Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Readers' Choice Spotlight - Fantasy

Remember to vote for your pick in each category and to enter the giveaway on this page.

Awakening by Christy Dorrity


A little magic has always run in sixteen-year-old McKayla McCleery's family—at least that’s what she’s been told. McKayla’s eccentric Aunt Avril travels the world as a clairvoyant for the FBI, and her mother can make amazing delicacies out of the most basic of ingredients. But McKayla doesn't think for a second that the magic is real—it’s just good storytelling. Besides, McKayla doesn’t need magic. She recently moved to beautiful Star Valley, Wyoming, and already she has an amazing best friend, a solo in her upcoming ballet recital, and the gorgeous guy in her physics class keeps looking her way. 



When an unexpected fascination with Irish dance leads McKayla to seek instruction from the mute, crippled, janitor at her high school, she learns that her family is not the only one with unexplained abilities. 

After Aunt Avril comes to Star Valley in pursuit of a supernatural killer, people begin disappearing, and the lives of those McKayla holds most dear are threatened. When the janitor reveals that an ancient curse, known as a geis, has awakened powers that defy explanation, McKayla is forced to come to terms with what is real and what is fantasy. 

A thrilling first novel, Awakening is a gripping contemporary fantasy, based in Celtic mythology that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery. 

Blind Sight by Nicole Storey

Jordan has visions of monsters, demons, and death. Seventeen, orphaned, and born into the family business, she doesn’t have friends, she doesn’t have choices. Her uncle, older brothers, and a few annoying angels dominate her life, demanding she tow their lines – and the punishment is severe when those lines are crossed. 

When Jordan is ordered to help hunt down a monster, she’s not sure which she dreads more: the elusive, blood-thirsty creature or spending time in a cramped backwoods cabin with a brother who despises her. To make matters worse, a demon shows up and warns Jordan that she could be her family’s next assignment. 

In a game between Good and Evil where God seems to have tapped out early, lines are blurred and not everything is as it seems. Jordan learns a little too late that the real monster is closer than she thinks. 

Different by Frank Mundo

One morning 12-year-old Gregory Gourde wakes up in his bed with an impossible new feature: his head has become a watermelon. We follow Gregory down a rabbit hole of sorts to a new world and an audacious exploration of what it really means to be different in this dark yet humorous nod to Kafka's Metamorphosis and Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

Oracle of Philadelphia by Elizabeth Corrigan

Carrie works at a diner in South Philadelphia, dispensing advice to humans and angels wise enough to seek her counsel. But there are some problems that even the best advice can’t solve. 

Her latest supplicant, Sebastian, is unique among those who have sought her aid. He sold his soul to a demon in exchange for his sister’s life, but his heart remains pure. 

Carrie has lived for millennia with the knowledge that her immortality is due to the suffering of others, and she cannot bear to see another good man damned when it is within her power to prevent it. 

In order to renegotiate his contract, Carrie must travel into the depths of hell and parley with the demons that control its pathways. As the cost of her journey rises, Carrie must determine how much she is willing to sacrifice to save one good soul.

Shadowcursed by Gelo Fleisher

Bolen is a thief, plying his trade under the spires of an ancient and sprawling city. Worried that he's growing too old, Bolen has lined up a risky job, just to prove that he can still pull one off. 

Tonight, he's going to break into a nobleman's vault and help himself to its contents. What he doesn't know is that inside is the key to a secret as old as the city itself. 

Kings have killed for it, demons have coveted it, priests have prayed for it, and in a few moments it will be in his hands. And when it is, the adventure of his life will begin.

Tapped by Lynne Cantwell

Ah, winter in South Dakota…. 

Naomi Witherspoon, chosen by a Lakota Indian goddess to mediate a truce in heaven, is in the midst of a number of down-to-earth problems. She hasn’t heard from her boyfriend, Joseph, in weeks. She has also been attacked recently by a man channeling an Aztec jaguar god. Her best friend Shannon thinks she ought to get out of town for awhile – but what Shannon proposes is a road trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to track down Naomi’s father, who doesn’t know she exists. Naomi agrees to go, but the additional stress literally makes her sick. 

Their search is complicated by a surly teenager; a mysterious walled compound that may or may not belong to Loki, the Norse Trickster; and a blizzard or two. And why, to top it off, is Naomi dreaming of a wolf? As she tells Shannon, the way the woo-woo usually works, she figures the two of them are about to find out.

The Harbringer by Christine Rains

Meira Harper loves both her jobs: writing about beautiful shoes and fetching souls for Zeus. But the Thunder God threatens the harpy's loyalty to her job when she receives the call to bring the soul of gorgeous Sam Wright. Meira pleads with her boss to let him live. Zeus agrees, but Sam must fight for his life. If Sam can win three challenges, he can keep his soul.

The gods never play fairly, though, so Meira needs to find ways to help Sam with the challenges. She cannot outwardly cross her master, but she refuses to let the man she loves lose his soul. They haven't even had a chance to start a life together.

Sam's soul is on the line. Meira's will be too if she's caught, but that's a risk she's willing to take.

Witches and Bandits and Swords (Oh My!) by Dominic O'Reilly

The plan had seemed so simple back home; a sea voyage to trade spices with a distant land promised great fortunes for you and your friends. However, a vessel flying a pirate standard had other ideas. Now that you find yourself waking up alone in a strange forest, it's time to quickly take control of the situation and make the decisions necessary to get back what's yours before it's too late. 

Outsmart vicious bandits! 
Trade potions with witches! 
Try not to be too offended by the sarcastic rabbit! 

Can you save your friends and bring peace to a land on the brink of devastation? Or will your choices lead you to a grisly fate?

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