Kregel's Mortal Fire by C.F. Dunn

Today I'm touring a book on behalf of Kregel Publishing:

Mortal Fire

 

by

 

C.F. Dunn

 

MY TAKE:

Author C.F. Dunn

I am so excited about this new series! Mortal Fire is kind of the intellectuals' turn at Twilight. I say that with all respect for Stephanie Meyers' series, I love Twilight. It's not that Twilight isn't intelligent, but the setting and characters for this series are older and more academic.

Emma is quiet, private and obsessed with a a very unusual part of history - torture, all kinds throughout history and how it's affects have touched humanity. Although a gruesome subject, Emma sees it differently and her unique research has led her to the states to teach and study a diary. Emma's sheltered academic walls of safety begin to crumble when the evil she studies intellectually becomes real on the campus.

Then there is the handsome doctor Matthew Lyons. She's drawn to him despite her efforts to avoid romantic entanglements. He's unexplainable and always there to protect her. In fact he begins to seem more than human.

I love the mix of academia, mystery, faith and dare I say, possibly a little of the supernatural? I was hooked from the start and couldn't put it down. I read half the night and couldn't wait to pick it up the next morning. C.F. Dunn has you speeding through the pages all the way to the ending that makes you say, "WHAT?!"

Don't worry, there's a second book coming and there is a preview in the back of the book, which may have just saved my sanity. Fantastic start for a very promising author.


ABOUT THE BOOK:

First book in a new series from an author to watch.

Twenty-nine-year-old, independent, and self-assured Cambridge history professor Emma D'Eresby has one obsession in life: the curious journal of a seventeenth-century Englishman, a portion of which was left to her by her late grandfather.

When an unexpected opportunity to study the journal in its entirety presents itself, Emma finds herself leaving Cambridge to take up a year-long position at a prestigious university in Maine. Anticipating a quiet year of research, Emma quickly discovers her work impeded by a range of unforeseen complications. From the start, there is the well-intentioned matchmaking of her vivacious Russian colleague, Elena Smalova, and the unexpected jailing of one of her post-graduate students. More troublesome, however, are the unsolved, brutal night attacks on women near the university and Emma's suspicion that they might be linked to the sinister English professor, Kort Staahl. But, most diverting and disconcerting of all, is Emma's growing attraction to the strikingly handsome Dr. Matthew Lyons, whose kind but deliberately distant demeanor puzzles her.

Suspense and dread mount when Kort begins to take a persistent and unsettling interest in Emma. What are Kort's intentions, and what is he capable of? And the mystery surrounding Matthew only deepens when Emma discovers a link between him and the journal. What is Matthew trying to hide?

Check out C.F. Dunn on Facebook at Mortal Fire Secret of the Journal

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

C. F. Dunn creates romantic thrillers with a historical twist, drawing on a degree in history and a career in literacy development. She is blessed with a historian husband, two creative daughters and a quirky Corgi called Stig and she divides her time between running her specialist school in Kent, and writing in Cornwall. Her books can be found at www.kregel.com and http://www.cfdunn.co.uk/.


I recieved this book free from Kregel ( lucky ME!) in return for my honest opinion.

New Author Aprlynne Pike's Wings

I just finished a great new book by author Aprilynne Pike called Wings. I'll admit, the first thing that caught my attention, was that in googling my name (yes, guilty) it brought up Aprilynne Pike. Hmm, interesting another author named April. It's not like it's a hugely common name, so it's always interesting to check them out. I pulled up her webpage and started reading.

"Aprilynne Pike's #1 New York Times best-selling debut, Wings, is the first of four books about a seemingly ordinary girl named Laurel.

Laurel discovers she is a faerie, sent among humans to protect the gateway to Avalon. Thrust into the midst of a centuries-old battle between faeries and trolls, she's torn between a human and a faerie love, as well as her loyalties to each world. In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever."

Okay, so that had me hooked right away. I love fantasy and anything revolving around the Fae and Avalon. They had my attention. I checked it out of the library and read it in one sitting. (just under 4 hours straight.) I loved it.

I noticed that author Stephanie Meyers (Twilight Saga) had commented on her books too.

"Aprilynne Pike's Wings is a remarkable debut; the ingenuity of the mythology is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds."

--Stephenie Meyer, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Twilight Saga

Impressive, right? Stephenie's right too. It's very unique and imaginative. And I won't go into detail so much as why because I don't want to give all the good stuff away. You have to read it for yourself. If you're a fan of Twilight or Harry Potter or anything like that, there is a good chance you will love this series as well.

However, don't think that this IS another Twilight. It has it's own unique brand of fantastic. I think Aprilynne Pike's books have just as much chance at becoming the next big phenomenon of YA lit, but I hate it when people try to promote them as the next SUCH and such.

Honestly, it's an insult to both authors. There will never be another Twilight. It is fantastic, unique, and inspiring. Anything touted as the next Twilight is going to be seen as a pale comparison. Totally unfair to the new author who's work might be great on it's own. And if it's not, how unfair to Stephenie Meyer's that her ground breaking work is being compared to something sub-par.

The same goes for JK Rowling's Harry Potter, George Lucas' Star Wars, or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. There will never be another series like them. Don't try, don't compare. They are all legendary and deserve to stay that way.

So I'm NOT comparing Aprilynne Pike's Wings and following books to anything particular. Trust me on this one though, it is totally worth the read. She's turned the Fae into something completely new, and I love the twist.

The second book Spells is on hold at the library now. I can't wait to get my hands on it.