BOOK REVIEW: "Second Take" by E.L. Nelson

WHEN YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN LOWER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT HELPS YOU STAND BACK TALLER THAN EVER BEFORE.

Early 1980s

Vera, a nineteen-year-old beauty, is living a fairy-tale. She is a talented student of an acting school who is promised a great future and is invited to star in a movie. She meets the love of her life. Vera's journey is just the beginning and it looks amazing!

But her hopes and dreams are crushed when she is enslaved by human traffickers from Chechnya...

Years later ...Vera is a single mom and a factory worker who is tired of monotony and daily routine. She expects life to offer her nothing else but a chance encounter transforms her entire existence.

Suspense novella Second Take is a powerful, deeply moving story of courage, unconquerable will to live, power of love and enormous desire to overcome darkness and hardship on the way to making dream come true.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A story of strength and survival, Second Take will make you cry and gasp, make you believe that anything is possible, and what you're going through will pass. It says that your hardships do not define you unless you let them. And, almost in the tradition of a fairy tale, it says that one moment could change your life.

Human trafficking is a huge problem even now, even here in America. So I am glad to see a fictional novel discussing this issue and putting a positive spin on the outcomes of the victims' lives. Rarely do you get anything even a little hopeful from a story like this, but Ms. Nelson writes in a style that makes you see the silver lining.

Vera is an excellent main female character, given everything and then having everything taken from her, even her dignity. She's depressed but determined, strong and stunning. Very few characters are like her in women's fiction today, and she'll definitely be on of your favorites once you've read this book.

Perhaps it comes from me watching and reading things much more vicious than this, I think I would have liked a bit more detail in her backstory, more violence and more things to really make you afraid and sympathetic.

But that is just a personal observation, not everyone will agree.

Aside from that fact, I loved the book. It was dark, suspenseful and hopeful. I see a great future in writing for Ms. Nelson!

4/5--a thrilling read!

Purchase Second Take on Amazon!