Phoenix Unbound (The Fallen Empire, #1) by Grace Draven – Review

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5 stars, fantasy, Grace Draven, romance

About Phoenix Unbound

A woman with power over fire and illusion and an enslaved son of a chieftain battle a corrupt empire in this powerful and deeply emotional romantic fantasy from the USA Today bestselling author of Radiance.

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire’s capital–her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village’s tithe has been the same woman. Gilene’s sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses.

But this year is different.

Azarion, the Empire’s most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion–and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. And unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.

To protect her family and village, she will risk everything to return to the Empire–and burn once more.

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Review of Phoenix Unbound

Phoenix Unbound lived up to all my very high expectations. First, there is a dark situation that the hero and heroine must rise above, with so many obstacles thrown in their way. The greatest obstacle is the Krael Empire itself, with it’s iron fisted grip on the people, its decadent ways and total disregard for the people that they rule. Slave gladiator fighting and horrible burning sacrifices, which they delicately dub the ‘Rites of Spring’, make the Empire so easy to hate.

I enjoyed all the little things that were thrown in to describe the people and culture of both Azarion’s and Gilene’s people. The dyes that Gilene’s people make. Their clothing and food. The talented horse riders among Azarion’s people, the Savatar. The Savatar berry gathering excursion. The barrows, with the supernatural experiences that go with them.

Another thing I liked is that there is no love lost between Gilene and Azarion from the beginning. Azarion’s use of Gilene to reclaim his birthright means Gilene is forced to go to his homeland instead of hers. She is not happy. Not happy at all. It will take a long time for them to appreciate each other. In the meantime, as the reader, I liked both of these character even if they did not like each other. Both had a sense of responsibility to their people. I wanted them to overcome their differences and figure out a way to get together, even if it seemed pretty impossible. It is those impossible situations that make for such a good story.

Speaking of impossible, the Krael Empire seems quite impossible to defeat.  They have all the power at the beginning.  But the series title is Fallen Empire, so it is not a spoiler to say that our hero and heroine will go up against the Empire, each in a way that reflects their own strengths. The ending, was very satisfying. Even though this is the first book of a series, you don’t get that feeling at all. Phoenix Unbound is a complete story with no loose ends. Which also makes me happy!

I think it is fair to say that Grace Draven has much talent. Including Phoenix Unbound, I have read 8 books by Ms. Draven and everyone of them is a winner. If you enjoy fantasy with a generous dose of romance, you cannot go wrong with this author.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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King’s Highlander (Highland Wishes, #4) by Jessi Gage – Review

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5 stars, Book Review, fantasy, historical, Jessi Gage, romance, series

About King’s Highlander

Danu, goddess of Wolfkind, has fallen for a mortal. Ever since fate thrust her into the body of a mortal woman, potent desires have plagued her. Surely, returning to her true form will cure her of the longing to fall into bed with the handsome King Magnus. Unfortunately, in her current state, she has no power to transform herself. Worse, she has no power to save her people from the wicked demigod intent on subjugating them.

King Magnus has waited fifty years for Seona, the human woman prophesied to become his queen and the mother of his heir. Now that he has her, she wants nothing to do with him. Until a terrible accident steals her memory. Where Seona once hated him, she now flirts with him. Where she once fled his protective custody, she now marvels at every nuance of life within his castle walls.

Magnus has been betrayed too many times to trust easily. Seona’s new behavior is suspect. But try as he might, he cannot deny his growing passion for her. Just when he begins to believe Seona will finally be his in every way, he learns a truth that rocks him to his core and puts his kingdom in peril. To save his people, he must rely on a new, fragile faith that challenges everything he thought he knew, and risk losing a love that transcends mortality.

Warning: Two pairs of “happy ever afters” are on the line in this wild ride of a fantasy romance. It is recommended that readers experience The Wolf and the Highlander (Highland Wishes, Book 2)

Review of King’s Highlander

In 2015, at an online Facebook party, I received the audiobook of The Wolf and the Highlander from author Jessi Gage in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved it (review here). That book was #2 in the Highland Wishes series, but the nature of the series makes book 4 more of a sequel to book 2.

I don’t often go directly to authors to ask to review a book, but I made an exception this time.  I had great expectations for King’s Highlander and I was not disappointed one bit. The situation with King Magnus and Seona took such an immediate and compelling turn that I could not put this book down.

Danu, in the body of Seona, is both goddess and mortal. Both aspects of her personality appeal to Magnus but he is in the dark about how Seona changed from hating every fiber of his being to flirting at every opportunity. Magnus is suspicious but also terribly attracted to the new Seona.

Sadly, his attempts to act on that attraction will be thwarted by an attack on his kingdom. All the children disappear overnight. To understand how terrible this is, you must realize that the Wolfkind are a dying race. They have very few females and many are past the age of child bearing. So to lose the children is a horrendous blow.

While Danu is in the body of Seona, Seona is in Danu’s body and therefore, in her prison. Put there by the demi-god Hyrk, Danu was despairing of escape. It must also be hopeless for Seona, though she does have a friend. Fae Duff promises to help her escape, but she must make a promise in return.  Because that is just the way of the Fae.

The subsequent story of Magnus going after Danu’s enemy is full of energy and action and high emotions. I would not miss this story for the world! Add the story of the children and of Seona and Duff and you have a full course dinner of passion, tensions and excitement, with an ending that brings in an unexpected blessing. King’s Highlander is such a well told story. You can read this book without reading The Wolf and the Highlander, but reading the two in order would make for a fuller experience.

The author graciously provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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The Phantom Tree by Nicola Cornick – Review

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3.5 stars, historical, mystery, Nicola Cornick, romance, time travel

About The Phantom Tree

Browsing an antiques shop in Wiltshire, Alison Bannister stumbles across a delicate old portrait—identified as the doomed Tudor queen, Anne Boleyn. Except Alison knows better. The subject is Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was taken to Wolf Hall in 1557 and presumed dead after going missing as a child. And Alison knows this because she, too, lived at Wolf Hall and knew Mary…more than four hundred years ago.

The painting of Mary is more than just a beautiful object for Alison—it holds the key to her past life, the unlocking of the mystery surrounding Mary’s disappearance and how Alison can get back to her own time. To when she and Mary were childhood enemies yet shared a pact that now, finally, must be fulfilled, no matter the cost.

Nicola Cornick offers a provocative alternate history of rivals, secrets and danger, set in a time when a woman’s destiny was determined by the politics of men and luck of birth.

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Review of The Phantom Tree

There are several things going on in The Phantom Tree.  Alison’s story in the past.  Alison’s story in the present. Mary’s story in the past.  I little bit of fantasy.  A chunk of history. And a mystery.

Alison and Mary are connected by the time they spent at Wolf Hall as forgotten children of royalty and nobles with no place to go.  Alison was the older of the two, cold and distant to Mary.  Mary was always a bit different because she had some unique abilities that would some day get her into trouble. They were not really close, but share some bit of friendship since they shared a room.

When Mary does get into trouble, Alison has a plan to help her out, though her plan is selfish.  She will get Mary someplace safe in return for Mary’s assistance in finding her son who was taken from her at birth.  And then, Alison basically abandons Mary.

Alison left home with no idea, really, of where she would end up.  All she knew was it was a very different place than her current circumstance.  In fact, it was four hundred years into the future.  Alison was not really smart enough to wonder if she could really even get back.  And she left her baby behind.  It was already established that she was somewhat cold and prickly.  Going to the future did not change her.  Her relationship with Adam proves that.  Alison is a main character that I could not develop any sympathy for.

On the other hand, I did like Mary.  The author filled in fictional details of Mary Seymour’s life that made her interesting and I wanted to see her get a happy ending.  However, Alison’s story seemed to be the main focus of the book, so I did not really get enough of Mary’s story.

I debated about posting this review on my blog. I was not really into it mostly because of Alison, though I did finish the book which is a positive.  I am giving it 3.5 stars (which I will round to 4 for other review sites).  I know there are many that will really enjoy this story and it does have a few good things to recommend it.  1) The character of Mary Seymour, as I mentioned earlier 2) historical settings were very well done and added to the overall atmosphere of the story 3) the use of clues provided in a portrait to research the past and provide answers to Alison’s questions.

The Phantom Tree is for history lovers who like a little mystery too.

Through NetGalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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