Title: Secrets
Kept
Author: J.L. Mbewe
Published: October 15th, 2013 by AltWit Press
Word Count: 100,000
Genre: Fantasy
Synopsis:
With a curse, she will
build an army.
With the dagger, she will undo the last sacrifice.
But first the sorceress must find the secret keeper.
Torn from her homeland and thrust into a betrothal against her wishes, Ayianna learns her family has a deadly secret that now has her on the run. She joins forces with Kael, an embittered half-elf, and Saeed, an elderly High Guardian, to seek answers to her father’s death, the destruction of Dagmar, and the plains people’s bizarre behavior.
Ayianna discovers there is more at stake here than just her mother’s disappearance and her familial duty to her betrothed. The sorceress has cursed the plains people, and it is a race against time to release them before the sorceress resurrects an ancient evil.
With the dagger, she will undo the last sacrifice.
But first the sorceress must find the secret keeper.
Torn from her homeland and thrust into a betrothal against her wishes, Ayianna learns her family has a deadly secret that now has her on the run. She joins forces with Kael, an embittered half-elf, and Saeed, an elderly High Guardian, to seek answers to her father’s death, the destruction of Dagmar, and the plains people’s bizarre behavior.
Ayianna discovers there is more at stake here than just her mother’s disappearance and her familial duty to her betrothed. The sorceress has cursed the plains people, and it is a race against time to release them before the sorceress resurrects an ancient evil.
My review!
Ayianna against her wishes is betrothed to someone she doesn’t
even know because her mother and father say it’s for the best. Unbeknownst to
them, someone is in the works to destroy everything they have work so hard for.
Now Ayianna is on a quest to find her mother and to find out
why her father was killed. Joining her is Kael, and Half-elf, Vain, a spoiled
prince, and Desmond, Ayianna’s betrothed. As they track against forest and
deserts their loyalties and trust are put to the test.
Sometimes secrets
kept do nothing but turn you against those who would do anything for you.
This book was easy to catch my attention and hold it. I
always love a great adventure and always jump for the chance to read one. This
is an adventure unlike any other. Ayianna a half-elf disguised as a human wants
to find out why her father was murdered and why her mother was kidnapped. She
went through many things to get were she is now. Is she better off than when
she started? NO! To me she gets weak and then strong. It was a roller coaster
with her. One minute I’m thinking she is finally going to get a backbone and by
the end of the story my hope fled. She is too insecure. Hopefully she will be
able to hold her own in the next one since she is going to be getting some
training. During the whole quest she only managed to get hurt. That doesn’t mean
I didn’t like the story, on the contrary I loved it. The forest was the best
part of the book. No one ever comes out alive! DUN DUN DUN!!!! It was very
creepy, the forest was always trying to sway them from their path and there were
dangerous creatures after them all the time. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! The desert was
pretty cool too though. There are other types of people in the book like
mermaids and there are terms I’m pretty sure I’ve already forgotten but I know
what the story was about and I grasped everything. Nothing was confusing. Oh
that reminds me it’s told in multiple povs, Ayianna being the main one though.
It was nice knowing what the others thought because they are so closed off.
Ayianna was for
the most part a pretty interesting character. She just ticked me off with not
standing up for herself. Kael told her she had choices but she chooses to
ignore them. UGH She doesn’t like Desmond and since she doesn’t think anyone
else will love what she has become she is going to marry him. What kind of
logic is that? She doesn’t know what other people will think. I wish she would
speak up and tell people how she really feels. I looking forward to the next
one to see how she manages the mess she got herself into.
Kael was my favorite
character in the book. He didn’t hold anything back except his emotions of
course. He is closed off from everyone and has a reason to. He lost people he
loved as well and swears never to love again. My heart ached for him. I just
wanted to snuggle his sexy elf self. He was very complex and I could tell by
the end of the story that he was starting to come through, but Ayiaana had to
go and mess it up. Please let him be more open in the next one. I want him to
tell everyone how he feels as well. He doesn’t always have to be the strong
one.
Desmond is of
those characters in which you can’t help but to like/hate. You never know what
is going on through their mind. For the most part he seems like a great guy but
I had a gut feeling he was up to no good. Not to mention Kael doesn’t like him
and I trust Kael over everybody in the book. Desmond just doesn’t bode well for
me.
Overall: A highly
enjoyable quest with everyone hiding secrets, secrets that could change
everything.
4 Stars
Excerpt from the book:
Leaves rustled, and the bush’s slender limbs shuddered. Shadows
veiled the intruder; the light of the lantern unable to penetrate the layers of
dry leaves and stems. Ayianna peered closer, and a dark mass burst out of the
bush toward her face. She flung her arms up. The milk pail slammed into her
head, and its warm contents splashed down her face, neck, and clothes. The
lantern rocked on its hinge, the flame flashing and flickering wildly. The
intruder screeched and a rush of wings brushed against her skin.
Ayianna lowered her arms. A large bird ruffled its dark feathers and made to settle its wings, but one hung at an odd angle. Its round, ebony eyes ogled her.
Could it be?
“Fero?” she asked. “Is brother home already?” She glanced around, but her eyes failed her in the half-light. Her wet clothes clung to her skin, and the breeze grew colder. She shivered and glared at the bird. “Brother or not, look what you made me do? Now, I’ve got no milk, and I’m all wet.”
Fero jerked his wayward wing back and hissed.
“Are you hurt?” Ayianna lifted the lantern, and its glow poured over the falcon, revealing dark stains on his ribbed underbelly. She reached out to touch him, but he gnashed his curved beak at her. The branch shifted, and the bird thrashed about trying to regain his perch, but then he broke free and soared haphazardly into the red-tinged sky.
Atop the bush, a strip of cloth fluttered where Fero had sat. She tore it free. The fabric was damp, soiled, and stunk of decay. It stained her fingertips red. Blood?
Ayianna lowered her arms. A large bird ruffled its dark feathers and made to settle its wings, but one hung at an odd angle. Its round, ebony eyes ogled her.
Could it be?
“Fero?” she asked. “Is brother home already?” She glanced around, but her eyes failed her in the half-light. Her wet clothes clung to her skin, and the breeze grew colder. She shivered and glared at the bird. “Brother or not, look what you made me do? Now, I’ve got no milk, and I’m all wet.”
Fero jerked his wayward wing back and hissed.
“Are you hurt?” Ayianna lifted the lantern, and its glow poured over the falcon, revealing dark stains on his ribbed underbelly. She reached out to touch him, but he gnashed his curved beak at her. The branch shifted, and the bird thrashed about trying to regain his perch, but then he broke free and soared haphazardly into the red-tinged sky.
Atop the bush, a strip of cloth fluttered where Fero had sat. She tore it free. The fabric was damp, soiled, and stunk of decay. It stained her fingertips red. Blood?
About the Author:
Writing as J. L. Mbewe, Jennette is an author, artist,
mother, wife, but not always in that order. Born and raised in Minnesota, she now braves the heat of Texas, but pines for the Northern Lights and
the lakes of home every autumn. She loves trying to capture the abstract and
make it concrete.
She is currently living her second childhood with a wonderful husband and two precious children who don't seem to mind her eclectic collections of rocks, shells, and books, among other things. While living life balanced between reality and dreams, she is creating worlds inhabited by all sorts of fantasy creatures and characters, all questing about and discovering true love amid lots of peril.
Her debut novel, Secrets Kept, is coming this fall, and in the meantime be on the lookout for a few short stories set in the World of Nälu.
She is currently living her second childhood with a wonderful husband and two precious children who don't seem to mind her eclectic collections of rocks, shells, and books, among other things. While living life balanced between reality and dreams, she is creating worlds inhabited by all sorts of fantasy creatures and characters, all questing about and discovering true love amid lots of peril.
Her debut novel, Secrets Kept, is coming this fall, and in the meantime be on the lookout for a few short stories set in the World of Nälu.
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!!!!
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