Spotlight & Excerpt: A Prophecy of Wings + Giveaway

a propecy of wings

A Prophecy of Wings

by Jane McGarry
Genre: YA Fantasy/Retelling
Publisher: JM Books
Date of Publication:  May 18, 2021
ISBN ebook: 978-1-7365884-0-6 
ISBN print: 978-1-7365884-1-3
ASIN: B093Y21CCZ
Number of pages: 382 
Word Count: 71,000
Cover Artist: Graphics by Mulan Jiang

 

Two Fairies: One Destiny 
 
A betrayal, a prophecy, a kingdom in the balance. Sixteen years ago the evil Dahlia overthrew the kingdom of Roshall Grove, the heart of the Fairy World. A prophecy foreseen by Edwina, a powerful enchantress, remains the only hope to topple her iron-fisted rule. Now, Lina, a simple peasant girl, learns her future is linked to this prophecy. Edwina brings Lina to the Fairy World to fulfill her destin
—conquering Queen Dahlia. 
 
Separated from the enchantress by agents of the dark queen, Lina begins a perilous journey to join the Resistors, who await her return to mount their attack. Thrust into this strange world, Lina must navigate relations with a host of different fairies and animals, never knowing who seeks to help or to thwart her. Finally reunited with the Resistors, Lina must find the strength to lead her people and fulfill the prophecy. Meanwhile, Dahlia prepares for the battle, which will ultimately decide the survival of her reign, while reflecting on the path that brought her and her foe to this moment of reckoning. 
 
A fairy tale with an ending twist, A Prophecy of Wings is loosely based on Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen and examines the ideas of predestined fates and the subsequent, sometimes unforeseen, consequences. 
 

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Excerpt – Prologue:

The pains came more frequently now. Even with the help of Edwina, it was a struggle to run. In the cramped darkness of the tunnel, she tried to maintain her footing, an impossible task with the burgeoning weight of her belly. Time was of the essence. They must not be caught, but the spasms were nearly unbearable.

“I can’t go on,” she gasped, a sharp pang taking her breath away.

“Just a little bit further, Your Highness,” the enchantress coaxed.

Every step down the seemingly endless passageway was sheer torment. Queen Ivy willed herself to continue. She was the last hope for her people, and she must not fail.

Edwina stopped so abruptly; the queen stumbled into her back.
The enchantress pulled the weakened monarch through a narrow gap in the wall.
They crossed the threshold of a doorway into the depths underneath the forest.
A tangle of tree roots filled the cavern, their sinuous forms dwarfing the
fairies. A robust scent infused the air with bark, stone, and earth.

Queen Ivy, a Volant used to the skies, reeled at the unfamiliar smells and fell to her knees.

The enchantress, more experienced with Groundling habitats, remained unaffected and surveyed the area. She assisted the queen in a nook hidden between the sides of two large tree roots, which soared overhead out of sight to meet the tree’s trunk somewhere way above.

“Wait here,” she instructed, a moot directive to her incapacitated companion.

While Edwina disappeared the way they came, Ivy settled down her awkward frame. How had it come to this? The past few months had turned her world upside down. Having one’s sister hunt you like prey was horrifying enough, but targeting her baby for death rocked her to her very core.
Instinctively, her hand flew to her stomach, the muscles again tightening with the tremors of labor.

Her friend returned, hair disheveled, wings drooping, and announced, “As far as I can tell, we may have lost them in the maze of tunnels. I have used cloaking measures along the way and put a spell on the door to keep others out. But your sister’s powers are strong. If she were to find us…”

“She will find us. It is only a matter of time,” the queen declared. Dahlia learned enough in dark magic to track even a covered trail.

“Well, it is time for this baby, so here must do.”
Queen Ivy sighed, resigned to the situation. When she discovered she was with child all those months ago, she had not envisioned giving birth in a dark hole underground. The enchantress spread a blanket on the earth for the queen to lie down. She checked the progress of the baby and nodded.  

“It is time. You need to push.”

Above all, the baby must survive. Otherwise, the prophecy would remain unfulfilled, and the kingdom would never be restored. The monarch braced herself against one sturdy root; the surface felt surprisingly warm and smooth. Under the calm direction of her lifelong friend, she delivered the child.

Edwina laid the baby girl into her arms. Ivy admired the feathery blond hair and the round little nose. Tears welled in her eyes at the sheer perfection of the infant. The enchantress finished tending to the mother and turned her attention to the newborn. After a quick examination, she ripped a length of fabric off Ivy’s skirt to wrap her. “You could not have asked for a healthier daughter. Now, what shall her name be?”

“Her name?” the queen pondered. “I’ve not thought of one. All I have thought of is her safety.”

Before Edwina responded, they heard it—the rattle of armor.
Soldier’s footsteps approached, their faint clinking unmistakable. Both women froze in terror.

“She has found us,” Ivy whispered in dread, her arms tightening around the baby.

“Perhaps not. Perhaps it is King Theros on his way to tell us he defeated Dahlia.”

The footsteps grew louder.

“No,” the queen affirmed. “It is my sister. I feel her presence. You must take the baby to the other world and keep her safe until the time is right. Dahlia cannot follow you there.”

The soldier’s armor rang loudly in their ears. They came to a halt right outside the doorway.

“Come then,” the enchantress conceded, holding out a hand to help her friend rise.

“No. I must stay and try to defeat Dahlia. Take her.” She thrust the infant into Edwina’s arms. “Go now.”

Loud hammering filled the air with the enemy’s attempt to break the door down.

“But My Queen, she will show you no mercy. I will not leave you here to die.”

Queen Ivy leaned forward and placed her hands on her friend’s, which cradled the child. She slipped the crystal-bound amulet inside the swaddling. “Yes, Edwina, you must. I command it. Take her now and keep her safe.”

The enchantress desperately tried to think of another way.
Axes and spears crashed upon the door, weakening her spell with every stroke.
Sadly, she stepped back and conjured the words to transport her between the worlds, a power only she possessed in the entire kingdom.  

The new mother watched the toss of the seeds, and Edwina’s frantically whispered spell. A cloud of dust encircled her friend and her baby.
Too weak to even stand, she blinked through her tears. Just before the two vanished, she said, “Lina. I want her to be named Lina.”

Edwina nodded, the final wish heard, and with a poof, they were gone.

The door finally gave way, a multitude of soldiers pouring in, their armor dark as night. Queen Ivy turned to see her sister step through the broken threshold. Dahlia scrutinized the scene, the queen’s deflated belly and the cloud of dust on the ground. Her eyes narrowed in malice. The baby was beyond her reach—for now. She met Queen Ivy’s eyes and despised the look of triumph in them.

“Kill her,” Dahlia ordered.

The queen whispered one last anguished prayer for her daughter before an arrow pierced her heart.


About the Author:

 
Reading was always a big part of Jane’s life. Creating her own stories developed out of this love. To date she has published the Not Every Girl trilogy, a YA Fantasy Adventure. Her latest novel, A Prophecy of Wings, is a retelling of the classic fairy tale, Thumbelina. She lives in New Jersey with my husband, two sons and two extremely spoiled cats. When she is not running around with her family or writing, she can be found curled up with a good book and said cats. 
 

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Book Blitz & Excerpt: Pride and Paranormal + Giveaway

Pride And Paranormal

Pride and Paranormal
by Adrienne Blake
Published by: City Owl Press
Publication date: June 1st 2021
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

What do love potions and banshee karaoke have to do with one of the greatest enemies-to-lovers’ tales of all time? Everything.

Izzy is the only responsible witch in her poor family of misfits and as such, she has duties to uphold. But a hot, mysterious, and infuriating warlock is determined to get in the way.

When the rich and handsome Fitz Darcy blows into town, sparks fly.

The wrong kind…

He has earned her ire as much as her eye with his constant harsh words and acts, but what will happen when a bit of magic goes awry, and Izzy needs the help of this powerful man she claims to hate?

Will Izzy’s pride get in the way of saving her family’s welfare and reputation? Find out in this witty, funny, fantasy retelling of Pride & Prejudice.

Pride and Paranormal by Adrienne Blake. A magical enemies-to-lovers story filled with witches, warlocks, and vampires on the road to their happy-ever-after. This book is the first in the series of Souls and Shadows but reads as a standalone romance.

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EXCERPT:

The temperature dropped even more, and I shivered. Then, to the coven’s astonishment, a faint figure appeared under the apex of the wand lights, shrouded in a kind of gray vapor. The person was tiny, and at first, I thought it was a child, but then the mists cleared, and I saw it was a young woman. She was possibly in her twenties, but it was hard to say because her face…

I wanted to cry, not just because the skin on her cheeks bore the marks of fire, but also because I could feel her pain; we all could—we were one in the circle, joined in spirit by a common chi.

Timidly she turned, almost as surprised to find herself where she was as we were to see her among us. I wondered, was she a ghost or a demon? I had little experience with either, so it was hard to say, but I could sense no malevolence in her, only a deep yearning. I wished I could read her mind as clearly as her emotions.

She mouthed something, but had no voice, and I found myself aching to hear what she had to say to us. She reached out her hands, beseeching, but we dared not break the circle and reach back—there was no way to know who or what she was, and like it or not, some spirits were evil. And even if someone did happen to extend a hand, the ethereal-looking spirit might disappear at the slightest touch.

Frustrated, the small woman turned in the circle, her black-eyed, lifeless gaze falling on each and every one of us—until at last, she faced me. I felt a sudden sense of joy as she smiled, and her hands rose again, imploring, asking for Gaia knew what. The collective curiosity of the coven overwhelmed me, and I gasped, taking a step back to the wall and inadvertently breaking the circle.

The woman disappeared, and the candles flickered out, leaving us all in utter darkness.

Author Bio:

Adrienne Blake is a USA Today bestselling author of mystery and paranormal romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Her stories blend plot, humor, and love, all in one sizzling cauldron. Coming soon: Souls and Shadows series.

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Book Blitz: Mushroom Honeymoon + Excerpt

mushroom honeymoon

 

Mushroom Honeymoon
Book Two in the Psychedelic Love Series

by Charlotte Dune

Magical Romance

Date Published: May 2021

Publisher: Ocean Flower Press

Magical, sexy, tropical, and terrifying — Mushroom Honeymoon follows a couple’s quest for harmony and love, despite physical and mental obstacles.

Newly married, Saman wants to be a wonderful husband, but serious health concerns are affecting his daily life and marriage. To improve his situation, he undergoes a kidney transplant, but the procedure leads to as many complications as solutions to his problems.

After the operation, Saman’s wife, Thelma, plans a belated honeymoon to Hawaii, hoping it will help her troubled husband relax. Before they leave, a friend gives Thelma the contact of a wealthy entrepreneur who hosts transcendental magic mushroom (psilocybin) and psilohuasca (ayahuasca component + magic mushrooms) ceremonies on his secluded Hawaiian estate. Based on her own visions and transformative experiences with psychedelics, Thelma believes the ceremony may benefit Saman, and she books the psychedelic retreat.

As the couple explores the lush landscape of Hawaii, the trip reveals the strengths and weaknesses of their bond. Saman grows hesitant to attend the mushroom ceremony, while Thelma becomes convinced that it’s exactly what her husband needs. What she doesn’t realize is that Saman harbors a secret that could threaten more than just their marriage.

Is the honeymoon of their love only beginning? Or will Saman’s dishonesty lead to the destruction of their relationship?

In Mushroom Honeymoon, Charlotte Dune creates an emotional and supernatural romance, teaming with visionary energy and surreal hallucinations, taking the reader deep into the psyches of two incomplete individuals seeking to emerge together in wholeness and love.

Mushroom Honeymoon, is book two in The Psychedelic Love Series and can be read as a standalone or in sequence. It picks up where Cactus Friends: A Psychedelic Love Story leaves off and delves into the challenges of marriage, plant medicine culture, and the joys of Hawaii.

Purchase Link

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Cactus Friends

Book One in the Psychedelic Love Series

Published: April 2020

Publisher: Ocean Flower Press

Plant medicine plus passion in this non-stop, steamy, and tropical adventure.

A struggling photographer, Thelma searches for direction in her life. The universe draws her to a group conducting secret plant medicine ceremonies on a farm in Florida’s southern Everglades. After drinking a mescaline tea made from the San Pedro, wachuma cactus with the group, she receives an unusual message and meets a young Persian man suffering from kidney failure named Saman. Together, they try to unravel the hidden meaning of Thelma’s prophetic visions — a path that leads directly to Thelma’s past and to Saman’s future.

In Cactus Friends, Charlotte Dune creates a story rich with supernatural energy and imagery, taking the reader inside the world of underground shamans, psychedelic encounters, and wachuma, or huachuma, and ayahuasca ceremonies.

Cactus Friends: A Psychedelic Love Story uncovers the power of romances old and new, and traverses the unbreakable threads that connect lovers across space and time.

Praised for its unusual setting, Cactus Friends is a fast and magical romance book that keeps the reader turning the pages from beginning to end.

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Excerpt

 

As their lips parted, a hush fell over the crowd and Bāne Kama strolled out from the living room. Bare-chested, he wore white linen pants with a belt of braided plant fibers and a necklace of golf-ball-sized black beads with a large Hawaiian fishhook dangling above his navel.

As he passed, Thelma got a better view of his tattoos, including a detailed drawing of an octopus on his spinal column, with tentacles wrapping around his sides, creating the effect of the creature riding on his back. He faced the crowd with his arms outstretched and palms lifted. The ocean shimmered in the distance beyond his sculpted physique.

Nervous energy sparked through Thelma and she shifted her legs to release the tension. Bāne opened his mouth and, in a deep, clear voice, bellowed a melody of fluid Hawaiian words.

Who was this man? The more Thelma saw him, the more she grew convinced they’d met before.

The song finished and the audience applauded. Bāne pressed his enormous hands together in prayer and tipped his head. He scanned the crowd. “We’ll now hike to the sacred ceremony space and begin our journey.”

With the rest of the guests, they trailed behind Bāne’s hulking form as he led them around the guest houses and up a hill; via a stone path, they entered the jungle.


 

About the Author


A former U.S. Diplomat and award-winning documentary filmmaker, Charlotte Dune writes romance, travel, and adventure stories from her home base in South Florida. Her writing explores self-discovery, love, and exotic locations. The author of The Psychedelic Love Series, she has a passion for travel, reading, nature, and entheogenic practices.

Charlotte Dune’s books include Cactus Friends: A Psychedelic Love Story and Mushroom Honeymoon. Her essays and articles have appeared in print magazines and in many online publications, including POV Magazine and The Temper.

She is also passionate about creative recovery and sharing her own story of recovery from battered women’s syndrome and PTSD. Her memoir about marrying into Ugandan high-society, and working in Africa for the U.S. Government, called Kampala Sunsets, is under current publisher review.

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