Regina Doman

I'm moving my other posts here. Having an Etsy shop makes it waaay too hard to keep up so many blogs.

All my friends are pretty aware of my love for the modern re-tellings of fairy tales by Regina Doman.

I have read each of these books many many times.

The Shadow of the Bear is the first and is the fairytale Snow White and Rose Red. It's about two sisters named Blanche and Rose. Blanche is eighteen and Rose sixteen. They recently lost their father and moved with their mother to New York where their mother works as a nurse. One night when they meet a young man named Bear. Blanche distrusts him at first and suspects him of doing or selling drugs. She then finds out that he was in juvenile detention for drug possession. But he becomes friends with her and her family and comes back many times.

But Bear has a secret involving murder, stolen church vessels, kidnapping, and torture, and both Blanche and Rose get sucked into it.

Questionable content in this book includes the things listed above, (murder, kidnapping, and torture) also it is a book written from a catholic point of view, if that kind of thing bothers you. Also at one point Rose has to get away from a drunk guy who is trying to kiss her. Nothing happens though. :P

Back cover:

"I like G. K. Chesterton," Rose volunteered, thinking that the air was ripe for a good conversation.

"Chesterton? Highly overrated," Mr. Freet snorted. "A good stylist, but too air-headed. Spouting simplistic platitudes. Read Shaw. At least he had his head on straight." He made as if to leave, but suddenly stopped.... He leaned forward, a look of avid interest on his face.

Rose looked around, trying to figure out what he was looking at. But she saw something that made her forget about Mr. Freet. She clutched her sister's arm. "Look! Isn't that Bear?"

On the other side of the street, facing them and talking to an antique dealer, was a tall, burly figure in a black trench coat whose dark dreadlocks were covered by a leather motorcycle hat. He wore shades and had a tough-guy expression on his face, but Rose recognized him at once....

"Look, what's he doing?" Blanch exclaimed in a low voice.

Bear, talking to the antique dealer, had taken out something he had hidden in his trench coat. Gold glimmered in the early spring air....

A favorite excerpt

"Have you ever felt that there was something going on in life that not everyone was aware of?" Rose asked, turning her mug around in her hands.

Bear relaxed a bit more deeply into the couch, and put on a mock-solemn look. "explain thyself."

As though there's a story going on that everyone is a part of, but not everybody knows about? Maybe 'story' isn't the right word--a sort of drama, a battle between what's peripheral and what's really important. As though the people you meet aren't just their plain, prosaic selves, but are actually princes and princesses, gods and goddesses, fairies, shepherds, all sorts of fantastic creatures who've chosen to hide their real shape for some reason or another. Have you ever thought that?"

I love this book and I would highly recommend it. :)