Archive for the ‘Fantasy’ Category

Welcome to My Monday Minis where I share short reviews about books I’ve read.

Today I’m sharing a book from one of my favorite series!

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Fire Devil

Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper #11

by J.L. Bryan

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Genre: Horror / YA / Paranormal

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My Review

I’ve been loving this series and the character’s from the very first book. This final showdown was a long time coming and I was excited and a bit sad to read it.

So, I settled in, prepared to read about half the book and then go to sleep. Ha! I read this, no, devoured this, in one sitting. There’s very little let up in action when it begins and the scary parts were very scary. I feared for the lives of many of these character’s. Ellie’s nemesis is frightening and would do anything to tear her down, before then destroying her.

Talk about edge of your seat reading and hair raising scenes. It’s a race across the country and against time and the suspense over what was coming what kept me up til the wee hours, having to know. Wish I could tell you how it ended.

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Synopsis

Ellie’s pursuit of a possessed friend and her own worst enemy takes her across the United States into forgotten corners of the countryside through haunted hotels, ghost towns, and strange highways, and toward the site of a horrific fire haunted by hundreds of spirits.

Together with her team, plus help from an eccentric exorcist from Texas, she prepares for the fight of her life, a fight destined since her own childhood.

Ellie’s past and present collide in a final confrontation that will give her a chance to finally be rid of her most dangerous personal demon—if he doesn’t kill Ellie first, along with the people she cares about the most.

Amazon

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

Stranger Rituals Banner

Stranger Rituals
by Kali Rose Schmidt
Publication date: July 9th 2019
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult

Stranger Rituals cover

Synopsis

A fighter with a venomous grudge.
A monster with an immortal curse.
A girl with a terrible gift.

All three out for blood in a land torn apart by harsh gods and holy wars. Each entwined with the other, on their own quests for vengeance, and yet held together by strange links to sinister pasts. As their fates unravel, a dangerous romance blooms, and violent darkness beckons.

At turns both darkly humorous and utterly morbid, STRANGER RITUALS is the startling first novel in Kali Rose Schmidt’s dark new series.

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / iBooks
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Author Kali Rose Schmidt

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Kali Rose Schmidt is an author, mother, and villain lover. She likes bloody tales of monsters, yoga with the lights off, and anything that goes bump in the night.
Author links: Website / Facebook / Instagram

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

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Rose
by Rami Ungar
Genre: Fantasy-Horror
 
Rose Taggert awakens in a greenhouse with no clear memory of the
past two years and, to her horror, finds her body transformed into an
unrecognizable form.
Paris Kuyper has convinced Rose that they are lovers and as Paris
could not bear for her to die, he has used an ancient and dark magic
to save her from certain death.
But the dark magic Paris has used comes at a price. A price which a
terrible demon is determined to extract from Rose.
As Rose struggles to understand what is happening to her, she must
navigate Paris’s lies and secrets; secrets that Paris will
do 
anything to protect.
 
 
Rami Ungar knew he wanted to be a writer from the age of five, when he
first became exposed to the world of Harry Potter and
wanted to create imaginative worlds like Harry’s. As a tween, he
fell in love with the works of Anne Rice and Stephen King and, as he
was getting too old to sneak up on people and shout “Boo!’ (not
that that ever stopped him), he decided to merge his two loves and
become a horror writer.
Today, Rami lives and writes in Columbus, Ohio. He’s self-published three
novels and one collection of short stories, and his stories have
appeared in other publications here and there. Rose, his first novel
with Castrum Press, released June 21st, 2019.
When he’s not writing your nightmares or coming up with those, he’s
enjoying anything from the latest horror novel or movie to anime and
manga to ballet, collecting anything that catches his fancy, and
giving you the impression he may not be entirely human.
 
 
 
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

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If you’re like me, you have a pile of books beckoning to you from your lists. Carole hosts this fun feature where you can share some of those older books and perhaps nudge you to finally read them. If you want to join in on the fun, head over to Carole’s Random Life In Books and leave a link to your post.
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The Game Warden Of Black Swamp

The Game Warden Chronicles #1

  by Quentin Wallace

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Genre: Horror / Fantasy

Synopsis

The Black Swamp. Some say it’s haunted. Others say it’s the gateway to Hell. Only a few have ever seen it and survived. For hundreds of years, the denizens of the swamp have preyed upon the unsuspecting.

Enter former Navy SEAL Shade Channing, who, in a strange twist of fate, finds himself employed as the game warden of the infamous Black Swamp. Instead of managing wildlife, Shade finds himself fighting a horde of creatures straight out of mankind’s darkest nightmares. Mentored by fellow warden, Native American Shaman Waya Firehat, Shade must learn how to battle them all.

When Waya’s daughter is taken hostage by bank robbers that escape into the swamp, Shade and Waya find themselves in a race against time-and the monsters of the swamp-to find her.

Amazon

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I added this book back in February of 2015 and I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet. Going to fix that soon!

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

 
I am so excited that TAKEN BY THE PHANTOM by Isabella King is available now and that I get to share the news!
If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful book by Author Isabella King, be sure to check out all the details below.
This blitz also includes a giveaway for a $10 Amazon Gift Card and also this framable art of Phantom of the Opera, International, courtesy of Tempest Books and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.
 

 TAKEN BY THE PHANTOM 

(The Phantom of the Academy, #1)

Author: Isabella King
Pub. Date: May 14, 2019
Publisher: Tempest Books
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 200
Find it: GoodreadsAmazon
READ FOR FREE ON KU!

Synopsis

I’ve never felt at home at Juilliard. My stagefright always makes me choke when I’m under the spotlight, something my classmates enjoy watching. But when I’m dragged into a new world—where singing is more than a talent, it’s magic—I can’t hide my voice anymore. This new power is tempting, but terrifying forces swirl around the kingdom of Cantus.

Missing girls, rivals at my new academy, Rebels, demons slaying people in the street—and it all leads back to him.

The mysterious, powerful Phantom, who lurks beneath the school and demands he be my teacher—demands which soon grow into something deeper, darker. But if I want to survive this place, or have any hope of going home, I may have no choice but to give in to him… and all he desires.

Author’s Note: Taken by the Phantom is the first book in a Magic Academy Romance series that will set your heart–and other parts of you–on fire.

 
 
Excerpt:
Phantom.

And for once, I cannot help myself.

I am scarcely more than shadow, not nearly as full in form as she or Suzanna. Perhaps she will not notice or name the sensation of touch. Perhaps she will believe it a cast of the magic. Perhaps, perhaps, she will know it is me.

Just her hair. A touch. It is all I need.

I lean close to her, alight my fingertips upon her arms. I am not fully man, but half in shadow, and yet I can feel the rain soaked into the cloth, the heat of her skin just beneath. She inhales sharply when I touch her, lips parting further, eyelids fluttering. Shh, I think. A moment more. One touch.

She grants me my wish, her eyes remaining shut, and leans back ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly, into me. I draw nearer still, savoring the ripple of her hair, stirred by my breath. I am close enough I could press my lips to the vital curve of her neck, close enough I could slide my hands over her breasts, pull her flush against me, test the fit of her curves against mine.

What pleasure is there in that?

She arched herself against me when we met in the Hall of Mirrors. She consumed her own fear like the snake’s tail and came out stronger for it. Yet now her eyes remain closed.

I suddenly want to scream at her to open them. To look at me, to touch me, to want me. And yet she does not. She is little more than silk, supple against me, shaped by my contours. I press myself closer, my body against hers, and brush my fingers along the length of her arms.

Still she remains in the rhapsody of Suzanna’s closed-eye song, and still the darkness swells between the light in heady thrusts.

But Krissy does not sober. She rests her hands in my palms, her thin fingers like porcelain, dainty and fine, mine in black leather, monstrous beside them. With me beside her, she is a sun in eclipse, half-swallowed by darkness.

Her breathing has deepened; it matches mine, step for step. We are in tandem as I press myself to her, the curves of her hips, fuller in contact than in sight. That hunger inside of me stirs once more. Against the swell of her body, I harden and smother the alien urge to gasp.

Then her fingers tighten on mine, and at once there is silence.

 
 
About Isabella:


By day, Isabella King is just another small-town gal hiding behind her Mac.But by night she’s a fire-breathing, sword-wielding, ass-kicking heroine—just like the ones in her books. She’s determined to better the world, with her sword or with her pen, one adventurous love story at a time.

 
 
Giveaway Details:
 
1 winner will win a $10 Amazon Gift Card and also this framable art of Phantom of the Opera, INTERNATIONAL.
 

 

 

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

 

Book Title: The High Court by Chris Ledbetter
Category: YA Fiction, 290 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Month 9 Books
Release date: October 16, 2018
Tour dates: April 1 to 30, 2019
Content Rating: PG (some profanity (damn, ass), no f-bombs, some kissing, no sex scenes, some violence, nothing gory or graphic)

My Review

I sure had fun with the first book in the series and was curious what would happen as the story continues.

This starts up right where it left off. Zeus returns to school for the next term. I thought the adventures and entanglements were fast and furious before and they were just as exciting this time around. Peer competition is strong, danger once again rears it’s ugly head, and when the trials begin the story really takes off. Anything can and does happen, and when the going gets tough, these young gods join forces and face the challenges together.

I’m all for character development and the author does a good job of giving us flawed characters that he allows to stumble and fall, pick themselves back up, and grow from experience. With them being mythical beings, that just adds to the excitement.

I got answers to some questions from the first book and new ones were added, keeping my interest piqued for where things were headed next. I’ll be waiting for the next chapter in these young god’s lives.

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Synopsis

High atop Mount Olympus, dawn breaks on a new academic term. Normalcy has returned to campus following a harrowing expedition into The Underworld to rescue kidnapped students by Zeus and his fellow Olympians. Now, as they prepare to testify in The High Court, Hyperion will be tried for the attack on Crete and death of Anytos. Kronos will stand trial for the murder of Mount Olympus Prep’s Headmaster Ouranos.

As the trials draw near, Mount Olympus Prep students and faculty are besieged repeatedly by a race of gargantuan stone and earth giants. Under heavy assault, the Olympians are forced to flee to the volcanic island of Limnos to regroup. Meanwhile, a toxic poison Zeus has carried with him since a prior fight with a dragoness, creeps toward his brain.

In a race against time and beasts, Zeus and his friends must find a way to survive not only the toxin ravaging Zeus’ body, but also the giants who grow stronger after every attack, and somehow make it to the The High Court alive.

To read reviews, please visit Chris Ledbetter’s page of iRead Book Tours.

 

Buy the Book:
 
Watch the trailer:
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Meet the Author:

 

 

 

Chris Ledbetter is an award-winning author of short fiction and novels for young adults. “Jason’s Quest,” a short story retelling of the Jason and Medea Greek myth was published in the anthology, Greek Myths Revisited. His first full-length novel, Drawn earned him two awards, Library of Clean Reads Best YA 2015 and Evernight Publishing Readers’ Choice Award Best YA 2015, as well as a USA TODAY “Must Read” recommendation. His second novel, Inked, concludes that duology. The Sky Throne is his newest young adult series. It includes, thus far, The Sky Throne and The High Court.

He’s a proud member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and a strong supporter of the Need for Diverse Books. He now writes and lives in Wilmington, NC with his family, including three cats
.Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram
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Enter the Giveaway!
Ends May 7, 2019
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

Book Title: The Sky Throne by Chris Ledbetter
Category: YA Fiction, 300 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Month 9 Books
Release date: April 18, 2017
Content Rating: PG + M (No f-words but there may be some mild profanity, and mild religious expletives such as “damn”, “hell” and “Oh God!”, some depictions of violence. No drug use or underage drinking. Some semi-mature themes – suggestion of sexual misconduct by certain characters, but not the actual performing of it.)

My Review

I’ve often enjoyed reading books about Greek mythology, whether fiction or non. When I came across The Sky Throne, the idea of a coming of age story about Zeus sounded like fun.

The author ‘s knowledge and research were very apparent and helped refresh my rusty memory on key players and secondary ones, while also spinning his own tales, changing things up and making this even more fun.

There’s some romance. Zeus really does like the ladies. At one point I feared a love triangle. Not a fan of though so, luckily, it didn’t really play that way through the whole book.

And being a coming of age story, the characters felt younger, reacted appropriately for youth who believed they were going to live forever, and they got into all sorts of mischief. I liked learning about how they were before they became adults, all powerful and arrogant. Everyone was a kid once.

I’m not going to go into details here as the book is a long one, but the author doesn’t bog you down with too much detail. I’ll conclude saying it was fun. Loads of fun.

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Synopsis

Duality dwells at every turn, and an adolescent Zeus will learn that all too well when Hyperion attacks his family on Crete.

When the dust settles, his mother is unconscious and his best friend left for dead.

Stacking epic insult upon fatal injury, Zeus discovers the woman who raised him is not his biological mother. But to ensure her safety while she recovers, a heavy-hearted Zeus leaves her behind to seek answers at Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia.

Zeus embarks on a quest to discover who ordered the attack on his home, avenge the death of his friend, and find his birth mother. When some of his new schoolmates vanish, Zeus’s quest is turned upside down, and the only way to make things right is to access the power of The Sky Throne, confront a most dangerous enemy, and take his life back.

On his way to becoming king of the Greek gods, Zeus will learn to seize power, neutralize his enemies, and fall in love.

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Meet the Author:

 

 

 

Chris Ledbetter is an award-winning author of short fiction and novels for young adults. “Jason’s Quest,” a short story retelling of the Jason and Medea Greek myth was published in the anthology, Greek Myths Revisited. His first full-length novel, Drawn earned him two awards, Library of Clean Reads Best YA 2015 and Evernight Publishing Readers’ Choice Award Best YA 2015, as well as a USA TODAY “Must Read” recommendation. His second novel, Inked, concludes that duology. The Sky Throne is his newest young adult series. It includes, thus far, The Sky Throne and The High Court.

He’s a proud member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and a strong supporter of the Need for Diverse Books. He now writes and lives in Wilmington, NC with his family, including three cats.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram
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Enter the Giveaway!
Ends May 7, 2019
.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

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The Lioness of Egypt
The Shifters of Africa Book 1
by Leigh Anderson & Alice Wilde
Genre: RH Historical Fantasy Romance
 
A murdered pharaoh. An evil sorceress. And three lion shifter kings.
Sanura would do whatever it took to be the next queen of Egypt – even if
it meant marrying her younger half-brother and waging war on all of
Africa. But when the pharaoh is murdered and Sanura blamed for the
crime, she barely escapes the city with her life.
With nothing and no one to help her, Sanura finds herself at the mercy of
a lion shifter African king. One of Egypt’s sworn enemies. A man
who would be better off with her dead.
And he’s not the only lion king she needs to worry about.
THE LIONESS OF EGYPT is the first full-length reverse harem historical
fantasy book in the SHIFTERS OF AFRICA trilogy.
 
 
 
The Pride of Egypt
The Shifters of Africa Book 2
 
An ancient prophecy. A blood feud. And a heart-wrenching betrayal.
Sanura will do whatever she must to return to Egypt, save her brother, and
become queen. But three lion shifter kings stand in her way. She can
only succeed with an army at her back – but the men she needs can’t
stand the sight of one another.
One by one, Sanura must convince the lion kings to help her. And she just
might lose her heart in the process…
 
 
The Queen of Egypt
The Shifters of Africa Book 3
 
A blood pact. A heart torn. And an army of mummies.
Sanura and her lion kings are bound for Egypt to help her retake what she
has lost. But old feuds run deep. Sanura must find a way to balance
the delicate bond she has with each king before she loses all of them
– and the kingdom she would die for.
In Sanura’s absence, the power of the sorceress Keket has only grown.
As has her control over all the people of Egypt – those both above
and below the sand.
An epic battle awaits – one Sanura is not sure she can win…
 
 
Leigh Anderson loves all things Gothic and paranormal. She wrote her
master’s thesis on vampire imagery in Gothic novels and met her
husband while assuming the role of a vampire online. She currently
teaches writing at several universities and has a rather impressive
collection of tiny hats. She lives in a small town in the mountains
where she raises bearded dragons and gives them wings for Halloween.
She is currently working on too many writing projects, and yet not enough.
 
 
Alice Wilde grew up with a love of reading and spent her teens writing
and submitting her essays as fantasy stories, much to the annoyance,
but often high marks, of her teachers. Now, she spends much of her
days writing historical fantasy paranormal romances (filled with
gorgeous men and, of course, magic) that she hopes will spark a flame
in readers as much as they do in herself.
Alice is currently living with her cat in a bustling city she never sees
much of, as she’s too busy dreaming up, writing down, and living in
her next paranormal RH romance, though she generally finds enough
time for a real-life date or two… We all need a bit of inspiration
now and again, right?
 
 
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!
 
 
 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

.
If you’re like me, you have a pile of books beckoning to you from your lists. Carole hosts this fun feature where you can share some of those older books and perhaps nudge you to finally read them. If you want to join in on the fun, head over to Carole’s Random Life In Books and leave a link to your post.
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Mechanica

Book One

  by Betsy Cornwell

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Genre:  Retelling / Steampunk

Synopsis

Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home.

But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.

Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince . . . but realizes she doesn’t want a fairy tale happy ending after all.

Amazon / B&N

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I’ve had this on my shelf since August 2014. I have the hardcover copy. It got buried behind some other books and I just found it.

The second book is now available and has another stunning cover.

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Have you read these yet? What do you think of the covers?

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

mother of banner

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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Mother Of The Chosen organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

This series sounds thrilling and the cover art for each book is gorgeous.

Janeal Falor will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter.

And be sure to click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Mother Of The Chosen

by Janeal Taylor

Synopsis

Adriella is pregnant with the child she’s always wanted.

She can’t wait to share the joy with her husband. Prophecy has other plans. The countryside is a ablaze with rumors of a soon-to-be-born child who will destroy the High King.

A royal decree demands the death of any child who could threaten the throne, including Adriella’s unborn baby. Worse, her husband is one of the soldier’s enlisted to carry out the king’s demands.

Now Adriella must keep her secret and flee, rather than celebrate with her spouse.

With the High King’s men searching for anyone who defies him, the country is full of grieving parents, and the streets run red with the blood of the innocents. Adriella knows her chances of survival are slim, but she’ll sacrifice everything to stay one step ahead of the law.

If she can’t evade capture, she’ll lose the one thing more precious to her than her own life—her child.

Book One of her Mother of the Chosen series.

 Enjoy this peek inside:

Candui glanced around before she leaned close and whispered, “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

The blood rushed from my head.

“You’re so pale,” she said. “It’s true, isn’t it? You’re going to have a baby. You and Richart have been trying for so long…”

“N—no. It’s such shocking news. That’s all.” She couldn’t know, not if I was to protect the life of my child.

Then another thought hit me. Richart, my husband, worked for the zasin. The high king’s army. He was well-ranked, and even better regarded, especially for someone only twenty-eight years old. Our town was mostly controlled by him. He would be the first person to turn me in. My baby would die.

About Author Janeal Falor

Janeal Falor lives in Utah with her husband and three children. She loves both reading and writing fantasy–with romance, always romance. In her non-writing time she teaches her kids to make silly faces, cooks whatever strikes her fancy, and attempts to cultivate a garden even when half the things she plants die. When it’s time for a break she can be found taking a scenic drive with her family, dating her husband, or drinking hot chocolate.

Website / Facebook / Twitter

Purchase Links: Amazon / B&N / Apple / Google Play

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.