Mundie Moms

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Halloween Treat from Cassie - An Excerpt from The Clockwork Prince

Artwork by bhanesidhe.

Cassie tweeted this "ohnotheydidn't" teaser moments ago:

From mid-book:

Will looked at Jem. His eyes were bluer than blue, his cheeks flushed. He said, “Then you have wasted your time.”
Jem stared back at him. “G*d d*mn you,” he said, and hit Will across the face, sending him spinning. He didn’t lose his footing, but fetched up against the side of the carriage, his hand to his cheek. His mouth was bleeding. He looked at Jem with total astonishment.
“Get him into the carriage,” Jem said to Tessa, and turned and went back through the red door — to pay for whatever Will had taken, Tessa thought. Will was still staring after him.
“James?” he said.

Cassie mentioned that she will be doing monthly Clockwork Prince teasers "as of next year". We thank her for this treat!

Book Review- Queen In Exile


By Donna Hatch
Published by Walnut Springs Press
Released on March 23rd, 2010
Received by Walnut Spring Press
5 Stars- A Fantastic Read

Rumors of war hang over Princess Jeniah’s peaceful country of Arden, a land that shuns both magic and warfare. Following a lifelong dream, Jeniah forms a telepathic bond with a revered creature called a chayim, who is prophesied to save her kingdom. But when a Darborian knight comes upon Jeniah with her chayim, he sees only a vicious monster about to devour a maiden, and he slays the beast.

Devastated by the loss of her chayim, and fearing that her own magic is evil, Jeniah doubts her destiny. When an enemy invades Arden City, they slaughter the people, storm the castle, and execute the entire royal family except the princess. Rescued by the knight who slew her chayim, Jeniah is now heir to the throne of Arden and the only hope for freeing her people from tyranny.

On the run and hunted by enemy soldiers, Jeniah must place her life and the fate of her kingdom in the hands of this trained killer. Torn between embracing her destiny as queen of Arden, and her love for a mere knight, she must ultimately rely on her magic to save herself and her people from death and tyranny.

There are few books that completely sweep me away into their worlds, and leave me thinking about them days after I've read them. In some cases I have to fight the urge to not pick it back up and read it immediately after I've finished it. Donna Hatch's Queen In Exile did just that, as it held me captive the moment I opened the book and entered it's beautiful world.

Queen In Exile has everything I love in a good fantasy book, lore, action, romance, forbidden love, a strong heroine who emulates everything I love in a main character, along with a dash of humor, wit and suspense. Donna weaved together the perfect blend of romance, forbidden love, and the right amount of action, that I couldn't put the book down and happily lost sleep over reading it.

Not only is the setting beautiful and vivid, but the characters are lively. Jeniah is the beautiful Princess of Arden. She has a hidden magic ability to "blur", which allows her to stay in her form and blend in or look different to those looking at her. Gifted with a very rare bond with a mythical creature called a chayim, who will be a source of guidance and strength for her, Jeniah is destined for great things. I really love her character. She has quickly become a favorite heroine of mine and she's a character I came to admire for her strength and wit as she struggles and grows into a leader of her people.

Highly favored by his King and known for his strength, Kai Darkwood was sent to Jeniah's kingdom to help them in time of war. Upon arriving, this Knight in shining armer sees what he thought was Jeniah in distress, he kills the chayim not knowing it's rare ability. Now forced into exile as war hits her kingdom and consumes everything she's ever had, including her family, Jeniah now finds her life is in the hands of the dashing Knight Kai Darkwood. Jeniah discovers Kai isn't a ruthless killer, as she envisions all Knights to be and Kai, who's loyal and faithful to the customs of his land, finds the ability to love again, even though he knows a heir to the throne and a commoner can't marry. What I really love about Kai and Jeniah's relationship is how it developed. I felt it was real and not a forced or rushed one. They both learn to trust and rely on each other, and the end result is a breath taking love story that left me with a happy sigh at the end of their story.

I really liked the cast of characters that make up Kai and Jeniah's guards and friends. Kai's oldest friend Garhern brings the right amount of snark to the story. I really liked the scenes with Garhern, Jeniah and Kia, as I felt that I was being let in on the secrets both Kia and Garhern have closely guarded for years. These two know how to dish it out to each other, and I couldn't help with laugh out loud with their scenes. The action, the characters, the twists and a possible secondary love interest made Queen In Exile come alive for me. If you're looking to get swept away in a unforgettable love story, full of adventure, suspense and sprinkled with a few hot boys with swords, I highly recommend picking up this book!

Waiting on Wednesday- Always A Witch

By Carolyn MacCullough
Published by Clarion Books
To Be Released on August 1st, 2011

The adventures of Tam and Gabriel continue with more time travel, Talents, spy work, and of course, the evil Knights. Since the gripping conclusion of Once A Witch, Tamsin Greene has been haunted by her grandmother's prophecy that she will soon be forced to make a crucial decision—one so terrible that it could harm her family forever. When she discovers that her enemy, Alistair Knight, went back in time to Victorian-era New York in order to destroy her family, Tamsin is forced to follow him into the past. Stranded all alone in the nineteenth century, Tamsin soon finds herself disguised as a lady's maid in the terrifying mansion of the evil Knight family, avoiding the watchful eye of the vicious matron, La Spider, and fending off the advances of Liam Knight. As time runs out, both families square off in a thrilling display of magic. And to her horror, Tamsin finally understands the nature of her fateful choice.

We are really looking forward to this sequel, as we really enjoyed reading Once A Witch. What book are you waiting on?

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

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