ROMANCE IS IN THE AIR GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

The winner of the

Romance Is In The Air
Giveaway Blog Hop
@ A Night's Dream of Books

is.....
 Jaime Lester!!

CONGRATS TO YOU!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's her prize, which

she has already claimed!!

 A great big "Thank you!!" to all 
of those who participated!!
Stay tuned for future giveaways 
to come!!

Blog Tour: Mini-Review, Excerpt, Giveaway!! Enchanter's Echo, by Anise Rae

Welcome to my stop in the 
Enchanter's Echo Blog Tour,

sponsored by

Bewitching Book Tours!!

I am featuring an excerpt with 
accompanying mini-review!

There is also a tour-wide giveaway,

sponsored by Bewitching Book Tours!!

Enchanter's Echo

(Mayflower Mages #2)

Anise Rae

Trade Paperback, 272 pages

Lyrical Press
February 17, 2015

Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Aurora Firenze lives a quiet life hiding in a junkyard. Her repair shop is the last hope for gadgets and gizmos before they get tossed onto the trash towers. Fortunately, Aurora can fix almost anything, including mages, though repairing people with metal enchantments is highly illegal.

Edmund Rallis, heir to the Rallis senate seat, has spent months hunting down his errant enchantress. He’ll play every game he knows to win her back and entice her to share the secrets she hides. But he’s inadvertently put her on the frontlines of a new game, one with an opponent who’s determined to destroy Rallis Territory and drive the Republic toward war. If the new enemy isn’t stopped in time, Edmund will lose his enchantress again—and this time there won’t be another chance.

This short excerpt from Rae's new addition to her Mayflower Mages series has totally blown me away!  Prior to this tour, I had never heard of the author or her fantasy series. Now that I have, I need to get the first novel, Syphon's Song, and then Enchanter's Echo, because it's very obvious to me, just from reading this short excerpt, that these are two exciting tales!

In this excerpt, Rae has masterfully set the scene. We are immediately plunged into the story, feeling all of Aurora's trepidation, then fear and anxiety at being caught. Edmund is just as expertly delineated as she is. The setting is mysterious, yet inviting, and the drama begins to unfold, compelling this reader to want more!

With a deft, visual and empathic writing style, Rae succeeds in fully engaging her reader. I predict great things for her and this totally enchanting series!

The keep-out spell awoke at her approach. The enchanted mesh of vines and branches that blocked the entrance to Rallis Territory’s forbidden forest vibrated in welcome as its creator returned. Aurora Firenze cast her vibes along the perimeter of her spell, testing and prodding. Its strength resonated back. It was as strong as it had been six months ago when she’d created it and hid her secrets within the forest’s depths. She let go of a relieved breath, but it didn’t cure her tension.

Her nerves were strung tight, as if she’d spent hours placating customers in her repair shop. But the day had been quiet. She’d even made decent progress—fixing a curling iron with a too-hot heating spell and a stapler that had a bad habit of chasing the boss around the conference table. Yet a restlessness itched at her skin with an unpleasant persistence. She’d closed up early and headed out for the short walk to the forest. Within its heart, she’d find the peace to wash away this unease.

She sent another stream of vibes into the keep-out spell. A discreet doorway formed. With a quick glance around the barren field and the junkyard behind her, she stepped beneath her illegal spell.

As she brushed against the branches, a faint thump sounded at her feet—the soft crash of a pine cone or a weak branch falling to the ground. A normal forest noise. She flinched anyway. Her glitter puffed around her in an anxious cloud as her mage energy escaped her control. It was the fifth time today. Enchantresses did not make good criminals. She should probably let the other three in existence know, in case they were considering lives of crime. Those blasted sparkly clouds would blow their covers wide open.

She lifted her foot to continue into the small forest that was tucked inside the territory’s capital city, but stopped. A proper lawbreaker should investigate mysterious noises outside her lair. She turned and scanned the ground for the culprit. A gold coin glinted in the crisp weeds. That wasn’t normal. She reached to pick it up, scanning the field and the junkyard beyond with a twitchy gaze. Empty. She was alone.

Behind her, the forest shuttered closed, nearly catching her in its fortress wall. She jumped forward with a surprised lurch at the swat of vines and twigs. A basic rule of illegal enchantments: get out of the way or risk being incorporated into the spell.

Ignoring the sting of the swat, she stared at the coin. It was tarnished at the edges, a used-up charm. See-me-not was embossed on its golden surface. She jerked her head up. A man stood ten paces away. He was tall, broad...beyond familiar.

“Edmund,” she whispered. A shiver tiptoed across her shoulders like kisses, soft lips that hid a sharp bite. Her nerves stretched thinner yet, trapped in a battle between memories of lovers’ frolics and the promise of a dark fate that had just materialized from thin air.

Behind her, the forest’s trees rustled with the wind, a warning to retreat, one she dare not heed. Not until she knew why he’d finally come searching for her. She hadn’t thought he’d ever come back.

He prowled forward. “Hello, princess.” Though his words might have held some affection, nothing of the lover she’d once known appeared in his countenance. He lifted his left hand to reveal a glowing ball of mage vibes in his palm. His blue eyes reflected the tiny flashes of energy, and his power snapped in the air like a miniature electrical storm. The heir to the most powerful territory in the Republic had quite a steam of anger built up.

Dark hair waved across his forehead, and little curls peeked out at the edges of his neck. Though the wind buffeted and pushed at Aurora, winter’s boldness didn’t dare touch Edmund, not his hair, nor his dark gray suit or scarlet tie.

The hard slope of his nose matched the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones. When he smiled, he was deadly handsome. At the moment, he was simply deadly.

“Aurora.” He cast her name through the air and a piece of her soul tumbled away, as if it might dash toward him and cling like a forlorn, discarded lover. But he hadn’t discarded her....

“You stand accused of melding earthen metals to human flesh with an enchantment.”

Her heart thumped once, hard and loud, and then took off with a sprint, drenching her veins from head to toe with lightning sharp fright.

Goddess, he’d found out. How?

Even as she thought it, he revealed the answer. The glow faded from his ball of energy to reveal a small metal sphere. Her racing heart shriveled at the sight, pulling the rest of her organs with it, as if they thought to hide, seeking a chance to slip past this disaster unnoticed and, perhaps, survive. She shifted her feet on the ground, unable to resist the fear pumping through her core. Run, her gut whispered. She couldn’t afford to listen... not with the evidence sitting in his hand.

The sphere was heavier than it looked. She knew that. After all, she’d made it...and thought it long gone. He closed his fingers around it, capturing her fate within his fist.

“How’d you get that?” Her fast words shot out, hustling forward before fear, creeping up her legs with tingles and pricks, stole her voice.

“You ought to be down on your knees thanking me for confiscating it.” His voice was sharp and cutting. He sounded like a stranger, his jokes and teasing wit long gone.

“What did you do? Sneak into the junkyard and pluck his eye from his skull? Has it been hiding under your pillow for six months?” Not at all where she’d thought it was. Betrayal jolted through her. “Hardly actions befitting the heir of the mighty Rallis realm.” Her voice wavered.

“You have no idea what I’ve done.”

Purchase Links

Amazon US/Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Barnes & Noble
The Book Depository
Kobo
iTunes
 

Author Photo by www.surianiphoto.com

Anise Rae has been reading romance novels since she first discovered her grandmother’s stash of books hidden away in a cabinet. Learning that she wasn’t the only one dreaming about love and magic was a turning point in her life. She started her own stash of books and wrote a few too.

A native of Ohio, Anise long ago moved south, armed with boxes of romance novels and degrees in chemistry and library science. Creating chemistry on the page between two lovers proved to be a lot more fun than working with test tubes in a lab or searching patent databases. She refocused on writing.

Her stories revolve around heroines who dare to stand up to society’s expectations and be true to themselves and heroes with plenty of savvy to fall in love with such brave women.

Anise lives in Atlanta with her two children and a fluffy dog that has an amazing ability to find dirty socks. 

For information on future releases and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter at her website.

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Be sure to enter the AWESOME, tour-wide giveaway!!

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For the entire tour schedule, simply click on the button below!

FAVORITE COVER GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

 

And the winner of the 

"Favorite Cover Giveaway" is....

Lena Dmitrieva!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!!!!!

This is her prize, which she has 

already claimed!!i

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'd like to thank everyone who participated 
in this giveaway!!
I greatly enjoyed all of your comments
on the beautiful covers included 
in the contest!

Be sure to enter the 
Romance Is In The Air Giveaway,
which is going on now, and 
ends on 2/15/15!!!
Just click on the button below!!

Shelf Candy Saturday #142: Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier

 

Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!!

This is my weekly feature

showcasing beautiful book covers!

It also provides information,

if available, on their very talented creators!

For more information

about Shelf Candy Saturday,

simply go HERE.

Here's my choice for this week!

Wildwood Dancing

Juliet Marillier 

Hardcover, 416 pages

Knopf Books for Young Readers

First Edition

January 23, 2007

Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, YA Fiction

My Thoughts About This Cover

This is another beautiful creation by one of my favorite book cover artists! Yes, it's the inimitable Kinuko Craft, creator of wondrous, enchanting, fantasy worlds!

This cover is indeed totally enchanting. Jena, the novel's protagonist, is surrounded by all the fairies of the Other Kingdom, as they dance and twirl around her. She herself seems to be blending into her surroundings, becoming fairy-like herself. Indeed, land and sea join together, at the bottom of the cover.

Jena has a rather wistful look on her face, as she absently plays with what looks to be a baby dragon's tail. It seems as though she's not sure that everything is all right in the  Other Kingdom.....

The colors in this cover are vivid, jewel-like, which contributes to  the overall surreal atmosphere. In  fact, it all looks very dream-like, and I am therefore reminded of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

I love that Craft  infuses her work with a very feminine look, but yet, it has a boldness to it that makes a very lasting impression on the viewer. Her style is certainly unmistakable!

One thing I would have changed about this cover is the font used for the title.  I would have wanted it to be more ornate, more in keeping with the lyrical feel of this luscious cover. That classical-looking font, while not distracting the eye from the fantasy scene, still doesn't go with that fantasy feel.

Well.....so now, of course, I WANT this book, too....what is an insatiable bookworm to do?

Online Links for Kinuko Craft

Kinuko Craft Book: Amazon 

Website

Cover Artist for Patricia McKillip

Wikipedia

Pinterest

  Facebook  

 

  

What do you think of my 

choice this week?

Please leave a comment

and let me know!