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Welcome to my place in the blogosphere!
feel free to explore the Flight Deck and check out my books and website.
Then fasten your seatbelts, sip a glass of something sparkling and let's chat awhile!
I hope you'll stop by again for guest authors and spotlights from time to time.

Beloved Enemy joined Starquest and Children of the Mist to continue the Destiny Trilogy and I'm thrilled to announce was shortlisted for the R.N.A. RoNA Awards 2017, awarded 2nd Runner up in the RONE Awards 2017 and was the winner in the SF/Fantasy category of the 'Best Banter Contest'.

Monday 4 May 2015

Beloved Enemy lives!

Starquest was the 'book of my heart' to use a cliche. I was thrilled when it was published by The Wild Rose Press, and in the meantime I wrote the sequel, 'Children Of The Mist, which was also published by The Wild Rose Press.

One of the characters from Starquest, Kerry Marchant, kept nagging me to write a story about him.  It's been a very long time coming, but I eventually finished writing and revising it this  year, and having sent it out to a couple of  trusted crit partners who were also authors themselves, and after some final polishing, I sent it off to the Wild Rose Press and tried not to think about it too much.

On Saturday I received a Contract from one of the lovely editors of the Fantasy Rose line, and am thrilled beyond words that the third book will finally see the light of day.  I can't wait to start work on the edits and of course what my cover will be like (watch this space.)

Of  course it's early days yet, but I thought I'd give you a little taste   of Beloved Enemy to hopefully whet your appetite.

BELOVED ENEMY
UNEDITED SNIPPET

To her amazement he smiled, the most devastating smile she had ever seen, and made more amazing because he didn’t look as if he did it very often.

“My own philosophy as it happens.” His eyes narrowed. “It seems almost a pity we are on opposite sides.”

“Opposite sides?” How much did he guess?

   “I have no love for the Union. That puts us on opposite sides, even if you are a pirate.”

She gave him her most withering look. “Fine. And just because I decided to save your neck, don’t get any ideas. We don’t have to like each other.”

Thursday 30 April 2015

The Black Swans - Spotlight and Excerpt - N W Moors



The Black Swans
A Tale of the Antrim Cycle
Book One
N.W. Moors

Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Sunday Morning Publishing

Date of Publication: March 1, 2015

ISBN:  978-0692397602
ASIN:  B00U6I9PUC

Number of pages:  277
Word Count:  96,003

Cover Artist: N.W.Moors

Book Description: 

Taisie MacDonnell loves Celtic music and when a traditional Irish group moves to her small town of Antrim, Maine, she's thrilled. She has no idea that becoming involved with Conn McLaren, the handsome pipe player will enmesh her in magic, a centuries-old enchantment and pursuit by the Fae.

This is a modern retelling of the Irish story "The Children of Lir".

Each book in the series can be read as a standalone.

Available at  Amazon US    Amazon UK    Amazon CA

Excerpt:

“Maybe I should put some lime green color on the other side, to contrast with the magenta.” Nola had pulled the rear view mirror over to the passenger side, her long black hair pulled down in front of her face. She was peeking through the strands over her eyes, studying herself in the dim light of the dashboard.

She tilted her head to the side, then pulled hair from each side of her head and held it out in front of her. The hair on the right side of her head had swathes of purple. “What do you think?” she asked, studying him from under her hair.

Owen had been driving the van for five hours without any breaks. The way from Montreal was mostly highway, but once he crossed into the United States, he was on two lane roads that climbed up and down mountains and were lined by thick brush and trees, occasionally marked by small towns and farms. He was mostly following the white line marking the middle of the road at this point, just trying to make it to his destination, and wasn’t paying all that much attention to what Nola was saying to him.

Nola squinted and frowned at Owen, then tried again. “Hmm, I wonder if I cut my hair like Finn’s….” This time she got his attention. He looked over at her, just in time to catch the grin as she swept her hair back behind her ears.

“I don’t believe it would look as good on you as that haircut does on Finn, but, hey, if it’s what you want, go for it,” Owen played along. Nola grunted and pushed the rear view mirror back over to an approximation of where it should be.

Owen reached up and positioned the mirror in place again. He used it to look in the back seat to where Finn sat, headset in his ears, listening to his iPod, his head bouncing to the music. His hair was a mess of colors and stuck up in short spikes. While it was a hairstyle that worked for Finn, Nola would definitely not be cutting her hair like her brother, not if Owen had anything to say about it. He liked her hair long and silky way too much.
 
There was a street light blinking up ahead and Owen braked, gradually slowing the van. They were approaching another small town or maybe it was just a crossroads. This one looked like it was a gas station combined with a dilapidated general store. Owen glanced down at the dashboard. There was about half a tank of gasoline left according to the gauge. And it was a good thing he didn’t need gas because the station was closed up tight. No one seemed to be around, just a dim light in the store and a crooked “Closed” sign on the front door. The only thing in the parking lot was a rusty pickup truck, parked over on the edge of the asphalt. He wheeled in anyway and stopped the van in front of the pump.

“I need to stretch a minute,” he announced and turned off the key.

Heads popped up in the back seat. “What are we doing?” said Finn who couldn’t hear Owen over the music from his iPod. Conn, who was sitting next to his twin in the middle seat, pulled his earphones off, mussing his long hair, and waited patiently, looking around the dimly lit parking area. He had been working on his laptop, probably on an arrangement for one of their songs, Owen guessed. There was no sign of Hugh who had been stretched out sleeping in the bench seat in the very back of the van.

“I need to get out and walk around a little,” Owen restated. “And I want to check the trailer.” Nola had already opened her door and was standing on the pavement, stretching her arms over her head, getting the kinks out of her back.

Owen got out, headed around the back of the building and stepped back into the trees. He was joined by the rest of the lads, Hugh wandering back last.  He must have woken up with the slamming of the doors. It had been a long ride with no stops and Owen had drunk at least three cups of coffee out of the thermos jug that Nola kept in the front seat for him.

Once they had finished their business, Conn and Owen went back out front to check on the trailer. Owen crouched down and looked under the frame while Conn pushed on the tires. The rig looked fine. The trailer wasn’t very heavy, loaded mostly with sound equipment and camping supplies. Their instruments and personal items were in the way back of the van. Nola wandered out from the other side of the garage where she had gone to find a bit of privacy away from the guys.

“How much further is it to the pub?” Conn asked.

“I think that we have a couple more hours to go. It’s going to be late when we get there,” Owen answered.   Nola came over and wrapped her arms around Owen’s waist, snuggling under the denim jean jacket he wore. He stood there, resting his chin on her head, while she rubbed the lower part of his back, pulling up his tee shirt to get at his stiff muscles.


About the Author:

N.W. Moors lives in Portland, Maine, land of lobster and pine trees. She is a voracious reader and avid traveler. She loves visiting Great Britain and Ireland especially. Researching trips meant that she tries to learn as much about the area as possible and uses those tidbits in her books. She enjoys interacting with readers.











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Tuesday 28 April 2015

Suspected

Suspected banner

This is my stop during the book blitz for Suspected (#2) by Rori Shay. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 20 April till 3 May, you can view the complete blitz schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.

So far this series contains 2 books: Elected (The Elected series #1) and Suspected (The Elected series #2). The Elected series is about the environment and environmental change and what can happen after climate change. It’s about a girl pretending to be a boy for the good of her country. Fans of Mulan will love this series.

SuspectedSuspected (The Elected series #2)
By Rori Shay

Genre: Dystopia
Age category: Young Adult

Blurb:
East Country upheld the laws. Mid destroyed them.

In the year 2185 Earth is rebuilding after a global eco-crisis. Countries maintain complete isolation so there is no warfare over scarce resources. One Elected family is chosen to lead each country for 100 years to ensure stability. Women aren't allowed to take office and must reproduce at all costs. Technology use of any kind is banned to preserve what's left of the environment.

And yet, I'm my country's Elected. I've just sanctioned technology use to ready us for war. I'm about to cross the border to spy on our neighbor. And...I'm a girl. Shhhhhh.....


You can find Suspected on Goodreads
You can buy Suspected here:

- Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Suspected-Elected-Book-Rori-Shay-ebook/dp/B00UUIRE0Q/
- Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/suspected-rori-shay/1121727075
- Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/suspected-1
- Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/536776
- Silence in the Library: http://www.silenceinthelibrarypublishing.com/product/suspected-by-rori-shay/


First book in the series:
ElectedElected (The Elected series #1)
By Rori Shay
Genre: Dystopia
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: April 8, 2014

Blurb:
It’s the year 2185, and in two weeks, Aloy will turn eighteen and take her father’s place as president of the country. But to do so, she must masquerade as a boy to avoid violating the Eco-Accords, four treaties designed to bring the world back from the brink of environmental extinction. Aloy hopes to govern like her father, but she is inheriting a different country. The long concealed Technology Faction is stepping out of the shadows, and as turmoil grows within her country, cryptic threats also arrive from beyond their borders.

As she struggles to lead, Aloy maintains her cover by marrying a woman, meanwhile battling feelings for the boy who knows her secret—the boy who is somehow connected to her country’s recent upheaval. When assassination attempts add to the turmoil, Aloy doesn’t know whom to trust. She understood leadership required sacrifice. She just didn’t realize the sacrifice might be her life.
ELECTED Excerpt

First time the two main characters meet

I fall into a fitful sleep, but when I hear a noise in my room, it jars me awake. The mid-morning sun is high in the sky, which must mean I slept straight through to the next day. I don’t make a movement, trying to assess the sound. It’s footsteps coming from across my bedroom near the window. I expect to see my mother or a maid, but the figure is a man. It’s too slender to be my father and too tall to be Tomlin. 

My hand instinctively juts out from under my bed covers and finds the small whittling knife on my nightstand. I use it merely to carve wood, but it’s the closest weapon I have. I close my fist around its small handle, ready to plunge it into my attacker should he step forward. I lie in wait, at the defense. But then I think, if he has a weapon, he could strike me from afar. So, I gently lift the sheets off my body and step out of bed, now on the offensive. 

His back is to me, and since my footsteps are light as a feather, he doesn’t turn. 

I wonder why the guards at my door didn’t stop him, but I have little time to ponder because I’m now inches from the man’s back. He still doesn’t move. He’s got something in his hands at waist level. It must be an intricate weapon. One he’s getting ready to use. 

I lift the knife higher in the air, ready to advance on him, when the thing in the man’s hand lets out a loud “Squawk!”

I falter for a second, the tip of my foot catching against a raised floorboard, and it’s in that brief moment the man hears me and abruptly turns.

“Hey!” he says, stepping backward against my window when he sees me so close. 

“Get back!” Still, I don’t hear guards ready to storm in and rescue me. So I stand my ground, knife raised, ready to inflict damage against this man myself if I need to. 

I look at him closer. He’s not even a man. He’s my age. 

“Watch what you’re doing with that thing!” The boy’s voice sounds familiar, but I can’t think where I’ve heard it before. I concentrate only on keeping my ground. Keeping him in place.
“Don’t move,” I say. “If you do, I’ll advance. And show me your hands!”
“I’m not moving!” He raises both hands in the air, palms open so I can see they’re empty. I want to trust this boy. I don’t want to have to harm him with my knife. But it is
n’t until I see one of my pet parrots fly off the boy’s shoulder and onto mine that I realize I know him.
I’ve never spent more than a second up close to the bird keeper, but over the years I’ve made a personal pastime of watching him from afar. The boy’s name is Griffin. He’s the son of my father’s veterinarian. Griffin is the apprentice, administering to the smaller animals around our house. He’s fixed the wing of my parrot before.
I step back but don’t lower the knife. 

“What are you doing in here?” My voice is gruff. I might know this boy, but he could still be here to do harm. 

“I didn’t know you were in here. If I’d known, obviously, I wouldn’t have come in to look after your birds.”
The parrot gives another shrill squawk. I study the boy for a moment. Close to me now, for only the second time in my life, I stare at him openly. The dark hair I’ve seen from afar falls forward over his brow but ends in sharp points around the sides of his ears, like he’s cut it himself without a mirror. His eyes are a deep amber too. Like fresh gingerbread cookies straight out of the oven, glowing and bright. He’s lean but relatively tall. 

The one thing I know about him for sure is his gait. Since before I can remember, Griffin was the only male my age allowed into our house. He followed his father around, watching him work and then taking over some of the veterinary duties himself. I made an art of subtly watching Griffin to learn how a male my age moved and talked. It was one thing studying the masculine characteristics of my father, but it was altogether another to study someone my own age. 

And then there’s the one time I did see Griffin up close, just for a brief second when I was thirteen, but the memory stayed with me for years.

I realize we’re staring each other down.
“Well, are you going to lower the knife, or do I have to knock it from your hand?”
You can find Elected on Goodreads

You can buy Elected here:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo


Rori ShayAbout the Author: Rori Shay is a strategic management consultant living in the Seattle area with her family, black lab, and cat. In the writing world, Rori is primarily know for her science fiction trilogy, The Elected Series. She enjoys running, reading, snow-shoeing, pumpkin-picking, and right now…writing the third ELECTED novel! Rori is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

You can find and contact Rori here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Goodreads


There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Suspected. This giveaway is US and Canada only. These are the prizes you can win:
- a kindle ereader and a signed copy of Elected by Rori Shay

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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Tuesday 21 April 2015

Love Elixir Antidote - Blog Tour and Excerpt

Love Elixir Antidote 
A Sonny the Scoundrel Novella 
Romance /Fantasy (Satire / Humor) 
By Sonny Zae 
Publisher: Roane Publishing 
Release Date: April 20, 2015 
Keywords: Fantasy, Medieval, Satire, Humor, Fantasy Adventure, Romantic Comedy 


Sonny the Scoundrel lives with Grandpap, the wizard in their rustic village of Sow's Teat.  Sonny is dashing and handsome, but his reputation is widely known.  When a former flame announces her marriage to a suitor from a distant city, he knows it will be a grand affair attended by visitors from far beyond their village—including young maidens who are unaware of his dubious reputation.

Since the visitors will include his favorite type of maidens—those he can romance and never see again, he nicks a love elixir from Grandpap in advance of a big wedding,.  Sonny is confident he can charm any of the visiting maidens without need of the love elixir, but why work harder than necessary? 

When he adds too much love elixir to a girl's cup, Sonny discovers making her fall out of love with him is much harder than he imagined.  Unfortunately, there is no love elixir antidote and Sonny must use his wits to wriggle out of her clinging claws.
About Sonny Zae
Sonny lives in a small town on the edge of reality.  His only remarkable characteristic is imagination.  He ignored his grade school teacher's repeated admonitions to stop daydreaming and get to work.

Sonny's book WIZARD SEEKING TROPHY BRIDE, is available on the Kindle .  It is a story about the exceptional difficulties involved in finding love and happiness for an elderly and strange wizard, not to mention the difficulties of dealing with an elderly relative—an elderly relative who is also a wizard.


EXCERPT

"So you fear you would lose?"


"No, not at all!"


"Agree, or I shall shout out what a little coward you are right here and now."


"Well…"


"Everyone, listen to me!" Winsond said in a voice that carried over the din, while swirling an arm above her. 


Heads turned our way. 

"I accept, of course." I threw my chin up into the air, amused by the implication I could lose the wager. "By the time of your banquet, then. I did not know I was invited."

"You are not. I will have someone drag you in at the required time."


"And if I do not declare I am impotent?"


"Then I shall have you beaten until you say it."


I shook my head in disbelief. "But if you beat a confession out of me, no one will believe it."


A slight smile played across Winsond's face. "True, but they will still enjoy watching the confession be beaten out of you. And they will still gossip about it."


She had me there. Not one single, solitary person in our village would step forward to lift a finger to help me, such was their jealously of my superior bloodline, looks and station in life.


She shouldered me aside and continued toward the bar.


"Mind that you do not cause trouble, scoundrel," her father growled as he followed. "Or I shall have Cappersham knock you senseless and throw you into the biggest mudhole he can find."


My heart grew cold. Did Winsond not understand how her words made me ache? Mayhap it was better she marry some pale and lifeless young scion from another village, a young man so devoid of imagination and life they would make a matched set, a pair of peahens instead of peacock and peahen.


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Mornings Journey - Excerpt and Giveaway

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BOOK INFORMATION

TITLE – Morning’s Journey SERIES – The Dragon’s Dove Chronicles, book 2 AUTHOR – Kim Iverson Headlee GENRE – Myths, Legends, Historical, Spiritual, Romance PUBLICATION DATE – 2013 LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 439 pages/140K words PUBLISHER – Pendragon Cove Press COVER ARTIST – Natasha Brown

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Mornings Journey - Book CoverIn a violent age when enemies besiege Brydein and alliances shift as swiftly as the wind, stand two remarkable leaders: the Caledonian warrior-queen Gyanhumara and her consort, Arthur the Pendragon. Their fiery love is tempered only by their conviction to forge unity between their disparate peoples. Arthur and Gyan must create an impenetrable front to protect Brydein and Caledonia from land-lusting Saxons and the marauding Angli raiders who may be massing forces in the east, near Arthur’s sister and those he has sworn to protect.
But their biggest threat is an enemy within: Urien, Arthur’s rival and the man Gyan was treaty-bound to marry until she broke that promise for Arthur’s love. When Urien becomes chieftain of his clan, his increase in wealth and power is matched only by the magnitude of his hatred of Arthur and Gyan—and his threat to their infant son.
Morning’s Journey, sequel to the critically acclaimed Dawnflight, propels the reader from the heights of triumph to the depths of despair, through the struggles of some of the most fascinating characters in all of Arthurian literature. Those struggles are exacerbated by the characters’ own flawed choices. Gyan and Arthur must learn that while extending forgiveness to others may be difficult, forgiveness of self is the most excruciating—yet ultimately the most healing—step of the entire journey.
 

BUY & TBR LINKS

EXCERPT: Chapter 1


Gyan gasped and sat bolt upright, pulse hammering. Sweat plastered her hair to her head, which felt like the ball in an all-night game of buill-coise. Bed linens ensnared her legs.
Fingers grazed her shoulder. She recoiled and cocked a fist. Her consort ducked behind his hand. “Easy, Gyan!” She relaxed, and he wrapped his arm about her. “What’s wrong?”
 She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “A dream,” she replied, hoping that for once he’d be satisfied with a vague answer.
“Some dream.”
She sighed. “It was the fight—and yet not the fight.” Gently, she traced the thin red line at the base of his neck where she’d scratched him with Caleberyllus to seal his Oath of Fealty to her and to her clan. But dreams cared naught for oaths. “This time, Urien won.”
 Arthur grimaced. “That’s no dream.” He hugged her, and she burrowed into his embrace. “I’d call it a nightmare.”

 “Ha.” She bent forward to disengage the linens from her feet. The unyielding fabric ignited her ire. She pounded the straw-stuffed mattress, furious at Urien and even more furious at herself for allowing him to creep into her wedding chamber, if only in spirit. “Why must that cù-puc keep coming between us?” She gazed at the table where Braonshaffir, named for the egg-size sapphire that crowned its hilt, lay sheathed inside its etched bronze scabbard beside Caleberyllus. Indulging in the fantasy of her new sword shearing through Urien’s neck, she bared her teeth in a fierce grin. “Just let him cross me openly, and by the One God, I’ll settle this matter!”
Arthur’s warm sigh ruffled her hair. Together they righted the linens, but when she would have risen, he clasped her hands and regarded her earnestly. “I can’t afford to lose either of you.”
She looked at those hands, young and yet already scarred and callused by years of war: hands that cradled the future of Breatein. “I know.” Briefly, she squeezed his hands, hoping to convey her desire to help him forge unity among his people, the Breatanaich, as well as with Caledonaich, her countrymen.
One legion soldier in five called the northwestern Breatanach territory of Dailriata home, and one in three of those men hailed from Urien’s own Clan Móran. In a duel between Gyan and Urien, Arthur’s Dailriatanach alliance would die regardless of the victor.
If politics ever failed to constrain the Urien of the waking world, however, she couldn’t guarantee that diplomacy would govern her response.
She averted her gaze again to the table where their arms and adornments lay. Their dragon cloak-pins sparked a memory. Something else had been odd about that dream, but its details had receded like the morning tide. She couldn’t decide whether to be troubled or relieved.
BOOK TRAILER (with older cover by Jennifer Doneske)

CHARACTER BIOS

From Legion Headquarters in Caer Lugubalion, Brydein, I send you greetings.
I put pen to parchment in honor of my wife, Gyan—formally, Chieftainess Gyanhumara nic Hymar of Clan Argyll of Caledonia. We have been married a few short months, just since the calends of July, and we met each other for the first time only three months before that. Yet I feel so closely bonded with her in heart, soul, and mind that it seems as if I have known her my entire life.

If you were to ask me what first caught my attention about this remarkable woman, I would have to confess it was her exotic beauty. Her brilliant copper hair, sea-green eyes, berry lips, the wild blue doves winging across her forearm all beckoned to me to learn more about her. Since I knew her to be a warrior—though untried in battle at the time of our meeting—I had expected her to act aloof, cold, haughty, arrogant. From the moment my hand gripped her arm in welcome, I knew she was none of those things.
And I think I knew—on some level, at least, if not overtly—that my heart stood in grave danger of declaring its undying allegiance to her even as I realized that to do while she remained betrothed to Urien might plunge our lands into another war.

Fortunately for both our peoples, Gyan proved herself a canny diplomat and hid her feelings about me until the time was right for both of us to declare our love.
Problems remain, of course. Though together Gyan and I defeated the Scots and bought peace from that quarter for a season, the Saxon and Angli kings remain a looming threat. Urien stands to become chieftain of his clan, and may God deliver us all from that day. And I cannot shake the disturbing thought that, should Gyan and I have children, they might fall victim to treachery from without—or within.
But I also have deep abiding faith in that which makes us strongest: our love for each other, and the love of our God, our families, our clans, and our friends. Against an alliance of that nature no power in heaven or on earth stands a chance.
Arturus Aurelius Vetarus, Dux Britanniarum Also called by many Arthur the Pendragon  

AUTHOR BIO Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family, cats, goats, and assorted wildlife. People & creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins -- the latter having been occupied as recently as the mid-20th century -- seem to be sticking around for a while yet.
Mornings Journey - Author PhotoKim is a Seattle native (when she used to live in the Metro DC area, she loved telling people she was from "the other Washington") and a direct descendent of 20th-century Russian nobility. Her grandmother was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess Anastasia, and the romantic yet tragic story of how Lydia escaped Communist Russia with the aid of her American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim's novels. Another novel in the queue will involve her husband's ancestor, the 7th-century proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.
For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in creating her projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, and other novels under her new imprint, Pendragon Cove Press.






 

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– 5 e-copies of Morning’s Journey – 10 note cards – 1 autographed print copy of Morning’s Journey

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Wednesday 15 April 2015

True Calling - Spotlight and Review


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True Calling (True Calling #1) By Siobhan Davis  
Genre: Dystopian/Science Fiction/Romance  
Age category: Young Adult  
Release Date: August 1, 2014
True CallingBlurb: Planet Novo, nestled in space twelve hundred miles above the surface of the Earth, is the new home of 17-year-old Cadet Ariana Skyee. Confused by the government-sanctioned memory erase and distressed at her impending forced marriage and motherhood, Ariana’s plans for the future are thrown into complete disarray. As the traumatic events within her family life enfold, Ariana grows increasingly alarmed at the authorities apparent pre-occupation with her and feels progressively more isolated and alone. Her growing feelings for fellow Cadet Cal Remus intensify as the recently announced pageant, ‘The Calling’, gets underway. Struggling to comprehend the continuous, inexplicable dreams of the mysterious Zane, discovering the past helps shape her future, with devastating personal consequences.
You can find True Calling on Goodreads . You can buy True Calling here: - Amazon  - Barnes & Noble  - Kobo   - iBooks   - Ciando ebooks   - Copia books   - Bookbaby 
 
REVIEW

I found the present tense first person narrative refreshing, and different to the way most books of this type are written, but once I got used to it I really enjoyed it.  I love first person anyway, and I feel the present tense does help the reader to identify with the characters.  There is a fairly big info dump at the start of the book but it is skilfully done, and because of the way the book is written, did not seem particularly intrusive, and did help to fill in the background and make the events that followed more understandable


Having been screened for imperfections and implanted with tracking devices, and with their old  memories erased, Ariana and her family have left Earth to start a new life on the planet Novo. However, Ari is haunted by vivid dreams of a young man called Zane although she can't remember who he is and how they knew each other on Earth, or indeed why he did not come with them to Novo. To add to her confusion, she finds her dislike of Cadet Cal Remus changing to attraction and he makes no secret of his romantic feelings toward her.

To ensure a swift populating of their new world, all teens once they reach the age of seventeen, have to participate in 'The Calling'.  This again entails thorough testing, and assessment, before being assigned potential suitors. At the end of a publicly broadcast courting period, and numerous training sessions, and medical procedures to boost fertility, they are required to marry one of these suitors and produce at least three children by the age of twenty-two. 

The switch from Ari's Point of View to Zane's, in Part II, threw me a little but  I soon settled into his narrative and enjoyed reading from his perspective, and we learn more about Earth and why he was left behind. The quality of the writing and the richness of the characterisation had me turning the virtual pages of my Kindle in quick succession as I got more and more drawn into the story.  I won't give away too much about the plot, so as not to spoil it, sufficient to say that there are several twists and turns, together with political intrigue and  underground rebellion,  and I was never quite sure if certain characters could be trusted or not, which all added to the suspense.  I quickly grew to like the main characters and although I felt Ari was a little naive in some ways, I could see her character growing and maturing as the story progressed. The ending was a real cliffhanger and I just had to read Book II 'Beyond Reach' which will be featured on my Blog on the 20th May.  All in all, I found 'True Calling' a throughly engaging read and one I would definitely recommend.

Siobhan
About the Author: Siobhan Davis is the author of YA science fiction romance series True Calling. A self-diagnosed ‘teenager forever’—at least when it comes to books, music and movies; Siobhan is totally addicted to teen fiction and superhero/blockbuster movies. Siobhan loves baking, crime novels, shoes, bags, make-up, anti-wrinkle cream, anything pink, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, and Robert Pattinson (definitely Team Edward). Siobhan has forged a successful corporate career, in Human Resources, over the last twenty years. A member of the IWI writers group, Siobhan resides in the Garden County of Ireland with her husband and two sons. Contact Siobhan at: www.siobhandavis.com You can find and contact Siobhan here: - Website   - Author blog   - Book website  - Facebook   - Twitter  - Google +  - Goodreads