Book Review: Danube Waves

Danube Waves

By:  Katharina Bordet

Publish Date:  February 12, 2016

Format:  eARC

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  2nd in A Wiener Blut novel series; 1st Book ~ The Coffee Legacy
Short stories in the world: The Princess and the Coffee Bean

First Impression:  Delicious fairy tale weaved into the real world.

Synopsis:
The portals between worlds have been shut down, leaving king-to-be Maximilian Schindler-Krug trapped in our world in the form of a goat. An impending revolution, a murderer on the loose, recurring nightmares and a mad scientist stand between him and the throne. It’s going to take more than a talking swan, a fainting goat and copious amounts of coffee and cake to save the day.

Ten years since the murder of his mother, Maximilian Schindler-Krug is having increasingly vivid dreams about the night that changed his life forever, but that is the least of his problems. His coronation as King of Neu Meidling is approaching fast, but revolution across the kingdom threatens his family, while the closing of portals between the worlds has split up others.

Karin’s peaceful life at the Alt Wien is turned upside-down when her daughter brings home a wounded swan, which leads her to discover a lost family secret that will change her life forever. Her own husband’s place in events could rip their relationship apart.
Lily, a trainee Beschützer finds herself trapped in another world, torn between her duty to protect the royal Wächter line and coffee trade and her love for her future king. When she meets a man and his goat who provide unexpected solutions, she has to make a choice that could topple the monarchy, assuming she can get the young king back home alive.

“Danube Waves” takes us back to the linked worlds of the Wiener Blut universe first introduced in “The Coffee Legacy”, revisiting beloved characters and introducing new ones, not to mention tickling the tastebuds with a range of traditional Austrian cakes.

First Sentence:
"Tea? Are you serious? Why on earth would I want tea with a piece of cake?" the old man asked angrily.

Purchase At:
Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles - eBook & Print  /  Book Depository 

My Thoughts and Summary:
The city of Unterbrucken has been cut off from Wien for so many years that the rations are slowly emptying from the castle stores. Lord Bluewater was the only person to successfully cross the line from Wien to Unterbrucken, and in doing so has affected all.

Max is dreaming again, of his wedding then drifts to a reoccurring nightmare. The king, Max's grand father, has passed on. The man who helped raise Max and Sebastian the last ten years. Max is now King, as he was trained for.

This book is so cool to look back on as it has several layers. The deaths in Coffee Legacy, that appeared to be solved, are so much more than they appeared at first sight. A revolution threatens in New Meidling. A new world is discovered, and a crazy scientist wants to prove it all to the world. A family reunited, and a love grows deeper. And goats!

Ten years after the Coffee Legacy we pickup with the worlds coming to a high in many ways. We get three different worlds in the book - Wien, Unterbrucken, and Neu Meidling. The name of the book, Danube Waves, comes from a cake and the river in the area. The river has a very important part to play in the story. We get a legend of the Danube, the Land of the River that lives deep below the surface, and the King's daughter.

We see Karin and Andreas again, and their daughter. Christina is mesmerized with the tale her mother tells her of a tale of a fisherman and his son and the people of the river. Karin and Andreas' lives are impacted from both sides, in connections and actions. We see the Krugs again. Max is to be king, and needs a few days away with his girlfriend before the weight of the world is placed on his shoulders. The events that follow get both of them thinking. Max is also facing his nightmares of a time he'd like to not see, but there is something that strikes him as not right in the visions from the past.

Their are many family secrets that come to surface in this story, and each have a different agenda. Times of change are here, but what are those changes?

Cakes are the connection in this book. We get a cake and it's description at the beginning of each chapter, then in the chapter the cake is mentioned. We have a few bakers in the worlds here. And they all sound so delicious!

A wonderful read to get submersed in the story and worlds created. A great pleasure to read. The book is a clean read. I would say older teens could read this story, and Coffee Legacy, as the language is mild and the story is not heavy romance.

Katharina is a talented author. I'm mesmerized by her amazing skillfulness at weaving a fairy tale of her own making that blends into the real world. I always love getting lost in her worlds.