However Long The Night by David Pereda
Published By: Eternal Press
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Format: Paperback - 282 pages / Kindle - 760 KB / Nook
ISBN: 1615725997
ASIN: B00770C59K
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Contemporary Fiction
About The Author:
David Pereda is an award-winning author who enjoys crafting political thrillers and mainstream novels. His books have won the Lighthouse Book Awards twice, the Royal Palm Awards, the National Indie Excellence Awards, and the Readers Favorite Awards. He has traveled extensively around the world and speaks several languages. Before devoting his time solely to writing and teaching college-level courses, Pereda had a rich and successful international consulting career with global giant Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with the governments of Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Qatar, among others.
A member of MENSA, Pereda is the regional director of the Florida Writers Association and the co-founder of AWE (Asheville Writing Enthusiasts). He loves sports and has won many prizes competing in track and show-jumping equestrian events.
Pereda lives with his family in Asheville, North Carolina.
AUTHOR WEBSITE
GOODREADS
David Pereda's However Long The Night Tour Page On Goddess Fish Promotions
BUY THE BOOK: However Long The Night
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
Disclaimer: At the request of the author, publisher and Goddess Fish Promotions, a PDF edition of the book was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review and participation in the virtual book tour event.
Virtual Book Tour Event: On Wednesday, February 29, 2012, in association with Goddess Fish Promotions, author David Pereda participated in a virtual book tour event with an Author Guest Post on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/02/author-guest-david-pereda-author-of.html
However Long The Night Virtual Event Contest: Win A $20 Amazon Gift Card
To enter the contest, click on the above link and post a comment on David's Tour Page on Goddess Fish Promotions to win a $20 Amazon gift card! Don't forget to leave a comment below about the book review too!
Book Description:
What if you found out your success was built on lies told by your father that caused great misfortune to people dear to you? What if you had the opportunity to do something about it ... twenty-five years later and at the risk of your life? Would you or wouldn't you?
This is the dilemma award-winning Miami Architect Cid Milan suddenly faces in this 90,000-word, mainstream novel. A Cuban immigrant forced to abandon his country as a teenager during the tumultuous Mariel boatlift of 1980, Cid is a self-made man who arrived in the United States with nothing. He's an example of what can be accomplished in America through hard work and determination. He hobnobs with the Mayor, has a sexy model for his girlfriend, and is building the most luxurious condominium on Biscayne Bay. But when his dying father, Colonel Jose Milan, a well-known political dissident, confesses to him a shocking family secret from Cuba, Cid's life implodes.
Colonel Milan reveals that in order to ensure Cid could leave Cuba unharmed, he collaborated with Castro's police - willfully betraying both Cid's best friend, Joaquin, and forsaking his pregnant girlfriend Sandra. Overnight, Cid's world is turned upside down. Trying to unravel the mystery of his own past, Cid realizes there's only one thing he can do: return to the land he abandoned. In his quest to learn the truth, Cid rediscovers himself and his roots as he reunites with Joaquin and searches frantically throughout Cuba for Sandra and the secret she has kept from him all these years: his son. In the process, Cid learns an invaluable lesson about love, forgiveness and redemption that changes his life forever.
Book Excerpt:
Cid’s mother leaned on the rail next to him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and hugged him tenderly. “How are you doing, Son?”
Cid looked into her soft brown eyes. “Fine, Mama.”
“I know you. You’re not fine at all. You always try to be so tough, but you’re not. Manny is like your father. They see life one way, like bulls. You’re like me. We feel every little emotion, because we care. So I know you’re not fine. You’re hurt.”
His eyes filled with tears. “She doesn’t love me, Mama. She didn’t come.”
“Maybe she had a reason for not coming, Son.”
“No, Mama. I tried talking to her for days, and she disappeared on me. It was as if she was angry about something. It was her way of breaking up with me.”
“Give her a chance. Call her from Tampa and listen to her explanation. You can always send for her. Maybe even come to get her.”
“I will, Mama. But deep down I know she doesn’t love me anymore.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I remembered something she said to me once. She told me, looking at me with those beautiful hazel eyes of hers, ‘Cid, the day you don’t love me anymore, don’t tell me. I don’t want to be hurt. Just go away and disappear. I’ll understand.’” A tear rolled down Cid’s cheek, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. “And that’s what Sandra did, Mama, you see? She disappeared.”
They watched the Cuban coast in silence, gold and green and blue. A cool breeze replaced the strong wharf odor with the briny smell of the open sea.
After a while, Cid noticed his mother was crying. “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t mind me. Just an old lady’s tears.” Her gaze was fixed on the receding coastline. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Si.”
“I’ll miss her.”
“Me, too.”
My Book Review:
What would you do if in an instant, your life as you've known it is suddenly all a lie? Would you be able to go back to your past and right the wrongs? Would you be able to pick up the pieces and make everything right? These are the questions that Cid Milan has to answer as he goes on a journey of self-discovery. Will he be able to seek and find forgiveness, love and redemption from the long-held family secrets?
Cid Milano is a Cuban born man, who at the age of nineteen, along with his family settled in the United States, as part of the 1980 Mariel boatlift from Cuba to Florida. When his family settled in Tampa, Florida, unfortunate circumstances led Cid to eventually strike out on his own. He reinvented himself in Miami, severing his Cuban roots and immersing himself in the American way of life. His hard work and determination over the years led him to become an accomplished, well-known and successful architect and real estate developer. His success has come with a price, as he cannot forget his past in Cuba, and a phone call from his estranged father changed life as he knew it in an instant. His father, the former Colonel Jose Milan, was loyal to his country until he became an outspoken political dissident to Castro's Marxist regime. Colonel Milan brought his family to the United States to escape the oppressive regime, but he also had secrets that he only shared with his wife. These secrets would be shared with Cid twenty-five years later, when his father called requesting that he come home, because he is dying from lung cancer and only has a month to live. His father's dying wish is to clear up the family secrets and betrayals that he has lived with since leaving Cuba. Cid and his younger brother Manny embark on a journey to Cuba, to right past wrongs, bring closure and seek redemption ... it is an odyssey that will forever change their lives.
However Long The Night is a story that has an intriguing mixture of romance and suspense. The storyline is well written and captivates the reader from the beginning. I found that the story reads like a history lesson, the author's descriptions of Cuba's history and the 1980 Mariel boatlift to the US was very detailed and fascinating. The characters were complex and realistic, their individual stories and intertwining lives gave the story more depth and made it powerfully compelling. I couldn't help but love Cid's character, his compassion and determination to make things right had me cheering him on as he went on his journey of self-discovery. The storyline has many plots, with twists and turns that keeps the reader intrigued, it is a fast-paced story with lost love, found love, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption ... all of these themes create a story that is so much more than just a contemporary romance novel.
I enjoyed reading However Long The Night, and would recommend this novel to romance fans who would enjoy reading a story that is so much more than just the typical romance novel. It is well worth the read, and it won't leave you disappointed.
RATING: 4 STARS ****
Cid Milano is a Cuban born man, who at the age of nineteen, along with his family settled in the United States, as part of the 1980 Mariel boatlift from Cuba to Florida. When his family settled in Tampa, Florida, unfortunate circumstances led Cid to eventually strike out on his own. He reinvented himself in Miami, severing his Cuban roots and immersing himself in the American way of life. His hard work and determination over the years led him to become an accomplished, well-known and successful architect and real estate developer. His success has come with a price, as he cannot forget his past in Cuba, and a phone call from his estranged father changed life as he knew it in an instant. His father, the former Colonel Jose Milan, was loyal to his country until he became an outspoken political dissident to Castro's Marxist regime. Colonel Milan brought his family to the United States to escape the oppressive regime, but he also had secrets that he only shared with his wife. These secrets would be shared with Cid twenty-five years later, when his father called requesting that he come home, because he is dying from lung cancer and only has a month to live. His father's dying wish is to clear up the family secrets and betrayals that he has lived with since leaving Cuba. Cid and his younger brother Manny embark on a journey to Cuba, to right past wrongs, bring closure and seek redemption ... it is an odyssey that will forever change their lives.
However Long The Night is a story that has an intriguing mixture of romance and suspense. The storyline is well written and captivates the reader from the beginning. I found that the story reads like a history lesson, the author's descriptions of Cuba's history and the 1980 Mariel boatlift to the US was very detailed and fascinating. The characters were complex and realistic, their individual stories and intertwining lives gave the story more depth and made it powerfully compelling. I couldn't help but love Cid's character, his compassion and determination to make things right had me cheering him on as he went on his journey of self-discovery. The storyline has many plots, with twists and turns that keeps the reader intrigued, it is a fast-paced story with lost love, found love, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption ... all of these themes create a story that is so much more than just a contemporary romance novel.
I enjoyed reading However Long The Night, and would recommend this novel to romance fans who would enjoy reading a story that is so much more than just the typical romance novel. It is well worth the read, and it won't leave you disappointed.
RATING: 4 STARS ****
Thank you for the excerpt & the review for "However Long The Night". It does sound amazing.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
I want to thank you for having me as a guest author on your blog today and reviewing my book. I also want to let you and your readers know that I will be around today and available to answer questions and comments.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Marybelle. Any questions you'd like to ask?
ReplyDeleteI really love the review, and I know the book must be exceptional.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the nice comment, MomJane. HLTN is a unique book, which brought back to me a myriad of pognant memories of my youth and early years in Tampa as I was writing it. Like Cid, I also left Cuba at nineteen with my younger brother; like Cid, I also left a girlfriend in Havana (although, hopefully, not pregnan since I never saw her again)...and so on. You'll love the book.
DeleteThank you everyone for stopping by and commenting on the book review and David's author guest post. I would definitely recommend this book.
ReplyDeleteDavid, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to host your virtual book event and to read/review your novel, I really enjoyed reading it. :)
Thank you, Kathleen. You've been a great hostess.
ReplyDelete