Fire & Frost (The Canens Chronicles #2) by Kelsie Engen

Fire & Frost (The Canens Chronicles #2) by Kelsie Engen

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Title: Fire & Frost (The Canens Chronicles #2)
Author: Kelsie Engen
Pub Date: November 25th 2019
Pages: 484
Amazon|Goodreads

She’s a princess on the run. With the weight of the entire Seven Kingdoms on her shoulders.

Crown Princess Winterberry fled her cursed homeland after escaping slavery and the ruthless assassination attempt at her own stepmother’s hands. Now in enemy lands, she doesn’t know who to trust. And finally realizing her own powerful magic, she trusts herself least of all.

Certain she brings more danger than help to those she cares about, Winterberry leaves the very ones who rescued her from her prison and travels into Ardor to seek the only allies she can think of: the King and Queen and their son. But before she can reach them, she must outrun the huntsman of Canens, her stepmother’s right-hand man who never fails to catch his prey.

Outrunning both friends and enemies, Winterberry must reach the Ardorian royal family and beg for their help. Only united with the royal families of the Seven Kingdoms can she break the Canens Curse and free the entire Seven Kingdoms from an unimaginable future.

The first book in The Canens Chronicles, Fog & Mist, was amazing, so expect nothing less than amazing within the pages of Fire & Frost. There are so many layers upon layers of secrets, magic, and danger at every turn.

My favorite characters so far are Princess Winterberry and Marcus, the Huntsman. There are many more interesting characters to root for and I can’t wait to read more about them.

2020 can’t come soon enough.

Review: Fog & Mist by Kelsie Engen

Review: Fog & Mist by Kelsie Engen

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Title: Fog & Mist (The Canens Chronicles #1)
Author: Kelsie Engen
Pub Date: April 23rd 2019
Pages: 432
Amazon|Goodreads


A usurper queen on a stolen throne.
A princess imprisoned, enslaved, and believed dead by her people.
A foreign prince searching for his sister.
Each entangled in a curse that threatens all of the Seven Kingdoms.

Crown Princess Winterberry’s stepmother will do anything to prevent her ascension—even if it means assassinating her. And on the eve of the princess’s twenty-first birthday, Queen Blanche arrests Winterberry under false claims of treason.

Although a long-standing prophecy proclaims death to anyone who kills a Canens royal, Blanche is determined to find a way. Step one goes off without a hitch: auction off the true heir as an incognito slave and send her halfway across Canens with Blanche’s most trusted huntsman.

But on the other side of the Seven Kingdoms, an enemy prince gambles his throne and his life, crossing into Canens after his kidnapped sister. The farther he travels, the more entangled he becomes in the Canens Curse, the slavery underworld, and Princess Winterberry herself. Soon, even he doesn’t realize how much more is at stake.

Color me impressed.

Fog & Mist exceeded my expectations with great world building, an interesting cast of characters, and a detestable villain who sees herself as a savior to her barren, snow-cursed kingdom.

Kelsie Engen’s writing is polished and engaging. The allure of grabbing and reading book two is irresistible. I must know what happens next.


Spotlight: The Other Magic by Derrick Smythe

Spotlight: The Other Magic by Derrick Smythe

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Title: The Other Magic (Passage to Dawn #1)
Author: Derrick Smythe
Pub Date: December 1st 2019
Pages: 635
Amazon|Goodreads

Darkness stirs in a world that is ill-equipped to confront it. A prophesied king is born, but not all will benefit from his foretold conquests.

In a realm where only clerics are permitted to practice magic, Kibure, a mere slave, draws the attention of much more than just his master after wielding an unknown force in a moment of desperation. In a twist of fate, Sindri, the priestess hired to strip Kibure of his power, defies the law, revealing designs of her own. But trust is in short supply in a land ripe with deceit. This wayward pair will have to work together if they hope to evade capture at the hands of the Empire’s most potent wielders.

Halfway around the known world, Prince Aynward’s knack for discovering trouble drives him deep into conspiracies within which he does not belong. Too arrogant to accept counsel, he will have to learn the hard way that some actions have consequences that cannot be undone…

Free SFF books on Bookfunnel

About the Author

Derrick resides near his hometown in Upstate New York with his wife, two daughters, and their dog, Magnus. When he is not working on his next novel, he enjoys finding any and all reasons to be outdoors. Listening to audiobooks while seated upon the throne of his riding lawn mower is a favorite and when the snow falls, Derrick eagerly transitions to snow-blowing his driveway with the same dual-purpose in mind.

Derrick’s debut novel, The Other Magic, is the first installment of his Passage to Dawn series, an epic fantasy set in the World of Doréa.

Find out more about Derrick and his work on his website.

Review: Love is a Royal Pain by Ava S. Quill

Review: Love is a Royal Pain by Ava S. Quill

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Title: Love is a Royal Pain
Author: Ava S. Quill
Pub Date: December 5th 2019
Amazon|Goodreads

Brilliant and driven Abighail has her sights set on becoming the first female physician in her country. As the only female student in her medical school, she already has her hands full, but as a senator’s daughter, she is still expected to make an excellent match. Wasting no time on worrying about her “happily ever after,” Abighail becomes engaged as quickly as possible—ambitions first, love later—and travels to Bettonia in pursuit of a perfect apprenticeship before her wedding.

Studying with the best of the best and residing with the Royals sounds like a fairy tale until Abighail meets Finn, Bettonia’s Crown Prince, who hates the distraction she provides and mocks her at every turn. But when a rash decision brings them both to face Finn’s dark past, Abighail is forced to recognize there’s more under his brooding mask than meets the eye and that she might be available for love after all. At least she would be if she wasn’t bound by honor to keep a previously convenient engagement that has become a burden instead.

Do you love reading sweet romances with handsome princes and lovable, intelligent heroines?

This book is for you.

A standalone sequel to Love is a Wistful Song, Love is a Royal Pain is a fun, warm-your-insides feelgood story for the romantic at heart.

I’ve been wanting to read something like this for a while and now I’ve finally found it with Ava S. Quill’s engaging writing style. I haven’t read Love is a Wistful Song, but I fully intend to grab a copy. I’m a new fan of her work.

I enjoyed the plot and the characters, especially Prince Finn and Abighail. I also really liked the cultures the author created. It was so nicely done.

Review: The Watchers (The Blood Dagger #2) by Misty Hayes

Review: The Watchers (The Blood Dagger #2) by Misty Hayes

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Title: The Watchers (The Blood Dagger #2)
Author: Misty Hayes
Pub Date: December 15th 2018
Pages: 515
Amazon|Goodreads

Eighteen-year-old Corinth Taylor didn’t sign up to become a Watcher—an elite warrior destined to restore balance to the human race—he was chosen.

Corinth can barely control his own hormones… much less the deadly blade. And to make matters worse, his best friend, Larna, just so happens to be the very thing he’s supposed to eliminate.

But when vampires and slayer find a common enemy, Corinth knows it’s his innate calling to hunt evil down. And evil has a name: Gabriel Stanton. The enigmatic vampire who escaped their capture, has plans for Corinth, Larna, and Alastair… and it’s a threat they’ll never see coming.

When the line between good and evil gets crossed, devastating consequences start to happen. As Watcher and vampire worlds collide, Corinth must decide where to place his trust: with his old allies or his killer instincts. An upstart slayer. A clan of vampires.

What could go wrong?

It’s only the end of the world.

Check out my review of The Outcasts (The Blood Dagger #1)

Misty Hayes did T H A T.

Not to be overdramatic but I am shocked, appalled, and dying to know what happens next for Larna, Corinth, and the gang (especially Vinson, my actual new book husband. I want that man to–not–murder me). I loved volume one so much but volume two, this thick bad boy, was a roller coaster ride out of this world.

Larna is amazing, such a truly strong, admirable heroine. The true example of what makes a ‘strong female character’ in a not-so-cookie cutter form. I loved seeing how much she has grown in this book.

Corinth and Alastair were also great. Corinth is my favorite of the two and I was glad he got his own POV chapters this time around. There were so many interesting situations and revelations about his character. I sense more to come.

..And Gabriel. I still love him. I just have a thing for his type.

Read. this. series.

Spotlight: Reviving the Commander by Nadine C. Keels

Spotlight: Reviving the Commander by Nadine C. Keels

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She isn't a beautiful young maiden hoping to erase the Commander's memory.

Title: Reviving the Commander (Crowns Legacy #1)
Author: Nadine C. Keels
Pub Date: June 4th 2019
Pages: 170
Amazon|Goodreads

Opal Whilstead knows she has a reputation: a reputation as a bright, giving, upright woman—smiling and laughing her way through hopeless spinsterhood. It’s been so long since she’s had serious feelings for a man, but now she finds herself taken with the Commander Exemplar of Diachona’s army.
And she regrets it.
Not only is the Exemplar a widower still longing for his wife, but he’s the father of the reigning king. Even if a man of such prestige could find love again, he’d be unlikely to search for it among the kingdom’s old maids. Besides, Opal dreads being found, due to a grievous secret she carries…

About the Author

Nadine. A French name, meaning, “hope.”

With her lifelong passion for life-enriching fiction, Nadine C. Keels enjoys reading and writing everything from short stories to novels. Her fiction works include Love Unfeigned and The Movement of Crowns Series, and select pieces of her lyrical poetry can be found on her spoken word album, Hope. Lyricized. As the founder of Prismatic Prospects, her communication company, Nadine has served as editor for a number of titles, and through her writing, from her books to her blog posts, she aims to help spark hope, inspiration, and genius in as many as she is privileged to reach.

Find Nadine:
Prismatic Prospects|Goodreads|Twitter|Facebook|Bookbub|Amazon