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Angelina Kerner, a Pisces, was born during the Chinese astrological year of the Snake, which she absolutely adores. Angelina loves snakes and was allowed to feed one a rat. That was an experience of a lifetime. She moved around during her young years from Novosibirsk to Kaluga, and finally to the Bay Area, California.
Her teenage years were spent dancing in dance troupes and performing on stage. The dances ranged from waltz to tango, from Jewish to Russian, and finally belly dance. She was accepted into six out of seven universities and decided to stay close to her family. Angelina pursued a psychology degree until she saw graduated students working for Starbucks, and then decided to pursue another career path in the department of Social Sciences. The difficult coursework, a job, and finding her life partner, turned her onto writing, which at the time wasn't even a hobby but a way to escape daily routine. She worked on countless stories, never really finishing them, but understanding that flash fiction wasn't for her. After finding an online community where she met her best friend, her writing flourished and allowed her to think about publishing her work.
She is now the author of one published novel for both young adults and adults, and hopes to publish her other fantasy and crime fiction works. Her next novel involves a competition for a beautiful phoenix which will hopefully with make its debut in 2017 or 2018. Angelina currently divides her time between her family, work, writing, and a lot of cats.
Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers' Favorite
Deity’s Soulmate is the first book in The Goddess Training trilogy written by Angelina Kerner. Sixteen-year-old Gardenia is a goddess. The daughter of Athena and Apollo, she is disheartened when she visits Earth and sees the uproar and disharmony in a universe that her mother had created. Determined to build a better world, Gardenia tries to create a new universe, almost dying in the process. On her way to Hades in the afterlife, Gardenia overhears the shocking news that Zeus is her real father and not Apollo, which awakens her. Punished for 100 years, she has only that time to learn all there is about the thirteen days of creation. Gardenia shuns all offers from the gods and goddesses to become her teachers for this challenge, choosing instead to have dragons teach her, as they were the original beings, older than the deities themselves. In doing so, the gods and goddesses view Gardenia with disdain. With each dragon teaching her, Gardenia finds herself gradually transforming into a dragon, initially just growing wings. As each day passes, she learns more and more of the horrors which Zeus had inflicted upon the dragons, making Gardenia loathe her biological father even more. Upon her full transformation, Gardenia and her fourth teacher, Ri, fall in love and marry. When news reaches Gardenia’s biological father, blood lust and vengeance take hold and Zeus vows to destroy her.
In the first book of The Goddess Training trilogy, Gardenia learns only of the first four days of creation, leaving the rest of the series open for her to continue her studies. The imagination of Angelina Kerner to create such an amazing story with the mighty Greek deities is fun, and filled with the determination of a teenager to learn from only the best to ensure that she passes in her next attempt to create a universe. While in need of polishing, Deity’s Soulmate’s characters and locations are well described and easy to picture, akin to watching a film rather than reading a book, and very few authors can master such a task. I enjoyed that all three of her parents check on her well-being, with Athena and Apollo visiting her for emotional support, whereas Zeus visits only for a status update. It shows the difference between Apollo’s and Zeus’ feelings for Gardenia, with Apollo treating her as every loving father should treat his child. I enjoyed the first instalment of The Goddess Training trilogy and recommend it to those who enjoy action, adventure, comedy, and drama in a unique mythological tale of teenage determination.
