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The Unforgiven

Behind familiar fantasy trappings await a marvelous adventure and a vibrant love story.

Awards & Accolades

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  • Kirkus Reviews'
    Best Books Of 2016

In this medieval tale, the conflict between two rival kingdoms escalates over an ancient prophecy.

Vanyar, a shape-shifter, former soldier, and drunkard, has just been tossed from a tavern in his native land of Bryn’Cairdha. On the grimy streets, he’s soon confronted by a Centaur named Malik, who runs King Roidan’s secret task force, the Weksan’Atan. He informs Vanyar that he's to sober up and rejoin the Atan as second-in-command for a special mission—or go to prison. Vanyar eventually agrees, and he travels with a contingent of Minotaurs, Griffins, Centaurs, and Shifters to rescue Princess Iyumi from her vile kidnappers near the border of the northern kingdom, Raithin Mawr. Meanwhile, in Raithin Mawr—where magic and monsters are forbidden—Prince Flynn is tasked by his father, King Finian, to find Iyumi, marry her, and fulfill a prophecy that will supposedly eradicate magic and join the two nations in peace. The situation is more complex than either side knows, for Iyumi, herself a prophetess, sees that a baby plays a key role in uniting the kingdoms. When she’s trapped in a cave by Raithin Mawr forces, she suddenly falls ill. Will Vanyar be able to help, or will the ghosts of a botched military action catch up with him? Rose (Prince Wolf, 2016, etc.) crafts an excellent stand-alone adventure from some of the fantasy genre’s most tried-and-true components. Her prose, wry in tone and comprised of long, loping paragraphs full of physical and emotional description, is pitch-perfect. Some lines find beauty in the story’s violence, as when Flynn kills someone and “his spirit fled to the folk who kept count.” Rose frequently uses slang to garnish the dialogue, not oversell it (Iyumi says, “Bite me, Vanyar”). Further connecting with modern audiences, she casts the violent behavior of Raithin Mawr citizens who blow people up as terrorism—and then cleverly draws the narrative to a point by which such acts are unnecessary. Tucked within is also a first-rate romance, making the characters that much more unforgettable.

Behind familiar fantasy trappings await a marvelous adventure and a vibrant love story.

Pub Date: April 10, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9904275-5-1

Page Count: 560

Publisher: House Anderson Publishing

Review Posted Online: May 2, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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