Review - Hidden by Amy McKinley + GIVEAWAY

TITLE:    Hidden

AUTHOR:    Amy McKinley

INFO:    Paranormal Fiction, 243 pages

PUBLISHED:   Champagne Books, 2015

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review 

ABOUT:   Cursed since birth, hunted by gods, and desperate for love—Jade never stood a chance.

Half-demon, half-goddess, Jade’s fate makes her a pawn in an epic battle among the gods. Hidden on Earth with her sisters, she successfully avoids the Oneiroi—the dream gods—bent on her destruction until the prophecy, long dormant, awakens a dark shadow within her.

Roen, a reclusive Worr demon known for his battles against the Oneiroi, is called to protect Jade. Together they must unlock their mysterious connection and find a way to beat back destiny. Can she outsmart the prophecy, change her fate, and find love—even when she learns who is connected to her destruction?

~~~~~

EXCERPT:  Hades kissed his wife, Persephone, one last time before reluctantly relinquishing her above ground, where her mother impatiently waited.

“Behave while I’m gone, Hades.” Persephone traced a pink-kissed nail along her husband’s dark jawline.

He was loathe to shave too often as the rough stubble against her skin excited her. “Six months is ridiculously long,” he murmured against her lush lips. “Find a way to meet me at the meadow.”

Mischief danced in her eyes as she stepped onto the boat which would ferry her along the River Styx, leading her out of the Underworld. “It’s a date,” she purred, blowing her husband a sultry kiss.

That woman slays me. He watched until she was out of sight. Once his bride was gone, his attention returned to his beloved Underworld and the current state it was in.

Hades leapt onto his chariot. A resounding crack split the air as he commanded his four black horses to lead him past boiling lava pits and stalagmites to the deepest, fiery pits of the abyss—Tartarus.

Creatures scampered out of his way. Fallen angels and demons went about their business—lest they draw his anger—as he thundered past. Tormented screams echoed off cavernous walls and pools of fiery despair. His pulse roared in his veins. He reveled at what he was about to see…

The Fates’ curse had begun.

Reining his steeds to a halt, he dismounted, his black boots crunching on a mixture of bones and jagged pieces of rock. Amidst the prisons, the things of nightmares tortured imprisoned souls.

A laugh rumbled up from his gut and rolled out. He threw back his head then ran his hands through his black hair, freeing it from its tie. Pers wasn’t here right now, due to his brother, Zeus’s, acquiescence to Demeter.

Hades ignored the slow burn in his chest at the thought of his wife being gone for six long months and focused on the game of persecuting his brother instead, for he knew a thing or two about Aiesa’s offspring that Zeus did not.

An ear-splitting scream rent the air, snapping Hades out of his thoughts. New souls.

He knew who sent them. Although he benefited from so many entering his domain, his brother would not be happy.

What a perfect time to pay Zeus a visit.

MY TAKE:   I must say I really enjoyed this book. From all signs it is the first in a new series and I am very much looking forward to the next installment. 

Mythology has always been something I've liked to read. New twists and additions to the old stories many times just don't cut it. Amy McKinley has created a tale (or series of tales) that seem like they sprang up at the same time with the originals. She blends her "new" characters and threads seamlessly with the "old" and known gods and underlings.

I liked Jade and was fascinated with the back story and the history that the author created for her and the other characters. It was interesting to watch the different factions fight for dominance and control while she was learning to fight for her own control of herself and her own inner "demon/goddess". Roen was definitely our questionable "hero" type without going overboard with it. Their chemistry was well written without being too much or too "vivid".  

As many first stories in a series will do, there is a lot of world building going on. This by no means takes away from Jade and her tale, it actually makes it even more of a great story by leaving the reader wanting much, much more. 

  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Available now at AMAZON

Amy McKinley is a freelance writer and author. She lives in Illinois with her husband, their four talented teenagers, and three mischievous cats. Her debut novel, Hidden is the first in the Five Fates Series.  Connect with Amy:

WEBSITE / TWITTER / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / WORDPRESS

Amy is generously giving away a $20 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble to one lucky reader. After you enter below, be sure to check in at the other tour stops to learn more about this lovely story and to gain more entries into the drawing. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Jewell by Tina DeSalvo + A $50 GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY

TITLE:   Jewell

AUTHOR:   Tina DeSalvo

INFO:   Fiction, 347 pages

PUBLISHED:   Amazon, 2015

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:   "Tender, tense, a sweet yet sexy love story. In Jewel, Tina DeSalvo takes us inside our deep fears and fantasies in a tale as poignant as it is innovative and satisfying." Stella Cameron, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Alex Duggins Mysteries. 

Once invited into New Orleans’ historic mansions to evaluate prized antiques, Dr. Jewell Duet held a coveted professorship at a top university. With her deep 
knowledge of Louisiana history and antiquities, she was the go-to person for anyone requiring professional appraisals. But, one hasty decision cost her both her reputation and possibly her freedom. Now, as she waits to discover if her future includes prison, Jewell knows that taking the job at Sugar Mill is necessary if she is to support her beloved grandmother who has advanced dementia. 

Charming, sexy lawyer Beau Bienvenu's attraction to the intriguing historian vies with his distrust of her motives. Beau has one simple goal when it comes to the family that rescued him and made him part of their clan…protect them at all costs. He doesn't trust Jewell, nor her reason for taking the lowly job at Sugar Mill Plantation. What is she really up to? Is it possible Jewell and her quirky grandmother are there to try to profit from a Bienvenu family mystery? If so, both women are out of luck. 

Jewell and Beau are at odds about almost everything. The only things they agree on are that family is everything…and that their mutual attraction is inconvenient. 

Hope, Love and Second Chances Continue in the heart of Cajun Country 

EXCERPT:

“That’s really clever, Jewell,” Beau said, annoyingly complimenting her again, for the fiftieth time in the last ten minutes, on something mundane she’d done. “Did you paint those red wood wedges you placed under the tires to keep the camper from rolling?”

“Are you trying to inveigle me?” Jewell asked, hands on her hip, looking at the tall, lean, handsome Beau Bienvenu—still wearing his New Orleans Saints jersey like another man would wear an Armani suit. “Geez. Enough with the compliments on how well I set up the camper, take care of Mimi, handle the flashlight and the other dozen things you have been sucking up to me about. She shook her head. “Look. I get why you used the belt-and-suspenders approach with the restrictive clauses in the contract. I don’t like it but I get that you felt you were protecting Elli and Ben’s exposure, vulnerability. It was unnecessary, but you wouldn’t know that. I’m a stranger.” She sighed. “That is done. You did your job. This insincere complimenting on triviality is something else.” She looked at him directly in the eyes. “What, Beau? What’s this all about? What do you want? And, if you say sex, I want you to know, I have given you much more credit than to be so prosaic.” She shook her head, again. “No. I can tell this isn’t about that.”

MY TAKE:    I found this to be an enjoyable story with some exceptionally great characters. The author really sucks you in with Mimi and Jewell's relationship. You feel as if they are your own family members or dear friends. Their back and forth quips make you laugh out loud while still tugging at your heartstrings with the tenderness they share.

Beau is a perfect match for Jewell. They're sparring from the start and it is fun to watch the progression of their relationship. His lawyer's mind and personality haven't quite prepared him for her setting his world completely upside down.

I highly recommend this story as it's fun, touching and thoroughly entertaining.

  Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Available now at:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE

Tina DeSalvo enjoys using her imagination, humor, empathy and personal experiences to turn characters and situations into books that she hopes will entertain readers. Her first book, Elli, brought her in close contact with so many readers with whom she has loved sharing stories, laughs, tears and hugs. Tina has always been inspired by the people she meets and by hearing their personal journeys, not to mention the people she just observes along the way…so, watch out. You could be a character in her next book! 

Tina is married to her handsome Cajun hero, and they live in Louisiana. They have two sons, a wonderful daughter (in-law) and four delightful grandchildren.

If you'd like to know more about Tina DeSalvo, including info on her newest work, latest contests, where she’s speaking or having a book signing, where she gets her ideas, or to see her photos from when she meets her cherished readers…please visit her at her website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Tina is generously giving away a $50 giftcard to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble to one lucky winner. Enter below and be sure to check out the other stops on the tour for more entries and to learn more about Tina's books. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Blog Tour Stops

November 19: One Book Shy of a Full Shelf
November 19: Romorror Fan Girl
December 3:   The Reading Addict
December 10: Unabridged Andra's
December 17: Hope. Dreams. Life... Love
December 17: Paranorma lRomance and Authors That Rock
December 17: Romantic Fanatic

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Castles, Customs and Kings: True Tales by Historical Fiction Authors (volume 2) + GIVEAWAY

TITLE:  Castles, Customs & Kings: True Tales by Historical Fiction Authors (volume 2)

AUTHOR:    Authors - Various

INFO:    Historical Facts & Fiction, 638 pages

PUBLISHED:   Madison Street Publishing, 2015

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  An anthology of essays from the second year of the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, this book transports the reader across the centuries from prehistoric to twentieth century Britain. Nearly fifty different authors share the stories, incidents, and insights discovered while doing research for their own historical novels.


From medieval law and literature to Tudor queens and courtiers, from Stuart royals and rebels to Regency soldiers and social calls, experience the panorama of Britain’s yesteryear. Explore the history behind the fiction, and discover the true tales surrounding Britain's castles, customs, and kings.

Visit the English Historical Fiction Authors blog & Facebook page.  

MY TAKE:  This is a BIG book! A BIG book of fascinating historical goodness. I have to admit that I have not finished this giant masterpiece. I'm taking my time, reading an essay or article at a time - and thoroughly enjoying myself. 

The amount of research these fantastic authors do always impresses the heck out of me. I am really finding it interesting the many things they come up with that don't end up making it to the actual stories they're writing. The way this book is compiled makes it easy to stop and start and pick and choose whatever you're in the mood for reading at the time. One of my favorite parts of book reviewing is doing interviews with the authors and/or having them write guest posts for the blog. This book, along with the first volume, are like candy for me in that respect. I feel like I'm getting "behind the scenes" glimpses into the process in a big extra helping. 

The varying emotions that are evoked from many of these offerings were also a surprise for me. I pretty much hit the full range from sadness and tears to full belly laughs. 

Any lover or writer/wannabe writer of  historical fiction needs to have this tome on their shelf. It is a fabulous reference as well as a place to go for an entertaining and informative look into the early times of Britain. Those who are just in search of some great stories to while away a winter's night will also benefit from getting this/these books. 

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Available now at:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / KOBO

Below is an excerpt/example from the book:  

Seven Surprising Facts about Anne of Cleves

By Nancy Bilyeau

Everyone thinks they know the story of the fourth wife of Henry VIII. She was the German princess whom he married for diplomatic reasons, but when the forty-eight-year-old widower first set eyes on his twenty-four-year-old bride-to-be, he was repulsed.

With great reluctance, Henry went through with the wedding—saying darkly, “I am not well handled”—but after six months he’d managed to get an annulment, and the unconsummated marriage was no more. Although Anne had behaved impeccably as Queen, she accepted her new status as “sister” and lived a quiet, comfortable existence in England until 1557, when she became the last of the wives of King Henry VIII to die.

And so Anne of Cleves has either been treated as a punchline in the serio-comic saga of Henry VIII’s wives or someone who was smart enough to agree to a divorce, trading in an obese tyrant for a rich settlement. But the life of Anne of Cleves is more complex than the stereotypes would have you believe.

1. Anne’s father was a Renaissance thinker. The assumption is that Anne grew up in a backward German duchy, too awkward and ignorant to impress a monarch who’d once moved a kingdom for the sophisticated charms of Anne Boleyn. But her father, Duke John, was a patron of Erasmus, the Dutch Renaissance scholar.

The Cleves court was liberal and fair with low taxes for its citizens. And the Duke made great efforts to steer a calm course through the religious uproar engulfing Germany in the 1520s and 1530s, earning the name John the Peaceful. He died in 1538, so his must have been the greatest influence on Anne, rather than her more bellicose brother, William. In Germany, highborn ladies were not expected to sing or play musical instruments, but Anne would have been exposed to the moderate, thoughtful political ideals espoused by John the Peaceful.

2. Anne was born a Catholic and died a Catholic. Her mother, Princess Maria of Julich-Berg, had traditional religious values and brought up her daughters as Catholics, no matter what Martin Luther said. Their brother, Duke William, was an avowed Protestant, and the family seems to have moved in that direction when he succeeded to his father’s title.

Anne was accommodating when it came to religion. She did not hesitate to follow the lead of her husband Henry VIII, who was head of the Church of England. But in 1553, when her step-daughter Mary took the throne, she asked that Anne become a Catholic. Anne agreed. When she was dying, she requested that she have “the suffrages of the holy church according to the Catholic faith.”

3. Anne’s brother had a marriage that wasn’t consummated either. Duke William was not as interested in peace as his father. What he wanted more than anything else was to add Guelders to Cleves—but the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had other ideas. William took the bold step of a French marriage so that France would support him should it come to war.

His bride was Jeanne D’Albret, the daughter of Marguerite of Angouleme and niece of King Francis. The “high-spirited” Jeanne was only twelve and did not want to marry William. She was whipped by her family and physically carried to the altar by the Constable of France. But when Charles V took hold of Guelders, France did nothing to help William of Cleves. The four-year-old marriage was annulled—it had never been consummated. Jeanne’s next husband was Antoine de Bourbon, whom she loved. Their son would one day become Henry IV, King of France.

4. Hans Holbein painted Anne accurately. The question of Anne’s appearance continues to baffle modern minds. In portraits she looks attractive, certainly prettier than Jane Seymour. A French ambassador who saw her in Cleves said she was “of middling beauty and of very assured and resolute countenance.”

It is still unclear how hard Thomas Cromwell pushed for this marriage, but certainly he was not stupid enough to trick his volatile King into wedding someone hideous. The famous Hans Holbein was told to paint truthful portraits of Anne and her sister Amelia. After looking at them, Henry VIII chose Anne. Later, the King blamed people for overpraising her beauty, but he did not blame or punish Holbein. The portrait captures her true appearance. While we don’t find her repulsive, Henry did.

5. Henry VIII never called her a “Flanders Mare.” The English King’s attitude toward his fourth wife was very unusual for a sixteenth century monarch. Royal marriages sealed diplomatic alliances, and queens were expected to be pious and gracious, not sexy.

Henry wanted more than anything to send Anne home and not marry her, which would have devastated the young woman. He was only prevented from such cruelty by the (temporary) need for this foreign alliance. But while he fumed to his councilors and friends, he did not publicly ridicule her appearance. The report that Henry VIII cried loudly that she was a “Flanders mare” is not based on contemporary documents.

6. Anne of Cleves wanted to remarry Henry VIII. After the king’s fifth wife, young Catherine Howard, was divorced and then executed for adultery, Anne wanted to be Queen again. Her brother, William of Cleves, asked his ambassador to pursue her reinstatement. But Henry said no. When he took a sixth wife, the widow Catherine Parr, Anne felt humiliated and received medical treatment for melancholy. Her name came up as a possible wife for various men, including Thomas Seymour, but nothing came of it. She never remarried or left England.

7. Anne of Cleves is the only one of Henry’s wives to be buried in Westminster Abbey. Henry himself is buried at Windsor with favorite wife Jane Seymour, but Anne is interred in the same structure as Edward the Confessor and most of the Plantagenet, Tudor, and Stuart rulers. In her will she remembered all of her servants and bequeathed her best jewels to the stepdaughters she loved, Mary and Elizabeth.

GIVEAWAY TIME!  

Enter now to win an eBook copy.

Rules

– Must be 18 or older to enter.

– Giveaway is open internationally.

– Only one entry per household.

– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.

To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post. Drawing will close 11/30/15 at 11:59pm PST. Winner will be notified by email. Good luck! 

Be sure to visit all of these other lovely sites on this blog tour for even more chances to win and learn more about Castles, Customs and Kings!

Monday, November 16
Review at Oh, for the Hook of a Book!
Spotlight at Unshelfish

Tuesday, November 17
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook

Wednesday, November 18
Review at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf

Thursday, November 19
Review at Unabridged Chick

Friday, November 20
Review at With Her Nose Stuck In A Book

Saturday, November 21
Spotlight at The Reading Queen

Monday, November 23
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Spotlight at HF Connection

Tuesday, November 24
Spotlight at So Many Books, So Little Time

Wednesday, November 25
Review at BrokenTeepee

Thursday, November 26
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Friday, November 27
Review at Bookish
Spotlight at Let Them Read Books

Saturday, November 28
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Monday, November 30
Review at Impressions In Ink
Review at Celtic Lady’sReviews
Review at The True Book Addict

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - The Ecology of Lonesomeness by David O'Brien + GIVEAWAY

TITLE:    The Ecology of Lonesomeness

AUTHOR:    David O'Brien

INFO:    Fiction, 323 pages

PUBLISHED:   Tirgearr, 2015

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:   

Kaleb Schwartz isn't interested in the Loch Ness Monster. He'd enough cryptobiological speculation about Bigfoot while studying the Pacific Northwest forests. He's in Scotland's Great Glen to investigate aquatic food webs and nutrients cycles; if he proves there's no food for any creature bigger than a pike, then so much the better.

Jessie McPherson has returned to Loch Ness after finishing university in London, hoping to avoid the obsession with its dark waters she had when younger and first discovered lonesomeness. She knows any relationship with a scientist studying the lake is a bad idea, but something about Kaleb makes her throw caution to the depths.

When Kaleb discovers Jessie's lonesomeness refers not just to the solitude of the loch, he's faced with an ecological problem of monstrous proportions. Can he find a way to satisfy both the man and the scientist inside himself, and do the right thing?

EXCERPT: Kaleb Schwartz stared out across the water. A rain shower worked its way through the glen toward him from Fort Augustus. Its grey, amorphous body covered the upper reaches of the lake, and would soon engulf Urquhart Castle to splatter rain upon him. He'd about ten minutes, he calculated, before he was going to get very wet. How long the shower would last, he had no idea: he'd worked out just a tiny part of the mysterious phenomenon that was the weather here in the Highlands.

Before arriving two weeks before, he'd heard about the constant rain in Scotland, but after years of fieldwork in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, Kaleb had been sure he could handle any weather the Highlands threw at him. He had good rain gear.

Nevertheless, the redwood forests of Vancouver Island had not quite prepared him for the changeability here. He'd put on and taken off his jacket and waterproof leggings twice or three times every day so far. Sometimes he wore just a t-shirt, and half an hour later was zipped up in Gore-Tex, holding the cap of his hood against a chill wind as his knuckles turned numb.

And it wasn't only the rain; the fog was just as unpredictable. The purple hills that bound the lake within their walls would sometimes simply vanish from sight. A mist would materialise and make everything further than a hundred yards away basically nonexistent.

When that happened, he might have been on the shore of Vancouver Island looking out on the Pacific, or in the widest expanse of Wyoming or Montana—a great plain in whiteout winter, stretching on for weeks of walking, or days on a train: a Tolstoian steppe. Silence would follow as if to match the invisibility, to prove nothing could make noise—everything beyond sight had actually vanished: there was no moor to hold a roaring stag, no heather to hide a calling grouse, no walls to echo the mournful cry of a red-throated loon. 

MY TAKE:   I really wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I chose to be a part of the blog tour because I am fascinated with Scotland and Loch Ness and I do have a strong interest in the environment. I was quite pleasantly surprised to be drawn in to a lovely romance as well as an interesting story.

Personally and usually, I have found that male authors don't always have the right touch when writing a romance. David J. O'Brien seems to be a glowing exception to this trend. He has created a very touching and more realistic love story with heroine that isn't your usual "ideal" from a male writer. Jessie is strong, capable and very much an intelligent woman. I tire of the Hugh Hefner inspired "twit" that some men think should be the mainstay for romance. Brains are beautiful men! Mr. O'Brien obviously gets that.

Kaleb and many of the other characters are just as well thought out and fleshed out as Jessie. They have many dimensions and their personalities are quite enchanting. I always enjoy a story even more when you have some extremely interesting "lesser" characters who could easily make the book their own. 

The story itself (as well as Jessie & Kaleb's romance) has a lot of ups and downs, twists and turns. I like that their personal secrets as well as the mystery of the Loch and the Monster are intertwined so neatly with the pure science that is so prevalent in the story. I learned quite a bit while being thoroughly touched and entertained. I highly recommend this refreshing tale and found it to be a great change of pace to my usual reads.

  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

MEET THE AUTHOR:  David is a writer, ecologist and teacher from Dublin, Ireland, now living in Pamplona Spain. He has a degree in environmental biology and doctorate in zoology, specialising in deer biology and is still involved in deer management in his spare time. 

As an avid wildlife enthusiast and ecologist, much of David's non-academic writing, especially poetry, is inspired by wildlife and science. While his stories and novels are contemporary, they often seek to describe the science behind the supernatural or the paranormal.

His novels, Leaving thePack and FiveDays on Ballyboy Beach are available at Tirgearr Publishing. His YA novel, The Soul of Adam Short and Children's novel Peter and the Little People will be published soon by MuseitUP Publishing. He writes erotic romance under the pen name J.D. Martins.

A long-time member of The World Wildlife Fund, David has pledged to donate 10% of his royalties on all his hitherto published books to that charity to aid with protecting endangered species and habitats.

 David will be awarding an eCopy of the book to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to stop by the rest of the hosts for this  Goddess Fish tour:

November 10: UnabridgedAndra's
November 10: OurFamilies Adventure
November 17: One Book Shy of a Full Shelf
November 17: RomorrorFan Girl
November 24: SharingLinks and Wisdom
November 24: LibriAmoriMiei
December 1: Hope.Dreams. Life... Love
December 1: RomanticFanatic

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Eclipsing Apollo by Sasha Summers + GIVEAWAY

TITLE:    Eclipsing Apollo

AUTHOR:    Sasha Summers

INFO:    Fiction, 219 pages

PUBLISHED:   Sasha Summers, 2015

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:   Apollo is fond of many things. Music, poetry, physical prowess, truth, and love. The Pythian Games are in his honor and he attends, as a mere mortal, to enjoy the competition… and the women. Meeting the fair Coronis offers him his greatest delight. Her strength, her fearlessness, and her beauty clasp his heart with an irrevocable hold. But she wants none of him.

Coronis’ duty is to marry, but she yearns for so much more. She is a fierce competitor, a hunter, skilled in strategy and reason. Those that would court her lack both the mind and the body to rival hers - she will settle for no less. As a mortal, Apollo was both infuriating and tempting. But Apollo the Olympian is terrifying. She fears giving him her heart might destroy her soul.

Demeter’s need for revenge pits Olympian against Olympian, forcing Apollo into a darkness the God of Light must fight if he ever hopes to see his Coronis again.

EXCERPT:

Her fear increased, making it hard to breathe. Do not let him fall. She turned, her stomach tightening as her gaze met Apollo’s. You must win. You must.

Apollo smiled broadly, his brow rising high.

She pulled her gaze from his, walking past him to the competitors’ tent. He would follow her, she knew it. They had little time to prepare. She must help him bathe and anoint him with oil before he met Damocles in the ring.

Her champion. She shivered, pushing into the tent. She lit a lamp and drew in a steadying breath. She was not a fretful sort, so why was she so afraid? Why did he unsettle her?

She knew the answer but refused to address the ache… the yearning that tugged her heart.

No, no.

She poured water into a beaten copper basin, grabbed the bottle of oil, and turned to him. His gaze caught hers and he cocked his head, assessing her.

An amused smile wreathed his too-handsome face. “Do not fret Coronis. You’ve not broken your word to me. You said you would never ask for my help. And you did not.” He moved forward slowly, towering over her. His smile faltered as he studied her, intently… possessively. “You will never have to. I give it to you freely. I always will.”

She stared up at him, astonished. Her suitors flattered her with pretty words, poetry, even song. But no man spoke to her so plainly. Or dared to look at her as he did.

His gaze wandered over her face. He seemed to linger over every feature, tracing the arch of her brow, the curve of her forehead, the seam of her lips, and angle of her jaw—before pinning her gaze with his. “Do I frighten you, Coronis?” his voice was low, almost a whisper.

She stared into his eyes, fathomless and golden. What was he asking? Was she afraid of the depths of emotion he stirred within her? Was she fearful of how her body trembled, anticipating the moment when they might touch? Or that she dreaded his departure so that she could neither eat nor sleep. She shook her head, unable to answer.

MY TAKE:    I've always enjoyed mythology, whether it be the Greeks, Norse, Roman or those from many other cultures. This was a fun and entertaining take on the story of Apollo and Coronis from the Greek side of things.

While Eclipsing Apollo is actually the third book in Sasha Summers' series: The Loves of Olympus, it is very much a stand alone read. Her writing style is light and colorful, bringing these mythological beings to life on the pages. Aside from the main characters, I liked the various gods and goddesses and their dramas being highlighted. I'm looking forward to reading many of their stories in the other books in the series.   

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Sasha is part gypsy. Her passions have always been storytelling, romance, history, and travel. Her first play was written for her Girl Scout troupe. She's been writing ever since. She loves getting lost in the worlds and characters she creates; even if she frequently forgets to run the dishwasher or wash socks when she's doing so. Luckily, her four brilliant children and hero-inspiring hubby are super understanding and supportive.

Contact Sasha:

Website / Email / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads  Pinterest / Group Blog / Fresh Fiction / Amazon 

Sasha is generously gifting one lucky winner a $25 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Enter below for a chance to win - plus check out the other stops on the blog tour to learn more about this story as well as earn more drawing entries. Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Stops

November 2: TheReading Addict

November 9: UnabridgedAndra's

November 9: RomorrorFan Girl

November 16: ReadingRomances

November 16: One Book Shy of a Full Shelf

November 23: LibriAmoriMiei

November 23: SharingLinks and Wisdom

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.