A lost orphan. A forced goodbye. A treacherous plot.She was only 12… home. In a world where girls are a commodity, evil can wear many faces and can be even your own kin.
Can she outwit those coming after her?
She’ll need all her guile to escape her fate in time.
But Asha’s a ferocious fighter who’ll never back down.
“A heart-stopping adventure! I just couldn’t put this down till I finished reading it.” ~ Advanced Reader.
This is an edge-of-your-seat, gritty tale of crime and deceit that will take you on a mad dash from the heart of Tanzania to a seaside village in India, to a ritzy North American city where evil can hide in the most unexpected of places.
Like Lisbeth Salander? You’ll love Asha from the Red Heeled Rebels.
Get it now.
The Girl Who Ran Away is the first novel of The Red Heeled Rebels international thriller series.
Formerly titled Betrayed / Disowned.
If you like gripping tales with flawed but gutsy heroines, vigilante action in exotic locales and twists that leave you at the edge of your seat, you’ll love these books by multiple award-winning Canadian novelist, Tikiri Herath.
more
Here is a book that mothers should read and then encourage their daughters to read. Protecting our daughters from the dangers the world heaps upon them is naïve and results in women who are not prepared for a world that sees them as not worthy of consideration, let alone protection. It is sad indeed that providing a loving and nurturing home is not enough, especially when that home is ripped away by unforeseen events.
Women’s issues are all over the news these days. Let us never forget that all women were once little girls with parents that ran the gamut of loving and nurturing to indifferent and abusive. As hard as it may be to believe, the girls brought up in less than ideal surroundings would seem to have a better understanding of what they will face as women. Reading this book while observing the daily demeaning of women and girls in the media provided a stark counterpoint to the sensitive treatment of abuse presented in DISOWNED.
I guess I’ve been a feminist for a very long time… longer than I have even admitted to myself in the past. I didn’t start reading this series because it has a strong female protagonist but because it sounded like a great story. In the end, it IS a great story, and it DOES HAVE a strong, intelligent female protagonist. To see a young woman who grew up loved and nurtured go through a process of overcoming the naivete that having a loving, supportive mother and father engendered is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Sometimes it is difficult for a septuagenarian like myself to put aside the years and remember what it was like to be 12 or 13 or even 18. We all start out with dreams, hold onto those dreams as long as we can. Little by little those dreams are shattered. We can either pick ourselves up and forge a path, or we can give up in despair. Which do you choose?
Poignant and heart wrenching but at the same time exciting, thrilling edge of your seat unputdownable
Binge-worthyYou are hooked as soon as you start reading…
Very anxious to read more . . .
Next please – preferably without blasphemy More and more difficult to put down . . .
Sadly, loses 1* for abusing the Holy Name of Almighty GOD
What a wonderful book. The way Tikiri has written, I felt that I was in that life, living with the characters. I proceeded to email the author, shared my thoughts with her and read all her books in the series. I’m eagerly awaiting the new series by this author now.
Wow…gripping and attention getter from the first chapter ..brings human trafficking into a very realistic setting ..and making all who read it more aware of this terrible world effecting horror for so many young boys and girls ! I would recommend all to read this ! Leaves me wanting to read more to see how it ends !
Amazing, well-written, heartbreaking, and. super compelling, this is an incredible story. I have a lot of trouble reading these stories but yet, the story itself is a reality because this does happen, how can you put it down? Ignoring their story does not make it go away.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Asha is forced to leave Africa and move to India to live with her father’s relatives. Asha is being forced to marry a man older than her father. A world where men rule and women are subservient. What Asha had to endure, no one should have to go through. Human trafficking, abuse, and survival. This book was hard to put down.
Such a strong start to a series. Asha is such a strong young woman and displays amazing determination. The author’s work is wonderful. If I learned anything it would be be careful what you do and a situation can always be worse.
This book is well written and takes the reader on an amazing journey. The reader gets to experience life from within a young orphaned girl’s eyes. Asha is what most refer to as a half breed as her parents are from different cultures. They are killed in a car accident on Asha’s birthday. Asha believes this is karma for her misdeed. This story follows Asha through her relocation to her father’s family in India where she is an outsider but makes a place for herself. She then finds herself engaged to be married at the age of 14. She avoids this by getting sucked into slavery and shipped to Toronto Canada. This story contains some harsh but realistic topics. I love being able to read the story from Asha’s view and seeing her learn how the world works and how make her way through the hurdles she finds in her way. I cannot wait to read more.
The tragedy here is the Betrayal of so many people that should never have happened. Even a grandmother, someone who should have comforted and protect this poor child, turned against her. An orphan who never had a chance except for her own strong will and confidence. Cultures we do not understand and rarely get insight into, come screaming out at us through wonderful works
such a Betrayed. But this child fought back and never allowed the “system” to undermine her determination and grit. This is a stand out novel that every woman and child should read. Frightening, yes. But the will to overcome all obstacles is the shining light that lets us breathe again. It can be done. Wish I could have given Betrayed more stars but five are the limit.
Wow! This book really makes you think. This is a heartbreaking story of loss of innocence, trafficking, and child brides. It’s non stop action and kept me fascinated throughout and turning the pages. This story is intriguing and there is never a dull moment, it’s thoroughly entertaining, with powerful characters. Such an emotional read one I definitely recommend.
I loved this book. It was very exciting from beginning to the end. It does a wonderful job in exposing human trafficking and the effects that it causes to its victims. I really enjoyed this one.
The story opens with Asha watching the car she was in with her parents totally engulfed in flames. She wakes up in the hospital overhearing conversations about her. She has no one! No where to go! She is only 12 years old. The hospital staff find out there’s a distant relative, Aunt Shlipa, in Goa,India. Asha is sent there and cared for by her aunt,grandmother, and her cousin Preeti.Its bad enough what Asha has gone through so far,but the hardship and cruelty doesn’t stop. She is beaten by the teacher at the school,because she is a new student. The grandmother makes arrangements for Asha to be married off to a neighbor. He totally is repulsive to Asha,and she will run away if she has too. Another man named Franky told her he would help her leave Goa. She is manipulated by him. Her life savings are stolen by him.He sends her to Toronto under the care of Mrs Rao. Mrs Rao is involved in smuggling young girls, and sells them into the human trafficking business asha finds out.The only good thing that comes from Asha’s situation. She is blessed,and has a gift for baking. She loves to Bake. And her best friend Katy from school are inseparable.They have to escape again ,and make the last flight out of Toronto to London. She wants to get back to India to help her cousin.I love the loyalty between these girls. An amazing story that will keep you sitting at the edge of you chair. They are so strong headed, and determined to learn to survive in a ruthless cruel world. Gripping story right from the first page to the end!
A difficult, yet rewarding read. I almost put this one down, but I couldn’t abandon Asha. The author really knows how to grab your heart, and carry you through the fire to a satisfied ending. So glad I stuck with the book. I received this book free from eBook Discovery. This is my honest review.
Poor Asha. She has been bounced from one life struggle to the next. Her tenacity and will have managed to assist her through each trial. Unfortunately, this story reveals some common theme of human trafficking, slave laboring and cultural circumstances that exist even today.
This is a book that should make you think about what happens in this world. It is a shame that the storyline is actually reality for many women and girls. I say shame on us all.
The book is wonderful, fast pace and keeps you engaged. I love seeing how th emain character does not realize her own strength and keeps surprising us all.
If you have not read Beginnings, I recommend yoo do so, it willhelp with the main character and the start of the series. You can read this as a stand alone but the start of the bookmay be confusing.
Am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.