Description: These are dark times in the land of Fallada, and I fear that they will only continue to grow darker. Only the return of those we’ve lost will even the score. It will begin with first line of the prophecy, which foretells of a red sun over the desert sky… --Adrah, Queen of the Fae On the outside, seventeen year-old Selena McKinley is like any other teenage girl. Yet Selena has always felt as if she doesn’t belong and is counting the days to graduation and her freedom from the small town that makes her feel so out of place, when the arrival of a stranger turns her world upside down. Selena will learn just how different she is and the truth of where she comes from. A lost princess, they call her, the catalyst for a war involving a world that Selena was taken from as a child. An evil queen obsessed with her own beauty with a plan to enslave the human race.…the notion seems so silly, yet Selena knows in her heart that it is true. Then there is Titus, the shape shifter whose blue eyes and claims of destiny hold her heart captive. Can Selena find the strength to do what she must while following her heart?
Release Date: October, 2012
Daughter of the Red Dawn by Alicia MichaelsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I want to emphasize that fantasy books are something I don't normally read, but on occasion, it is good for me to get out of my "comfort zone." I could certainly read historical fiction until it is coming out of my ears (as long as it is well-written), and I really wanted to help the author out and promote her book. So, I agreed to review this book.
This is your typical fantasy-romance with a few twists and turns to make it interesting. You ready for the thing that really intrigued me? This is small, but I found it important. The "hero's" name is Titus! When do you ever see this good, old-fashioned Bible name any more? And this made me somewhat more interested in this character. I also loved that it took place in Texas--I lived there for a while, so I always love it when books take place in areas where I actually lived. While these are not earth-shattering revelations, but it goes to show that sometimes the most insignificant detail in a book can make or break the book for the reader.
As stories go, it's nice enough, and I even found myself liking the main character, Selena. I could have done without the fleeting outbursts of profanity, but there was another part that confirmed the rating I have given this book. There were several romantic scenes in the book, and it was clear that the chemistry between Titus and Selena is there in a real way. I was fully expecting a bedroom scene or a sex implication. But nothing could have been further than the truth! How about this for a refreshing viewpoint? "Let's wait until we get married. Let's make our wedding night special." Is it possible that men like that exist in the real world? Maybe not. After all, this is a fantasy world. I want to thank the author for the sentiment, and I am certain to be a loyal reader of hers from this point onward!
Overall, this book kept my attention for the most part. I would have preferred a different ending or at least an ending that was somewhat more drawn out. But that is just a personal opinion. True fantasy lovers will absolutely love this!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
View all my reviews
Excerpt :
As Selena contemplated taking another lap around
the field, she turned and found the lone figure of a boy standing at the edge
of the meadow, which was ringed by cedar trees. Her eyes widened as she took
him in from head to toe: impossibly black hair falling into his eyes, stony
features, long legs, and slender form. In his skinny jeans, Converse sneakers,
black t-shirt, and sleek sunglasses, he was unlike any other guy she’d ever
seen in Twin Oaks, where Wranglers and large belt buckles were the dress code.
He raised his chin slightly in acknowledgement
and Selena stood rooted to the spot, unable to move or even utter a sound as
the boy stepped into the tall grass. The sun glinted off of his black hair,
giving it a slightly bluish tinge, and his dark sunglasses mirrored her
reflection to her as he closed the distance between them. The grass seemed to
part to make way for him, and Selena couldn’t make her legs function as he
approached.
He is
strange,
she thought as he stopped in front of her with his hands in his pockets. But
strange was good. It meant that she was now one of two people that didn’t
belong in Twin Oaks.
“Hey,” he said.
One word, but Selena couldn’t help but notice
the silky smooth tone of his voice. He smiled, showcasing a row of perfectly
straight, white teeth. The canines were a bit on the long side but she liked
them. She also liked his pale blue eyes, which he revealed by pushing his
glasses up into his hair.
“Hi,” she answered back breathlessly. She tried
to smile, but her lips wouldn’t move. She fiddled with the strap of her
backpack instead.
“I’m Titus,” he said, rocking back and forth on
the balls of his feet.
“Selena,” she answered.
“Pretty name,” he said.
“Thanks. I like your glasses.”
I like
your eyes. I like your hair. I like your skin.
Selena bit back the words, embarrassed by her
almost instant crush on the cute stranger.
“Are you new in town?” she asked, trying her
best not to gawk at him and failing miserably. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen
you before.”
“Not that new,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve seen
you around a lot, at school, on the track field, at the Dairy Queen.”
Selena’s eyes widened in surprise. “You have?”
He nodded, a sly smile spreading across his
face. “Oh yeah. When I saw you today walking through this field I thought,
‘now’s the perfect chance to get to meet the prettiest girl in Twin Oaks’.”
Selena couldn’t help but laugh at that one.
Prettiest girl in Twin Oaks? Hadn’t he laid eyes on Allyson, the cheerleader
with the biggest boobs a teenage girl had a right to have? Or Janelle, who’s
long, perfectly shaped legs had earned her the honor of being captain of the
dance squad? Or what about Trisha, whose hair was that perfect shade of blond
that most girls had to buy a box of hair color to achieve?
This guy obviously didn’t get out much.
Selena snorted. “Yeah right.”
“It’s true,” he said, taking another step toward
her. Selena felt her hands shaking as he reached up to stroke a lock of her
straight, red hair. “Besides, you’re different and I like different.”
“You must be the only guy in town that does.”
He laughed. “Would you believe me if I told you
that we were two of a kind? That I’m as different as you are?”
Selena frowned. “What do you mean?”
He leaned even closer, his nose nearly touching
hers as his grin widened. His white teeth flashed in the sunlight, the sharp
canines displayed proudly.
“I saw you,” he whispered. “Running.”
Selena clutched her stomach as she felt nausea
welling up in her. From the expression on his face, it was obvious that he
didn’t mean to say he’d seen her on the track at school. How could she have
been so stupid? She hardly ever allowed herself the freedom to run uninhibited
in broad daylight. She had thought herself alone, completely oblivious to the
watching eyes of a boy named Titus.
What to do?
Titus’ smile was blinding, a flash of white
teeth that left her stunned while she tried to find words … any words … even
‘please don’t tell my secret and make me end up on the six o’clock news, or on
a lab table with a bunch of tubes coming out of my body’.
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. As panic
gripped her, Selena could think of only one thing to do.
Run!
About the Author:
Alicia
Michaels has always possessed a vivid imagination and strong ambition. At the
age of 12 she decided that she wanted to be a writer, and promptly went about
penning her first novel. Years later, she is releasing her first Young Adult
Fantasy series based on the fairy tales as written by the Brothers Grimm.
When the Army wife and mother of two isn’t
taking care of her home and family, she’s reading, writing, or arguing with the
characters in her mind. She also enjoys cooking, movies, and music. Oh, and a
good cup of coffee.
Social media and Web
Links:
Email:
fantasybyalicia@yahoo.com
Be sure to enter the giveaway below by the end of the tour: end of October!
I think I started noticing it around the time the movie, The Brothers Grimm, was released.
Everywhere I look now, fairytale reboots are popping up all over the place: in
books, T.V. shows, and of course, on the big screen. Of course I had to jump on
the bandwagon with a series of books about a similar theme, which left me
wondering exactly why people love these types of stories and why others feel
the need to constantly explore and recreate them in different ways.
Aside from the fact that everybody loves a good story, I
believe that we cling to these tales because they remind us of a better time:
our childhood. I think that we want to hold on to a time of innocence and
believing in magic; a time of faeries, dragons, princesses and happily ever
after. I think that no matter what happens to us in our lives, we want to
believe in those things because they keep us grounded. Sounds weird, right? The
idea that fairytales keep us grounded is definitely a strange one, but bear
with me. Think about how life can bring you down. People are losing their jobs,
politicians are fighting and getting nowhere, gas and groceries cost an arm and
a leg. But books and movies based outside of reality offer a well-deserved and
much-needed escape…something I think we all need from time to time. If not for
fairytales and stories that stretch the imagination, we might all just lose our
minds.
Be sure to enter the giveaway below by the end of the tour: end of October!
Want to follow the entire tour? Click here.
Thanks for the giveaway. Sounds like a good book, I can do without so many sex scenes also!
ReplyDeleteseyma_bennett@hotmail.com
Great post! I really liked the excerpt, I really don't read that much YA, but think I will give this a try. I'm always glad to read something that the entire book isn't leading up to sex scenes.
ReplyDelete"If not for fairytales and stories that stretch the imagination, we might all just lose our minds."
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Alicia! If I didn't get "lost" in a novel sometimes, I'd have to be locked up in the looney-bin!!!
We just moved to Texas last year. :) It sounds like this is a nice supernatural fantasy book - and I definitely like that I can expect romance without slamming into a sex scene!
ReplyDeleteAuri Lae on rafflecopter
Thanks for this awesome giveaway!
ReplyDelete