Weekend Reads: The Last Days of Lady Cordelia: A Beaumont and Beasley Story by Kyle Robert Shultz (Gretchen)

 Last weekend I went from football mom to soccer mom. My son traded his pads for a keeper jersey and filled in on a local travel team. I was so excited. Not only would we get to watch him play soccer again, we got to cheer with fellow soccer parents, who happen to be some of our closest friends. Oh, the tournament was in Tucson, so 70F in February. Sorry, not sorry for those of you in the Groundhog's shadow. I live in the mountainous, cold part of Arizona, so it was a treat for our family.

What is the best way to pass a car ride that includes hairpin curves through a canyon?

Listing to an audiobook of course!

The Last Days of Lady Cordelia by Kyle Robert Shultz is a great choice for a quick listen. The novella is a sequel to The Beast of Talesend and occurs between Book 2, The Tomb of the Sea Witch, and Book 3 The Stroke of Eleven.

What did I like about The Last Days of Lady Cordelia?
1. It's a gaslamp story set in the Roaring '20s
2. There's a good dose of humor
3. It's nice and twisty

Lady Cordelia has magic ability that accidentally turned private detective and magic skeptic, Nick Beaseley into a beast in The Beast of Talesend. Since then, the two along have been looking for a cure for Nick's "condition."
Cordelia finds herself dying in a hospital. But there's something not quite right about this world. Some things are better, and other things are worse, much worse. Like there is no magic in this world. It means that her father isn't a diabolical magician. It also means she and the fully human Nick have never met until they encounter each other in the hospital. The worst part is that in a world without magic, Cordelia doesn't have any powers, and she strongly suspects magic is what she needs to escape.
The story twists and turns with the reader not sure if her memories of a world with magic are the reality or if this unmagical world, that is suspiciously like our world with places named America and London is reality.
While the reader knows what "reality" is, the story is not predictable.
If you've read The Beast of Talesend and The Tomb of the Sea Witch, I recommend giving The Last Days of Lady Cordelia a read (or listen). And if you haven't, check out Lizzie's  January 3 Weekend Reads for reviews of Books 1 and 2 to get started on this magically humorous series.

Calling All Dragon Lovers (Julie)

It doesn't get much better in life than sitting down with the next book of your favorite series. For me, it's the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. Hands down my favorite. Fairies, magic, cool weapons, narrow escapes, epic battles, dragons, fun characters...the list goes on and on.  In fact, it's that series that got me started on writing my own.

The original series has five books. As with all your favorite stories, you hate to see them come to an end and you wish the author would continue them. Well, I got my wish. Brandon Mull has started a continuation series of Fablehaven called Dragonwatch.


I'm currently finishing up the second book in the Dragonwatch series: Wrath of the Dragon King. And it is full of dragons of all varieties.

Here's a little peak at what you'll find in Dragonwatch:
The dragons have been confined to the secret sanctuaries for magical creatures long enough. They want their freedom. They want revenge.

Several things struck me as I read this book:
-Mull has an incredible talent of weaving in information (characters/objects/etc...) that comes into play later on. It seems so effortless. But it also shows how much planning and outlining he must do to incorporate all those little things to make the story flow smoothly.
-Along the same lines, the world building is very creative. There are several fun weapons that show up in this book: a bag of gale force winds, a sword that can also shoot a bolt of lightening, and a bow that can shoot up to three hundred arrows at one time!
 -Even though this is the 7th book in the whole Fablehaven series, the ideas and action are fresh. One thing I'm struggling with on writing the second book in my series is making sure that I am coming up with fresh ideas. There were definitely some surprise scenes in this one!

So, if your looking for a fun, imaginative fantasy adventure then check out the series (links above).

To Catch a Magic Thief Release and Ebook Giveaway! (Lizzie)

It finally happened! I published my second full-length novel. The second was so much harder than the first. But now it's out! And isn't the cover beautiful? To celebrate I'm giving away an ebook copy of both my books--To Catch a Magic Thief and The Rose and the Wand. But first let me tell you a little bit about the books.

A spunky heroine, an unlikely hero, a cunning thief, and a race against a terrifying curse--everything a reader could want in a fantasy adventure! Marcel and Gabriella are both easy to root for as they overcome obstacles and their own misconceptions, and their growing friendship against the odds is executed to perfection. E.J. Kitchens has once again created a world of elegant manners and complex magic that will both intrigue and enchant her readers through the very last page.~Laurie Lucking, award-winning author of Common

I wrote The Rose and the Wand because I wanted to know the story of the enchantress in Beauty and the Beast. I intended it to be a standalone story. But then I fell in love with one of the villains. I couldn't leave him a bad guy, so I started a story for him (which I'm still working on...). In his story, I met so many wonderful characters and discovered such a fascinating world of magic that I ended up with a dozen or so story ideas. During a break in writing the aforementioned story, I decided to go back to Alexandria's family and tell the story of how her sister Gabriella--one of the Perfect Floraisons--fell in love with the plain, bumbling baron Alexandria disliked so. I was shocked and excited to discover quite a bit of mystery, danger, secret identities, and even a terrifying curse, all playing out under Alexandria's very nose. Here's a blurb about the story:

Falsely accused of being the notorious Magic Thief, the non-magic Marcel Ellsworth, Baron of Carrington, wants nothing more than to stay away from enchanters and sorcerers. Unfortunately, he soon discovers his mentor, the Duke of Henly, is head of a family of proud enchanters—and that they’re the next target of the Magic Thief, a servant of the sorcerers. With the threat of another accusation hanging over him, Marcel sets out to prove his innocence, especially to the duke’s beautiful daughter Gabriella, and to stop the Thief once and for all.

But Gabriella is hiding a deadly secret that complicates Marcel’s mission, and raises its stakes. For one thing is certain: the Magic Thief has come for more than magical treasures—he’s come for Gabriella.

Fun facts

1) I intended To Catch a Magic Thief to be a simple romance telling how Gabriella and the “bumbling baron” Marcel Ellsworth fell in love. However, I soon discovered I could not directly write a romance. So I threw in a legendary thief, magical items to steal, a curse, and other dangers, and found the story (and the romance thread) much easier to write and so much more fun. This inability to write "simple" probably explains why my planned 20,000 word romance novella ended up 121,000 word fantasy adventure novel.

2) Marcel Ellsworth wears a lift in one shoe to make his legs even so he can walk without limping. I loved Janette Oke's books growing up, and this struggle of Marcel's was inspired by one of her books. The heroine in her mail order bride book A Bride for Donnigan had a bad limp because of uneven leg lengths. One detestable character tried to take advantage of her because of that, saying no one would love her due to her limp. She wisely didn't give in to him, and she ended up married to a wonderful man who made a special shoe for her to correct her leg lengths. That part of the story more than any other stuck with me for some reason. Almost prophetically actually. I have lower back problems, and sometimes it causes my spine to curve wrongly, causing my hips to tilt and one leg to be shorter that the other. At one point, my back just wasn't getting better and my chiropractor suggested that I might need a lift for one shoe to ease the strain on back. Fortunately, things straightened out (literally), so I never needed the lift. But I have a better understanding of Marcel and other's struggles now.

3) There are a lot lines in the book that I find myself repeating or smiling about as I remember them. Here's one that doesn't require a knowledge of the story to understand. It also just happens to be one of my favorites.

Giveaway

But on the giveaway. Gabriella is hiding a curse. Now this curse is different from Alexandria's and much more sinister. I can't say too much without giving away too much. Suffice it to say this isn't the kind of curse a kiss can cure, or even an admission of love. It's a kind of half-curse actually, drawing Gabriella to itself to complete the curse, like Sleeping Beauty is drawn to the spinning wheel and her doom. But what is this doom and can Gabriella escape it? Well, you'll have to read the story to find out. :) It's available to purchase on amazon here.

So for the giveaway, I'd like to know, if you were cursed, what kind of a curse would you choose? Answer in the comments. Next Friday, I'll pick one commenter at random to receive a set of my ebooks.

Truth Teller (Julie)

I found Truth Teller on Amazon as a free download and decided to give it a try. This is what Amazon has to say:


How could a modern day girl like Charlotte ever envisage that magic really exists? Even with her own vivid imagination, the place for other realms belonged in a child’s fairy tale. Or so she thought, until she stumbled across a hidden curio shop and an even stranger shopkeeper. He gives her a gift that resembles an antique snow dome, but this is not an ordinary globe. The world Charlotte has always known disappears as she’s spirited away into a mystical land.

This is the beginning of a lifelong friendship that changes Charlotte’s life forever. Discovered by a young elf alone in the forest, she embarks on a journey in search of a group of travelling Entertainers. She encounters heart-stopping dangers and real life monsters, but a far greater threat shadows her every move. Even the strength and skill of her new found companions cannot protect her against a ruthless druid assassin. But in this realm, Charlotte is not the vulnerable little girl she thought she was.

Truth Teller was a short read about a 10-year old girl who is transported to a magical realm. K. Chambers did a good job making Charlotte a typical young girl who is still sweet but can be whinny too. She's not presented as your above average girl who is brave and can work wonders. She's normal. Which was nice. 

I did have a few issues with it though. Book one only gives a glimpse of the power that Charlotte possesses in the magic realm. I didn't get a good feel for why she was important to the story other than she was a young girl trying to get back home. She becomes the Truth Teller in that world, but after reading the book, I couldn't really tell you what that means. I also would have loved to see the magic world fleshed out more, but maybe that comes later in one of the other books. 

Overall, I'd give it a 3 stars out of 5.

Last thought. The author is British, and it was very interesting to read some of the British slang words Charlotte uses=)

Elizabeth's Legacy (Royal Institute of Magic) Julie

Several weeks ago, I stumbled across the Royal Institute of Magic series by Victor Kloss on Amazon. Book one was cheap so I decided to give it a try. Here's what Amazon has to say:

Like most normal people, Ben hadn't the faintest idea there was an Institute of Magic...

Two years after his parents’ sudden disappearance, Ben Greenwood stumbles upon a cryptic letter that could shed some light on their whereabouts. But before he can track them down, he’ll need to find the mysterious organization that sent the letter:

The Royal Institute of Magic.

To succeed, Ben will have to navigate a land filled with fantastic creatures and Spellshooters, where magic can be bought and sold, to unravel an ancient family secret that could hold the key to defeating an evil the Institute has been fighting for the last five hundred years. 

Elizabeth's Legacy, written by recently deceased English writer Victor Kloss, is very British. The Royal Institute of Magic was founded by Queen Elizabeth I who somehow discovered the magic realm of the Unseen Kingdoms. She kept this side of her life hidden from the British government, and even had a son (contrary to the history books) who stayed in the Unseen Kingdoms to become the head of the institute. During her time in the kingdoms, the Queen found a much deadlier foe than the Spanish-the Dark Elves. 

In book one, we find out some of the history of the Unseen Kingdoms and meet Ben, our modern day hero. The same threat Queen Elizabeth faced is back, and it's up to Ben and his family and friends to save the day. There are six books in the series that look to progress Ben's powers within the magic realm and the fight with the Dark Elf.

Thoughts:

Many reviewers mentioned this, and I have to agree. I couldn't help but notice several similarities between this story and Harry Potter. It bogged down the story a little for me, but the writer does include some fresh ideas. One of my favorites is the Dragonway where instead of a train, your cart is hooked to a dragon. It's like a roller coaster ride down a tunnel but faster!

Ben, the main character, lacks depth. He's a bit of a troublemaker and has the tendency to act first. However, his sidekick, Charlie, is an interesting character, my favorite actually. He is very smart, overweight, and showed more normal human reactions than Ben. Though likable, the characters aren't the main driving force of the book.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, and I'm curious to see how the story progresses. If you're looking for a quick fantasy read, check it out.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars