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Author: Thaddeus Nowak
Series: Heirs of Cothel book 1
Publisher: Mountain Pass Publishing LLC
Date of Publication: Feb. 14, 2012
Source: ebook provided by blog tour and author
Links to buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes |
Book Synopsis:
Sword Woman, Princess, ... Cursed Witch
Tradition holds that a mother who commits a mortal sin against the gods will be cursed with a daughter born a witch. Stephenie, the youngest princess of Cothel is just such a curse.
Hostage to her mother's will while her father and older brother fight a war two countries away, Stephenie must overcome her mother's plots if she is to save her father, brother, and the many soldiers she trained with.
Fearful of her mother's growing traitorous behavior, Stephenie must escape Antar Castle. But to do so, she might have to rely upon her hidden powers, risking others discovering she is a witch...a risk that would most certainly result in her death by burning.
With the help of a select group of soldiers and an unexpected ally, she just might survive.
My Thoughts:
I am a huge fan of fantasy and I also love historical fiction. For me, Mother's Curse was kinda of blend of the two genres. Yes, I know that Cothel is a completely different history from what we are used to; it is more of an alternate history if you will. But it really read like a cross between a Young Adult fantasy and historical fantasy...and that is a good thing.
This is a great story! I really got sucked into the turmoil that the princess Stephenie has to go through to try to do the right thing in the plot lines. Even though this is considered fantasy, there is a moral to be had in this story. The emotions running rampage through these pages, especially the ones toward Stephenie, are something we can all learn from. The people of this story had sterotypes just like people in this day and age do against others that they didn't understand. I love how our heroine doesn't break down from all the hatred that is thrown her way, but instead learns from it and still finds herself allies. But most importantly, she finds the strength she needs inside herself to overcome all the obstacles she comes across.
There is a slight lag time while she is in the underground area of the castle. This time does go a bit slow, especially with all the explanations she gets from Kas. But at the same time this is a crucial part in the story and we are introduced to another important character from the story, Kas.
Stephenie goes on an epic journey searching for her brother and father and in the end finding herself too.
I really enjoyed the magical aspects of the story and thought the battles between the mages and Stephenie's new found skills were very exciting. I also liked the supporting characters that showed their loyalty to Stephenie no matter what she was inside.
There is a bit of heartbreak in it, especially, when we find ones that would become a traitor to Stephenie all because of her extra abilities.
I truly enjoyed Mother's Curse and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a fantasy with magic, castles, princesses, princes, evil and ghosts. The writing flowed smoothly and besides the small part that was a wee bit slow for me, this was an awesome book that kept me highly entertained. There is a little bit of a romance in it but it wasn't overwhelming like some YA novels tend to be and this love match was a bit surprising.
I give it four hearts!
As part of this special
promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Mother's
Curse and Daughter's Justice eBook
editions are just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing either or
both of these fantastic books at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win
many awesome prizes.
The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $450 in Amazon gift cards,
and 5 autographed copies of each book.
All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes
is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy
as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win!
To win the prizes:
Mother's
Curse is a coming of age story about the
youngest Princess of Cothel and her efforts to save her father and brother from
her mother's schemes, while at the same time, coming to terms with what it
means to be a witch. Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes.
Daughter's
Justice continues Stephenie's journey of
discovery, where she must overcome national opposition to her being a witch as
well as lead her friends and protectors on a mission to stabilize her countries
finances. Get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or iTunes.
Thaddeus Nowak is a writer
of fantasy novels who enjoys hiking, photography, and the
outdoors. Visit Ted on his
website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.
~~~~~Giveaway~~~~~
*Special Thanks to Novel Publicity & Co for organizing this blog Tour.
Posts
Thank you, Amy, for the review! I am very glad you enjoyed the story and the characters. I definitely wanted to make they believable so that other people could relate to them.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Amy! I’m so glad you loved Stephenie’s character and Thaddeus’s writing. I usually love YA and loathe fantasy, but I enjoyed this book too–talk about defying convention, eh?
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining us on this tour and sharing your wonderful review. When you have a moment, please cross-post to Amazon and GoodReads to show Ted some TLC.
Thank you again,
Em