Tag: YA

In the world of Erez, three kingdoms share a tentative peace. In the far west, Princess Isemay yearns for much more than frilly dresses and etiquette classes. While her twin sister, Alena, prepares for life as a monarch in a neighboring kingdom, Isemay roams the woods with her loyal cheetah, hunting dagger strapped to her belt. It’s only when two surprising visitors arrive at the castle that Isemay must come to terms with her royal future – and a secret magical heritage. Now engaged to the king of the east, Isemay prepares for a position she never wanted.

After saying good-bye to all that she loves, Princess Alena travels north in trepidation – fully prepared to marry a spoiled prince she does not desire and usurp the throne from his insane father who does not deserve it. But when tragedy strikes at her wedding ceremony and she is wrongfully imprisoned, she can only hope that her hurried plea for help will reach her father in time.

Frantic to save her sister – and against the wishes of her betrothed – Isemay joins the army sent to free Alena. A mysterious encounter with a dragon in disguise leaves her with a warning that her life is in danger – but can it save her from the battle to come?

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Stephanie M. Allen graduated from California Baptist University in 2009 with a B.A. in English and a desire to share her imaginative stories with the world. She loves to write fantasy, particularly centered around young adults. Aside from writing, Stephanie loves to read, ride horses, and sing. She currently lives in Wyoming with her husband and two children.

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My thoughts:

The story of three kingdoms entwined through shared beliefs and now Royal marriages, shattered by evil and madness, dragging innocent lives into ancient feuds between powerful creatures is complex and creative, there is so much hinted at, a whole ancient war that this is just the latest stage of.

The characters are well drawn and distinctive and realistic. There’s humour and adventure, magic and myth.

The ending is left open for more adventures and more of the mythology to be revealed.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

Kings become outcasts and lovers become foes in the thrilling sequel to Margaret Owen’s The Merciful Crow.

As the new chieftain of the Crows, Fie knows better than to expect a royal to keep his word. Still she’s hopeful that Prince Jasimir will fulfill his oath to protect her fellow Crows. But then black smoke fills the sky, signaling the death of King Surimir and the beginning of Queen Rhusana’s merciless bid for the throne.

With the witch queen using the deadly plague to unite the nation of Sabor against Crows—and add numbers to her monstrous army—Fie and her band are forced to go into hiding, leaving the country to be ravaged by the plague. However, they’re all running out of time before the Crows starve in exile and Sabor is lost forever.

A desperate Fie calls on old allies to help take Rhusana down from within her own walls. But inside the royal palace, the only difference between a conqueror and a thief is an army. To survive, Fie must unravel not only Rhusana’s plot, but ancient secrets of the Crows—secrets that could save her people, or set the world ablaze.

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Born and raised at the end of the Oregon Trail, Margaret Owen first encountered an author in the wild in fourth grade. Roughly twenty seconds later, she decided she too would be an author, the first of many well-thought-out life decisions.

The career plan shifted frequently as Margaret spent her childhood haunting the halls of Powell’s Books. After earning her degree in Japanese, her love of espresso called her north to Seattle, where she worked in everything from thrift stores to presidential campaigns. The common thread between every job can be summed up as: lessons were learned.

Fortunately, it turned out that fourth-grade Margaret was onto something. She now spends her days wrestling disgruntled characters onto the page, and negotiating a long-term hostage situation with her two monstrous cats. (There is surprisingly little difference between the two.) In her free time, she enjoys exploring ill-advised travel destinations, and raising money for social justice nonprofits through her illustrations.

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My thoughts: I loved The Merciful Crow so I was really excited to read this, and I was not disappointed.From the get go, and the King’s death I just knew things were not going as Fie hoped.Instead of making things better for the Crows, things get worse, and worse and something has to give. So it’s off to the palace to unravel a conspiracy, stop an evil queen and save the day.There’s so much action, some romance and lots and lots of cats. Was this written just for me? Because the more cats, the better and any book with cats is therefore even higher in my estimation. Barf is still the best one though.I am immensely satisfied with the ending but I will need a book of what the Crows did next, or just The Adventures of Barf, Best of Cats.

Click the banner to follow the tour!*I was kindly gifted a copy of the book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

Avery Montgomery doesn’t even know if she wants a soul mate. As a member of the Hellenicus—a race founded in antiquity and descended directly from the Greek gods—Avery’s attending her first Gathering where she’ll gain the ability to entwine her thoughts with her destined soul mate and be tied to them forever.

But all is not as it seems at the Royal Court. There are severe and strange looks from the elders, whisperings from the ancient Dodona tree, and encounters with spirits who seem to know Avery better than she knows herself.

Throughout these whirlwind events at Court, Avery finds herself torn between her feelings for the wise and protective Vladimir and the passionate, fun-loving Adrian.

Unwilling to surrender her independence or to betray her heart, Avery must decide once and for all if she’ll give in to her desires and risk the wrath of the Gods.

Because who are you if your destiny lies with another person?

About the Author

A.J. Rosen is a twenty-three-year-old Indonesian Wattpad Ambassador who splits her time between full-time school, three part-time jobs, and writing YA fantasy.

She’s the founder of online movements like #ilovemyflaws (which supports victims of bullying) and #CareforCancer (which supports the loved ones of those battling cancer).

She currently lives and studies in Singapore. Entwined is her first novel.

My thoughts:

This was a fun Royal romp, inspired by Greek mythology and the Platonic myth of soul mates.

The Hellenicus are descended from the Greek gods and have a caste system, which feels a bit odd, but allows the story to unfold.

Avery is attending her first Gathering, which aims to unite the soul mates separated by the wrath of Zeus (according to Plato). Except Avery’s not keen on this.

I found the location a bit random – a small town in Alaska, instead of a Greek island retreat, which would have been my choice, but I supposed it’s remote enough that locals might not question all these people rocking up for a few weeks.

It was certainly a interesting and entertaining read, which developed nicely and had some great characters, like Vlad and Adrian. I also loved Avery’s sweet best friend Kris.

The next in the series is being written by a different author so it will interesting to see how someone else develops and adds to the narrative.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.