Chasing Petalouthes: Book Three In The Gift Saga
by Effie Kammenou
Meet Effie
Effie Kammenou believes it’s never too late to chase your dreams, follow your heart, or change your career. She is proof of that. At one time, long ago, she’d dreamed that by now, she would have had an Oscar in her hand after a successful career as an actor. Instead, she worked in the optical field for over forty years while raising her two daughters.
In 2015, three years after her mother died from pancreatic cancer, she published her debut novel, Evanthia’s Gift, the first book in a women’s fiction, multigenerational love story and family saga inspired by her mother and her Greek heritage. Kammenou continued to pick her father’s brain for stories of his family’s life in Lesvos, Greece, and their journey to America until his recent death in November 2022 at 100. Her interview with him was published in the nationally circulated magazine Reminisce.
Evanthia’s Gift: Book One in The Gift Saga was a 2016 finalist in the Readers Favorite Book Awards. Book two, Waiting for Aegina, was awarded finalist status in the 2019 International Book Awards. Chasing Petalouthes, the last book in the trilogy, also placed in the Readers Favorite Book Awards for the 2018 contest.
Love is Worth Fighting For won silver, second place for contemporary romance in The Readers Favorite Book Awards, and most recently won first place in the BookFest Awards.
Kammenou’s latest series is The Meraki Series. Love is What You Bake of it, Love by Design, and Love is Worth Fighting For are available in print and Kindle. Book four, Love in Plain Sight, will finish the series. Each book focuses on a sibling and their quest for love and professional success despite a sometimes stifling and meddling family. A mystery shadowed by a historical event in recent Greek history is slowly uncovered throughout the series.
As a bonus, each book contains the traditional Greek recipes featured throughout the novels, many of which were passed down from her Athenian mother.
Effie Kammenou is a first-generation Greek-American who lives on Long Island. When she’s not writing or posting recipes on her food blog, you can find her entertaining family and friends or traveling for ‘research.’ She recently returned to her theatrical roots by occasionally working as a background actor in film and television productions.
She’s a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Women Fiction Writers Association and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater Arts from Hofstra University.
About the book: "Chasing Petalouthes : Book Three In The Gift Saga."
Evvie has lived through more tragedy than a young girl should ever endure, having lost both her father and a most beloved grandmother at a young age. Her rebellious ways are her only defense to mask the ever-present pain in her heart. Closing herself off emotionally, Evvie vows to never let anyone into her heart. But will her determination to keep everyone out see her lose the only person who could heal her broken soul?
Over-achieving, focused, talented, determined to succeed. Those are the traits Stella envies in her siblings and cousins. Her insecurities and lack of confidence stunt her ability to realize her own worth. When an older, handsome young man claims her as his own, Stella believes she has finally found who she has been looking for—someone to love her enough to mold her into the best version of herself. But has she fallen in love too quickly for a man she barely knows anything about?
Chasing Petalouthes (Chasing Butterflies) can be read as a standalone or as the conclusion of The Gift Saga Trilogy. It’s the coming-of-age story of two flawed, young women during their tumultuous years between adolescence and adulthood, who push their way out from the confines of the cocoons they’d built around themselves and discover how to soar.
This story is for readers seeking tropes that include unrequited love, persevering through toxic relationships, family issues, and unbreakable bonds of friendship.
What readers are saying
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Di O’Brien
Excellent conclusion to this wonderful family saga, which spans five generations. I’ve read all the books in this trilogy, and they are filled with plenty of deep emotion and sense of family and heritage, as well as close-knit friendship. This final book touched a little more on some fantasy than the two previous books, which IMO were very true to life, but it still was so enjoyable I couldn’t put it down. One of the better trilogies I’ve read in a while.
While this probably could be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the two previous books in order to get the full enjoyment of the entire, amazing story surrounding these deeply complex characters. There’s plenty of them too, so you should read these books in the correct order to keep them straight and fully understand them. They are now available in a box set, so why not save a bit of cash and get the set! No true romantic should miss this one. It will tug at your heart for sure. 
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Nemeseos
“Chasing Petalouthes” is a wonderful conclusion to the Gift Saga collection by Effie Kammenou. Evanthia, the granddaughter of Ana Fotopoulos, completes her own personal journey, that takes her, Evvie, from the United States to a vineyard in Greece where she reconnects with a person from her past, as well as the family of her Yiayia, Ana. Ms. Kammenou brings all three books together in this final novel, and she does it masterfully. There are times of near tragedy, and moments of triumph. You will not want to put this book down until you read the last word on the last page.
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Hellenic American Project EFFIE KAMMENOU - Greek American Women's Romance Fiction Author, Astoria NY
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