Daughters Of The Storm

Five very different sisters team up against their stepbrother to save their kingdom in this Norse-flavored fantasy epic—the start of a new series in the tradition of Naomi Novik, Peter V. Brett, and Robin Hobb. FIVE ROYAL SISTERS. ONE CROWN. They are the daughters of a king. Though they share the same royal blood, they could not be more different. Bluebell is a proud warrior, stronger than any man and with an ironclad heart to match. Rose’s heart is all too passionate: She is the queen of a neighboring kingdom who is risking everything for a forbidden love. Ash is discovering a dangerous talent for magic that might be a gift—or a curse. And then there are the twins—vain Ivy, who lives for admiration, and zealous Willow, who lives for the gods. But when their father is stricken by a mysterious ailment, these five sisters must embark on a desperate journey to save him and prevent their treacherous stepbrother from seizing the throne. Their mission: find the powerful witch who can cure the king. But to succeed on their quest, they must overcome their differences and hope that the secrets they hide from one another and the world are never brought to light. Because if this royal family breaks, it could destroy the kingdom. The saga continues in . . . SISTERS OF THE FIRE Praise for Daughters of the Storm “[Daughters of the Storm] is a twisty high fantasy . . . exploring political machinations and the relationships between sisters; betrayal lurks at every turn.”—The Washington Post “This fantastic series opener, powered by an engaging, female-led cast of characters, is riveting from page one right through to the end, with almost every scene bringing new excitement and intrigue. All of the five leading women are richly drawn, with distinct voices and multidimensional personalities that never slip into caricature. [Kim] Wilkins sketches these royals with nuance and sensitivity, making even the vexing characters like careless Ivy and the villainous Wylm feel worthy of our sympathy. . . . Wilkins has struck gold with her thrilling high fantasy world. Book two can’t arrive soon enough!”—RT Book Reviews “Readers who enjoy epic journeys and strong female protagonists will enjoy Wilkins’s first installment of her new Sisters of the Fire series.”—Booklist

An award-winning journalist’s voyage into her family history and her quest to face the storms she encounters there. In August Gale, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Barbara Walsh—who has interviewed killers, bad cops, and crooked politicians in the course of her career—faces the most challenging story of her lifetime: asking her father about his childhood pain. In the process, she takes us on two heartrending odysseys: one into a deadly Newfoundland hurricane and the lives of schooner fishermen who relied on God and the wind to carry them home; the other, into a squall stirred by a man with many secrets: a grandfather who remained a mystery until long after his death. Sixty-eight years after the hurricane that claimed several of her ancestors, Walsh searches for memories of the August gale and the grandfather who abandoned her dad as a young boy. Together, she and her father journey to Newfoundland to learn about the 1935 storm, and along the way her dad begins to talk about the man he cannot forgive. As she recreates the scenes of the violent hurricane and a small boy's tender past, she holds onto a hidden desire: to heal her father and redeem the grandfather she has never met.

Meg Little Reilly places a young couple in harm’s way—both literally and emotionally—as they face a cataclysmic storm that threatens to decimate their Vermont town, and the Eastern Seaboard in her penetrating debut novel, WE ARE UNPREPARED. Ash and Pia move from hipster Brooklyn to rustic Vermont in search of a more authentic life. But just months after settling in, the forecast of a superstorm disrupts their dream. Fear of an impending disaster splits their tight-knit community and exposes the cracks in their marriage. Where Isole was once a place of old farm families, rednecks and transplants, it now divides into paranoid preppers, religious fanatics and government tools, each at odds about what course to take. WE ARE UNPREPARED is an emotional journey, a terrifying glimpse into the human costs of our changing earth and, ultimately, a cautionary tale of survival and the human

Just outside Boston, in 1963, Frederick Merrill found himself a patient in the country's premiere mental hospital, a world of structured authority and absolute control - a forced regression to a simpler time even as the pace of the outside world accelerated into modernity. Meanwhile, in a wintry New Hampshire village hours to the north, Frederick's wife Katharine struggled to hold together her fracturing family and to heal from the wounds of her husband's affliction. Nearly fifty years later, a writer in his twenties attempts to comprehend his grandparents' story from that turbulent time, a moment in his family's history that continues to cast a long shadow over his own young life. Spanning generations and genres, The Storm at the Door blends memory and imagination, historical fact and compulsive storytelling, to offer a meditation on how our love for one another and the stories we tell ourselves allow us to endure. Quietly incisive and unflinchingly honest, The Storm at the Door juxtaposes the visceral physical world of Frederick's asylum with an exploration of how the subtlest damages can for ever alter a family's fate.

The prequel The Crown of Rowan introduces the compelling and magical world within Daughters of the Storm, the new full–length novel from award–winning fantasy writer Kim Wilkins, publishing 1 November 2014. There are seven kings in Thrysland. My father is one of them, and my husband is another. In my belly, perhaps, I carry a third. Rose is the beautiful unhappily married daughter of a king and she has a secret to keep, not just from her husband but from her sisters – fierce warrior Bluebell, and Ash, a seer in possession of great but unknown powers. But larger events are afoot in Thrysland. The country is plunged into war with merciless raiders; religious zealots are at work on Rose's husband, King Wengest, and more than that, there is a dark and deep magic at work throughout the land that threatens them all... Praise for Kim Wilkins “Wilkins is one of Australia's most assured and interesting storytellers.” Aurealis “... superb world building ... intriguing, genuine, rich.” Kirkus Review “Rather than relying on standard fantasy tropes, her stories are informed by detailed research into the periods in question.” Publishers Weekly “One of the most gifted and versatile writers Australia has ever produced.” Kate Forsyth “Clever, sexy, witty, and very, very creepy” Good Reading

A terrific new historical fiction quartet from Kathy Lasky, acclaimed author of the best-selling Guardians of Ga'Hoole series. Daughters of the Sea tells the story of 3 mermaid sisters who are separated at birth by a storm and go on to lead three very different lives. Book 1 is about Hannah, who spent her early days in an orphanage and is now a scullery maid in the house of rich, powerful family. She is irresistibly drawn to the sea and through a series of accidents and encounters discovers her true identity. Hannah relizes that she must keep the truth a secret but she also knows that soon she will have to make the choice - to be a creature of the land or the sea.

Discover the first in the epic trilogy by New York Times bestselling authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear (Sun Born, Morning River), which vividly recounts the devastating clash of cultures that occurs when Native Americans and Europeans make first contact. The pale, bearded newcomers who call themselves “Kristianos” fascinate Black Shell, an exiled Chickasaw trader, and not even the counsel of Pearl Hand, the beautiful, extraordinary woman who has consented to be his mate, can dissuade him from interacting with them. Only after a firsthand lesson in Kristiano brutality does Black Shell fully comprehend the dangers these invaders pose to his people’s way of life. While his first instinct is to run far from the then, Black Shell has been called to a greater destiny by the Spirit Being known as Horned Serpent. With Pearl Hand by his side, Black Shell must find a way to unite the disparate tribes and settlements of his native land and overcome the merciless armies of the man called Hernando de Soto. Using archeological data, ethnographic records, and historical journals, the authors bring to vivid life the beliefs, technologies, and daily experiences of lost American civilizations.

A pregnant, upper class nineteen-year-old Philadelphia Main Line debutante is confined, against her will, to a state mental hospital. She spends her pregnancy surrounded by the mentally challenged and the criminally insane. On April 19, 1964, she gives birth to a child, whom she is forced to give up for adoption. A loving middle-class couple adopts a month-old little girl from Catholic Charities. She is adored and cherished from the very beginning. It is as though she is dropped into the first chapter of a fairy tale-but we all know how fairy tales go. This is the story of a mother and daughter. Of what it is to give up a child and what it is to be given up. Of what it is to belong, what it is to be a family and what it is to yearn deeply, and to never lose hope-because anything is possible. In this exquisite memoir, Julie Mannix von Zerneck and Kathy Hatfield recount the stories of their lives. Deliciously strange, surprising and sweetly funny, this tenderly written book takes us on a wild and frightening journey. Written in two distinct and deeply expressive voices, their stories seamlessly meld together in a breathtaking ending. PRAISE FOR SECRET STORMS: "The book shifts between sections narrated by mother von Zerneck and daughter Hatfield, and both authors have gripping stories to tell. Readers will delight in their shared narrative, which is as heartwarming as it is engaging. von Zerneck's life alone would be a fascinating read, but combined with Hatfield's search for her mother it becomes compulsive reading." -Publishers Weekly "The book is beautifully written and...compelling, to the extent that readers might feel they are sitting with the authors, listening to them tell their tale...more like a novel than a memoir." -ForeWord Reviews "Shining through both narratives is goodness and the power of the human spirit. A dually narrated, uplifting tale on overcoming profound adversity." -Kirkus Reviews "This story will break your heart, bring on tears of joy, and make you believe in the healing power of love, forgiveness, and family." -Meredith Rollins, Executive Editor, Redbook Magazine "A heartbreaking but ultimately life-affirming mother-daughter story that defies fiction. Every plot twist, every emotion touches a chord, even for those of us who have not had to endure such a brutal separation. Read it and weep-and then finally rejoice. An ode to the enduring power of family ties." -Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, author of A Woman of Independent Means "In my writers' workshops, the greatest gospel I can preach is the obvious one-to tell the truth, whatever form it takes. This amazing mother-daughter writing team exemplifies the concept to the max. The plot is Dickensian, rife with villains and struggle, the revealing of it, breathtaking in its simplicity and heartbreaking in its courage. What a story." -Ernest Thompson, Academy Award-winning writer of On Golden Pond "What an extraordinary and compelling story, all the more so because it's true-and told so beautifully by its two heroines." -Alice Maltin, producer & Leonard Maltin, film critic and correspondent for Entertainment Tonight "This is an uplifting story of hope and personal courage that is sure to resonate with most readers." -Monsters and Critics

My life was not one ofglorious wonderment every day.There were memories that I remember as great ones and memories that I would like to forget. Fortunately, they are etched in my mind as a reminder of the goodness of God and where He has brought me from. Some of you may judge me for the mistakes I have made along the way. The great thing about mistakes is that they can be corrected and learned from. You see, I am the only one who can tell my story. It was God alone that came to my rescue. There were many inner struggles that caused me to doubt why I existed. After all, what was so special about me that I could ever be loved? God was there when I experienced pain in the worst way, and it was my heart that was open to receive the best love ever given to me. That LOVE...Jesus Christ. Life is about living and realizing that every breath counts and should not be taken for granted. I find comfort in knowing that I am forgiven, and I also have forgiven. When it was all said and done...I chose life. April Young resides in Virginia with her husband Micheal. They are proud parents of two adult children, Jare'l and Lauren and two grandchildren, Jailen and Skye. A former Christian educator, April enjoys spending her time writing and directing plays. She is an active member of Chosen for Completion Ministries. She is also a mentor and conference speaker. April believes that God is her source and with Him all things are possible when you believe. April is also the author of "How to Be a God-Wife, Not Just a "Good Wife".