An Echo of the Fae by Jenelle Schmidt (Blog Tour + Review)

Hey everyone! I’m thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for this fabulous new novel by one of my favorite authors! Read on for my review!

Title: An Echo of the Fae

Author: Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

• Date read: March 27, 2020
  
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy
• Age: Anyone / Children’s to YA
  
• Year pub: 2020
  
• Pages: 262
• Series: Stands alone
• Notes: I was a copyeditor for this, but as an unbiased reader I genuinely loved this book and all opinions are completely my own.
• Links: Goodreads • Barnes & Noble • Amazon • Author’s Website

An Echo of the Fae is a stunning new fantasy adventure, featuring selkie and fae mythology deliciously woven together, with a dash of Rapunzel!

I LOVED how this book was full of familiar folklore and fairytale goodness, but with its own twist on all of it. I’ve always felt that selkies should feature in more books, and I loved how that element showed up in this, in surprising ways. Fae stories are also some of my favorites, and the way that features in the book was also delightful — with a dash of the Summer and Winter Courts and all of it! And then we have just a hint of a Rapunzel thread near the middle, which I loved. This mingling of familiar things with new twists made me SO happy!

The characters. THE CHARACTERS! We have a splendid cast in this adventure, all of them so vividly real! I love how nobility still shines through despite their struggles — and I love how they are all true to how they should be, like the array of fae characters are unpredictable and sometimes capricious or terrifying. Just. I can’t describe it but they were all exactly right! Echo is a fabulous heroine, this twelve-year-old girl who’s introverted but has such a steady courageous determination. Malilia the elf is sooo intriguing. Echo’s parents, Gareth and Runa, are fabulous and I adored how they were a big part of the story. And we meet so many others along the way, who I will let you meet yourself, but . . . Eirloch (one of my faves)! Princess Jana! Little Drayeth! The Winter King! (Whoa. He was one of THE most fascinating characters! :O I CAN’T!)

The setting was another favorite thing. I adore this world and I want to go live there! I felt like I walked right through the pages, and I simply loved the gorgeous descriptions — you can FEEL the sea and the mysterious woods and enchanted paths and towers and magical lanterns etc. And delightful fantasy elements, like fae and selkies and dragons and other really cool creatures and characters! The feeling and atmosphere of this book (almost a Celtic feel) and the different lands and the feel of different seasons throughout was just perfect!

The story itself felt like a solid adventurous quest, with a coziness alternating with peril that felt simply perfect for the book — and a smidge of fae court intrigue lurking at the edges. I LOVED the writing, which had this fairytale quality to it and pulled me right into the story. The book stands alone well — though I almost want a sequel simply because there were one or two threads I’d LOVE to follow more, and I want to go back to this world again for more fae and selkie goodness and Eirloch and the owl and the Winter King and all of it!

Overall, An Echo of the Fae captivated me and is definitely a new favorite! I loved being pulled into this enchanting world full of such a striking cast of delightful characters, fantastic beings, heroism, finding light and courage in the darkness, sisters and family and friendship, and dashes of folklore and fairytale that absolutely made my day. It’s a perfectly magnificent new adventure for readers of any age. Don’t miss it!

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Some Favorite Quotes

“But I’m not a heroine,” Echo muttered. “I’m just… me.”

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If the past few days had taught her anything, it was that she much preferred going on adventures when they were contained within the pages of a book.

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Tour Schedule

June 21

When the Story Chooses the Author @James Quinlan Meservy

Character Interview with Echo and Jana @Live.Love.Read

June 22

Author interview @Dreams and Dragons

Myths and Folklore that Inspired An Echo of the Fae @Author E.E. Rawls

June 23

How I’ve Been Influenced by Fairy Tales @DJ Edwardson

Review and Author Interview @Smudged Thoughts

June 24

Author Interview @An Independent Will

Book Spotlight @Kyle Robert Shultz

Book Review @Live.Love.Read

Building the Fae Realm @JL Mbewe

June 25

A Peek Into My Writing Process @Lands Uncharted

Book Review/Spotlight @Cathrin Bonham

June 26

Friday 5s @Light and Shadows

Book Spotlight @Caroline Puerto

June 27

Character Interview with Jana @AMReynwood

Book Spotlight @NJWalker

Author Interview @Adventure Awaits

June 28

The Building of Ennis Rosliath @Live.Love.Read

Does the Author Matter? @An Independent Will

June 29

Book Review @ThePageDreamer

Interview with Jana @Dreams and Dragons

Book Review @Christine Smith Author

June 30

Character Interview with the Winter King @Beka Gremikova

Author Interview @Live.Love.Read.

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More by the author . . .

 

You may also like . . .

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Well? Does it intrigue you? 😀 Thanks for reading! 🙂

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Beast of the Night by E.E. Rawls (Blog Tour + Review)

Hey everyone! I’m so excited to be spotlighting this fairy tale retelling I had the joy of beta-reading — and I’m sharing my mini review for it!

Read on for all the info! 🙂

Also, drop by the author’s blog post that kicked off the tour, to check out an excerpt of the book and the other stops/tour schedule!

About the Book

A one-armed, practical girl. A rude lord hiding a curse. A dark secret with the town’s fate hanging in the balance.

A Beauty and the Beast retelling with an Austrian twist and a new breed of curse.

When Rosen moves to Freudendorf—a secluded town in the Alps—with her dad, he vanishes on her and the debt collectors come to call: taking her into slave labor. As if that wasn’t bad enough, just when all her hopes and dreams for a normal life are ruined, a frail zombie-like butler purchases her: taking her to serve Lord Varick, who currently resides in the forbidden castle near the salt mines, where the Beast of the Night is said to roam.

Varick is handsome, with an attitude that’s the exact opposite. The servants aren’t human, and the castle itself is an ugly wreck. But if Rosen cannot solve the dark secret spreading beneath Freudendorf, and the curse holding Varick’s cold heart, then both they and the town will fall prey to a waiting evil—and worse, even lose their memory of it.

Book Purchase Links

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS

Author Bio

E.E. Rawls is the product of a traveling family, who even lived in Italy for 6 years. She loves exploring the unknown, whether it be in a forest, inside a forgotten castle, or within the pages of a book.

She runs on coffee, cuddly cats and the beauty of nature to keep the story wheels of her mind running, as she writes tales that will both entertain and inspire others, giving them worlds they can explore and become lost within.

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

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Title: Beast of the Night

Author: E.E. Rawls

• Date read: March 28, 2020
  
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Fantasy / Fairy Tale Retelling
  
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2020
• Pages: 138 (ebook)
• Source: the author
  
• Notes: I beta-read this novella and then received a free e-ARC as part of the blog tour. All opinions are my own.

Beauty and the Beast being one of my favorite fairy tales, I quite enjoyed this unique retelling!

I adored the setting and feeling of this one! It was delightfully autumnal and atmospheric and a smidge gothic/spooky but not in a bad way. The Austrian/Alps (but fantasy!) feeling was delicious, as was the old castle.

I loved the characters! Rosenrot and Lord Varick were wonderful, and the side characters were also intriguing and grew on me throughout the story.

Rosen is a fabulous heroine — I loved her spunk and her lavender hair and how she doesn’t let having only one hand get in the way of her go-get-’em lookout on life.

Lord Varick is the best — so dramatic and sniffy and self-centered at times, but with a great character arc. I loved how he grew in the story — and the twists on the curse and him himself. He was such a different “Beast” character, but I loved that!

I also like that, being a novella, it was a very quick read. Perfect for devouring all at once, as you’ll want to in order to discover the secrets behind the mysteries in this! So many plot twists! :O

I loved the humorous bits and banter (which sometimes made me laugh) and budding romance (awk!). And, again, Varick’s drama was hilarious. XD

It’s a delightful, fun, quirky, quick read. If a twist on Beauty and the Beast and a deliciously autumnal Austrian fairy tale story sounds up your alley, definitely give this one a try!

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You may also like . . .

More by this author . . .

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Any Beauty and the Beast fans out there? Thanks for reading! 🙂

The Story Hunter by Lindsay A. Franklin (Book Review)

(Whoops, had a glitch there when I tried to post this at first. Hopefully this works better!)

Hey! I have a review to share today! (I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to post, due to not having internet at home right now, but I’m excited to be able to get a post up for this series finale which I just finished last night!)

Title: The Story Hunter

Author: Lindsay A. Franklin

• Date read: June 4, 2020
• Rating: 5 stars
  
• Genre: Fantasy
  
• Age: older YA
• Year pub: 2020
• Pages: 368
• Series: The Weaver Trilogy, #3 (Book 1: The Story Peddler — my review. Book 2: The Story Raider — my review.)
  
• Fave character: Kharn
• Source: Amazon
• Links: Goodreads • Amazon • Author’s Website

What a majestic conclusion to this fantasy trilogy! I’m not sure quite what I expected, but I quite enjoyed THE STORY HUNTER, for the most part!

It was somehow cozy and familiar to be back in this world for the finale of this series, even with my near-panicked uncertainty of AAHH WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN? (You know, like coming into watching Endgame for the first time. XD) I was so curious to find out what was going to happen to these characters — after waiting all this time for the last book to release — and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!

Which . . . sounds wrong, when I put it that way. But I was bracing myself for a lot more darkness and sadness, on par with the second book, and was pleasantly surprised with how things wrapped up. Don’t get me wrong — this book is definitely somewhat dark and grim, in some ways more than book two (although book two had all the middle-book-darkness-without-any-victory-to-offset-it feel which is, I suppose, why I enjoyed this one more). The stakes also ramped up a bit for the finale, and there were one or two darker parts that weren’t my favorite. But there was also much hope and light sprinkled in, a lot of triumph and unexpected twists, and even a proper eucatastrophe moment, to use Tolkien’s word. So I guess I would say it balanced itself out.

There’s heartache and loss but also love and light, and it wrapped up everything in a mostly-satisfying way and made me pretty happy. ^_^ It did give me all the feels (laughing at banter, shedding a tear or two but in a good way at the beautiful legacies left behind) but it didn’t tear my heart out like I was afraid it would, and overall, by the end, it left me . . . uplifted. Which is something that’s good to feel at the end of a series. 🙂

I quite enjoy the unique world and it just felt cozy to be back in it, like I said. It’s colorful and unique, even shrouded in the darkness that’s fallen across it as of book two. All the caverns and strands were particularly cool! And I loved following the large cast of characters — all well juggled, although I wanted more of Kharn but I suppose under the circumstances that wouldn’t have worked out so well. XD

I’m not mentioning everyone by name because I don’t want to give anything away (awk, trying to write book three reviews without spoilers is hard!) but I will say I was glad to see how several of the characters’ arcs ended, and some of them make me smile. I also loved the beautiful tribute near the end to those lost along their journey, which made those sad parts a little more worth it, somehow.

There were one or two things and/or character actions that seemed to come totally out of the blue and left me kind of bewildered and going “wait, what?”, but I rolled with it and things turned out better than I expected in some cases, so I’m cool with it, mostly. XD (And to be fair, it could just be the fact that I read the previous book a year ago, and the first book two years ago, and I may have just missed certain connections or not remembered seeing things before — like Celyn, who I’m not complaining about AT ALL but had no memory of meeting before.) And, again, a couple of the darker parts I wasn’t fond of, but there you are.

Still, on the whole, I absolutely LOVED how it drew so many elements from the previous two books and wove them together, all the strands weaving into a beautiful, if sometimes scary, tapestry. Everything connected for the finale, in a swirling crescendo of color and characters — I absolutely loved how everything came together for the end! It made me so happy. The adventure definitely kept me on the edge of my seat, worried for everyone at every step, not able to put the book down and reading until midnight to finish.

Overall, I’m so glad I finally got to read the end of this saga, and while there were a few stumbles along the way (and I don’t really recommend the second and third books to younger or sensitive readers), it’s still been quite a journey — an often-fun one, with laughter and tears and a reminder of the good and the light in the world, even amidst the darkness.

Because the light wins and “winter will not last forever.” A magnificent, fitting end to the Weaver Trilogy. ^_^

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More reviews!

Books also by this author . . .

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Have you read any in this series? Thanks for reading! 🙂

An Echo of the Fae: Cover Reveal!

Hello, my fellow page dreamers! I’m back from hiatus — and a lovely hiatus it was — to share the GORGEOUS cover for AN ECHO OF THE FAE by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt, one of my favorite authors!

This is a book I’m very excited indeed to share about (I have, in fact, read it, since I was privileged to copyedit it — and I hope to review it for the blog tour later this month), and the cover is STUNNING! I can’t WAIT for it to release! ❤

So scroll down to check out the cover, a bit about the book, and an excerpt!

(FYI, I do have some internet difficulties, so . . . how “back from hiatus” I am remains to be seen. Carry on. XD)

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Coming in a second . . .

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Just a bit longer . . .

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And now! LOOK HOW GORGEOUS! ❤

An Echo of the Fae

Echo enjoys the peace and solitude of the Faeorn forest, regardless of how strange spending time in the “haunted” wood seems to others.

But on the cusp of her thirteenth birthday, the discovery of a family secret reveals why Echo has never been drawn to the sea like her mother. This discovery shakes the foundations of her world and sends Echo on a quest, not merely into the forest, but into the heart of the fae-lands themselves, to rescue the sister she didn’t know existed.

Elves, dragons, and fairy courts will put Echo’s wit and resolve to the test. But with time running out for her sister, will Echo even be able to save herself?

A fairytale adventure perfect for fans of The Secret of Roan Innish and The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

Drop by Jenelle’s website for preorder links etc.!

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Endorsements:

“Enthralled by the terror, charm, riddles, and beauty of a richly depicted fae world, I devoured this marvelous book in two sittings! Readers of all ages will love Echo, a heroine strong in her weakness, clever and resolute amid her doubt and fear. An Echo of the Fae is sure to satisfy lovers of adventure and faery!” — J.M. Stengl, author of The Faraway Castle Series

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Author Bio:

Jenelle first fell in love with stories through her father’s voice reading books aloud each night. A relentless opener-of-doors in hopes of someday finding a passage to Narnia, it was only natural that she soon began making up fantastical realms of her own. Jenelle currently resides in the wintry tundra of Wisconsin—which she maintains is almost as good as Narnia—with her knight-in-shining armor and their four adorable hobbits. When she is not writing, she homeschools said hobbits and helps them along on their daily adventures… which she says makes her a wizard.

Follow Jenelle around the interwebs to get news about latest releases and her writing adventures:

• WEBSITE
• FACEBOOK
• TWITTER
• INSTAGRAM
• GOODREADS
• NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP
• AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL

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And now, a snippet from the book!

An excerpt from An Echo of the Fae by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

“You dare steal from the King of the Winter Court?” The voice reverberated through the air, its sheer, palpable power pushing Echo to her knees. The lantern dropped from her nerveless hand and clattered on the ground.

Echo bowed her head respectfully, racking her memory for every snatch of folk-tale she had ever heard about the Winter Fae or the Dark Host. “Forgive me, my lord,” she whispered. “I did not intend to steal from you. I merely seek to save the life of my sister.”

She heard soft footfalls approach across the sable ground but she did not dare raise her eyes, not even when she felt the touch of hot breath on the back of her head.

“You smell of truth.” The voice sounded puzzled. “Rise, seeker.”

Echo stood, wincing at the pain in her feet. But that thought fled with the rest as she came face to face with the largest tiger she had ever seen.

Upon reflection, it was the only tiger she had ever seen. But she was reasonably certain that, should she ever see another, it would be quite different from the monstrous beast that confronted her now.

Her eyes were even with his shoulders, and he stared down at her from his impressive height, his long whiskers twitching inches above her face. His fur was utterly black, the color of coal. Instead of stripes, Ritioghra’s—for it could only be Ritioghra—body was covered in swirls and whorls of gleaming blue, the same color as the Everflame. His eyes gleamed like two massive stars of an identical shade, and he gazed down at her with an expression of ferocious curiosity. He was utterly terrifying and utterly beautiful.

Terror coursed through her veins like ice, but the light of intelligence in his eyes gave her courage. “For-forgive me, my lord.” Echo gave a wobbly curtsy.

The tiger stretched with a lazy nonchalance. Every line of his long body rippled with power and strength, like the unstoppable force of a river about to burst its banks.

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So there you are!

Isn’t it gorgeous? Savannah Jezowksi at Dragonpen Designs did an amazing job on the cover! And doesn’t the book sound absolutely lovely? Because it absolutely is!

Let me know what you think in a comment! Thanks for reading. ^_^