Category Archives: Fiction Friday

Tortured Hero Hop & Giveaway

Tortured Hero Hop by Candlelight Reads

This month, in celebration of Father’s Day, the Candlelight Reads Hop topic is ‘Tortured Heroes.’ What makes our hearts break when we come across a tortured hero?

I’m focused on fantasy lately, so my favorite tortured hero is Herrel, one of the were-riders from Andre Norton‘s Witch World book, Year of the Unicorn. Although a close second would be the tortured hero Ylon from Mirror of Destiny, charm-blinded by magic and seen as less than a man by all. In fact, the “seen as less than a man” is a commonality between Herrel and Ylon, and yet the heroine still comes to love them. These tortured heroes aren’t judged by their challenges but by their actions. It is this which makes me love not only the tortured hero but the heroine.

Even though they themselves have come to believe they are “less”, they don’t allow this to prevent them from protecting the women they love. Another great quality about a tortured hero (or villain, for that matter, although that is a different post). They face challenges head on and overcome, eventually coming to realize they aren’t “less” at all. Or, if anything, their faults have served to make them stronger.

Their torture and redemption gives me hope of the same.

Nona King

  • This has been a blog post as part of the Candlelight Reads Giveaway Blog Hop. Head to their site at the link attached to the image below to enter the drawing for the swag pack, the Amazon Gift Card, and the Rafflecopter giveaway.
  • Be sure to visit the other blogs on this blog hop by following the links provided.
  • Commentators on this site will be entered into a drawing for a free paperback of their choice: Searching for Sara, My Fair Princess, or The Story (all romances). You can read a summary of each book HERE.
  • If you share this blog post, you will receive extra entries, so be sure to let me know in your comment.

Other blogs in the blog hop & giveaway:

Readers’ Realm Review

For Fiction Friday today, I’m posting a duplicate of the review from Readers’ Realm of my romance, Searching for Sara. If you would like to purchase my book, it is still on sale for 99 cents in digital format at all online retailers.

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Searching for Sara

by Nona Mae King

Review by Bethany Jean

Searching for Sara, design by Taria ReedAt the request of Christopher and Carla Lake, Sara Little heads to America. Her trust in the Lord is the only thing keeping her going, but the changes in her life don’t stop with the adjustment in location.

When she alights from the train, Sara finds a brand new and horrible surprise waiting for her.

Through the challenges of becoming a professional artist, Sara is forced to look at her life through different eyes. And through her new life and acquaintanceship with the people responsible for the changes in her life, she’s able to bring about transformation in their lives as well.

The descriptions of the art and the inspirations for it in this book show that the author is a true artist and has experienced the same feelings herself.  Nona King’s writing shows a depth of feeling and an extensive knowledge of the history of the period. I love reading about the history before and immediately after the Civil War, and I thoroughly enjoyed the history aspect of this work.

This book drew me in from the get-go. Searching for Sara is a story of poverty and humility, a story of hope from a beginning of hopelessness, and a surprising story of love. The way the author deals with grief and the aftermath of tragedy impressed me.  Having read some other books by this author, I was really looking forward to reading Searching For Sara, and Nona King did not disappoint.

~*~

Searching for Sara is available at Amazon.

#fictionfriday | Affect of Red

About the Book

Affect-of-RedRobert Jordan and Camille Durran both find themselves victims of failed relationships. Robert is a studio manager for successful engineering firm and Camille is a young attorney in San Francisco. They both have consuming jobs that leave little time for romantic affairs.

Camille meets Robert in a bar in San Francisco. She is wearing a red evening dress and she attracts Roberts’ attention. They both quickly realize their connection is a fairy tale of love at first sight. They meet the following weekend in Reno, Nevada for lunch, and then find themselves fleeing to Costa Rica from the Russian Mafia thugs who are after Camille. They fall in love, and when they return to the US, they marry, have a child, and begin living an idyllic life in the wine country of California. But the threat of the Russian Mafia never leaves their lives.

Review by nona king

The characters in The Affect of Red are engaging, as is their plight. Their relationship, while sudden, is definitely believable, and I enjoyed the determination to keep their relationship healthy and their communication open. The majority of the storyline kept me turning pages (and kept me up until 1am to see the end). However, I did find myself skimming through some of the dialogue and low points in order to find out what was coming up next.

The one thing I wish is if there had been more details with the investigation into the Russian Mafia. Perhaps some scenes dedicated to stakeouts or something else to that effect. But, overall, I enjoyed the story as a whole – and I was extremely shocked at one particular instance (which I will not reveal here, as it is a major spoiler).

Overall, P.A. Davis has a wonderful voice and writing style, and dedicates enough to the senses to make the reader clearly visualize the setting as well as the poignancy of fear. I look forward to his next book.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. There was a bit too much dedicated to slow narrative and not enough to the actual conflict. This, of course, is my opinion. :)

Would I recommend it to others: Yes. The story and characters therein are enjoyable, and the “moral to the story” should be experienced by all.

About the author

P.A. Davis is an award winning Architect currently living in Hawaii on the island of Maui. He studied music and was a song writer and performer from 1969 to 1971. He has been a practicing architect since 1984 and has worked on projects across the U.S. and in foreign countries.

He is a new indie author but not new to writing. After holding his inaugural novel for 20 years, he has completed 2 additional novels in the last 2 years, and has one to be released in 2013.

He and Barbara have three grown daughters, three granddaughters, and a grandson.