finds herself trapped and struggling to survive. Throughout the city, people are dying of starvation and frostbite, and Karen knows that if she doesn't escape immediately, she will share their fate. If she has any hope of leaving Russia and reuniting with her fiancé, Bobby, in New York, she must do the impossible: cross enemy lines and then stow away. On her harrowing journey, Karen encounters Petr, a young conscripted Russian soldier. She isn't sure she can trust him-he is equally wary of her. But as the two join forces in order to stay alive, an unexpected romance takes root. Now, as Karen gets closer to the reality of escape, she has a choice to make: Will she return to a safe life in America with Bobby, or remain in war-torn Russia with Petr? This is a sample chapter of the book that will be available October 18 from Lake Union Publishing.

He grew up in Nigeria She grew up in Saudi Arabia She's an open book He has a closed heart She hates complicated things He doesn't even know what is complicated and what's not. She's a chatterbox and she's fascinated by the fact that he doesn't get mouth odour from his extreme silence. Or is she just too noisy to know that he actually talks too. She accepts reality easily He get confused & depressed then locks his soul just because its hard to accept reality. He lost his loved ones She lost her world But she recovered while he's still finding it hard to recover. They have one thing in common though. They are both doctors. Is he ever going to accept qadr? Will he open up his heart? Will he accept a new love?