Review: A Woman Like Maria – Gabriel Constans

Genre: Contemporary

LGBTQ+ Category: Bi, Lesbian, Sapphic

Reviewer: Linda, Paranormal Romance Guild

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About The Book

After years of struggle and betrayal, Sophia’s love is re-awakened by Maria. Maria is kind, intelligent, and passionate, but she’s also her husband’s sister!

Sophia has finally left her small-town village in Germany and completed nursing school in Berlin. She marries an American, Ricardo, and discovers he’s a lying, cheating scoundrel.

Maria is committed to serving the US, as a negotiating military officer stationed in Berlin. When she meets her brother’s wife, Sophia, she falls head over hills and jeopardizes her entire career.

While Sophia and Maria plan their escape, Ricardo threatens to reveal their secret and falsely claim that Maria is a spy for the Soviet Union. Will they take their chances or call it off?

The Review

This book is told in first person, the story about Sophia’s life from childhood. Sophia grew up in Germany, where she faced bullying in school, and where she learned that she was a product of a rape. She grew up in a small town, and her dream was to someday go to Berlin. Her dream finally came true, when she was accepted to a hospital training program. The program was free, but she had to give two years’ service to a hospital after she graduated.

It was while studying that she met Ricardo, who swept her off her feet. He was the man she gave her virginity to, and who she eventually married. He was not what she expected – out late nights, distanced from her, and with a strong drive to make money. When he took a trip to Denver to visit his parents, Sophia met the love of her life – Ricardo’s sister Maria.

The connection between the two women was instant, although their plans for a future together would not happen for many years. Ricardo cheated on Sophia, and her marriage became loveless. Her dreams of being with Maria kept her going, until she finally had enough and was ready to leave her husband. Not willing to let Sophia go, he threatened Maria’s career, writing letters that would reveal her as a spy and a lesbian, which would bring an end to the career Maria loved.

So the years went on, with Sophia living with Ricardo, and never revealing to Maria why she left. Until one day, they moved to the United States.

This was a beautiful tale about two women who love each other, but are held hostage by a man who doesn’t care for anyone but himself, a story about overcoming and finding love, and never giving up.

Five stars.

The Reviewer

I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.

The Paranormal Romance Guild was established in 2009 by 8 Indie Authors and one Reviewer to be a constant help for authors. You can be a free author member, submitting your work for review OR become a Premium Author Member for a small yearly fee and enjoy many extra services including Free Beta Reads, Author Giveaways and many others. Your reviews are posted on our 3 FB Sites, Amazon, Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram. WE REVIEW ALL GENRES LGBTQ+ welcome.

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