Welcome to my stop on the Surrender Book Tour, Brought to you by Bewitching Book Tours. I have my review here, as well as an excerpt and teaser. Book Blurb, and other info.
SURRENDER
The Ferryman and The Flame Book 1
Rhiannon Paille
Genre: YA Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
ISBN: 978-1480029859
Number of pages: 402
Word Count: 100k
Book Description:
How far would you go to save everything you ever loved?
Kaliel was warned about her love for the Ferryman. One day he will marry the land and leave Avristar forever. She doesn't listen, and because of what she is-- a Flame-- one of nine apocalyptic weapons, she sparks a war. In a desperate attempt to save her home and her love, Kaliel tries to awaken Avred, not knowing she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Short Excerpt:
“Sorry I scared you,” he said.
Kaliel pressed her lips to her knees, hoping she could hold in her emotions. “I’m not afraid of you.”
Silence hung between them for awhile. He shifted on the cloak, the black tunic he wore shifting with him. He stretched his legs out, and Kaliel looked at his shin-high boots and breeches. He stole a glance at her turtle shell. “What are you afraid of?”
Kaliel stood. “Happy endings.” She didn’t know how else to explain it. She had contemplated the parable so many times it was exhausting. It didn’t matter which path she took—neither of them seemed very appealing. She let the mist soak her sleeves and stick to her skin. She heard Krishani behind her before he ran his hand down her back making shivers run up her spine. He stayed there, a foot away, and she wished he would move closer, envelope her in his arms. He wasn’t supposed to talk to her. This had to be wrong. What would the brotherhood think?
“Happy endings?” he whispered. He sounded both unsure and nervous. “What do you mean?”
“What if someone comes?” She was worried Lord Istar would burst through the trees and find them in this compromising awkwardness. It seemed more taboo than practically drowning in the lake.
Krishani let out a breath. “Nobody ever comes here.”
Kaliel closed her eyes. “You come here.”
Krishani took a step forward and she could feel the heat radiating off him. “All the time.”
She didn’t answer, instead listening to the sound of the falls. Moonlight glinted off the flecks of water. She thought about the orb of ice he created for her. She hadn’t been able to do anything close to that awesome.
“What are you thinking?” he asked again.
She closed her eyes and felt her energy shift; like it had the day she went to the Great Oak. Heat rushed through her as she leaned back, trying to feel him, but not trying to force it if it wasn’t what he wanted. It was clear to her he cared, but she was so worried about whether or not she should let him.
“My parable,” she whispered.
He went rigid, his hand sliding down her upper forearm. “What did the Oak say to you?”
She shook her head. “Never mind, I have to figure it out. Both paths seem so dreary.”
“You seem too sweet to have a bad parable.”
She didn’t want to talk about the nightmares of the Flames, the parable, the fact the Brotherhood would disapprove of him touching her. It felt so natural; the last few moons had been lonely without him. She couldn’t explain what she felt, but she couldn’t watch him marry the land and leave the island.
“But I do,” she said. She drew her hands instinctively to her chest, her elbows digging into her ribs. He dropped his hand as she turned, and buried her face in his chest. He reluctantly ran his hands through her hair, letting them rest on the small of her back.
“I thought about you every day,” he said as she pressed her cheek into his tunic.
She smiled against his shirt. “And I thought about you.”
“Promise me something?” He wasn’t holding her, not really, their bodies weren’t pressed together and the inches between them made Kaliel feel cold.
“What?”
“You’ll find a happy ending.”
“What if I can’t?”
He pulled back and brushed his thumb across her cheek. “Promise me you will.” His eyes met hers and his jaw dropped. His hand paused, cupping her face in his palm. He held her gaze, her heart beating hard. Before she had time to answer, he pressed his lips against hers. She didn’t expect him to do that and it was better than she imagined. She came to life under him, kissing him back with unyielding passion that made him pull away to seemingly catch his breath.
Kaliel’s sadness drained away as he broke from her lips and then cupped her face with both hands and kissed her again, pressing the length of his body against her. His kisses made her feel light and giddy, like she could float into the sky. She slid her hands up his chest and looped them around his neck. There was swimming in the lake and losing her breath and then there was this. Being out of breath with him was like drowning in a sea of happiness. He could keep her prisoner forever and she’d never complain. He pulled away again, and wound his arms around her waist, trapping her against him. His lips found hers again, rough and inexperienced, but strong and satisfying.
She opened her mouth and his tongue grazed hers, warmth spreading from her heart to the rest of her body, making her tingle. She smiled against his lips.
“I missed you.” She tried to steady her breathing.
Krishani shook his head and put his hands on either side of her face. “This is all I want. This and nothing else, ever.” His mouth covered hers again. He pressed himself against her and she sighed. It felt like she had known him her entire life and even longer, if longer even existed.
Images appeared behind her eyelids—the shape of a boy and a girl wearing gaudy crowns on their heads. They were painted into parchment, but they were blurry. She was too elated by Krishani and his lips on hers to record the images, but they seemed familiar.
And then everything changed. Krishani pushed his lips against hers one last time and she felt the shift in her energy dissipate. It was as though all the joy evaporated, replaced by intense fear. She pushed him away and tried to understand the pounding in her heart that made her want to break in half.
Bloom the weed of temptation.
He looked confused and shocked. Without a word, she turned and fled towards the Elmare Castle.
About the Author:
Rhi was never a normal girl. Her life was an urban fantasy wrapped in a paranormal romance and served with a side of horror. To escape her everyday weirdness she began writing fantasy. She studied at U of Sedona and MIMT, obtaining a PhD in Metaphysical Science and Parapsychology. She’s married to a chef/comic book shop owner and she has a fondness for architecture. She frequents twitter and facebook, but if you really want to get to know her you should visit her site: www.yafantasyauthor.com
Is the vampire craze really over?
The last twilight movie is out today, or tomorrow for some of you, and with it the end of an interesting if not, controversial empire. Stephenie Meyer began as most authors do with an idea in her head and a lot of hope in her heart. The first Twilight movie was meant as an indie film, but it captivated teenage audiences everywhere and made them fall in love with vampires-- sparkly vampires.
Of course, older generations had already been in love with vampires and preferred the deeper affections of Lestat, Blade, and Angel. We fondly remember The Bronze, and Spike. And keeping with any vampire tradition you can't have vampires without werewolves, witches, and demons. Oz and Willow were by far, awesome members of the "scooby gang."
Twilight redefined vampire culture, attempting to be classic while also being romantic. The books succeeded in pulling us into Bella's shoes and making us contemplate the idea of becoming a vampire. I don't think that the idea of becoming something demonic and misunderstood is going to leave society.
Just because Twilight is ending doesn't mean we're done with vampires.
In fact, it means we have more choice. Vampire books have become a craze in the book world since Twilight took off, spawning a number of series with many different takes on vampires. I'm listing my top 5 series.
1. Jeanine Frost, Night Huntress Series
2. Laurel K. Hamilton, Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series
3. Kristin Cast / P.C. Cast, House of Night Series
4. Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy
5. Rachel Caine, The Morganville Vampires
All of these series have something unique and different, along with plenty of books in the series to catch onto. If you're quite finished with the Twilight craze, but not done with vampires, look around, there's a lot more out there that can bite you.
Cheers,
Rhi
My Review of Surrender: The Ferryman & The Flame
I was really touched by this sad and sweet story. The emotions that play out over time from when Kaliel is 14 and Krishani I believe was 15 or 16 and on, they first met at those ages, but their budding love really didn’t hit until later and grew. It was a forbidden love I would call it. I did have some confusion on what the term “to Marry the Land” meant, but guessing since this is a fantasy with the elves, that they would be like monks and nuns to the land? I am not sure, it’s the best way I was able to think of it. What is sad, is that they are told what their destiny is, they have no choices at all in their own life, and that is so sad. It turns out both of them had a bit different future in store for them.
This book is written very well, and really pulls you into this fantasy world. But it’s not so farfetched that you do not believe it, it really is brought to life for you.
Here is a very sweet reunion for them, they are a bit older here:
“I made a bolt of lightning strike down a three thousand-year-old-tree in Amersil, because in the middle of a meditation I thought about your green eyes.” A sheepish smile crept onto his face.
Her eyes widened. “Three thousand years?”
“All because of your green eyes.” He pressed his lips against hers. He leaned back and she followed his lips, straddling him, pressing her hips into his groin, bracing herself on his shoulders.
“All I want is this, this and nothing else. Ever.”
Krishani grunted in agreement as her mouth came down on his.
As you can see by that sweet scene, they deeply care for one another, and it only grows from there. I do not want to say much on what is expected of them, or what they do, so not to spoil anything.
I think some of the abilities that Kaliel have are pretty cool, she can “talk” to the trees and animals, as well as sortof communicate with the mermaids that are supposed to be dangerous. She is always running off to swim in the pond or lake, when it’s forbidden to do so. Krishani also seems to be really powerful, but is unable to control his powers. He loosed control when he tries to control the elements like he should, destroying whole areas of trees that are old. He seems to have the best control if he is near Kaliel.
It’s an amazing fantasy book, and highly recomend anyone who likes the paranormal/fantasy type books. It’s truly captivating. You really need to read this. I can’t wait for book 2.
5 out of 5 stars.
I was provided a copy of this book for my honest review from the author.
If you liked my review, I would love to have some support at Amazon by clicking my review there as Helpful, Here.
Or at Goodreads you can Like it, if you want, Here, thanks for any help.
( I have added this Author's Note, which I found interesting, You can see it at the authors site Here)
Author’s Note
Once upon a time I wrote non fiction. Gritty, ugly facts splattered on paper and fed to the masses. Needless to say the non fiction wasn’t my favorite thing to write. Throughout my journey to self discovery (which consisted of a lot of studying and writing weird essays) a story began to form. In its original rough form a Ferryman traveled to Avalon and met a pretty girl with long white hair and green eyes. This girl was a Flame, one of nine weapons made to destroy the world as we know it. She lived with her friend Puck, and her elder Desaunius. Titania and Oberon were the sovereigns of Avalon, and Morgan Le Fay wasn’t there, not yet. There was a sisterhood in the East, and I imagine that’s where all the King Arthur stories came from, but King Arthur had nothing to do with my story. My story was about the Ferryman nobody thought much of, and the Flame everyone thought was destined for greatness and how together they created catastrophes together.
The story was never nice, but the elements surrounding their disastrous ends were parts of very different myths. Nobody seems to know the Flame was ever in Avalon, or that the Ferryman was there too. Ferrymen are from Greek mythology, Flames are loosely from Eastern Mythology (Asia if you will) yet in my mind they were both on Avalon at the time same (long before King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay) and they fell in love, which really was the wrong thing to do.
Of course in those days the inhabitants of Avalon didn’t call it Avalon, and they didn’t know much about Ferrymen or Flames. Titania, Oberon and Puck didn’t know the names Shakespeare gave them, so they gave themselves different names. And like all good stories there are people who you’ve never met before within the pages. People like Desaunius, Mallorn, and Adoron.
Of course, you’ve never met Kaliel and Krishani either, but you will, and maybe by the end of this story you’ll understand exactly why Kemplan destroyed everything he could find about the Flames.
But I digress. Since I couldn’t pass this story off as non fiction (because the only thing Kemplan sees as non fiction are things his Scryes write) I decided it would have to be fiction. Everything that happens in this story is fictional, except for the places and the characters.
This isn’t the Avalon you know, or the Ferryman you know, and you never knew the Flame so I don’t know why I’d even bother mentioning her, but she’s definitely not Eastern Mythology’s version. She’s really nothing like the karmic debt vacuum cleaner they make her out to be.
Once upon a time she was just a girl who happened to have the power to cause an apocalypse, and she fell in love with a boy who happened to follow death and they happened to meet on Avalon, (which was really just a hidden island on Earth) and they happened to cause a catastrophe.
I’ll stop rambling and let you read the book now, but I thought all of these things were things you might need to know.
Ahdunie,
Rhiannon Paille
This tour is brought to you by Bewitching Book Tours. You can see the rest of the tour by clicking Here.
