Book Blitz & Excerpt: The Queen’s Crown + Giveaway

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The Queen’s Crown
by Jennifer Anne Davis
(League of Rulers, #1)
Publication date: October 19th 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Eighteen-year-old Princess Sabine Ludwig of Backley thought her biggest problem was finding a man remotely interesting to dabble with while trying to fill her days with something other than knitting or drinking tea. But when her dear sister is brutally murdered in a foreign kingdom a week before she’s to be married, Sabine suddenly wishes for boring, ordinary days again.

Seeking retribution, Sabine decides to take her sister’s place and marry the mysterious king of Lynk. It’s the only way she can hunt down and find the killer. It’s the only way she can get revenge. When she finds the king far more appealing than she’d intended, it becomes difficult to keep her wits about her and remember why she’s there.

Thrown into a world of lies, power struggles, and seduction, Sabine must learn to navigate through the foreign kingdom’s dangerous court as she seeks her sister’s killer. The closer she gets to discovering who it is, the more she questions who she can trust—including herself.

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EXCERPT:

“I really don’t feel like dancing right now.” Sabine needed to be alone to think over everything the man from Avoni had just said.

“Neither do I.” He clasped his hands behind his back and headed toward the balcony. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, the invitation clear.

Being away from the dancing couples sounded like a good idea, so she followed him. No one else was on the balcony. She rested her arms on the railing and looked out over the dark valley below, trying to calm her rattled nerves.

“Interesting outfit,” Axel said as he mirrored her position beside her. His mask was a deep purple, matching his pants and shirt.

“Weren’t you supposed to be an eagle?” she asked.

“I changed my mind.”

“What are you?”

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

She could almost hear the unspoken words: because that’s what I am. She shivered. Nothing about tonight was going the way she thought it would.

“Since I planned this event,” he continued, “I didn’t have time to have an extravagant mask made.”

“I thought Rainer planned this?”

“He told me to arrange a masquerade, so I did.” He turned, looking at her. “Does it matter who planned it?”

She shook her head. Gazing back out at the night, she couldn’t help but wonder why Axel was out here with her instead of inside dancing.

“Sometimes I want to fall into the silence of the night,” he whispered.

Surprised by the admission, Sabine twisted to face him. “Why is that?”

“The silence demands nothing but silence in return.”

Though it might be quiet at night, that was when most dark deeds were done. That was when Sabine planned on breaking into the Avoni’s rooms and snooping around. Night provided cover for things that shouldn’t happen. The daylight exposed them.

The corners of his lips rose. “Of course, there are plenty of other things I enjoy doing in the night.”

And there was the Axel she’d come to know. “I’m sure your nights are rarely spent silently.”

He laughed. “I do love your candor.”

“Prince Axel,” a woman said from behind them.

“Duty calls,” he whispered. With a wink, he turned and strode away, joining the woman and heading back into the throne room.

 

Author Bio:

Jennifer Anne Davis graduated from the University of San Diego with a degree in English and a teaching credential. She is currently a full-time writer.

Awards:
Cage of Deceit: Winner 2018 Kindle Book Awards
The Key: Finalist 2014 USA Book Awards
The Voice: Finalist 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
The Voice: Winner 2013 San Diego Book Awards

For more information, visit www.JenniferAnneDavis.com.

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Cover Reveal: Legend of the Wildlings, by Brittney Brewer

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Legend of the Wildlings
by Brittney Brewer
(The Ellesmere Saga, #1)
Publication date: November 14th 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Everyone who is meant to end up here always does, eventually.

At fifteen, Ember Lothbrok has spent half her life passing through the Galway foster system, though strange occurrences seem to follow her around like a cloud of bad luck. Even if her guardians aren’t completely put off by the rain clouds that form inside, footstools that transform into pigs, or their walls suddenly turning a horrifying shade of puce, her lavender eyes flecked with ash always seal her fate.

Everything changes the day a mysterious new social worker appears for her next family transfer and whisks her across Loch Lurgan to Ellesmere—an island inhabited by Vala—of the magic blooded Northmen, like her. An island of mythical creatures and a magical school. After settling in with the Kitts, her newest foster family, and starting school at Heksheim Academy of Myth and Magic, she allows herself to have hope for the first time in years. A hope that maybe this one will stick.

But if Ember is sure of anything, it’s that a happy ending is not in the cards for her. Just as she’s beginning to settle in, she unearths a prophecy promising death and destruction to the magical creatures and beings on the island. With her newfound friends and a boy with a secret, Ember must try to stop the dark forces threatening her found family and new home before it’s too late.

This is the story of a girl with nothing left to lose,
An island filled with magic and mystery,
And the legend that could destroy it all.

…but what if the legend was wrong?

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Book Blitz & Excerpt: The Soothsayer + Giveaway

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The Soothsayer
by Glen Gabel
Publication date: July 1st 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

★★Colin Devereaux is a teen in crisis. He’s an outcast at school, a target for bullies, and a helpless bystander as he watches his single mother wither from cancer. But those problems pale to the things he can’t explain – the dark creatures he’s spied lurking over his sleeping mother’s form, the strange old shopkeeper at the marina who seems to know Colin’s mind, and the mysterious puzzle box that the old man trades for Colin’s name. The line of reality blurs as the puzzle box opens, revealing a path to another world and a clue that may save his mother’s life. Stranded in a kingdom devastated by darkness and war, Colin joins a ragtag resistance against evil forces to find salvation for his mother and himself.★★

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EXCERPT:

Colin and Balaam burst past the dark creatures, knocking them over, and raced back down the lane. The serpents coiled and chased after them.

“They’re following us!” Colin yelled as Balaam veered down a narrow alley of gravestones. The demons flung themselves around the tombs and closed in to pinch off their escape.

“They’re cutting us off! We’re dead!” Colin shrieked as he kicked at Balaam’s sides frantically.

“Yes, wonderful! Keep saying such helpful things!” Balaam yelled back and veered again, running up the sagging side of a crumbling tomb to its roof and hopping to the next one and the next like they were stones on the water. The serpents hissed and raced forward at the bases of the tombs, slithering parallel to the donkey’s course.

Colin clutched Balaam’s mane as he stared, wide-eyed, ahead. They were charging towards the cemetery’s wall, several inches higher than the tombs themselves.

“Wall! Wall! Wall!” Colin screamed and pulled back on Balaam’s mane.

“Let’s see them try this!” Balaam yelled back as he ran across the last roof and, with a mighty jump, hurled them into the air, barely missing the wall’s ledge and crashing into a thatch cart on the other side. Colin held tight as they smashed through the cart and onto the street. Guards nearby ran forward, brandishing spears. “Halt!”

“New problem!” Colin yelled as he clung to Balaam, who darted past the guards, knocking them over in his wake.

“Always!” Balaam snorted as he careened down an alley and onto another street, then veered again onto the King’s Way leading to the royal courtyard.

“Okay, slow down!” Colin called. “We lost them.”

Balaam slowed his pace as they entered the great market. Stands, overhangs, and shops were littered with random goods. Crowds of people moved about, and merchants carried baskets of wares. “Let me have control here. Subtlety is key,” Colin whispered to the donkey.

A group of guards on horseback turned onto the street before them. The captain’s face went sour. “You! Boy! Halt!”

“Oh shit,” Colin moaned.

“Wonderful leadership, very subtle,” Balaam said and rushed to the right, knocking over a cart and sending pottery flying.

“After him!” yelled the captain, and his men gave chase.

Colin spun his head around as Balaam charged down another street. The guards rushed closer and closer. One soldier grimly eyed Colin, pushing his mount ahead to match Balaam’s speed. He thrust his spear at Colin, and Colin grabbed it. The two struggled with it as they hurtled down the lane, their mounts neck and neck. The onlookers screamed and ran as the two riders knocked over merchant carts and crates between them.

Without warning, a merchant pushed a cart out from a side alley in front of Colin’s opponent. Both man and horse collided with it and fell away. Two other guards replaced him within seconds.

“Go faster!” Colin yelled as he kicked Balaam’s side.

“I’m a donkey! Not a race horse!” Balaam called back.

The lane split to the left and the right ahead. “Pick one, great leader!” Balaam demanded.

“Uh, right! No, left!” Colin screamed.

Balaam dashed ahead, down the left lane, and into a caravan of garments.

Reams of fabric went flying, covering both Colin and the donkey.

“I can’t see!” Balaam screamed.

An unending ream of silk covered Colin’s face. He could hear the guards’ horses behind as he fumbled with it. “Just keep going!”

Balaam flew past scattering crowds, past screaming merchants, and right through a thatched wall.

 

Author Bio:

Glen Gabel learned to love storytelling at an early age, enlisting his friends in short films, plays, and anything he could jot down on paper. Later his passion turned to screenwriting and eventually into novels and short stories.

After graduating from The University of Southern California with a B.A. in Creative Writing and Film, Glen worked under Joss Whedon at Mutant Enemy/Fox as a production assistant before transitioning to education and earning an M.ed at Portland State University. He later accepted a lead instructor position in Pasadena, California, before moving on to professional copywriting.

Glen’s work includes selling his supernatural thriller screenplay, “The Harrow,” script doctoring on several independent films, and his latest YA fantasy novel, The Soothsayer. Glen’s most recent short story, “Where Light Has No Purchase” was shortlisted as a finalist in Reedsy’s Writing Contest in April 2022 and published in the 2022 Bardsy Character Anthology. He lives in Idaho with his wife and wonder-pup, Duke.

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