2,000 years later, Father Chris Mognahan is a member of the Hetairia Melchizedek, a secret society within the Catholic Church that studies Biblical omens. The society asks Chris to investigate an unusually grotesque crime – a murder on a college campus where the killer’s hand literally burned off the victim’s face. While the killing seems isolated at first, the society ties the murder to the final Biblical prophecy and a terrifying omen that the order of the prophecies is about to be disrupted. The final battle is coming too soon – long before humanity is prepared to win it.

Suddenly, Chris finds himself fighting against time and hell to keep the prophecies in order and stop an early Armageddon. He is joined by a band of unlikely allies, and together they find themselves in Rome above the Vatican Necropolis – the city of the dead – where the future is revealed to them in ancient texts.

They are not alone, however; an evil as old as time itself hunts them. As they travel across continents on their mission, the demonic force follows relentlessly, waiting in every shadowed corner, and every dark place.

As Armageddon descends, Father Chris finds that his only hope lies in a young woman within the group who has a secret gift – and their belief that God Himself may have sent her to keep the final angelic trumpet from sounding out the early end of the Earth.

• Paperback: 478 pages
• Publisher: 23 House (September 23, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982477767
• ISBN-13: 978-0982477762

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Carrie Salo is a dark storyteller and emerging author of supernatural thrillers. Classically trained at an Ivy League university, she studied the works of master storytellers seven stories underground in the muffled heart of one of the world ‘s largest libraries.

Carrie seeks to wield unrelenting suspense in her own exploration of all things (especially true things) that keep us awake at night.   She has written under the guidance of two bestselling and national prize-winning authors.   Her extensive travels have taken her to many haunted places, including the private catacombs of the Vatican.   The Sounding is Carrie’s debut novel.

Carrie enjoys the smell of old books, New York riesling, late night jogging and thunderstorms, though not in that order.   Storytelling is Carrie’s secret life.   While she looks into all the dark corners by night, by day she is an advertising copywriter and account manager.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…The Sounding was both exciting and scary;  a heart beating kind of read that couldn’t be put down. So real feeling that it made me wonder if it could really happen.

I received a copy from Planned Television Arts in exchange for an honest review.

On My Shelves is a weekly post at The Book Faery Reviews which shares THREE books from our personal collection. These books could be favorites, books to be read as soon as possible for our own enjoyment, as well as books to be read soon for scheduled reviews.

Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.  ~William Hazlitt

The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman - For more than one hundred years, creative souls have traveled to Upstate New York to work under the captivating spell of the Bosco estate. Cradled in silence, inspired by the rough beauty of overgrown gardens and crumbling statuary, these chosen few fashion masterworks–and have cemented Bosco’s reputation as a premier artists’ colony. This season, five talented artists-in-residence find themselves drawn to the history of Bosco, from the extensive network of fountains that were once its centerpiece but have long since run dry to the story of its enigmatic founder, Aurora Latham, and the series of tragic events that occurred more than a century ago.

Ellis Brooks, a first-time novelist, has come to Bosco to write a book based on Aurora and the infamous summer of 1893, when wealthy, powerful Milo Latham brought the notorious medium Corinth Blackwell to the estate to help his wife contact three of the couple’s children, lost the winter before in a diphtheria epidemic. But when a séance turned deadly, Corinth and her alleged accomplice, Tom Quinn, disappeared, taking with them the Lathams’ only surviving child.

The more time she spends at Bosco, the more Ellis becomes convinced that there is an even darker, more sinister end to the story. And she’s not alone: biographer Bethesda Graham uncovers stunning revelations about Milo and Corinth; landscape architect David Fox discovers a series of hidden tunnels underneath the gardens; poet Zalman Bronsky hears the long-dry fountain’s waters beckoning him; and novelist Nat Loomis feels something lingering just out of reach.

After a bizarre series of accidents befalls them, the group cannot deny the connections between the long ago and now, the living and the dead . . . as Ellis realizes that the tangled truth may ensnare them all in its cool embrace.

Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie Montana by Goyer & Fleiss - Julia Cavanaugh has never left New York City. But in 1890, the young woman must head west to ensure that the orphans under her care are settled into good families. After her final stop in Montana, she plans to head straight back east. But upon arriving in the remote town of Lonesome Prairie, Julia learns to her horror that she is also supposed to be delivered—into the hands of an uncouth miner who carries a bill of purchase for his new “bride.” She turns to a respected circuit preacher to protect her from a forced marriage but with no return fare and few friends, Julia’s options are bleak. What is God’s plan for her in the middle of the vast Montana prairie?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith - “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.

Eva Ward returns to the only place she truly belongs, the old house on the Cornish coast, seeking happiness in memories of childhood summers. There she finds mysterious voices and hidden pathways that sweep her not only into the past, but also into the arms of a man who is not of her time.

But Eva must confront her own ghosts, as well as those of long ago. As she begins to question her place in the present, she comes to realize that she too must decide where she really belongs.

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (October 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402258585
• ISBN-13: 978-1402258589

BUY THE BOOK…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Susanna Kearsley’s writing has been compared to Mary Stewart, Daphne du Maurier, and Diana Gabaldon. Her books have been translated into several languages, selected for the Mystery Guild, condensed for Reader’s Digest, and optioned for film. She lives in Canada, near the shores of Lake Ontario.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Fascinating time-travel book with elements of love, a “magical feeling”, and a twist. The way in which the room or clothes would just change to go from the past to the present was neat. There were times I wondered where I’d end up if that were to ever happen to me and would I stay. A book I’d definitely re-read again because I’m sure there’d be something new I may have missed. Kearsley did a great job telling the story and I look forward to picking up another by her. For those who like time-travel, history, and romance, this is a book you should find.

My Book Rating:

I received a copy for review from Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review.

Well, as it turns out, scores of people would write about angels, and they’d beat me to the punch. So many, in fact, that literary agents around the Twitterverse would start moaning about how sick they were of angels. “No more!” they insisted. “It’s overdone! Enough with the angels!”

But by then, I had a trilogy full of angels under my belt, and embedded deeply in my heart. No way was I giving up on them.

I knew my angels were a little bit different. They lived in a celestial St. Petersburg of an earlier age, and there were no religious elements in my Heaven—no God or Devil, only the angelic Host of the nobility and the peasants they called Fallen. And fall they did, but it was where they fell that really grabbed hold of me. If Heaven was like St. Petersburg, I reasoned, then that was where they’d wind up in the world of Man.

Thus began an obsession with Russia that would lead me to teach myself the Cyrillic alphabet and the basics of the language, and would lead me all the way to St. Petersburg itself, and beyond, to the ancient kremlin of Novgorod.

The rest of my journey was only in my head, but my virtual travels would take me across Russia from the Far East on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and yet farther north to the White Sea port of Arkhangel’sk (which had gotten the idea of Russian angels stuck in my head in the first place). Eventually, my fallen angels would lead me into the icebound Beloe More itself to the islands of Solovki, of which Solzhenitsyn wrote in The Gulag Archipelago, “It was a place with no connection to the rest of the world for half a year. A scream from here would never be heard.”

The island fortress and monastery once used as one of the Soviet Union’s most infamous gulags is just 150 kilometers from the Arctic Circle. You can’t get much farther north than that…except, as one of my characters puts it, “the euphemistic North” of the Seven Heavens, where it all began.

So there I was, four years later, with 300,000 words’ worth of Russian fallen angels and a querying landscape that was apparently lousy with their Western kin. Luckily, I found an agent who loved them anyway. And today, my little demons have finally been officially loosed upon the world.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on angels, fallen and otherwise. Had enough of them? Or can’t get enough?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Jane Kindred began writing romantic fantasy at the age of 12 in the wayback of a Plymouth Fury—which, as far as she recalls, never killed anyone…who didn’t have it coming. She spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed. Jane is the author of The Devil’s Garden (Carina Press/June 2011) and The Fallen Queen (Entangled Publishing/December 2011), Book One of The House of Arkhangel’sk trilogy.

You can find Jane on Twitter: @JaneKindred

on Facebook: www.facebook.com/somewherebetweenheavenandhell

or on her website: www.janekindred.com

Heaven can go to hell.

Until her cousin slaughtered the supernal family, Anazakia’s father ruled the Heavens, governing noble Host and Fallen peasants alike. Now Anazakia is the last grand duchess of the House of Arkhangel’sk, and all she wants is to stay alive.

Hunted by Seraph assassins, Anazakia flees Heaven with two Fallen thieves—fire demon Vasily and air demon Belphagor, each with their own nefarious agenda—who hide her in the world of Man. The line between vice and virtue soon blurs, and when Belphagor is imprisoned, the unexpected passion of Vasily warms her through the Russian winter.

Heaven seems a distant dream, but when Anazakia learns the truth behind the celestial coup, she will have to return to fight for the throne—even if it means saving the man who murdered everyone she loved.

• Title: The Fallen Queen
• Author: Jane Kindred
• Genre: Fantasy with Romantic Elements
• Length: 314 pages
• Launch Date: December 2011
• ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-52-7
• Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-53-4

 

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Thanks to the author, Jane is letting us give away 1 copy of The Fallen Queen to a randomly selected commenter on this post. This giveaway will run now through Friday 11:59pm December 16th. This is open WORLDWIDE. Printed copy can be mailed to US/Canadian addresses or E-copy if you’re international.

To ENTER giveaway leave a comment for Jane. EASY!

Of course we always love it when you…

• List Price: $17.99
• Paperback: 482 pages
• Publisher: FIRST Wild Card Press (December 5, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615530222
• ISBN-13: 978-0615530222

Visit the author’s website.

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…F.A.I.R.I.E.S.: Baptism by Fire was a fun read that placed me into a magical world of fairies, gremlins, Yeti’s, gnomes, talking trees, nymphs, and others. The pages are filled with excitement as Mellie, a chosen F.A.I.R.I.E. squadmember from the human world, prepares for the big fight in their version of schooling.  Pearson draws delightful illustrations throughout the novel to reinforce her magical world. My favorites included the the talking redwood tree that let Regnans & Mellie through  to the other world, the Yeti’s foot about to stomp a Gremlin, and Mellie under water getting accustomed to talking and breathing. This is a book I know my 12 year old would enjoy reading and escape into a magical place. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fun youthful fantasy world.

My Book Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

***Special thanks to M. C. Pearson of FIRST Wild Card Press for sending me a review copy.***

As for my writing pattern itself, when I awaken it’s usually with an urgency to get started. So after coffee and a cigarette, and a quick bite to eat, it’s then on to writing, usually at least eight straight hours, with short breaks and more food as I get hungry — and of course more coffee and a cigarette or two, this process first beginning with a quick review of what I’ve written the day before. I write — involving plenty of rewriting, until my mind gets tired and I know it’s time to quit. On Sundays during the football season, or when Tiger Woods is playing in a televised golf tournament, this pattern is not so stringent. The only part of my writing which determines what type of day it will be is my passion. If my creative process really becomes engrossed in the writing at hand, rendering me oblivious to all around me, my writing can extend way beyond eight hours. My creative process is often still working even as I prepare for bed, finding myself jotting down ideas to pursue the next morning. On occasion, after I’m asleep, I’ll awaken to jot down important thoughts and insights I don’t want to chance forgetting when I begin my writing the next day. This has resulted in some fantastic narrative. When I sleep my creative process doesn’t.

Such gives birth to my novel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…A native of Flint, Michigan, Gerald Griffin wrote his first short book of fiction while in the 9th grade. Ever since then he has felt compelled to write — his style reminiscent of Frederick Forsythe, with a dash of Damon Runyon and Tom Clancy.

Following several years of private practice, his two sons grown and away, Gerald eased into writing full-time — non-fiction, fiction, and ghost writing, first turning out the published non-fiction work, THE SILENT MISERY — WHY MARRIAGES FAIL. This was followed by his three published novels, THE CORRUPTORS, THE DEATH DISCIPLE, and THE LAST COMING, this last novel written in collaboration with Robin Moore.  After this came his published non-fiction ghost writing works, TRAPPED IN THE LAWYERS’ DEN WITH BLOODSUCKERS and GBI AGENT.

A nature lover, he relocated from Atlanta to the lake scenery of Gainesville, Georgia. He lives in a quaint home, high on a hill, surrounded by inspiring forest foliage not far from the waters of Sidney Lake Lanier; the forest floor a protective canopy for the passing deer.  In this setting, Gerald wrote the novel OF GOOD AND EVIL, followed by its sequel A TIME OF RECKONING.

Nancy Cline, a member of MENSA, said in review of Gerald’s writings: “In this age, yes, there is a nobility of spirit and the courage to preserve and to protect that nobility.  In the field of fiction we have men of great stature… To that list add the name of Gerald Griffin…”

Gerald is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW). While in practice in Atlanta he was listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Personalities of America and Notable Americans.

Visit Gerald’s Author’s Blog at: http://geraldggriffin.blogspot.com.

 Overall, a gripping action thriller with a touch of paranormal and a captivating love story.

Ron Sheffield, an ex-Green Beret discharged from the Army for going crazy, has discovered top secret terrorist documents endangering his life by an unsavory White House political cell, the documents revealing al Qaeda plans threatening the existence of Western civilization. He also possesses uncanny mental talents which enabled him to survive fierce covert battles in the Middle East while the men serving under him perished, these tortured memories leaving him distraught with merciless guilt to the point of suicide—staved off only by desperate “hiding” activities.

This potent mixture of documents, guilt, hiding and uncanny abilities, combined with Ron’s remarkable and irrepressible love affair with Amber Ash—who saves Ron’s life through talents similar to his own—propels the two down volatile paths of relentless danger, troubles and confrontations defining their destiny, including, among other things: sanity-saving killings; Ron having no choice but to become a specialized Mafia hit man; a White House plot on Ron’s life; conflicts with a divinely gifted secret society headed by Amber’s billionaire father; acquiring the specifics of the 9-11 terrorist attacks beforehand, but the attempt at warning ignored; disturbing honeymoon intrigue; devastating discovery of who really orchestrated the U.S. invasion of Iraq; struggles to thwart Bin Laden’s startling scheme of global domination; frustrating hindrances to cornering the most important and dangerous terrorist alive—not Bin Laden, rendering success of the pursuit bleak; frightening dreams prophesying disturbing reality; and a fight against the impossible to prevent the nuclear obliteration of a large American city.

Spine-chilling, with unending surprises. The reader never knows what’s coming next, and is left on edge, unable to put the book down.

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Eloquent Books (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 160976014X
• ISBN-13: 978-1609760144

BUY THE BOOK… Amazon | Barnes & Noble

NURTURE YOUR BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE…

• November 7th – Jaidis S. @ Juniper Grove
• November 8th – Kendall G. @ Telly Says @ Reading; Reading & Life - Giveaway
• November 9th – April R. & Wendy @ My Book Addiction and More - Giveaway
• November 9th – Mindy Br. @ The Journey and Musings of a Single Country Gal and her cat! - Giveaway
• November 10th – Farrah K. @ The Book Faery Reviews
• November 11th – Hywela L. @ Hywela Lyn: Romance That’s ‘Out Of This World’ - Giveaway
• November 14th – Bobbie @ NURTURE Virtual BOOK Tourz™ Blog
• November 14th - Lindsay H @ Everyday Is An Adventure
• November 15th – Pamela Bl. @ Life as a Mom CEO - Giveaway
• November 16th – Laurie J. @ Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews - Giveaway
• November 17th – Mason C. @ Thoughts in Progress
• November 17th – Beverly G. @ Everyone Loves A SiNner - Giveaway
• November 18th - Tammy G. @ News and Reviews from the Heart of the Dragons Den - Giveaway

You see, The Grym Brothers originated with my wife. Prior to the Gryms, my main series were the Alex Cheradon books. They were an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink selection of all my favorite things: humor, sci-fi, fantasy, action, adventure, time travel, and exploding cars. I loved the books. Alex Cheradon was my “firstborn” so to speak. The rest of the world, however, they were taking some time to warm up to the concept.

My wife suggested that we start a new series. Something between the genre-bending of Alex Cheradon and the mundane lives of my more character-based novels.

As we were drifting off to sleep one night, she mumbled out: grim reapers who hunt down dead souls on the run.

I was awake instantly.

It was a simple, but brilliant concept: Grim reapers as bounty hunters.

The pieces started to fall into place pretty quickly.

I made my lead characters brothers, Thane and Mort. They were complete opposites. Thane was the older, mature, responsible brother. Mort was the family screw up. I placed them at the bottom of the grim reaper totem pole, never missing an opportunity to dump more grief and aggravation on them. I gave them a missing father, who was also a grim reaper, to add some legacy and mystery to their lives.

Whereas some of my other books solved problems by going through elaborate action set pieces, I wanted the Grym brothers to be different. Yes, there would be action, but mostly it would be of the Grym-brothers-get-their-butts-often-and-repeatedly-kicked-beaten-and-bruised variety. I don’t even have my characters carry a gun. Instead, Thane carries only a taser.

As I started writing the series I realized that it wasn’t the mythology of the grim reapers that I found so interesting. In fact, as I started to hear back from readers, they agreed: It was Thane and Mort that were lynchpins of the entire series. It was their relationship with each other that drew the readers and me in.

Yes, they’re grim reapers. Yes, there’s a fascinating mythology surrounding the grim reapers(The Council of Reapers, Alpha Reapers, Stick Magic). But at the end of the day, they’re just two brothers who kind of can’t stand each other, but have to work together anyway. And, I think we all know a little something about dealing with family.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Jason Krumbine is the author behind the pulse pounding, wisecracking Alex Cheradon Series, the dead soul hunting Grym Brothers Series (including Two and a Half Dead Men, The Dead Couple and Better Off Dead), and the tongue-in-cheek paranormal romance “A Graveyard Romance.”

You can visit his website at www.jasonkrumbine.com or visit him at Twitter at www.twitter.com/jasonkrumbine and Facebook at www.facebook.com/jmkwriter.

You can also email him at onestrayword@gmail.com.

The Grym Brothers Series (image links go to Amazon.com)

THE DEAD COUPLE

Jack and Cindy were a happily married couple. She was an elementary school teacher. He was an aspiring children’s book author. They had the perfect life together, until the day they decided to kill themselves.

Suicides, by their very nature, tend to head directly into the afterlife.

Jack and Cindy’s souls never arrived.

Grim Reapers are real. They are governed by the Council of Reapers. Reapers are responsible for the capture and containment of dead souls that refuse to or cannot move on to the afterlife.

Thane and Mort Grym are two such reapers.

TWO AND A HALF DEAD MEN

People die every day.

But not all of the souls can or want to move onto the afterlife.

That’s where the brothers Thane and Mort Grym come in.

Thane and Mort are bounty hunters for dead souls. They inherited the job from their father and they’re two of the best in town.

But when there’s a double homicide at the Kirkland Motel the Grym brothers end up with more than they bargained for. In a world without vampires, zombies or the undead, one of their bounties might not be as dead as he’s supposed to be.

BETTER OFF DEAD

They say dead men tell no tales, but that’s just because they’ve never worked as a Grim Reaper.

Grim Reapers are real. They are governed by the Council of Reapers. Reapers are responsible for the capture and containment of dead souls that refuse to or cannot move on to the afterlife.

Lori Standford’s mother died six months ago. Now she’s back, haunting Lori out of her home. Lori turns to her close friend, Emma Grym, mother of Thane and Mort Grym, for help.

Now Thane and Mort find themselves embroiled in a mystery of dead men that stretches all the way to the top.

Giveaways, Contests & Prizes!

Join Jason Krumbine at the Pump Up Your Book Live! November Author Chat / Book Giveaway Party on Friday, November 18 starting at8 p.m. eastern!

Jason will be giving away three e-copies of his books in The Grym Brothers Series!  You could win a copy of Two and a Half Dead, The Dead Couple and Better Off Dead simply by attending the  chat and asking Jason a question.  All there is to it!

For details on chat, visit the official chat page for the November authors at Pump Up Your Book Live!

This strange mixture of fear and fun, the blurring between good and evil, monster and not monster is something I often think about, and as such is probably why I’m drawn to writing fantasy stories.

Literary theory states that monsters are representations of the “other” and historically the “other” was anyone who was physically different, a stranger. Stories were told about “others” who were evil, and threatened the lives and way of life of the good characters in the story. Fantasy fiction drew the “difference” even more strongly. These “others” really were monsters, demons and vampires, and terrifying creatures of darkness. They terrorized the good people of the story until the monsters were defeated (usually killed) or the good people were killed (making the tale a tragedy).

As fantasy fiction developed and people gained more experience with their real “other” storytellers started to question the assumed definition that all “others” were monsters. Which brings me back to Halloween, with the “good” kids dressing up as “evil” monsters and the assumption that the “strangers” handing out candy are good. These assumptions go against these long standing beliefs, making a one night only event where monsters are good and strangers are good.

In fantasy, for me, questioning the assumptions isn’t a one night event. Monsters aren’t just creatures of darkness or strangers. They are human and beautiful and sometimes your best friend. Good people, “humans” aren’t just those who look like us or are our friends, they are terrifying monsters in disguise.

In my debut YA fantasy novel, Ward Against Death, the definitions of good and evil and monster or not monster is blurred.

My heroine, Celia, starts off human. By traditional definition this would make her not a monster. But someone has murdered her and when the story opens she’s been risen from the dead by the hero, Ward, and begs him to help her solve her murder. So what does this now make Celia? She’s not alive but she isn’t dead, either. Is she still human? Is she now a monster? And does this change how we perceive her?

As well, my hero, Ward, is a necromancer. Because necromancy is magic over death, necromancers are often portrayed as evil, and usually cast as the villain of the story. Ward, however, is just a normal guy who wants to make enough of living so he doesn’t have to move back in with his parents. Necromancy isn’t evil, but it’s not good either. How each person uses it determines what it is.

And that’s what it comes down to for me: how each person behaves. Just like on Halloween, you never know if the child in the devil costume really is a devil or actually an angel. In fantasy the undead girl may not be a monster, and the boy with the ability to raise the dead might not be evil.

Thanks Farrah for having me today. There are tons of examples in fantasy and paranormal romance fiction of good monsters and evil people. Who are your favorites?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Melanie has always been drawn to story telling and can’t remember a time when
she wasn’t creating a story in her head.  Her early stories were adventures with fairies and dragons and sword swinging princesses.

Today she continues to spin tales of magic in lands near and far, while her cat sits on the edge of her desk and supervises. When she’s not writing, you can find her pretending to be other people with her local community theatre groups.

Connect with Melanie:  Facebook  |  Twitter @melaniecard  |  Goodreads | MelanieCard.com

Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…

Read an Excerpt

• Genre: New Adult/Upper YA Fantasy
• Length: Novel – 285 pgs
• Release Date: August 2, 2011
• ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-08-4
• Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-09-1

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Thanks to Entangled Publishing and the author, we’re giving away ONE e-copy of Ward Against Death to a lucky reader of The Book Faery Reviewers. This giveaway is open internationally and runs only until 11:59pm on Halloween, Monday, October 31st.

I love Coca Cola. Not Pepsi or RC or any other specialty cola. I love Regular Coca Cola. None of that sissy diet stuff or the caffeine free caramelized water they pass for cola. I want the stuff that burns going down my throat and kick-starts my heart with an artificial substance that is totally legal. (Amen) Why? I like it… nay, I need it in a totally non-addictive way. (I can quit any time I want to. I can. Really.)

I’ve tried to deny my need, but it’s no use. How can I when the first thing I do when I wake up is head downstairs, load up the ice and listen to the fizz and pop as I pour myself a coke? Mercy! It’s happiness in a glass. The Coca Cola ad executives guarantee it. Seriously. Commercials don’t lie.

On the obsession scale, coke (the drink) isn’t that life altering. Yet, there are some obsessions that can change the course of your life in ways you could never imagine. Sometimes for the good, many times for the bad. In my book, The Marked Son, Dylan (my hero) finds his own addiction in the form of love.

Here’s a quick excerpt from The Marked Son

Nothing feels better than touching Kera. I hold her close, feeling her heart beat behind her ribs. The heat of her hands on my chest is impossible to ignore as I kiss her, teasing her lips, and ultimately torturing myself until my control is almost gone. I pull away, putting my forehead to hers, and silently count to ten. Counting to a hundred wouldn’t help. Holding her intensifies my feelings of recklessness.

I can’t let go.

I pick her up. You’d think her dress, with its yards of material would be a problem, but it isn’t. Not for her. She wraps her legs around my waist and rakes her hands through my hair. I place my head on her chest and close my eyes. The rapid beat of her heart matches my own. The scent that engulfs her is as heady as the feel of her in my arms.

“You smell like summer and—” I search for the word that describes the scent pulsing under her skin. It teases me with every breath and touch. Naming it is driving me insane. It’s one I haven’t smelled on her before, yet it’s a scent that’s all too familiar to me, like summer and… “—sadness.”

She captures my lips with hers and slowly slides down my body until her feet touch the floor. Our kiss deepens, her embrace turns desperate. Her kiss fills with misery. The room turns hot, too claustrophobic. I can’t think. I try pushing her away, but she clings to me. Her breathing quickens, and she shivers within my arms. I sense real fear in her. Though she protests, I finally manage to step free. One, two, three steps back, separate but still connected. I can’t stop staring at her, wanting her. She’s like…

A drug.

Dylan loves Kera–not just loves, but completely-unequivocally-adores-and-must-be-around-her-at-all-times loves Kera. He’s obsessed. It’s his nature, one he never understood fully until he met Kera, and now that he knows, it’s almost impossible for him to deny his need. He fights with it all the time, knowing in his heart that his obsession, if left unchecked, will cause more harm than good.

And it does, because Dylan isn’t perfect. His obsession to be with Kera, to possess her love and be loved by her, upends the realm of Teag and changes the lives of nearly everyone around him. He causes a mess on an apocalyptic scale, something he never intended. So what’s a guy who’s in love with the girl of his dreams supposed to do?

Easy. He has to learn to control his out-of-control nature and fix the disasters that are starting to seep into the human realm. Yeah, right. Maybe not so easy, but it’s a challenge Dylan takes on.

The thing I love about Dylan is his solid core of goodness. He takes responsibility for what he’s done and tries to make amends.

Obsession is rarely healthy. I should know. My cola and I go waaay back. Dude-who-shall-not-be-named kinda has a point. It’s time I started weaning myself from the happy juice’s seductive grasp. I’ll be a healthier person for it. And though it’s hard to believe, I’ll probably be a happier person for it too. Wish me luck.

I’d like to thank the Book Faery (aka Farrah) for inviting me here today. I had fun. I hope you did too.

Want to know more about Shea and her righteously-awesome stories? Connect with her at: Facebook / SheaBerkley.com / Goodreads / RubySlipperedSisterhood.com / Twitter

Seventeen‐year‐old Dylan Kennedy always knew something was different about him, but until his mother abandoned him in the middle of Oregon with grandparents he’s never met, he had no idea what.

When Dylan sees a girl in white in the woods behind his grandparents’ farm, he knows he’s seen her before…in his dreams. He’s felt her fear– Heard her insistence that only he can save her world from an evil lord who uses magic and fear to feed his greed for power.

Unable to shake the unearthly pull to Kera, Dylan takes her hand. Either he’s completely insane or he’s about to have the adventure of his life, because where they’re going is full of creatures he’s only read about in horror stories. Worse, the human blood in his veins has Dylan marked for death…

• Title: The Marked Son (Keepers of Life, #1)
• Author: Shea Berkley
• Genre: Young Adult
• Length: Novel – 334 pages
• Release Date: August 2011
• ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-00-8
• Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-01-5

THE LOST PRINCE coming August 2012, and THE BASTARD KING coming August 2013!

THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…Thanks to Entangled Publishing and Shea Berkley, we’re giving away ONE e-copy of the book The Marked Son. Open internationally now through November 31st!

Just leave a comment for the author to enter!

Of course we’d LOVE it if you (for extra entries but not a requirement):

• Read our review of The Marked Son
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Seventeen‐year‐old Dylan Kennedy always knew something was different about him, but until his mother abandoned him in the middle of Oregon with grandparents he’s never met, he had no idea what.

When Dylan sees a girl in white in the woods behind his grandparents’ farm, he knows he’s seen her before…in his dreams. He’s felt her fear– Heard her insistence that only he can save her world from an evil lord who uses magic and fear to feed his greed for power.

Unable to shake the unearthly pull to Kera, Dylan takes her hand. Either he’s completely insane or he’s about to have the adventure of his life, because where they’re going is full of creatures he’s only read about in horror stories. Worse, the human blood in his veins has Dylan marked for death…

• Title: The Marked Son (Keepers of Life, #1)
• Author: Shea Berkley
• Genre: Young Adult
• Length: Novel – 334 pages
• Release Date: August 2011
• ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-00-8
• Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-01-5

THE LOST PRINCE coming August 2012, and THE BASTARD KING coming August 2013!

FROM THE REVIEWER…The Marked Son is the story of Dylan and Kera. Both from two different worlds but magnetized to each other by unseen forces and destiny. Dylan is your average recluse teenager, coping with a life that is less than stable. His mother constantly moves them around the country, running from ex lovers without any real direction or reason. Dylan has been adjusting as best he can to his neglectful mother and the constant moving when his mother unexpectedly dumps him into the laps off his grandparents, whom he has never met before, and abandons him there.

Here in a farmhouse near the woods, he discovers that the woods are full of magic, a girl in white whom he has dreamt about since he was really young is actually very real. Kera, a girl from another dimension is seeking help for her home of Teag, a land across a barrier wall that separates the two worlds. When he follows her into this world, he discovers bloodthirsty creatures and a cold ruthless ruler named Navar who is bent on wiping out any half-blood beings, like Dylan. Only him and Kera can save this world which nothing is what it seems and the would-be ruler Navar has set his sights on killing them both.

I enjoyed reading this story, the point of view starts by bouncing back and forth between the main characters Dylan and Kera. It was a bit confusing at first, things took a while to be explained in the first half of the book, leaving me feeling a bit clueless and lost with all the world building on each side of the wall and vague backgrounds. The second half of the book more than made up for it. The point of view was laced together tight at this point and the story smoothed out to give you answers to the many questions that have built up to this point. The town of Teag seems stuck in a sort of medieval time where men have more power and woman are betrothed to men. They also have to wear big beautiful dresses and behave a certain way. It seemed to clash with the modern world that Dylan lived in. I do love his Grandparents, probably two of the most colorful characters in the story. His grandmother especially seems to know a lot more of what is going on than she lets on. His human friends Jason and Leo are great additions to the story but I would have liked to get into their heads a little more. Overall the ending was amazing and kept me on the edge of my seat. It left me wanting more and I definitely want to see where these characters will be going, see what kind of trouble they can get into in the future. I highly recommend it and will be reading more by this author.

My Book Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

 

MEET THE REVIEWER…Alexia Purdy resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. She spends every free moment writing or playing with her 4 rambunctious kids (living the dream!). She devours books daily, especially paranormal urban fantasies and finds genre books to be irresistible. She has been writing since she can remember and loves creating paranormal urban fantasy and poetry. She also enjoys watching movies, dancing, singing loudly in the car and Italian food. She is the author of Interim Blue (The Teleen Trilogy) and is currently working on the second book of the Teleen Trilogy: Ash and Embers.  Projects for 2012 include: The Reign of Blood (Book #1 in a post-apocalyptic vampire hunter trilogy) and a poem anthology. She currently blogs at Alexia Purdy.

We received a copy for an honest review. No money was given as compensation.