Reviewed: July 23rd 2022 Released: March 15th, 2022 Genre: Fantasy Romance
As a princess in the impoverished kingdom of Delantria, it’s Aldari’s job to look pretty, speak little, and marry a prince.
Studying mathematics and writing papers on economic theory in an effort to fix her people’s financial woes? Her father has forbidden it. With war on the horizon, they must focus on the immediate threat.
Reluctantly, Aldari agrees to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance her people desperately need. All is going to plan until the handsome elven mercenary captain hired to guard her marriage caravan turns into her kidnapper. His people are in trouble, and he believes she has the knowledge to help.
But with an invasion force approaching Delantria, Aldari’s own people need her. She must do everything in her power to escape the elves and make it to her wedding in time.
Never mind that her kidnapper is witty, clever, and offers her a challenge that intrigues her mind even as his easy smile intrigues her heart…
Aldari can’t let herself develop feelings for him. To fall in love and walk away from her wedding would mean the end of her kingdom and everyone she cares about. Read my Thoughts…
But something destroyed an entire skyscraper in a never-before-seen implosion. Can one skeptical security guard stand between monsters and magic that threaten the world?
Disillusioned with her military career, Red Hernandez crawled back to civilian life as a second tier security lead for an engineering marvel meant to cram more people into the tiny island of Manhattan. She expected her biggest struggles to be integrating back into a society where social media and closet space reigned supreme. But when mysterious forces destroy a building similar to the one she’s chartered to protect, in an implosive blast never before seen, all notions of a cushy retirement job go up in smoke.
With lives on the line, but big money pushing to continue construction, Red finds the steely determination that she’d lost in the desert of her past. Monsters lurk in the shadows, forcing her to re-evaluate everything she believed to be true… and all that she imagined.
Can one woman save the world, or will disbelief be her undoing? Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: June 16th, 2022 Released: May 21st, 2020 Genre: Gaming Fantasy/Humour
Two heads are better than one. Three can be a real pain in the arse.
We are Og-Grim-Dog! We have been loved and reviled! We have been the Hero of the Hour, the Darkest Villain, and everything in between! We have saved this world and travelled to worlds beyond it! You think you can distil the life of Og-Grim-Dog into some words on a page? When a stranger visits their inn, the regulars are in for a surprise. Did their Landlord really come here from Gal’azu—the dangerous, edgier province to the east? Could it be that his stories, so fanciful and fantastical, were episodes from his previous life? When their Landlord is persuaded to have his life story recorded for posterity, the surprises come thick and fast. Just like his regulars, you too can learn how a three-headed ogre came to be a hero. Unlike them, you don’t stand to be killed if it all goes wrong…
Readers’ Favorite recognizes “Sentinals Rising” by Helen Garraway with a Five Star Review
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite
Sentinals Rising by Helen Garraway is the high fantasy sequel in the Epic Fantasy Sentinal Series, preceded by book one, Sentinals Awaken. This installment continues to follow its protagonist, Jerrol Haven of Remargaren, as he identifies an engraving of a Sentinal Tree that happens to be a catalyst for a prophetic vision, one which puts him firmly in the role of Lady’s Captain. Three thousand years prior, the Ascendants fought to enslave Remargaren, and are determined to do so once more by employing the mind-control magic of Mentiserium, piercing the protective veil, and seizing control to topple those who have long fiercely secured it. Jerrol will risk life and limb to shatter the hold of the Mentiserium spell and to save Remargaren once and for all.
There is a moment near the midway point of Sentinals Rising that feels even more prophetic than a vision: “Captain Haven and his guards will ensure our safety.” Yeah. That is the understatement of three millennia. I’m not going to beat around the cauterized fingers too much here and will just come right out and say that Helen Garraway is a wildly gifted writer. There are multiple points of view that define each of the characters we meet and each stands comfortably independent of the other. The action is ripe and the tension is enough to keep a reader furiously turning pages without the usual pitfalls of taking it too far. Even fantasy and magic have their limits when it comes to suspension of disbelief and the mark of a seasoned, skilled author is knowing when to say ‘uncle.’ The visuals and dialogue are all spectacular and the frailty of good when being pushed by evil is executed well. Overall, this is a book and a series that is likely to be adored by all fortunate enough to read it. Very highly recommended.
You can read the five star review for Sentinals Rising at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/sentinals-rising where you can also read reviews and the author’s biography, as well as connect with the author directly or through their website and social media pages.
Book Two of the Sentinal Series
Books in the Sentinals Series:
Novella o.5: Sentinals Stirring (Free if you sign up to my newsletter.)
Sentinals Across Time: Book Four of the Sentinal series, is now live!!!!
I am excited to share the fourth installment of the Sentinal series. In my latest book Jerrol is flung three thousand years into the past, and not only has to adjust to living in a different time, the Lady has a few tasks she needs him to complete as well.
And don’t forget Readers’ Favorite recommend the whole series, check out the Five Star book review for book two Sentinals Rising “…this is a book and a series that is likely to be adored by all fortunate enough to read it. Very highly recommended.”
“Helen Garraway has written a Fantasy Saga of epic proportions, and the story of these gallant young men – Captain Jerrol Haven and the Sentinals – will remain with you, long after you have turned the last page. A Beautiful read!!!”
“I cannot tell you how awesome this book was. It weaved so well in to the books we already know and love whilst creating whole new places to visit and fall in love with.”
“Helen is a master of the art of storytelling. Each scene is played out so well you find yourself not just the reader, but a willing participant, pulled into an amazing fantasy, where you feel every emotion that her characters go through. You cry with them, laugh, and feel their pain and terror.”
Sentinals Across Time is the fourth book in the saga of Remargaren, a vibrant, ancient world of high fantasy suffused with magic and adventure.
Jerrol’s fragile balance between duty and family life took two years to refine and one brief moment to tear apart as the Lady Leyandrii and the Oath conspire in a desperate bid to protect the Birtolian Empire. As a result, Jerrol finds himself stranded in the middle of an ocean, lost across land and time and seas.
Unsure what is expected of him, Jerrol learns to appreciate the idyllic life of the Birtolians, the vibrant people and the beautiful coastline. To his growing horror he realises the devastation which lies in their future.
Can Jerrol prevent the destruction of the gentle people he has grown to love? Is he meant to? Desperate to find a way home, he begins to leave clues in anything he thinks will survive the test of time. Taelia and the Sentinals are his only chance of ever returning to his own life but can they find him before the Lady sunders the Bloodstone and changes the Birtolian Empire forever?
The fourth installment of the Sentinal Series takes us the beautiful Island Empire of Birtoli. Only once, it wasn’t an archipelago of islands, it was a land of majestic mountain ridges, mystical forests and exquisite sandy bays joined as one to the southern Vespiri borders.
Reviewed: March 1st, 2022 Released: October 1st, 2020 Genre: MM Fantasy Romance Narrator: Joel Leslie
Cameron wants to make it clear that he did not go into the festival to find a dragon mate.
Germany is supposed to be an escape. With a new mechanical engineering degree, a new job looming, and a whole life planned out that isn’t his, Germany seems like the best place to find himself.
So, how does he end up discovering his lost magic heritage, running from bad guys with a secret agenda, and being adopted by the not-so-extinct Fire Dragon clan?
Cameron blames tall, dark, and sexy Alric, King of the Fire Dragons. His fated mate. Because of course he is, and mates are meant to take the blame, right?
It may take a hot second, but as Cameron learns more about the scarred Alric and the life he’s landed in, Cameron realizes that perhaps this is where he’s meant to be, magic and mates and kidnapping and all.
Turns out coming to Germany wasn’t an escape but his awakening. Read My thoughts…
Reviewed: February 28th, 2022 Released: May 21st, 2021 Genre: Paranormal Mystery
In this second book of the Door to Door Paranormal Mystery Series: relationships tested, friendships built, secrets revealed, and sacrifices made…
Salesman Emily Swift is back – and so is Templeton! After learning about her supernatural abilities and finding the Crimson Stone, thirty-year-old Emily Swift returns home to Kincaid to rebuild a normal life with her boyfriend. As she struggles to get a handle on her “door traveling” energy, a strange warning squawks from her car radio: a rogue, terrorist group called the Fringe is still watching her.
Before she can figure out if the message is from a friend or foe, Emily’s quirky mother, Lydia, goes missing – and resurfaces in the Empire! As Lydia travels from city to city in this peculiar world, a wake of chaos is created. Add the murder of a hated art critic and a kidnapping into the mix, and things go from bad to worse. The Fringe believes Emily knows where the magical Crimson Stone is hidden, and they’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on it.
Friends Tara and Rabbit join Emily as they race against the Fringe to catch up with Emily’s wandering mother. Will Emily’s nemesis, the mysterious Templeton, join her in rescuing Lydia? What will it cost her? Is the price too high? Read My thoughts…
Reviewed: January 26th, 2022 Released: November 2nd, 2021 Genre: YA Fantasy
The realm of Azenor has spent years plagued by a curse. Every new moon, magic flows from the nearby mountain and brings nightmares to life. Only magicians—who serve as territory wardens—stand between people and their worst dreams.
Clementine Madigan is ready to take over as the warden of her small town, but when two magicians arrive to challenge her, she is unknowingly drawn into a century-old conflict. She seeks revenge, but as she gets closer to Phelan, one of the handsome young magicians, secrets—as well as romance—begins to rise.
To fight the realm’s curse, which seems to be haunting her every turn, Clementine must unite with her rival. But will their efforts be enough to save Azenor from the nightmares that lurk around every corner? Read My thoughts…
Sentinals Recovery: Book 3.5 of the Sentinal series, is now live!!!!
I am so thrilled to share my latest book with you, especially as I never planned to write Sentinals Recovery. But I couldn’t physically fit Birlerion returning to Greenswatch in Sentinals Justice, and I had to write about Birlerion and his Darian, it was the least I could do for the poor man!
“I’m glad that Helen could not fit this in to Sentinals Justice as this story dedicated to Birlerion was exactly what I needed.”
“…ensnared, and lost in the world of Remargaren from the very first paragraph. A beautiful read.”
Sentinals Recovery is a novella set in the world of Remargaren. It occurs immediately after the battle at Oprimere. Although this is a complete story, the reader would benefit from reading the first three books in the series.
Birlerion is recovering from the near fatal injuries he received in his second, epic battle with the Ascendants. He returns home to Greenswatch to recuperate and finally meet his Darian stallion, Kin’arol, who has been waiting, somewhat impatiently, to bond with him.
Only Kin’arol is not there. Someone has stolen him. For such a distinctive horse, he has vanished into thin air.
Though not fully recovered, and still hampered by his injuries, Birlerion sets off, accompanied by his brother Versillion, to recover his horse. Not even Assassins, belligerent Terolians or the harsh Terolian desert will stop him from bonding with Kin’arol, though his failing body might.
Helen Garraway 