Pen the Dream : Review of "The Winning Streak" by Tea Cooper

What's New to Review~ Wednesday!

First, let me just say that I am super excited about today's book. As many of you know, I was an ancient history teacher for five years and Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome were my favorite time periods. More than anything, I loved the mythology that goes along with it. These gods and goddesses were not perfect. They were jealous, lustful, meddling souls that wrapped themselves in our human world. Many a tale was spun with the gods and their strange accounts with humans. Today, those myths have been passed on to give us such amazing stories as the "Percy Jackson" series by Rick Riordan, and many, many more. Today's book is just as great and is no exception.

The Book

"A Winning Streak" by Tea Cooper is an amazing historical romance set in Ancient Greek. One of the main things that I feel I must give credit on is the historical accuracy of this book. Ms. Cooper has definitely done her research and I couldn't be more pleased. I find it difficult to read a book such as this without the historical facts that put you in the right frame of mind and setting. This author has absolutely no problem with that! It is a novella, averaging about 20k in length and only took me a couple hours to complete it. There is love and a romance, fulfilled in the HEA with short and sweet love scene. There is no vulgarity here and is a book that I plan on passing on to my daughter in high school to share with her as well. (Yes, I monitor what she reads. Shocking I know.)

The Plot

Our story begins on the day of birth for our heroine Miss Atalante. First heir to the thrown and a girl, she is cast away to the forest side and given as sacrifice to the gods in hopes they will be pleased and bless the king with a son to claim the throne. (Yes, things like this actually happened back then. WTG Ms. Cooper!) The king's cry to Zeus falls upon deaf ears. However, Artemis (virgin goddess of the hunt and sister to Aphrodite) comes and claims the child as her own.

Fast forward many years, and we find that the goddess has cursed the king to never have another heir. Atalante is the rightful ruler of the kingdom and is called home by the king. Knowing that she has been raised by Artemis, the men fear her for her strength, hunting skills, and speed. She must marry and produce her own heir that will inherit the throne. As she protests, she is given an ultimatiem and finally succeeds to a challenge. Any man that races against her and wins, shall have the throne, or will be sacrificed to the gods if they lose. Well, as in most stories of even today, the greed of man over takes brains. Atalante feels that she has nothing to fear because Artemis will guide her steps.

Enter our hero, Melanion, who has a few gods on his side as well. As the war of the gods begin, the fate of the blossoming couple rests solely in the gods' hands.

The Verdict?

I can honestly say that I couldn't be more happy with the book in its entirety. To recap: Meddling gods, sweet romance, life or death situations, historical accuracy. Yes! This book has it all! The pacing is great, the plot believable to the time frame, and the outcome is perfect! Speaking of outcome, watch for a twist at the end!
I had the pleasure of speaking with Ms. Cooper recently and she hinted that there may be another mythology book in the works. Well, Ms. Cooper I certainly hope so! Sign me up for a copy!