Yesterday edition by Mickie B Ashling Literature Fiction eBooks
Download As PDF : Yesterday edition by Mickie B Ashling Literature Fiction eBooks 
In June of 1978, Grady Ormond, eighteen-year-old son of diplomat Peter Ormond, accompanies his father to his new posting as US Ambassador to Pakistan. Neighboring Iran is on the brink of a civil war, with the monarchy in danger of being overthrown.
Grady will be leaving for New York City in late August to study cinematography and has been warned to keep his homosexual orientation tightly under wraps while on vacation. Repercussions in the predominantly Islamic region could be severe.
On their first night in Karachi, his father hosts a cocktail party to meet the local dignitaries. Grady is introduced to His Highness Prince Kamran Izadi, nephew of the shah of Iran. Twenty-three-year-old Kamran has recently returned from the UK, where he spent eleven years, first as a student, and then as a financial analyst.
The attraction is immediate—unforeseen and dangerously powerful—but neither one dares to make a move. Odds are so stacked against them it’s futile to even entertain a friendship, but they do, and their world tilts precariously.
With his country in turmoil and Grady about to leave for college, Kamran makes a decision that will change their lives forever.
Yesterday edition by Mickie B Ashling Literature Fiction eBooks
I'm conflicted about this book. I liked a lot about it, but if I'm being honest with myself what I liked most were the historical references rather than the romance. For the past few years I've become increasingly convinced that this time period between Iran and the U.S. was the genesis of the current contentious state in which we find ourselves, and therefore, fascinated by it. That it is the setting for Yesterday is what piqued my interest.It can be very didactic with some information dumps.
Kam, nephew to the Shah, is living in Karachi just prior to his ousting in favor of Ayatollah Khomeini. He's a prince and has ties to the imams. Due in large part to his sexual orientation as well as his pernicious father he's spent very little time in Iran. He was sent to boarding school in England very young then proceeded to make every excuse to stay until family obligations brought him back, namely making a good marriage.
His time is running out when he meets Grady at a diplomatic dinner. Grady is 18 and reads 18. He's idealistic and earnest. Naturally, Grady is in love with Kam in the span of 2 days so instalove...
Instalove and I are strange bedfellows. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes I fear my eyeballs will get stuck like that. And sometimes I find myself with a book like Yesterday where I can believe an 18 yr old capable of falling instantly in love with a near stranger but I never truly felt it.
Maybe that's because it's all told from Grady's perspective and Kam seems so reserved. Maybe it's because the bulk of the book happens over the span of about a week and a half. Nevertheless, the fact remains I didn't invest in them. I was told too much and not shown enough. I need to see the relationship develop through the innocuous-caresses, stolen moments, softly spoken words and, yes, I want to roll around in the sappy nectar of the can't live without you kind of love. I also need for that to continuously be woven throughout the story and it wasn't.
I want to be made to believe it, to be taken on the ride and for words like the below to translate to the page.
"Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit."
The sex is medium hot with a winning buttsex deflowering. They spar pretty frequently, so there is passion. But I think the opportunity to show how possessive Kam can be was lost and that could've taken this book from 3 to 4 hearts. I also think these characters weren't fully developed; they're still two-dimensional to me. Maybe if things weren't so rushed and given time to breathe this book had the potential to be great, but it's just out of reach.
SPOILERISH:
As I previously mentioned Kam has ties to the imams. He's a devout Muslim who's loyal and loves his country. He hates that it's in such upheaval, but he's resigned himself to this sham marriage and doing what he can to stabilize Iran. Then he does a 180 and wants to defect to the U.S.? A country he fundamentally mistrusts? Why? Rhetorical question. I know why but it made me lose a tiny bit of respect for him. To my mind, he could've been instrumental in the transition and possibly avoided bloodshed. It wouldn't have been historically accurate nor would it have provided an HEA, but it seemed out of character and disingenuous. I sometimes wish authors would take the road less traveled, be bold and break our hearts instead of playing it safe and giving an HEA that's forced.
It's probably just me. *shrugs*
So, a mixed bag. I enjoyed the Italians, the turtles and the historical references but the romance was superficial and disappointing. The epilogue I found unnecessary and meandering.
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Yesterday edition by Mickie B Ashling Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
I was very nervous to read this story based on the blurb. Though it takes place in 1978, so much of what I read in Yesterday still rings true, now, in 2016.
Grady, who's the son of Diplomat Peter Ormond finds himself accompanying his dad to Pakistan for the summer. His plans are to leave for NY come August. Grady, who's gay, is given ALL the warnings about keeping his homosexuality a secret while in Pakistan. Those warnings are still to be hushed even to this day. As we know from the news, homosexuality is not tolerated in an Islamic nation. The punishments are severe.
When Grady meets Prince Kamran at a cocktail party hosted by his father it's lust at first sight and I was immediately terrified for them! I read this book on the edge of my seat I was so scared the whole time.
Of course Grady and Kamran were in sync with my thinking and you can see their struggle. They feared even a friendship because of what it could lead to.
Kamran has a decision to make. I won't say what or the turnout but when I read this book I knew the impact that was being made. This book really shows the struggle of LGBT in an Islamic nation. It's utterly terrifying.
This was quite emotional for me but it was a wonderful and powerful read! I highly recommend it!
This review was orginally written for Joyfully Jay Reviews and can he accessed here [...]
On Grady Ormond’s 18th birthday he’s introduced to Prince Kamran Izadi. Prince Kamran is a guest of Grady’s father, the new U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, at a cocktail party. Despite being warned explicitly by his father that homosexuals are mutilated or killed for that orientation in this part of the world (it’s 1978 in the book, and it’s not changed much in almost 40 years), Grady can’t help feeling an attraction to the charming and beautiful prince.
Kamran is living in a family estate in Karachi, Pakistan for his last summer before he marries his fiancé, a girl he has never met, and accepts his place in Iranian society. Looking for a guide to this new locale, Grady accepts Kam’s offer to visit the city market and tour the area under the close watch of Kam’s sturdy bodyguards. Grady’s attraction to Kam is not unrequited, but the matter of being together is not one they can easily manage. While Grady understands the danger is high, the loneliness he perceives from Kam is also great. No part of Kam’s life has been his own choosing, and Grady naïvely laments that even as he recognizes the difficulty Kam will face as a gay man in a high profile marriage.
This is a well-told forbidden love story with danger around each turn. Kam’s father, the head of SAVAK (Iranian secret police), turns up unexpectedly and his menacing presence is less-than-fortuitous. Grady’s got serious fears to contend with as a young gay American in a homophobic nation having an illicit affair with Prince Kam. Their love story is bittersweet. Kam treats their weeks together as the only love he’ll ever know, while Grady urges Kam to forsake his title and run off to Europe on his yacht. Kam’s a steady guy, though. He doesn’t want to abandon his people in Iran, most especially his former nanny who was more like a mother than his own.
I was really pulled into this historical novel; the elements of uprising and homophobia are ever-present. Grady and Kam must guard themselves from everyone, knowing that one slip-up could mean death. It gives an edge of desperation to their love story and sexytimes. Add to that Iran’s political powder keg is poised for explosion. Kam’s uncle, the Shah of Iran, is under incredible pressure to maintain control of his country, and Ayatollah Khomeni is urging the populace to violence from his exile in Paris. Civil war is on the horizon, and it’s even more imperative to Grady to convince Kam to flee and seek asylum. What good could come from Kam returning to Iran on the brink of war, he repeatedly argues. I absolutely loved the elements of Pakistani and Muslim culture that were woven into this book. The Persian poetry, the caste system, the daily calls to prayer, all of this helped me to feel as if I was sitting beside Grady, learning it all as he did. Even the philosophy of the royalty–who claim their culture is Persian, not Iranian. Having known people who fled Iran in the uprising, those comments rang true to my own personal experiences.
The end is a thrill ride. I couldn’t set the book down until I hit the last page because I feared it would all go very, very wrong. That said, I really appreciated the Epilogue for not being a saccharine “And they lived happily ever after” cop-out. While I’m the first to swoon for wedding bells and HEAs, these characters faced real impediments to their continued happiness, and the Epilogue, while assuring the reader that Kam and Grady get resolution, is not the hearts and flowers type of ending. It’s a “real-life is hard and we work through it every day” ending, and I respected that. I left the book wishing I’d known a bit more about Iran’s uprising in 1978, but also recognizing that unrest in Iran continues, and forty years later the Shah’s “enlightened” ways, those which were overthrown in the civil war, have more support with the populace. It’s interesting times, both then and now, and I applaud the author for bringing ethnic and religious diversity to the genre. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys near-historical romance and diverse ethnic characters. A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.
I'm conflicted about this book. I liked a lot about it, but if I'm being honest with myself what I liked most were the historical references rather than the romance. For the past few years I've become increasingly convinced that this time period between Iran and the U.S. was the genesis of the current contentious state in which we find ourselves, and therefore, fascinated by it. That it is the setting for Yesterday is what piqued my interest.
It can be very didactic with some information dumps.
Kam, nephew to the Shah, is living in Karachi just prior to his ousting in favor of Ayatollah Khomeini. He's a prince and has ties to the imams. Due in large part to his sexual orientation as well as his pernicious father he's spent very little time in Iran. He was sent to boarding school in England very young then proceeded to make every excuse to stay until family obligations brought him back, namely making a good marriage.
His time is running out when he meets Grady at a diplomatic dinner. Grady is 18 and reads 18. He's idealistic and earnest. Naturally, Grady is in love with Kam in the span of 2 days so instalove...
Instalove and I are strange bedfellows. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes I fear my eyeballs will get stuck like that. And sometimes I find myself with a book like Yesterday where I can believe an 18 yr old capable of falling instantly in love with a near stranger but I never truly felt it.
Maybe that's because it's all told from Grady's perspective and Kam seems so reserved. Maybe it's because the bulk of the book happens over the span of about a week and a half. Nevertheless, the fact remains I didn't invest in them. I was told too much and not shown enough. I need to see the relationship develop through the innocuous-caresses, stolen moments, softly spoken words and, yes, I want to roll around in the sappy nectar of the can't live without you kind of love. I also need for that to continuously be woven throughout the story and it wasn't.
I want to be made to believe it, to be taken on the ride and for words like the below to translate to the page.
"Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit."
The sex is medium hot with a winning buttsex deflowering. They spar pretty frequently, so there is passion. But I think the opportunity to show how possessive Kam can be was lost and that could've taken this book from 3 to 4 hearts. I also think these characters weren't fully developed; they're still two-dimensional to me. Maybe if things weren't so rushed and given time to breathe this book had the potential to be great, but it's just out of reach.
SPOILERISH
As I previously mentioned Kam has ties to the imams. He's a devout Muslim who's loyal and loves his country. He hates that it's in such upheaval, but he's resigned himself to this sham marriage and doing what he can to stabilize Iran. Then he does a 180 and wants to defect to the U.S.? A country he fundamentally mistrusts? Why? Rhetorical question. I know why but it made me lose a tiny bit of respect for him. To my mind, he could've been instrumental in the transition and possibly avoided bloodshed. It wouldn't have been historically accurate nor would it have provided an HEA, but it seemed out of character and disingenuous. I sometimes wish authors would take the road less traveled, be bold and break our hearts instead of playing it safe and giving an HEA that's forced.
It's probably just me. *shrugs*
So, a mixed bag. I enjoyed the Italians, the turtles and the historical references but the romance was superficial and disappointing. The epilogue I found unnecessary and meandering.
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