About the Book: 
Publisher: Create Space  (April 16, 2014)
ISBN: 978-1497532731
Category: Fantasy, Magic, Fairytale
Tour Date: October, 2014
Available in: Print & ebook, 180 Pages

“When you die, your spirit wakes in the north, in the City of the Dead. There, you wander the cold until one of your living loved ones finds you, says “Goodbye,” and Sends you to the next world.

After her parents die, 12-year-old Sophie refuses to release their spirits. Instead, she resolves to travel to the City of the Dead to bring her mother and father’s spirits back home with her.

Taking the long pilgrimage north with her gruff & distant grandmother—by train, by foot, by boat; over ruined mountains and plains and oceans—Sophie struggles to return what death stole from her. Yet the journey offers her many hard, unexpected lessons—what to hold on to, when to let go, and who she must truly bring back to life.”

Review: 
Sophie's parents have died, leaving her an orphan.  Even more importantly, leaving her the only one who can release their spirit from the City of the Dead.  When a person dies, their loved one must send them on to the next world by making a gruesome and dangerous journey north and up a mountain to the City of the Dead in order to say 'Goodbye' and release their spirit.  Sophie has every intention of going to the City, but not saying goodbye, she wants to tell her parents to come right back where they came from.  When her parents die, Sophie is taken in by her distant and seemingly harsh grandmother, who is not going to make it easy on Sophie to get what she wants. 

From the introduction, I felt intrigued by the City of the Dead.  Then when we meet Sophie, I was even more interested. Sophie is smart, daring and willing to learn.  Without the blurb I couldn't quite place Sophie's age, at times she seemed much younger than her 12 years and at times older.  However, this is a journey where Sophie grows up and learns valuable life lessons about grief, friendship, and saying goodbye.  This short story is told in a fairytale style with third-person narration that let me be able to imagine the trials and tribulations of Sophie's journey that included a train, bus, boat, vans and mountains as well as the mysterious City of the Dead.  I was glad that unlike many traditional fairytales, Sophie is the hero of her own story.  

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.  

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Read an Excerpt: 
CHAPTER 12
OF COURSE



Sophie woke at the table the next day before the sun rose and let habit

and obligation drag her from her seat and pull her to the bakery. Setting

her body in front of the floured marble table and searching her chest,

she found a hole where her heart used to beat, and when she dove into this

abyss she felt something close to cold, but far from feeling itself.

 

That morning her dough would barely budge when she touched it and the

loaves she handled wouldn’t rise an inch and the bread she placed in the oven

left their fires cold and flat and dead no matter how long they spent among

the flames.

 

The baker saw this and responded to her as if she were a stubborn slab

of dough. She pressed patiently and consistently and with constant motion,

asking Sophie this and that, pushing and pulling at her, all without mentioning

her failures, without forcing a point, yet unrelenting and unwilling to toss her

to the side.

About the Book: 
Publication Date: May 29, 2014
Carina Press
eBook; ISBN: 9781426898365

Genre: Historical/Fantasy/Paranormal/New Adult/Romance

2013 RWA Golden Heart© Finalist
2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist

The power to heal is her divine gift, the fear of discovery, her mortal curse.

Selah Kilbrid is caught between two worlds. A direct descendant of the Celtic goddess Brigid, she is bound by Tuatha Dé law to help those in need. Yet as a human, she must keep her unique abilities hidden or risk being charged for a witch. In 1730 Pennsylvania, the Quaker community of Hopewell has become a haven for religious freedom—and fanaticism—and there are those who would see her hanged if the truth were revealed.

For eighteen years, Selah safely navigates the narrow gap between duty and self-preservation, until the day a prominent minister uncovers her secret. Obsessed with her power, Nathan Crowley disregards her betrothal to a distant cousin from Ireland and demands marriage in exchange for his silence. Selah stalls for time, but when news reaches the Colonies of her cousin’s death, time has run out.

Rather than submit to Nathan, Selah coerces a stranger to pose as her husband. It’s a good plan—her only plan—even though Henry Alan harbors his own dark secrets. But when she returns to Hopewell a married woman, the real fight has just begun. As unseen forces move against her, Selah doesn’t know which poses the greater danger—a malignant shadow closing in from outside or the internal fire that threatens to consume her heart.

Book Two in the Goddess Born series will be published in November 2014 and Book Three in June 2015.

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Carina Press

Review: 
Selah Kilbrid is Goddess Born, half human and half divine descending directly from the Goddess Brigid. She is blessed with the gift to heal others, but with that gift comes the obligation to keep it a secret.  Selah's grandparents were removed from their homeland and came to Pennsylvania to settle.  Now Selah and her father live among the Quakers in 1730.  One of the Quaker ministers, Nathan, has been hounding Selah for her hand in marriage and has turned to threatening her, but because of her gift, Selah must marry within the other descendants of Brigid.  Upon his deathbed, Selah's father tells her to marry her cousin as soon as possible. Selah sets off to complete her father's wishes, but runs into trouble when she finds out that her cousin has passed on the ocean crossing.  Not wanting to return home unmarried for fear of Nathan, Selah sees a handsome indentured servant for sale and convinces him to pose as her husband in return for time off his sentence.  The servant, Henry, agrees, but he is hiding a secret himself. 

This was the perfect blend of history, paranormal and romance.  Selah's character was strong and feisty. The idea of Goddess Born was also unique, I liked that Selah was very careful with her gift of healing.  She had to know to heal just enough to save a life, but leave enough to be healed with traditional means so that it did not appear to be out of the ordinary.  Her gift also made her story very dangerous and suspenseful when the notion of witchcraft came into play.  Henry was the perfect handsome, strong, mysterious hero; I could see where their relationship was going to go pretty early on, however it turned out to be very sweet and I couldn't guess what Henry’s secret was until the end.  Another part I enjoyed was the setting; it was differed to learn about a Quaker settlement, their views, meetings and daily lives.  Now, I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next two books.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.  

About the Author: 
Kari Edgren did not dream of becoming a writer. Instead, she dreamed of everything else and was often made to stay inside during kindergarten recess to practice her letters. Despite doting parents and a decent school system, Ms. Edgren managed to make it through elementary school having completed only one book cover to cover – The Box Car Children, which she read approximately forty-seven times. Things improved during high school, but not until she read Gabrielle Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude in college, did she truly understand the power of a book.

Ms. Edgren aspires to be a Vulcan, a world-acclaimed opera singer, and two inches taller. She resides in the Pacific NW where she spends a great deal of time torturing her husband and children with strange food and random historical facts. Ms. Edgren hasn’t stopped dreaming, but has finally mastered her letters enough to put the stories on paper.

For more information please visit Kari Edgren’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

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Read an Excerpt: 
"Believe me, Mr. Alan, marrying you was truly my last option. Why else would I willingly connect myself to a servant when half of the single men in Hopewell wanted my hand?” Well, maybe not half, but I wasn’t really going for accuracy at the moment.

“Then why didn’t you take one of them instead?” he asked, giving me a sardonic grin.

“That is none of your concern.” I lifted my chin, but he was so tall my nose barely topped his sternum, taking away from my attempt at a dignified air. “You are making such a fuss, I almost wonder if you would have preferred Mr. Fletcher’s company to my own.” I smirked at him, pleased with the insult. 

The elegant curve of his mouth tensed in warning, but I was not about to back down after being so rudely insulted. It was high time he remembered who was an heiress to a great fortune and who had arrived a day before, indentured for service with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Undesirable, indeed!

“Was it him you wanted instead of me?” I asked, pushing a little bit further.   His green eyes flashed dangerously as he leaned over me, bringing us almost nose to nose. “A wife should never doubt her husband’s natural desires,” he said menacingly.

Disconcerted by his closeness, I started to move away when he grabbed my upper arms and pulled me hard against him. Inhaling sharply, my rational mind scattered beneath the heady scent of soap and masculine spice. Without thinking, I drew another breath, and my eyes strayed to his mouth.

A soft chuckle vibrated deep in his chest. “So that’s why you’re angry.”

I jerked my gaze upward. “What do you—”

 His fingers tightened on my arms. Then, with a dip of his head, he pressed his mouth to mine. The suddenness so startled me, I forgot to kick and scream until his hold slackened a moment later.

The floor felt strangely off-kilter as I stumbled back a step. My eyes blinked open, and Henry loomed large, looking angrier than before.

“Are you satisfied now?” he asked in a chillingly quiet voice.

Indignation roared to life inside me. “How dare you!” I cried, my hand rising in retaliation. His reflexes were snakelike, and he caught my wrist in midair.

“There’s no need for that,” he said, guiding my hand back down. “A bride is promised one kiss on her wedding day, but ask as you may, you’ll be getting no more from me.”