Tag Archives: PC Cast

Moon Chosen (Tales of a New World #1) by P.C. Cast-a review

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MOON CHOSEN (Tales of a New World #1) by PC Cast-a review

Moon Chosen

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM /

About the book: Release Date October 18, 2016

Chosen to embrace her true identity. Chosen to follow her destiny. Chosen to change her world.

Mari is an Earth Walker, heir to the unique healing powers of her Clan, but she has been forced to turn from her duties, until she is chosen by a special animal ally, altering her destiny forever. When a deadly attack tears her world apart, Mari reveals the strength of her powers and the forbidden secret of her dual nature as she embarks on a mission to save herself and her people. It is not until Nik, the son of the leader from a rival, dominating Tribe, strays across her path that Mari experiences something she has never felt before…

Now evil is coming, and with it, a force more terrible and destructive than the world has ever seen, leaving Mari to cast the shadows from the earth. By breaking Clan Law and forming an alliance with Nik, she must make herself ready. Ready to save her people. Ready to save herself and Nik. Ready to embrace her true destiny…and battle the forces that threaten to destroy them all.

••••••••••

REVIEW: MOON CHOSEN is the first installment in PC Cast’s young adult (YA) TALES OF a NEW WORLD post-apocalyptic/dystopian fantasy series focusing on a new world years after ‘our’ Earth has been destroyed.

Told from several third person points of view MOON CHOSEN follows three characters with intersecting paths. Mari is our heroine-our young woman caught between Clans as she is neither an Earth Walker like her mother, or a Companion like her late father. Nik is a young man who finds himself drawn to our story line heroine; and Dead Eye, who believes himself to be a god amongst man.

MOON CHOSEN, like PC & Kristin Cast’s House of Night series, focuses on gods and goddesses, connections to the Earth, Wind, Moon and Fire, and magic that can be called forth from the elements. As the introductory story line MOON CHOSEN is an extremely long story –over 600 pages- and is awash in a copious amount of world building that focuses or is dependent upon the character development to tell the story. There is an inordinate amount of what can only be described as filler ( and redundancy) that made for a slow build to the story line premise. The author favors long descriptions and prose but in the end, sometimes too much is too much.

The numerous story line characters are divided into three main Clans and Tribes-Earth Walkers (including the Moon Woman), Skin Walkers and Tribe of the Trees (Companions) or combinations thereof, with numerous secondary traits, identities, rituals and powers. There is plenty of discrimination, prejudice and preconceived notions, and an ill-gotten history between the different clans.

PC Cast’s MOON CHOSEN can be a confusing story line as the author divides the attention between three main characters and the paths they have chosen. Most of the action takes place in the final 100 pages or so of the book.

I loved the author’s Parthelon Series (aka Divine Series); struggled with the House of Night YA series co-authored with her daughter Kristin; and have reservations about continuing on the present course with the current series. PC has a more mature writing style than Kristin and it is evident in the story line structure, text and world building but the vast amount of ‘info dumping’ is overwhelming and takes away from the story line premise-the author is building towards the second installment but tends to meander in too many directions.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Gena Showalter and PC Cast-Interview and Giveaway with the Authors

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Gena Showalter and PC Cast – Interview with the Authors

October 23, 2012 saw the release of the AFTER MOONRISE anthology written by Gena Showalter and PC Cast. We would like to welcome both Gena and PC to The Reading Cafe.  And pay close attention-these ladies are truly gifted in the humor department.

TRC:  Hello ladies and welcome to The Reading Café. We would like to congratulate you on the release of AFTER MOONRISE.

For our members who do not know about Gena Showalter or PC Cast, would you please tell us something about yourself?

PC-I love wine, Oklahoma, and typing “the end.”

Gena-I have three dogs I treat like children—even though one of them is as big as a horse and all three reward me by farting in my office.

TRC:  OK..let’s switch it up. Would you please tell us something about each other that we may not know?

PC –about Gena: She cheats at pillow fights and sheds enough hair to make a hair rug.

Gena-about PC: She would totally win at Dancing with the Stars/Dirty Dancing Edition and success hasn’t changed her. Proof: she still teases me about my amazing hair rug—even though I spent three days weaving it for her.

TRC:  😉

TRC:  AFTER MOONRISE is new anthology (October 2012 release). Would you please tell us about the premise for your contribution to the book?

PC-POSSESSED-My fabulous hero, Kent Raef, is a psychic detective who can follow negative emotions and track killers through them. He spends a lot of time dealing with the underbelly of life, so he’s not very good at positive emotions, like love and happiness and pleasure. It’s only after he accepts a job tracking a killer, who is also psychic and who preys on negative emotions, that Raef realizes for the first time in his life he has to tap into the gentler side of his gift, which leads him to opening himself to love during a murder investigation… There’s a twist and a ghost and a lot of heat!

Gena-HAUNTED-My antisocial hero, Detective Levi Reid, is missing big chunks of memory. Like, he’s not sure how he ended up living in a flea bag apartment, suspended from duty, with a best friend/former partner who won’t speak to him. Then, in moves the innocent and haunting Aurora Harper who thinks she’s witnessed a murder so brutal she’s repressed the memories, only to sleep-paint the scene. They’re drawn to each other in the most magnetic way—and as they help each other, they begin to realize just how entangled their lives really are.

TRC:  What was the decision behind participating in an anthology? Have you ever collaborated with an anthology before?

PC-My decision to participate in a duology with Gena is because she and I have collaborated on two other anthologies. I loved playing in the sandbox with her!

Gena-PC said, “Want to do a book with me?” I was screaming “Yes,” before she finished the sentence.

TRC:  Most storylines in anthologies are novellas or short stories. Which do you find more difficult to write-full length novels or short stories where the premise, plotline and character development come to fruition at a much more rapid pace?

PC-I’m most comfortable writing long. I like to have plenty of room to world build!

Gena-And see, I would love to write an entire book in a single page. <== true story.

TRC:  Have either of you considered working on a co-authored collaboration with each other?

PC-We have! And I definitely would again! I heart me some Gena!

Gena-PC has been one of my dearest friends for the longest time (and that doesn’t mean we’re getting old! We’re young. Young, I tell you.) She’s a dream to work with!

TRC:   PC-ACCIDENTAL MAGIC (September 2012 release) is a combination of two of your short stories. Would you please tell us something about the premise of each storyline?

PC: My ACCIDENTAL MAGIC stories are from the anthologies Gena and I created several years ago. They’re set in Mysteria, Colorado, a supernatural town filled with vampires, witches, werewolves—and lots of sex! Here are the premises:

In Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were)wolf, five-time divorcée Candice Cox is burned-out and lacking in love. But when a friend’s spell presents Candice with the young werewolf lover of her dreams, she starts to rethink her commitment to swearing off men. While the age difference throws her at first, Justin is exactly what Candice needs to kick-start her stalled love life…

In It’s in His Kiss, strict vegetarian Summer Smith has always had a hard time giving up control—especially since her magic is unpredictable at best. But when she meets a dark, gorgeous vampire named Colin, Summer suddenly finds herself wanting to let loose and experience the new appetites awaked by Colin’s kiss…

 

TRC:  PC- HIDDEN is the latest installment (October 2012) in the House of Night. Would you please tell us something about the premise? Do you see an end in sight for Zoey and the House of Night series?

HIDDEN is book 10 of the House of Night. Yep, I plotted 12 HoN books. I totally know what’s going to happen to Zoey and the gang!

 

TRC:  Gena-BEAUTY AWAKENED is the February 2013 installment in your Angels of the Dark series. Would you please tell us something about the premise?

Gena:  Beauty Awakened features Koldo, who is scarred, powerful, and known for his control legendary. He lives only for vengeance, determined to punish the angel who viciously removed his wings (AKA his mother. Yes, he has slight mommy issues). But if he yields to the forces of hatred, he will be kicked from the heavens and eternally damned. His last hope is the fragile Nicola Lane, a human born with a defective heart. Yet she shows surprising strength as demons stalk her every move, determined to end her. She is the key to Koldo’s deliverance…and his downfall.

TRC:  Gena-DARKEST CRAVING (Lord of the Underworld #10) has been schedule for release in July 2013. Would you please tell us something about the premise? How many books do you have planned for the series?

Gena:  I wish I could, but I haven’t yet gotten permission from the publisher to post anything about the book. (Mostly because the rough draft isn’t done, and my stories can change so much between one stage and another) All I can tell you is that it features Kane, the keeper of Disaster, he’s in a terrible mental and emotional place considering all the bad stuff that went down in The Darkest Seduction. He needs a woman to shine a little light into his life asap.

Right now, I have two more books contracted in the Lords of the Underworld series. The next one might just belong to Cameo.

TRC:  Many authors bounce ideas with other authors, family members and friends. With whom do you bounce ideas and why?

PC-I brainstorm with my editors and my agent. I trust their instincts and love the different slants they bring to the writing process. I also babble to my wonderful man. (Yes, he reads my books!) He doesn’t so much brainstorm with me, though, as he does give me a sounding board. But sometimes he says stuff like, “Why don’t you just shoot that character?” The last time he said that was while I was writing POSSESSED. I told him he was brilliant – kissed him – and then I did, indeed, shoot the character. Ha!

Gena-I love to bounce ideas off fellow author Jill Monroe, as well as have her read my drafts in chunks. She’s honest, hilarious and isn’t afraid to tell me I need to chop the first hundred pages because I started in the wrong place. What I don’t like is having to say, “You’re right.”

TRC:  What difficulties or challenges have you faced as a writer?

PC-The first half of writing every single book makes me want to leap off a tall building.

Gena-Having more than one project due at the same time, in different stages.

TRC:  Do you still fear rejection from a publisher?

PC-I don’t really think about publisher rejection – or at least I don’t think about it after I’m under contract. I obsess about writing the best book I can every time I write – so I suppose the rejection I fear most is of my own making.

Gena-I hate fear and won’t let myself entertain it for anything! I used to make myself sick worrying over the silliest things. Now I’m learning to resist it in all its varying forms, and oh, I love feeling it flee. (You can probably picture me fist pumping and shouting, “Freedom!”)

TRC:  Writer’s Block is a very real phenomenon. How do you handle the stress of writer’s block?

PC-Well…I don’t believe in writer’s block. I believe that not everyone who begins a book can finish one. When I was a teenager I wanted to be a veterinarian, but when I volunteered at a vet clinic I realized I didn’t have what it takes to be a veterinarian. I didn’t have vet block; it just wasn’t the right job for me. I don’t look at writing as a nebulous, Muse-driven thing. I look at it as a job. It’s a cool job. I love it. But it’s a job, and that means that sometimes, whether I feel like writing or not, I write. It’s just like when I was teaching high school. I didn’t always feel like teaching class, but it was my job, so I showed up and did it to the best of my ability whether I felt like it or not. Because writing has been romanticized for so long I think people tend to forget that a successful professional author is a professional.

Gena—I don’t believe in writer’s block, either! And like PC, I see writing as a job. It takes discipline to force myself to go into my office, shut the door, and sit down at my computer when I’d rather stay in bed – and rather not be enveloped by the pungent aroma of dog fart.

TRC:  On what are you currently working?

PC-Right now I’m working on answering this interview – thereby procrastinating and not writing the House of Night novella that’s due next month and is soooo not close to being done…

Gena-I’m currently working on the rough draft of The Darkest Craving, copy edits for Beauty Awakened, page passes for Last Kiss Goodnight, and plotting Through the Zombieglass. “I will succeed,” she says with another fist pump.

TRC:  Would you like to add anything else?

PC-Yep – a big wave to my paranormal romance fans! It was a pleasure to write for you again!

Gena-Thank you so much for your support!

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food

PC-wine
Gena-gourmet hamburger from my favorite restaurant, The Stuffed Olive

Favorite Dessert

PC-wine
Gena-sugar cookie from my favorite restaurant, The Stuffed Olive

Favorite TV Show

PC-currently The Big Bang Theory
Gena-New Girl

Last Movie You Saw

PC-The Avengers
Gena-What to Expect When You’re Expecting

Dark or Milk Chocolate

PC-Dark!
Gena-Dark

First book ever published

PC-Divine by Mistake (published originally under the title Goddess by Mistake)
Gena-The Stone Prince

TRC:  Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations to both of you on all of your success and the release of AFTER MOONRISE. We are looking forward to your new and future releases.

The Reading Cafe is offering a GIVEAWAY a copy of AFTER MOONRISE to one lucky member wherever The Book Depository delivers.

1. You must be a registered member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, please register using the log-in at the top of the page or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please add your email address to your comment as Twitter etc does not allow for email addresses.

3. Giveaway open INTERNATIONALLY wherever The Book Depository delivers.

4. Please answer one of the LIGHTNING ROUND questions.

5. Giveaway runs from November 2-November 6, 2012

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HIdden and Accidental Magic by PC Cast

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Hidden and Accidental Magic by PC Cast

 

From GOODREADS: Release Date-September 4, 2012

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the House of Night Series, P.C. Cast, presents two sexy, magical novellas set in Mysteria, Colorado, a supernatural town filled with vampires, witches, werewolves—and enough passion to awaken any creature of the night…

In Candy Cox and the Big Bad (Were)wolf, five-time divorcée Candice Cox is burned-out and lacking in love. But when a friend’s spell presents Candice with the young werewolf lover of her dreams, she starts to rethink her commitment to swearing off men. While the age difference throws her at first, Justin is exactly what Candice needs to kick-start her stalled love life…

In It’s in His Kiss, strict vegetarian Summer Smith has always had a hard time giving up control—especially since her magic is unpredictable at best. But when she meets a dark, gorgeous vampire named Colin, Summer suddenly finds herself wanting to let loose and experience the new appetites awaked by Colin’s kiss…

LINKS TO ORDER:

Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository / KOBO

HIDDEN by PC and Kristin Cast

 

FROM Goodreads: RELEASE DATE-October 16, 2012

At last, Zoey has what she wanted: the truth is out. Neferet’s evil has been exposed, and the High Council is no longer on her side — but she’s far from done wreaking havoc in the vampyre world. First, a mysterious fire ravages the stables. Then, Neferet makes a devastating move that will test them all.

With the seeds of distrust sown and Darkness breeding chaos at the House of Night, everyone must band together — but that’s proving to be more difficult than ever before. The twins are barely speaking and the House of Night’s former enemy, Kalona, has now become their warrior, pushing their trust to the limit. To top it off, Zoey is pretty darn sure she might be losing her mind. She saw something when she looked at Aurox through the Seer Stone that she can hardly explain to herself, let alone her friends. Is it possible that Heath has come back in a different form? Is that why Zoey’s so intrigued by Aurox, when it’s so obvious that he’s dangerous? And who would believe her if she told them? Zoey knows that following her instinct about Aurox might be just what they need to defeat evil . . . but if she’s wrong, it could cause the destruction of those closest to her.

With the tension at a breaking point and friendships on the line, can the nerd herd come together to stop the spread of Darkness before it’s too late?

LINKS TO ORDER: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository / KOBO

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AFTER MOONRISE (anthology) by PC Cast and Gena Showalter-a review

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After Moonrise (anthology) by PC Cast and Gena Showalter-a review

AFTER MOONRISE –Possessed by PC Cast / Haunted by Gena Showalter

AFTER MOONRISE is an anthology (October 23, 2012 release) written by PC Cast and Gena Showalter. After Moonrise is a paranormal investigation agency and is the primary agency in both of the storylines. Norms are without any supernatural power (human) and Psys are those gifted with varying degrees of psychic ability.

POSSESSED is the first storyline written by PC Cast. At nine years of age, Kent Raef discovered he was a Psy. With his ability to feel only negative emotions Kent spent several years working for the military. Now State side and living in Tulsa Oklahoma Kent is a well-respected psychic detective working for the Tulsa branch of the After Moonrise Agency. Things are about to change for Kent when Lauren Wilcox enters his office hoping he will be able to help track her twin sister’s killer. But Lauren comes with a surprise-her sister’s spirit refuses to move on until her murder is solved. And it is Raef’s ability to see and communicate with Aubrey that pushes the detective in more ways than one.

Aubrey and Lauren Wilcox owned their own landscaping business and three months earlier Aubrey’s body was discovered at a job site-she had apparently been electrocuted on a dig. But Aubrey’s spirit refuses to move on and the sisters‘s relationship is slowly killing Lauren. It is not Aubrey’s choice to remain but a psychic killer who has the ability to keep her spirit alive.

POSSESSED is a well-written and fast paced storyline with a HEA but it was a difficult ending for me. I knew within the first couple of chapters that I would not like the outcome of this particular storyline. Aubrey’s bubbly personality made it obvious that she was the dominant twin and her attraction and playful attitude with Raef had the detective focusing more on the ghost than on the person. Lauren soon became nothing more than a second thought and a vessel for her sister’s spirit. What would you do for love?

*************************

HAUNTED is the second storyline written by Gena Showalter. Oklahoma PD detective Levi Reid suffered blackouts and his most recent was a 7 day blank. Waking up in a new apartment, with new neighbors in a new neighborhood wasn’t what he had expected but when Aurora Harper stepped into his life he recognized a broken soul. On an extended leave of absence from the force, Levi would find himself in the middle of a missing persons investigation where the missing appeared to be alive and well, and he had more in common with Harper than he was willing to admit.

27 year old Harper, following a recent move into a new neighborhood, was also suffering blackouts and the feeling that she had witnessed a murder-a murder that she had somehow suppressed but her paintings, as she is an artist, have recently taken on a presence of their own. She is painting the image of a murder. And to complicate matters she could feel and taste the fear and horror, hear the screams of pain and something or someone was stalking her very existence. Along with her roommate Lana, Harper and Levi would embark on the long road to uncovering the truth behind the images Harper was painting and stopping a serial killer. But Levi suspected more than Lana let on when she disappeared and he discovered she was working for the Oklahoma After Moonrise Investigation Agency.

As the storyline continues, Harper and Levi develop feelings for each. Harper has a smart mouth and sexy attitude, and Levi is drawn to the spunky artist. But Harper’s painting will suddenly become personal and they will soon discover that their lives had taken a different path than they ever thought possible.

HAUNTED is another well-written, fascinating and amazing storyline from Gena Showalter. There is murder and mystery, as well as romance and sex. Gena draws the reader into the storyline and throws you a curveball at every chance. Our hero is sexy and sure, and our heroine has a take no prisoners attitude. Another wonderful story that will have you second-guessing the premise –you think you have it all solved until Gena changes the playing field.

LINKS TO ORDER: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository / KOBO

Reviewed by Sandy

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DIVINE BY CHOICE by PC Cast -a review

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DIVINE BY CHOICE by PC Cast

DIVINE BY CHOICE by PC Cast

Divine by Choice is the second book in PC Cast’s Divine series. The continuing story of Shannon Parker and Clanfintan, but Divine by Choice returns Shannon to her own time period and the man who is the mirror image of her husband.

Shannon Parker, aka the high priestess Lady Rhiannon to the people of Patholon, is sick. With an unexplained stomach ailment and her shape-shifting centaur husband away with his troops, Shannon fights a battle with lethargy, nausea and weight loss, that even she cannot explain. When Clanfintan returns and realizes his mate is sick, the healer is called for a diagnosis. They are expecting their first child- a daughter and Shannon has morning sickness.

A young stone-cutter wishes to meet with the priestess and explains about his affinity with the elements. Kai explains that the ‘stone’ talks to him and shows him the answers to his questions. Intrigued, Shannon tests to determine if she has an affinity and she is able to send the whispers. When a horseback ride into the forest, finds Shannon and Clanfintan in the old Oak grove, a mysterious emanation beckons Shannon. Investigating the strange phenomenon and thinking she has an affinity to the earth, Shannon is suddenly hurled through a time portal back to the 21st century, alone, pregnant and without her mate.

Shannon awakens in a cabin with a man who is the mirror image of her husband. Clint Freeman, is a retired war hero, a Shaman with an affinity to the earth. But what is more amazing is that he knows about the portal exchange between Shannon and the real Lady Rhiannon. As Clint explains, Rhiannon vowed never to return to Parthelon while she enjoyed the modern conveniences of the new world. But Clint is saddened when he reveals that he was seduced by Rhiannon, and was drawn into her games of violence and death. When Shannon explained what had happened to her, she asks to be taken to the spot where she was found. Hoping to connect with Clanfintan, Shannon ‘whispers to the oaks’ and is rewarded with a brief contact with her mate in Parthelon. But that brief connection has released an evil into the world-Nuada.

Meanwhile, Clint is falling for Shannon. Knowing that Clint was involved with Rhiannon, Shannon dismisses his feelings, but not before, she learns that Rhiannon played Clint for a fool, and broke both his heart and his soul. As Shannon learns of Rhiannon’s deceptions, it isn’t long before, everything that Rhiannon touched in Shannon’s life, will be tainted with evil and death.

Needing to see her father, Clint drives Shannon to a local store for clothing, where she finds her best friend, Suzanna who is no longer friendly. Apparently, Rhiannon has turned Shannon’s life around in Oklahoma with drug dealing, sex and making bitter enemies of friends and family. But before Shannon is able to explain, Suzanna is hit by a car and immediately killed. Shannon remembers her the magic sleep, where Nuada threatened everyone she loved, and she realizes that she is not the target but her friends and family. Hoping to save her father, Clint and Shannon make their way through a heavy snow-storm, that becomes worse with the every passing moment.

Shannon arrives to see that her father is not a judgemental man. Trying to explain what had happened to her, he soon realizes, that the woman who all but destroyed the lives of everyone she knew, is not the woman in his home. Hoping to return to Parthelon, Shannon explains that she is mated and pregnant to Clanfintan, to the surprise of both Clint and her father. But Nuada has other plans, and before Shannon is able to return, her father faces a near death experience in the icy waters of Oklahoma, and Clint and Shannon must face the reality that perhaps she will never be able to return to Parthelon.

Throughout the storyline, Shannon enters into the magic sleep, where the Goddess Epona reveals the truth about the many people in her life. When Epona reveals the horror of Rhiannon’s past, Shannon becomes more sympathetic, but not enough to forgive her for the damage she has cause both Clint and Clanfintan.

When her sleep visions reveal Rhiannon performing a ceremony to return to Parthelon, Clint and Shannon must confront Rhiannon before she escapes to the other world. Shannon is desperate to return to Clanfintan and her friends in Parthelon, but Clint begs her to stay with him in Oklahoma. He is falling in love with the real Shannon Parker and offers his home and his life. But the pull of Clanfintan and the love of her mate, are stronger than her feelings for Clint. When Clint and Shannon confront Rhiannon about her past, Rhiannon discovers that she has a softer side-one that involves a need to be loved. But Rhiannon reveals that the only way to return to either world, will involve a blood sacrifice –a death. Hoping to save both Shannon and Rhiannon, Clint sacrifices himself and Rhiannon, by performing a Shaman ceremony to help return Shannon to her husband and friends.

Divine by Choice is once again filled with magical creatures and evil monsters. The love story between Shannon and the two men in her life,will break your heart, when she must decide where her heart truly belongs. If you have never read any of PC Cast’s adult storylines, I recommend her Divine series. PC writes about a romantic paranormal adventure without foul language, gratuitous sex or graphic violence. The final book in the trilogy is Divine By Blood, and like the title suggests, this time, the Divine is family-the next generation in both Parthelon and Oklahoma.

Reviewed by Sandy

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Divine by Mistake

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DIVINE by MISTAKE


Divine by Mistake is the first book in P.C. Cast’s Divine series featuring Shannon Parker and Clanfintan set in the mythical world of Partholon. With the release of the first book in 2001,  the Divine series is the adult companion to PC’s YA (Young Adult) Partholon novels including Elphame’s Choice and Brighid’s Quest.  Many of you will recognize P.C Cast.   She co-authors the House of Night novels with her daughter, Kristin.

Shannon Parker, a 30 something English teacher from Tulsa, Oklahoma sets out on the last day of the school year to attend an estate auction featuring unique and strange antiquities.  Little does she know, she is about to be swept into a magical world of centaurs, Goddesses, muse nymphs, shamans and the evil Fomorians.

With her sights set on a strange Celtic vase embossed with her image, Shannon faces off in a bidding war for the urn that seems to generate an intriguing force, a compulsion to be owned.  But, while driving home, Shannon suddenly becomes ill when the vase emits an energy field that causes her to crash her car, then waking up in a world of castles and mirror images of everyone she knows.

Shannon wakes to finds herself in Partholon, in the role of Lady Rhiannon, High Priestess and beloved of the Goddess Epona, and betrothed to Clanfintan, a Shaman and shapeshifting centaur. Rhiannon’s slave Alanna, and soon to be best friend of Shannon, explains that she is the identical likeness of the Lady Rhiannon, who has used a magic wall of fire and crossed the divide between worlds, to escape her handfasting with Clanfintan.  But Shannon soon realizes that Rhiannon was no lady.  She was  a sexually promiscuous and self-centred woman who despised and mistreated everyone around her, except her father. And Clanfintan was not the only thing she was escaping, but an escalating war between the people of Partholon and an evil, unlike anything seen by humans.

Shannon’s gift of the ‘magic sleep’ sends her dreaming of worlds and events happening all around, that will send her on a trek to rescue Rhiannon’s father and save the people of Partholon from Nuada and the bird-like creatures known as Fomorians. Along the way, Shannon must make amends for Rhiannon’s past behavior, including her horrific treatment of Clanfintan, which allows the couple to get ‘re-acquainted’ and fall in love.  But their love relationship is not without a few problems.  Clantfintan’s ability to shapeshift into human is constrained by time and energy, so the newly mated couple must adapt to each other’s needs.

Shannon’s use of modern-day Oklahoma English and her ability to tell stories of adventure and love, adds to the allure of the new Lady Rhiannon.  But a case of mistrust and hatred between the Lady Rhiannon and Alanna’s beloved fiancé Carolan, results in her confessing her true identity to her closest companions, including her new husband, Clanfintan.  Acceptance of his new mate and a realization that their world is better without Rhiannon, the centaurs embark on a quest to stop the advance of the Fomorians and prevent a potential disaster.  With an outbreak of smallpox rendering many of the humans too ill to fight, Shannon must assist Carolan with the sick and dying.  Because Shannon had been vaccinated against smallpox back in Oklahoma, she is immune to the effects of the smallpox and becomes a valuable asset in the war against the outbreaks.

The confrontation with Nuada and the Fomorians fast approaches, and to stem the tide of invasion, Clanfintan and his centaur warriors escort Shannon and an army of humans away from Partholon to the Temple of the Muses, only to find, another outbreak of smallpox.  But the invading Fomorians are not immune to the disease and their numbers are soon tainted and weakened.  Fighting to save the life of his beloved Shannon, Clanfintan destroys Nuada in a fight to the death, when Nuada stakes a claim against the Lady Rhiannon.

Divine by Mistake is the introduction to the Divine Trilogy (excluding an ebook Divine Beginnings).  It is filled with magical creatures including male and female centaurs, a love story, humorous anecdotes and Oklahoman idioms.  Shannon’s true friends in Partholon are the identical images of the people in her life back home, including everyone she loves in both worlds, but doesn’t yet know.  I found this series by mistake.  I recognized the author P.C. Cast from her writings in the House of Night series.   I enjoyed Divine by Mistake, as well as the next in the series Divine by Choice and Divine by Blood. Divine by Choice offers new revelations and answers many questions about her life back home, and Divine by Blood showcases the next generation of Partholon’s royalty.

Sandy

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