Braeden and Janne by Kathye Quick-Blog Tour, Review and Giveaway

Braeden and Janne
by Kathye Quick
Book 2

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Barnes and Noble / KOBO

ABOUT THE BOOK: Duty and desire clash to save a new Camelot from the sons of Mordred.After his brother is made king by a dying Arthur, Braeden hopes to help Constantine rebuild Camelot and carry on Arthur’s vision for the kingdom. Together with the new queen, and her companion Janne, a new era begins. Although the ways of Merlin and Morganna are banned from court, . Janne holds to the goddess. She finds the mind overrules the heart when she and Braeden are betrothed. Refusing to marry him, . she fears their union will bring the fall of the kingdom. With the sons of Mordred, Melehan and Melou plotting the ultimate revenge…brother versus brother…there is no peace to be had in Camelot. When Janne is exposed as a Druidess, she and Braeden must find a way to expose the plot to take down Camelot while maintaining the ideals the majestic realm was built upon.

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REVIEW: Braeden and Janne is the second book in the Beyond Camelot series by Kathye Quick. For three years, Braeden and a contingency of knights pursued Mordred’s sons to bring an end to their quest to see the fall of Camelot. The people began to fear the magic of Merlin and spells of Morgana might return and Camelot would fall once again, so King Constantine had no choice but to ban the old ways from the kingdom and those found to hold to them were to be brought before the high court under a charge of treason.

Janne’s mother was a Druidess and Janne had been raised using powders and herbs to heal people. But practicing the arts was forbidden and Janne knew that Braeden would have to choose between his love for her or his love of his brother, King Constantine and Camelot. Once Braeden returned, Janne tried to distance herself from him, refusing his repeated proposals of marriage. She knew his was duty bound to uphold the laws of his King and she did not want to hinder the future of Camelot. But she loves Braeden with everything she has and although she knows she should push him away, they are drawn together time after time. Constantine is heartbroken that his decree to ban the old ways may force his brother to choose between Camelot or his true love, but Constantine felt he had no other option. Janne refuses to stop using the old ways to heal and save lives. It is more important to her to heal someone and risk being caught then to stand aside and let someone die.

Now enters Lady Johanna Delacore…..oh she’s the villain that we all love to hate! Never have I wanted to reach into a book and punch someone in the face more than this woman. Johanna teams up with Melehan to unleash a series of events that they hope will bring down the mighty Camelot. Johanna pushes herself into the kingdom under the falsehood that she is grieving for her deceased husband and needs a place to rest from her travels. Once there, she spies and investigates until she discovers that Janne is a Druidess. Melehan helps Johanna by providing additional false witnesses that say they witnessed Janne practicing “magic”. Johanna brings her witnesses before King Constantine’s court to declare that Janne is a Druidess. For Janne’s safety, Constantine has Janne locked in the dungeons to protect her from the crazed mob of people that want to see her punished.

Johanna visits her, bragging how she will be the fall of Camelot because once Braeden finds out that Constantine had her locked away, Braeden will have to choose between his love or his brother. Janne is heartbroken because this is what she tried to protect Braeden from. With the sons of Mordred on their way to attack Camelot, Braeden, Janne and Constantine stand together to defend that which they loved. Janne and Braeden stand strong to battle all that try to divide Camelot.

Now that I’ve given you the summary of the book, let me tell you how much I loved this story. I’ve always been a fan of King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table stories so when I read the plot of the book, I was excited and knew I would enjoy it. Kathye Quick writes her storyline so descriptive that I could picture myself at Camelot. I have not read the first book in this series (Cynthia and Constantine) but it was easy to follow. The author gave enough background information so the reader knows where Janne and Braeden’s love story began. Reading the struggle that Janne and Braeden go through is heart wrenching, Janne not wanting to compromise who she is, not wanting Braeden to have to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to his brother. Braeden is so admirable, he doesn’t care who he displeases by loving Janne. Rules be damned! And what would any story be without it’s villians?? As much as I despised Johanna and Melehan, they were crucial to the plot. Without their dastardly deeds and wicked ways, the book would’ve fallen flat. It just would’ve been a knight chasing a woman who was playing hard to get. I really enjoyed this story and these characters and can’t wait to read the first book and the future stories in this series.

Reviewed by Tricia

Copy supplied by author.

I’m actually writing this post on Mother’s Day, so I’m a bit sentimental today. Just came home from a Mother’s Day brunch with my youngest. I never had a real “favorite” child, but there are 12 years between my twins and my youngest. In 12 years things change and life evolves, so while I went through being a single, working mom with my older boys, I had the luxury of staying home with the youngest until he started first grade. Our relationship is different than that of my relationship with my twins. I love them all, but I have to say, I feel a little closer to the ‘baby’.

One of the things I got to do more with the youngest was what he called ‘play toys.” “Mom, play toys with me” was an almost daily ritual, one I looked forward to doing since I already knew how quickly children grow out of the wanting to be with mom stage and into the drop me off a block from school stage. So I carefully made sure I played toys whenever asked.

One of his most favorite ‘toys to play’ was Transformers. The resurgence of the Transformers into modern movies always makes me think back on this with a smile. Except for one thing. I was never allowed to be an Autobot.

Transformers first appeared when my youngest son was around 4. He took to it like them proverbial duck to water; Transformers and the Gobots. But the Gobots never quite achieved the super star status as did the Transformers.

It all begins with the name. The heroes, Optimus Prime or Leader-1? Which has the better name? That also goes for the evil machines – Megatron or Cy-Kill? Need I even ask?

The Gobots had boring henchmen like Cop-Tur and Turbo and Tank, while the Transformers had (and still apparently have according to the millions made at the box office) Bumblebee, Ironhide, Bluestreak and Sunstreaker if you are an Autobot. If you lean more toward the dark side you’re a Decepticon such as Star Scream, Galvatron, Shockwave and Buzzsaw. C’mon. You know these guys are way cooler just by what they are called.

It was a good thing I was into sci-fi and trucks from having three boys because these things became a staple in my house for a long time when they first were introduced by Hasbro. Which brings me to why I loved seeing the Transformers movies. It certainly wasn’t the plots. There were none to speak of. The storylines jumped all around, some character lines weren’t tied up and finalized and mostly, things blew up and there was a lot of noise; for over two and a half hours. And while Shia is not unpleasant to look at for that length of time, he’s no Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Chris Pine as the current Captain Kirk.

But I digress.

In truth, I loved seeing the movies because they remind me of a time long ago when my son was small, innocent of what lay ahead for him and totally and unconditionally my best friend. We played Transformers in blanket-made caves on his bed, in kitchen pot hide-aways in the living room and in the alien-plant terrain of the backyard flower garden. We regularly blew up an awful lot of Tupperware and foiled the latest sinister plot hatched by the evil Decepticons. On Saturday mornings we’d watch the Transformers cartoon over cheerios and end the day with a book about the heroic Optimus Prime.

Back then I was never allowed to be an Autobot because my son was destined to save the world. Heck, he’s not thirty yet, so maybe he still will!

Thanks for letting me take you on a different kind of journey. Hope you didn’t mind.

Kathye

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CYNTHIA AND CONSTANTINE
Beyond Camelot – Brother Knights, Book 1

Available at : Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Barnes and Noble / KOBO

Lady Cynthia of Abertaine is trapped. Not only has the man she is to marry, Sir William Leyborne, not been back to the castle for over ten years, but she’s also not a titled Lady. Lord Simon of Cowell, a renegade warlord aligned with Mordred against Arthur and his Knights, has declared himself sovereign over Leyborne Castle and everything that once belonged to Sir William – including Cynthia.

Sir Constantine, Knight of the Round Table, has come to the shire to give Cynthia the news that William has fallen in battle. With him is William’s oral will giving all he owns to Cynthia as though they had been wed. But when he finds the shire under the control of an evil warlord, he knows he cannot leave without first freeing Cynthia and driving Simon and his soldiers from the land.

Drawn together by an attraction older than time, Cynthia and Constantine soon discover that though a vow made by a knight’s honor has brought them together, it may just also cost them their lives.

Born long ago in a place not so far away, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, Kathryn Quick has been writing since the Sisters in St. Casmir’s Grammar School gave her the ruled yellow paper and a number two pencil.  She writes contemporary and career romances, romantic comedies, historical romances as well as urban fantasy.

She has been a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America since 1990 and considers it an honor to have been NJRW President in 1992 and 2001.  She is one of the founding members of Liberty States Fiction Writers, a multi-genre writers’ organizations dedicated to furthering the craft of writing and helping aspiring writers move onto publication.

Kathye originally wanted to be President of the United States or an Organic Chemist, but somehow life got in the way and she got married right out of high school and had a set of twins two years later.  The Presidency seemed out of reach and night school to get her Ph.D. to create new molecule that would ultimately result in the betterment of humankind seemed a little time consuming while trying to raise twins, so she decided to write instead.

In her “other” life, Kathye is married to her real-life hero Donald and has three grown sons all having adventures of their own and three “bonus” grandchildren.  She is a die-hard New Jersey Devils fan and works for Somerset County government (as close as she could get to the White House) and is plotting a novel about a new molecule that will ultimately result in the betterment of humankind.

Connect with Kathryn:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon Page

Today is the final day of Kathye Quick’s BRAEDEN and JANNE Blog Tour

Kathye is giving away the following prizes on her tour:

1.  Grand Prize:   Kobo mini E-reader (US ONLY).  International winner will get a gift card

2.  5 Runners-Up:  $10.00 gift card to Amazon or B&N

NOTE: The Reading Cafe is NOT responsible for the Rafflecopter Giveaway.  If you have any questions, please contact the tour promoter or the author.

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