{Fantasy Review} White Hart (White Hart #1) by Sarah Dalton

{Fantasy Review} White Hart (White Hart #1) by Sarah Dalton

Mae never asked to be craft-born. She never wanted that burden.

The realm needs magic again, and the the King of Aegunlund has been waiting for the first craft-born girl to marry his son, Prince Casimir.

In Mae's town of Halts-Walden, the ambitious miller claims his daughter Ellen is craft-born. Mae knows this is a load of hogwash, but she's glad Ellen will have the unfortunate pleasure of becoming queen instead of her. All she has to do is sit back and wait until Casimir and Ellen are married, then she will finally be free of the threat of her fate. But on that day an event so shocking and terrible occurs that Mae finds herself entering the neighbouring cursed forest on a quest she never thought she'd have to follow.

Join Mae as she rides her white stag through the Waerg Woods with a pampered prince at her heels. She's out for revenge and nothing, no one, will get in her way. (Blurb via Goodreads)

Purchase: The Book Depository + Amazon + Barnes & Noble

{Details} ebook, 394 pages. Published March 5th 2014 by Sarah Dalton. Source: Netgalley/author in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Sarah Dalton.

{Rating} 4/5 -- I really liked it!

{Review}

"When you live on the edge of a cursed forest, you do a lot of staring into the dark." (page 1, line 1)

An enjoyable tale filled with all the trappings of my favorite fairy tales: a cursed forest, fantastical creatures, a prince, a quest, loss and sacrifice.

Mae is a snarky Cinderella - if Cinderella climbed trees and was treated badly by everyone, not just her step-family. I liked Prince Cas, he's a good guy, smart and kind. How could you not fall in love with him?

As Mae learns more about what it means to be craft-born she realizes has a choice, what she wants, her happiness and what the world needs. The exciting ending left me eagerly awaiting book two in the White Hart series.

{Fantasy Review} Awakened (The Legends Of Elyndia) by Kriston Johnson

 {Fantasy Review} Awakened (The Legends Of Elyndia) by Kriston Johnson

Can fighting for the right side be the wrong thing to do?

Draven, the tyrant ruler of Elyndia for the last one thousand years, searches for the one who can fulfill his prophecy.

The Paladins, an elite band of warriors sworn to protect their way of life at all cost, search for the one with the ability to bring their world crumbling down.

An innocent girl, tormented by demons only she can see, lives on the brink of insanity and longs for a life of peace.

When seventeen-year-old Jade Rosenberg reads from an antique book, she has no idea she just read an incantation awaking her inherited power. But when opposing—and equally terrifying—groups invade her home, she learns she is descended from an enchanted realm and a member of a powerful race thought to have been hunted to extinction.

Ripped from her world, Jade is forced to seek refuge from those who want her dead. She is given one of two options and the time has come for her to make a choice: assassinate their sworn enemy…

Or sacrifice her soul. (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details}  Published April 2013. Source: Kriston Johnson/Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review

{Rating} 3/5 - I liked it!

{Review}

"Blood-encrusted iron shackles tethered Gabriel to the stone dais, digging into his bare skin, grinding to the bone." (page 1, line 1)

An imaginative tale filled with magic, heroes and demons, twists and turns and a heroine whose world is turned upside down.

Jade was a great heroine.  She's thrown into a new world, she learns that nothing is what she thought it was, and everything and everyone is against her but she still keeps going, she never gives up. She's loyal to her friends, she's willing to sacrifice herself for them. There's also a little bit of a love story, one that kind of sneaks up on Jade. But like everything else in Jade's life it's complicated.

I enjoyed the story but I did feel lost trying to remember who was who in the large cast of characters. I also could have used more explanations, a couple of times I found myself thinking 'what?' I'm excited to see what happens to Jade and everyone else in book two of The Legends Of Elyndia.

{Fantasy Review} The Remedy (Eyes of E'veria #2) by Serena Chase

{Fantasy Review} The Remedy (Eyes of E'veria #2)  by Serena Chase

Having come to terms with her long-hidden identity, Princess Rynnaia E’veri is ready to take her rightful place. But before she can join her father at Castle Rynwyk, she must endeavor to fulfill a 200-year-old prophecy and defeat the Kingdom’s ancient enemy, the Cobelds. Joined by her faithful knight, Sir Julien de Gladiel, and a gifted group of friends, Rynnaia must trek a dangerous path through canyons, forests, and into the very depths of a mountain where, if the prophetic scrolls prove correct, she will face an unknown foe, alone. Treacheries will be discovered, sacrifices will be made, friends will be lost, and love will be tested, but if even one line of the riddled prophecy is misinterpreted, Rynnaia will fail . . . and the Kingdom will fall.

Beginning at the point THE RYN ended, THE REMEDY concludes an epic re-imagining of the classic Grimm fairy tale, SNOW WHITE & ROSE RED. But the Eyes of E'veria series is only beginning . . . (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details} Kindle Edition, 390 pages. Published April 21st 2013 by Candent Gate LLC. Source: Amazon

{Rating} 5/5 -- I loved it!


{Review}

"By the time the Cobeld retrieved his brother's body from the Great Wood of Mynissbyr, there was little left but bones, hair and the dagger that had done the job." (page 1, line 1)

This is book two in the series, so go read book one, The Ryn. I loved it, my review of The Ryn is here. I adored The Ryn and could hardly wait to plunge into book two - which I devoured - and fell a little more in love with Chase's characters and her world.

The Remedy picks up where we left off, with Rynnaia knowing who she is and what she has to do. She has an epic quest ahead of her but she also has to learn how to be a princess. The Remedy was more exciting and faster paced, without all the exposition The Ryn required, and had more action. And even more danger, sacrifice, duty, loss, and betrayal. And the romance? Loved it! Conducting a courtship while on a quest is a challenge but Julian more than manages. He sure knows how to make a girl feel loved.

There is a definite conclusion to events in The Remedy Chase sets things up for the next book set in the world of E'veria. I can't wait to see what happens next.