A Royal Elf of Abalon by Anna del C. Dye

A Royal Elf of Abalon by Anna del C. Dye 

The deep relationship between Amaria, the princess of Abalon, and Marken, the chancellor’s son, comes to a halting stop after their kingdom is almost annihilated. However, death isn’t the only thing this battle brings. Elfs come to their rescue and, as a souvenir, take the princess home with them. Blinded by fury, the overprotecting queen orders the extermination of the mighty elfs. Her captains know they can never win, so they are pleased when Amaria intervenes so desperately that she loses her mother. The unprepared princess is left to care for a kingdom that will demand her true love. A Royal Elf of Abalon is the stand-alone continuation of Anna’s Elf series. Once again she has crafted an exciting new tale full of jealousy, betrayals, and death. A Royal Elf of Abalon is a masterpiece created in the genre of Tolkien that you’ll love to the end.

Anna del C. Dye was born in Valparaiso, Chile amongst some of the world’s most famous beaches. Anna resides in Taylorsville, Utah. She and her husband Rod are the parents of three princes and a princess. Anna is an accomplished, multi-award winning author. She received the Editor’s Choice Award from the International Library of Poetry. She was awarded a Bronze medal for Elfs in a Conquered Realm. The first page of her A Kingdom by the Sea received a second place. Her short story entitled Amerine—Fairy Princess won an award in the Oquirrh Writers contest and was published by Kalkion Magazine. Her article, A New American Mother, was published by Desert Saints Magazine. Other articles about family and relationships have been published frequently in the MOMS CLUB® of Salt Lake Valley-West. She is the author of The Silent Warrior Trilogy, Curse of the Elfs, and now A Royal Elf of Abalon. Anna has also published an electronic book for fifth and sixth-graders name Emerine’s Nightmare.

You can support Anna del C. Dye by following her on twitter, facebook, and at A Royal Elf of Abalon's facebook fan page.


You can purchase A Royal Elf of Abalon on Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Smashwords; or CreatSpace. 

The Wedding Letters by Jason F. Wright

The Wedding Letters by Jason F. Wright tells the story of Noah Cooper and Rachel Kaplan from their disastrous first meeting, to their budding romance, to where Rachel breaks it all off, unable to deal with complications from her mysterious past. The Wedding Letters is a delightful look at the Cooper family with all their ups and downs and the plans to sell the family inn after decades of precious memories. Immediately, you become endeared to this family and might even recognize some of their family situations, as your own. This is a family that sticks together, no matter what and in the end- well, you'll have to read it to see how everything turns our for the Cooper family.

I love the concept of creating wedding letters and can see that this could easily become a long-lasting tradition. The idea of creating wedding letters is a wonderful one and will definitely bring many moments of joy to those who incorporate it into a loved one's special day.

Before I Say Goodbye by Rachel Ann Nunes

Wow ... this is an excellent book. Rachel Nunes has an incredible grasp of expressing the thoughts of her main characters. I felt like I could connect with each one of her POV characters, even though they seemed to all have the same intuitive voice. I liked the way she changed POV with simple character titles, and I came not only to expect to get back into their heads, but to look forward to it. Nunes tells the story of a 40ish age woman named Rikki who spent most of her life away from the Church only to mysteriously return to the ward she grew up in and the man who is now a Bishop of that ward and happily married. It is a story of her struggle to believe in a God she was sure didn't exist due to the hardships she faced, and her subsequent growth and understanding that He does love her regardless of her past choices. We hear the story through four characters; Rikki; Dante - the Bishop; Dante's wife Becca; and Rikki's oldest child, a daughter named Kyle. Nunes expertly takes us through Rikki's intrusion back into Dante's life and the fear, insecurities, and ultimate triumphs that come along with it. It was a story that tore my heart out slowly to only replace it with the hope and peace that only the gospel and true friends can bring. I highly recommend this heartwarming and intuitive book.

Rachel Ann Nunes (pronounced noon-esh) learned to read when
she was four, beginning a lifelong fascination with the written
word. She began writing in the seventh grade and is now the author
of more than thirty published books, including the popular Ariana
series and the award-winning picture book Daughter of a King.
Rachel and her husband, TJ, have seven children. She loves
camping with her family, traveling, meeting new people, and, of
course, writing. She writes Monday through Friday in her home
office, taking frequent breaks to take care of kids or go swimming
with them.

Rachel loves hearing from her readers. You can write to her at
Rachel@RachelAnnNunes.com. To enjoy her monthly newsletter
or to sign up to hear about new releases, visit her website, www
.RachelAnnNunes.com.

Stealing Mercy by Kristy Tate

Stealing Mercy is the story of a young woman named Mercy Faye who is determined to not only escape a horrible situation, but to help others do the same. From the beginning of this story, we follow Mercy's unfortunate association with a man whose designs on her are less than honorable. When he attempts to remove her from her simple, yet pleasant life and force her to into a compromising lifestyle, she flees, but only to meet up with him at a latter date in another city. Throughout the book,  Mercy makes several attempts to rescue the women that he has kept in a brothel on an island away from the bustle of the city.

Kristy tells two parallel stories set in different eras, the second story has Bette Michaels sorting through letters that tell Mercy's story while telling a little bit of her own, but my favorite part of this book was Mercy's tidbits of cooking and herbals remedies, which Kristy begins each chapter with. I found myself wanting to try a few!

Here is Kristy's back cover blurb in her own words:

After a night of terror, Mercy Faye flees New York. Disguised as a boy, she sets sail for a new life in Seattle, but her nightmare Mr. Steele, follows close behind. Armed with only her chocolates, laced tarts and wits, Mercy sets out to destroy Mr. Steele and his Lucky Island brothel.

Trent Michaels is searching for his missing cousin. He can't afford complications --or romance--yet, at every turn he finds Mercy Faye. The night before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, flames spark between Mercy and Trent leaving the life they know and the city they love in ashes.
Their story reaches forward through time to Bette Michaels, a genealogists, struggling with grief after the sudden death of her husband. Although generations apart, as Bette unravels Mercy's story, she learns that a life can be rebuilt--even after everything is lost.
Through Mercy, Bette learns that sometimes the only way to find happiness is to steal it.

Kristy Tate lives in Southern Orange County, California with her family. She studied English Literature at Brigham Young Unverstity and at BYU's International Center in London. Stealing Mercy is her first published novel. For information and updates on Kristy's next novel, follow her blog at: www.kristystories.blogspot.com

You can purchase Stealing Mercy in paperback or on Kindle from http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Mercy-ebook/dp/B005FCFHZ6

Retirement Quest: Make Better Decisions, by John Hauserman, CFP

John Hauserman's RetirementQuest: Make Better Decisions is a great resource for anyone wanting to ensure financial security in their retirement years. Hauseman skillfully takes us through several possible scenarios clearly describing the snares and pitfalls of unwise investments and guides us to wiser choices by explaining such concepts like the stark difference between today's life expectancy (90 years)compared to that of our grandparents' (mid 60's) years ago. We are living longer and will not be able to survive on the old rule of thumb with 6 to 10 years of retirement and 7 to 8 years of salary saved up. Most of us are expected much longer retirements of 30-40 years and if not planned out with care, we will fall far short of our retirement goals.

At 121 pages plus references, Hauserman's RetirementQuest is full of charts and graphs and a special bonus of a link to a no-cost interactive planning map. This informative book has a wealth of tools that will guide you to better prepare for your retirement.

The following information was taken directly off the back cover of Hauserman's book:

John Hauserman, CFP is the chief executive officer of Retirement Journey, LLC. He oversees the details of the RetirementQuest planning experience.
Baltimore Magazine named John a five-star wealth manager, based on nine criteria, including customer service, integrity, knowledge and expertise, communication, value for fee charged, and overall satisfaction.

In 2011 John was named the Baltimore area regional ambassador serving on behalf of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

Where are you getting your financial advice? How do you know your interests are being safeguarded? How do you know that your advisors are competent? How can you know they're putting your interests first?

John Hauserman has spent years building a better way for you to pursue your investment goals. RetirementQuest: Make Better Decisions shows you how to get unbiased advice and avoid costly financial mistakes.

If you want to build a secure financial future, this is the book that will help show you how.

Visit http://retirementquest.com/home.aspx to learn more about Hauserman and RetirementQuest or to purchase a copy of RetirementQuest go to http://www.amazon.com/RetirementQuest-Better-Decisions-John-Hauserman/dp/0983021708/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327988186&sr=8-1