Category Archives: Fantasy

by Wendy Garfinkle | April 10, 2015 · 2:30 pm

99 Cent Book Blast

Over 175 ebooks from over 150 authors–including USA Today Bestsellers–are on sale for 99 cents.

This promo will last only April 10th, 11th, and 12th.

Find paranormal, fantasy, romance, and much more.

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Visit the 99 Cent Book Blast.

Review of Tangle of Thornes by Lorel Clayton

Lorel Clayton will be on tour April 6-13 with the novel Tangle of Thornes

When Eva’s brother is murdered in a city of rude elves and matriarchal dwarves where humans have no rights, she is forced to investigate the crime herself. What she discovers brings her up against a powerful slave-trading cartel, dark gods, and—worst of all—her twin sister. Both her family and the elven authorities want her hushed. She has no money and no magic of her own with which to combat them, but she does have an illegally-freed slave, a senile nanny, and an ex-almost-boyfriend on her side. Even when she nearly loses her job and almost loses her head in a sword fight on the same night, she isn’t deterred. It’s when the nanny goes missing that she really starts to worry.

Femme fatale turns hard-boiled investigator in this first Eva Thorne novel. Set in a fantasy world where magic and machines can’t stand against the God of Death, humans are on the run from the god’s invasion. Highcrowne is the only refuge, but that means living in the Outskirts of an ancient city ruled by Avian mages, indifferent dwarves, and elves who’d prefer to see humans as their slaves. It’s worst for Eva’s people, Solhans, because they were the ones who summoned the Dead God into the world. No one wants her kind in Highcrowne and there are plenty who would be happy to see her brother dead. There are too many motives and not enough time to unravel them, because other people are dying … and Eva is fast running out of vacation time.

Please visit CLP Blog Tours for all the tour stops!

MY REVIEW

Her brother Viktor is the only one of her family Eva wishes to claim, so when he’s murdered and mutilated, she doggedly pursues every clue available, even when they take her to places she’d really rather not visit. She first hires a dwarf detective, but when he shows up dead, Eva decides to do the investigating herself, reluctantly accepting the help of her brother’s best friend Duane (aka “The Boss” aka “Adder”), whom she detests.

As a human and hated Solhan, she’s at the bottom of a food chain that includes Elves and Dwarves, to name a few of the races in her world. And since she refuses to learn how to use – let alone utilize – her natural magic because she believes it to be evil, Eva must rely on humans like Duane, and her few Dwarfish allies to assist with her investigation. When the answers to her questions about her brother’s murder are revealed, both Eva and the reader are stunned.

The world building is quite intricate and fascinating. Lorel Clayton draw on various fantasy tropes (Elves and Dwarves) and create a few of their own (i.e., the Dead God). A few things, such as dirigibles, which seem to have little value except to give the world a steam-punkish feel, were a bit distracting from the story as a whole. At first I had a difficult time getting into the story, but as I continued reading, I became drawn into the tale of a woman seeking vengeance for her murdered brother, while at the same time fighting her personal demons, which include her own Solhan nature.

As a reader, I think she fights too hard against the darker side of her nature, that she should come to some sort of accord with who she is, but perhaps that will happen as the series continues. Eva’s a bit of a damsel in distress who fights against being such, and for that I can admire her. Eva wasn’t a very sympathetic character for me, especially since she makes such a point of despising her roots but doesn’t hesitate to use them for her own ends when such use becomes expedient; I did, however, enjoy the book as a whole. There’s something here for almost everyone – fantasy, adventure, action, and a bit of romance. I’m interested to see where Eva’s further adventures take her.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5.

Author Bio

Lorel and Clayton were both born and raised in the Western United States and were teen sweethearts, brought together by a fierce love of books and hormones, of course. They traveled to Australia in 1997 and never left, finding the sunshine and beaches of “Oz” too irresistible. Lorel has a PhD in Pathology and once upon a time did cancer research before turning to marketing. Clayton has a Master’s Degree in Visual Art and prefers Expressionist painting in acrylics but has recently tackled digital painting, mostly because there’s a hyperactive three-year-old boy running around the house (their gorgeous son, in case you were wondering if that’s normal). Despite having been married for twenty-five years, they are still madly in love and still writing! As writing partners, they meld logic and creativity, as well as genres. Fantasy, science-fiction, mystery, horror, steampunk, thriller, romance, and the classics—they read them all, and if they can mix them they will.

Connect with Lorel Clayton

Website: http://www.lorelclayton.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lorelclayton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Lorel-Clayton/483574078377293

Where to Buy Books

http://www.lorelclayton.com/buy-books/

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Filed under Blog Tour, Book Review, Fantasy, Writing

by Wendy Garfinkle | March 10, 2015 · 10:07 am

Guest Post – Author February Grace

I’m pleased to host the very talented February Grace on my blog today, for the tour of her new book,

Upon a Time.

First, about the book:

Genre: Fantasy / Fairytale / Romance
A blacksmith’s apprentice who would be a knight. The heir to the throne, at death’s door. One woman who would save them both, if she could…

Charlotte was number sixty-four in the second group of young, hopeful maidens intended to meet the Prince at a grand ball in his honor. That introduction was not to be. She returned home to her tiny village—and her visions of a future limited by it—without any warning of the drastic turn her life was about to take. Soon she would be fighting against the odds to help keep a gravely wounded stranger alive; and waging war with her own heart, as he stirred feelings in her she’d never known.

When the stranger’s royal identity is revealed, Charlotte is faced with an entirely different battle: one to keep her family, village, and the injured Prince in her care all safe from a madman set on taking the throne by any means necessary.

Now, please welcome February Grace! 🙂

The Story Behind The Story

When I sat down and started writing UPON A TIME last year, I had no idea it would turn out just as it did, but I am so happy that it did.

I wanted, at first, just to put a spin on the traditional Cinderella story. Something different, swapping out the centuries-old heroine for another girl who would take the spotlight, without ever setting out, at first, to do it.

Then, the characters made themselves known to me, and I had the thought that the ‘retelling’ could be so much more than just that if I listened to them closely and wrote what was in my heart.

We live in a world that is so judgmental of people based upon their bodies: their outward appearance, and their physical strength and abilities. We glorify athletes and actors and models and worship them as the epitome of all that is desirable. We are taught from a young age that beauty equates to good in a person. Think about it; how often do you see a truly beautiful, truly evil villain? Usually if they are beautiful, in the end they are redeemable; and so not truly evil at all.

On the other side of the coin, those who are less than perfectly beautiful in these stories are often cast aside or worse, cast as weak and to be pitied, despised, or abused.

In this life there is so much more to people than just their outsides, and there is, or should be in my view, more to ‘fairy tales’ than just magic.

So I set about writing a story and when I was done I had something that was different: a Cinderella tale without a hint of supernatural magic (and this from a writer who previously wrote two novels all about the lives of modern fairy godparents!)

The “magic” in UPON A TIME exists in the hearts of its heroes, in the way that they selflessly come together to save a man’s life, not knowing at first the importance he had to all of theirs. The magic is there again when you see how that man takes to the new challenges that he must face, and rises above them.

I hope that this story will shine a new light on the people we imagine to be heroes, in stories and in everyday life.

If UPON A TIME makes just one person feel less self-conscious about their physical challenges or their appearance, then it will have been worth writing and going through the process of getting it out into the world. If it makes one person think about how they view others, it is worth it.

The true measure of a man—or woman—lies within their heart, not in the condition of their exterior shell; and the truest love and noblest souls can dwell within bodies that come in all shapes, sizes, and levels of physical ability.

February Grace is a writer, poet, and artist from Southeastern Michigan. She has created characters with clockwork hearts, told the romantic tale of modern fairy godparents, and has now put her own spin on a classic tale in UPON A TIME, her fourth novel published by Booktrope. She sings on key, plays by ear, and is more than mildly obsessed with colors, music, and meteor showers.