Tag / fae

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Spotlight: Birth of the Fae

I am so excited to share this book with you all today! Birth of the Fae: Locked Out of Heaven by Danielle M. Orsino is now available in paperback! Check out this gorgeous book and make sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win some amazing prizes!

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The Birth of the Fae: Locked Out of Heaven (Vol. 1)

Publication Date: June 19th 2020

Genre: Epic Fantasy/ Adventure

Ride on the backs of fire breathing dragons with the Dark Fae and watch the Light Fae play in the shadows of primitive humanity as they build their magical world. Abandoned by their creator, two factions of powerful angels remain on earth after the Great War with Lucifer. They struggle to comprehend their Creator’s plan while their angel wings, a symbol of their angelic lineage, slowly and painfully decay. With no hope of returning to the Shining Kingdom, two groups of angels denounce their angelic lineage and develop into separate factions – the Court of Light, led by Queen Aurora, a former Virtue Angel, and the Court of Dark, ruled by King Jarvok, a former Power Brigade Angel. The two monarchs have opposing views on how to govern their kin, but the one belief they agree on is that human worship equals power.

Birth of the Fae: Locked Out of Heaven is an epic fantasy adventure of heartbreak, rebirth, and hope that examines the bonds of family, friendship, and love.  It is a fantastic tale of good vs evil in a beautiful world, where the Light Fae and their potent elemental magick are tested by the raw power of the dragon riding Dark Fae warriors.

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Excerpt

The Veil - Final (1)

Chapter Twenty-Six: “Worship Equals Power”

“To be a creature of chaos is to be used by the energy of disorder, to be a tool of it. You are allowing confusion to lead you. I want more for us. We will take control of the pandemonium. Those who control chaos control their destiny. Do not let it lead you like a pet on a leash.”

King Jarvok turned and walked to the window, hands behind his back. “Now go, and Chaos be with you, Zion.” Zion smirked. His blue eyes glowed with comprehension as his shoulders pulled back. “No, my liege. Chaos be with us.” He turned and ran with a renewed vigor for his mission.

Jarvok curled his lip for a moment as he gazed out the window at Zion’s enthusiasm, but his stoic expression returned. He waited for the bang of the heavy doors to exhale. His shoulders slumped as the weight of his rule took him under. He leaned his hands on the window, the magma crumbling and sliding from his palms as the pressure caused small fissures to appear in the sill. His head hung low, his hair falling to his face as he raised his honey eyes looking out over the training yard. They would need to train every day and even do night formations. No rest.

The scent of cedar and sage wafted up from the bonfires below. He knew his plan to attack was sound but his timeline was of concern. If Aurora continued to gather and unify her human worshippers, she could have the magick to overtake his kin and force them into serving the Virtues as their army. The thought of his kin living a life of servitude caused Jarvok to force the acid back down his throat. No, he would not risk anyone gaining the upper hand over him. He had hidden his kin in his Veil, established them as gods to the humans, and formed an alliance with the Draconians. He would not force the Draconians to fight alongside him against Aurora but if they chose to stand with him he would accept their help.

He had been strategic in observing her, watching and waiting. She was a naive, idealistic, egotistical ruler with no battle experience. An almost certain victory. By making an example out of Aded, the humans would fear his kin and as Jarvok had learned, it was better to be feared than loved. One just needed to ask his Creator.

Available at Barnes & Noble & on Amazon!

About the Author

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Danielle M Orsino, destined to be a writer from a young age, was working as a nurse and treating a patient who needed some distractions during long I.V. Treatment sessions. So, Orsino reached back to a forgotten skill, A childhood dream. Danielle had wanted to be a writer and so she decided to tell a story. Little did she know the seed would grow into a fantastically epic adventure of heartbreak, hope and rebirth — Birth of Fae: Locked Out of Heaven. Drawing from her passion for comic books, Cosplay and fantasy along with her expert martial arts expertise, Orsino brings forth an electric and hopeful debut.

Danielle is taking on her biggest challenge to date: taking the story born from the long treatment sessions with a patient into a fantasy book series-Birth of the Fae: Locked out of Heaven. Expanding her love of writing, comics and exploring the world of fantasy novels, she delves into the realm of fairies and retells their origins from a completely new perspective. Orsino has a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Exercise science and is an LPN with a special interest in Lyme disease research. Orsino has been widely recognized from her influence and experience in martial arts realm, training for over 20 years and with over 500 tournament wins, and accumulating national and world titles. She has performed for former President of the United States Bill Clinton and has been featured on “Soap Talk, Fox Five news CBS, TLC and E! With this experience, she worked as a Fight Choreographer on ”Wonder Woman: Balance of Power” and has worked with the likes of martial arts legend Vincent Lyn and WWE marvel and action star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Nothing Danielle ever does is simple, look at what NY times Bestselling author Clete Barrett Smith has to say about her debut endeavor: “After summoning this world into existence through an imaginative force of will, Danielle has scoured every inch of the landscape several times over. Critics often praise a story’s world building by saying that it feels “lived in.” Well, the world of the Fae certainly seems like that because Danielle herself has happily lived there for years as she worked to put all of this together…My favorite part of this story is that it is gloriously depicted in vibrant images.

The Birth of the Fae | Instagram | Spotify Playlist

GIVEAWAY:

1st place: 1 book (autographed) 1 map of the veil, $10 Amazon gift card and one birth of the Fae candle 

2nd place: 1 autographed book and candle

3rd place 1 autographed book

Please click the link below to enter! Giveaway will be running from now until December and is open to everyone!

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BirthoftheFae

Book Tour Schedule

November 30th

Reads & Reels (Excerpt) http://readsandreels.com

I Love Books & Stuff (Excerpt) https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com

Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks (Review) https://quirkycatsfatstacks.com/

@Better_Off_Read (Review) http://WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/BETTER_0FF_READ/

@bookmarkedwithchris (Review) https://www.instagram.com/bookmarkedwithchris/

Josh Whitworth (Review) https://joshwhitworth.com/`

December 1st

Breakeven Books (Excerpt) https://breakevenbooks.com

@a.p.reading (Review) https://www.instagram.com/a.p.reading/

@love2dazzle (Review) https://www.instagram.com/love2dazzle/

Rambling Mads (Review) http://ramblingmads.com

Sophril Reads (Review) http://sophrilreads.wordpress.com

December 2nd

@pillowreader (Review) https://www.instagram.com/pillowreader/

Ity Reads Books (Review) www.ityreadsbooks.com

@my_fantasy_bookshelf (Review) https://www.instagram.com/my_fantasy_bookshelf/

@DreaminginPages (Review) https://www.instagram.com/dreaminginpages/

@myyorkshirelitmosphere (Review) https://www.instagram.com/myyorkshirelitmosphere/

Ma Book Yard (Review) https://www.mabookyard.wordpress.com

December 3rd

Dark Whimsical Art (Excerpt) https://www.darkwhimsicalart.com/blogs/news

MyBookishLifeTime (Review) https://bookishlifetime.wordpress.com/

J Bronder Book Reviews (Review) https://jbronderbookreviews.com/

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/

@thecrookedhouse (Review) https://www.instagram.com/thecrookedhouse/

Book Tour Organized By:

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Thank you to our Patreon Supporters:

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It’s time to show off my last TBR for the year 2020! And it’s My TBR for the Reindeer Readathon so its even more exciting! Let me know if you are taking part in the Readathon and what you are reading down below! Check out the video below:

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: Queen of Nothing

I finished the Cruel Prince trilogy and I am sad about it because it was so good! Queen of Nothing by Holly Black was a great conclusion to the trilogy and I am really glad I ended up reading these books.

Synopsis: Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power. 

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics. 

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity…

I really enjoyed this series overall! I do think that the first 2 books were the best but this last book was still a great book. It kept up with the political intrigue and kept you on your toes wondering what was going to happen in the world of Elfhame.

It just felt a little bit rushed. I think that if the book was a little longer and there was more time to flesh out the ending, it would have been a full 5 stars from me. The direction it went in at the end was a little odd and didn’t really seem to go with the theme of the book but I still enjoyed seeing it play out the way it did.

I’m sad that I have finished the trilogy because I wasn’t ready to leave the magical world of Elfhame yet. It was beautifully written and there were definitely some characters in there that I would have loved to know a lot more about.

One of the characters that I really liked from the other books kind of had a redemption arc in this one and I was so happy about that.

I would recommend this series to anyone that wants to jump into a devious world of Fae and follow along with a strong character who will stop at nothin to protect those she loves!

Books Rating: 4/5

You can buy this book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads.

Disclaimer: I read this book because I wanted to. I was in no way compensated for my review.

An author and friend of mine recently released another book that you should check out. It is called The Little Breadwinner: War and Survival in the Salvadoran Heartland by Lucia Mann.

The Little Breadwinner - Front 3D Cover

Synopsis: FROM 1980 TO 1992, A TURBULENT CIVIL WAR ravaged the Central American state of El Salvador, claiming the lives of approximately 75,000 Salvadorans. The Little Breadwinner is a story of tyrannized, frightened families—mostly poor peasants, indigenous peoples, and child farm workers—whose lives signified nothing to the military death squads.

Lucia Mann, who was in El Salvador at the time, recalls this vivid historical portrait of human rights violations during and after the “dirty” war between the military-led government and left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. This brutal conflict was backed politically, economically, and militarily by the United States with CIA involvement.

Throughout these pages, you will experience intense trials of courageous survival with unforgettable characters who yearn for peace, justice, and normalcy. One of the brave women you will meet is Estella Godwin Lozano (a Waorani tribe descendant of the Amazon rain forest), who suffered terribly before her brutal demise in Laredo, Texas in 2019. She was a “little person” who became traumatically affected by the abuse perpetrated by National Guard soldiers outside her pueblo home. She heroically joined the Sandinistas (Cuban-backed guerillas) to seek revenge upon the villains of her country.

Buy the book on Amazon!


Thank you to our Patreon Supporters:

Get your name/blog added to our blog posts and Youtube videos by supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/breakevenbooks

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I did the Finally Fall Book Tag and had a blast taking part in this. It really got me in the mood for autumn! Let me know what you think in the comments below and tell me if you have any fall traditions! Check out the video below:

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: The Wicked King

It’s time! I have finally completed the 2nd book in the Cruel Prince trilogy and I was nervous to review it because I wasn’t sure if it would live up to the hype. But I am happy to say that it did and I really enjoyed The Wicked King by Holly Black.

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Synopsis: After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

This series started off so strong and just kept up the pace in this thrilling next installment in the series. I was so excited to get back into this world and explore more of it. I had been missing all of these characters and their mischievous intentions for one another.

Jude is always thinking like 4 steps ahead and planning out everything so that it always goes right and I loved being behind the scenes and seeing how she did this. And to be fair, she really has to stay on her toes in the world of fae because everyone is looking to deceive you for their own personal gain.

There was a certain reveal in this one that broke my heart and I was sad by it but in no way did it hinder my experience of the book. If anything, it added to it. The bonds that were built between characters were definitely tested in ways they couldn’t even prepare for and it was glorious!

We got to see more about a lot of the side characters in this plot which was awesome since they were introduced in the first book but not built upon as much.

I am very excited to see how Holly Black concludes this series. It has been a non-stop thrill ride for me and there had been so much build up for a potentially big finale. I really hope that it keeps me impressed by the end.

Book Rating: 5/5

You can buy this book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads.

Disclaimer: I read this book because I wanted to and in no way was compensated for this review.


Thank you to our Patreon Supporters:

Get your name/blog added to our blog posts and Youtube videos by supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/breakevenbooks

I did the Ride or Die Book Tag and talked about some great books in this one! Check out the video below:

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: The Cruel Prince

What a ride! This book was my second real exploration into the world of the Fae and it did not disappoint! This book was called The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

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Synopsis: Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

I read this book over the Christmas holidays and I could not put it down. Jude was such a compelling main character and she showed so much growth from the start of the book to the end of it. She is exactly what I am looking for when I hear “strong female character”.

You were tastefully introduced to the world of Fae by Jude and her sisters having their parents murdered and kidnapped to live with their parent’s murderer. The world is built in such a way that you explore it and all its quirks while learning about Jude and her sister Taryn (she was annoying) and how they have turned out now that they are in their teens. They had another sister named Vi and I resonated with her a lot more. She was the fun one that I feel like I would get along with.

This book made me feel so many different emotions when I was reading it. Excitement, rage, sadness, empathy, joy and it was as if I could feel the vengeance too. There were times where I thought that the characters were making stupid decisions but by the end, I believe it was all masterfully put together and I am super excited to read the next book in the series.

Overall, I would suggest this book to anyone that wants a fast-paced fantasy book with lots of betrayal, deceit and intense tactical manipulation.

Book Rating: 4.5/5

You can buy this book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads.

Disclaimer: I borrowed this book from Markus to read and give an honest review. I was not compensated for this review in any way.

I have been tagged in a lot of book tags and it is about time I am finally getting around to doing them! Here is my Two Books One Stone tag video!