Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Spirit Warriors: The Concealing by Della Connor

Today’s book review is from a new team member who will be reviewing YA books for us. Cookiebooker blogs at https://cookiebookreviews.wordpress.com/

Cookiebooker chose Spirit Warriors; The Concealing by D.E.L Connor

Spirit Warriors: The Concealing by D.E.L. Connor

Spirit Warriors: The Concealing left me with a whole load of contrasting emotions.

I love all the characters and the novel has a great idea behind it. It has the perfect description and immediately you, as the reader, are given the image of the world of Emme and her friends. Their friendship has been written in such a way that made me feel, alongside the description, I was there with them.

So much can happen, and it does. Spirit Warriors contains all the action you could possibly wish for in a novel, not too much or too little and everything has the sense of reality, the feeling of “I’m there with them”.

As the reader, there is the opportunity to catch on to things before the characters, but not here, this novel allows the reader to work out some parts before the characters but otherwise you are left in the dark until the right time.

This book is perfect for someone looking for adventure and friendship.

I love the cover because it’s very detailed and colourful. The cover also hints at the plot of the book, not enough to be able to say “I know exactly what this is about”, but just enough to win the interest of the reader to pick up the book and delve into the story.

I was glued to the book from the moment I began reading it and was sad when it ended, because it ended.

I can very easily visualise this book as a film, the descriptions are detailed enough to make it a great opportunity for a film.

Amazing.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Good Deeds Challenge Year 2, Week 21

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I an into my second year.

During my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

September 7th – Today it has been the turn of Victoria Steele on the Romancing September tour and her book As My Heart Beats – Beckoning, here is a link to her post http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5E7

I’ve been in to work this morning to catch up on lots of paperwork and to leave the place tidy for my colleague.

September 8th – Cecily Gates promotes her book An Imaginary House by the Sea in todays Romancing September tour. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Fw

School is back and my Monday helping out at school starts again.

September 9th – It’s Debbie Peterson’s turn today with her book Spirit of the Knight. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Bq

Dropped of a birthday present to my God Daughter and picked up litter on the way home.

September 10th – June Kearns joins us on the Romancing September tour with her brilliant book The 20’s Girl, the ghost and All That Jazz. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5DA

I’m reading How I changed my Life by Shelley Wilson, this is my September treat read that I recently bought, I always like to give myself a treat after the summer holidays and the rush and stress of the return to school. Shelley tells us about Emotional Freedom tapping, a way to relieve stress particularly, here is a link to a website with a very useful video on tapping. http://eft.mercola.com/

Walked to town to do my shopping it was such a lovely day I detoured through three parks and picked up litter along the way.

September 11th – Today we have some poetry on the Romancing September tour, Pamela Beckford chats about her book Love – Lost and Found. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5xv

Took two big bags full of books to the charity shop and found that several local book shops are having a sale. Who can resist?

September 12th – Adrienne Vaughan talks about her book The Hollow heart in today’s Romancing September. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5Aw

Went back to the book shops, books at 50p were calling to me, staggered out with another 14 books, had the sales assistant helping me out taking books to the till so that I could browse some more. The sale goes on for another 2 weeks, so I intend going back for more. Visited the local country market and bought chutney and a cake.

September 13th – It’s Della Connor’s day today as she tells us more about Spirit Warriors: The Concealing in Romancing September. http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-5xH

Had a walk out this evening and picked up more litter. Have invited author Shelley Wilson to write a series of posts for October about changing your life for the better.

 

Romancing September #RomancingSeptember – Day 13

Welcome to Day 13 of Romancing September Across The World Tour. Today our guest is Della Connor. Catch up with more from Della in a few hours with the second part of our tour when Stephanie chats to her.

1)Where is your home town?

A small town in East Texas about 90 miles north of Houston. We call this part of Texas the “Piney-woods”. Right now it is hot and humid, a typical summer in Texas.

2)How long have you been writing romance?

I am a new author so I would have to say a short time! I have read romance novels since I was a teenager and my Grandmother would gift me her paperback Harlequins.

3)What is your favourite sub-genre of romance?

I guess since I write young adult, I would have to say young adult or new adult. I like the innocence and forever-ness of first love.

4)Tell are where your book is set.

It is set in present day Montana. I grew up in Montana and the pure beauty and majesty of that state gives you something to write about!

5)Who has been teaching the children about the Native Americans?

In my first book of the series, The Concealing, Archie who is the Native American grandfather of one of the five main characters tells the stories to the characters as they are growing up. He spends a lot of time with the kids and teaches them many things including how to build a tepee and how to do Native American dances. He also teaches them how to fight.

6)What games do the children like to play?

The characters have one game in particular that they play all the time. It is actually a re-enactment of Custer’s Last Stand or The Battle of Little Bighorn. Each of them has an assigned character that they play and of course we all know how the game ends.

7)Who is the dangerous spirit?

The machaywiw is an ancient Native American Medicine Man gone bad, so to speak. He is extremely powerful and has used his supernatural powers to exact revenge on a tribe who denied him the powers of their chief’s daughter.

8) Why does Charlie need to protect Emme?

He is Emme’s protector as he alone knows how valuable she, and her gifts, are to his people and to the future of their tribe. Charlie wants nothing more than to be with Emme for the rest of his life. But first he has to make sure that Emme lives to have the rest of her life – See more about the characters at: http://dellaconnor.com/character-bios/#sthash.mvqf3O1Q.dpuf

9)Tell us what you are working on at the moment.

I am 50,000 words into Book 3 in the series called The Burning. Here’s a teaser: “I don’t know. We didn’t get that far. I suspect she is here now because the time is drawing near to battle the machayiwiw.” I put my head in my hands. “Jack, in all likelihood I will die and possibly the others as well. Don’t you see why it just isn’t fair for me to lead you on? Do you want to spend your life like Golden Flower pining away for the love you lost? Can you imagine how hard it is to be left behind when everything you loved has left? I won’t do that to you. I can’t do that to you.” I stared at my boots. “Emme, I would gladly live what is left of my life alone to have you be mine in everyway possible for even a day or even just an hour. It would be the best hour of my life and the memory of our love could get me through the rest of my life. The thought of you waiting for me, would carry me through all the seasons of my life, until forever.” My eyes filled with tears and my voice cracked. “Oh… Jack.

10)Where can readers find out more about you?

On my new and improved blog. As you can tell I am proud of it! Come have a look. http://www.dellaconnor.com

Find a copy of Spirit Warriors: The Concealing here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Find out more about Della from Stephanie Hurts blog and all our Romance writers http://stephanie-hurt.com

 

 

 

Spirit Warriors: The Scarring by D.E.L. Connor July 21st

The Scarring (Spirit Warriors #2)

by D.E.L. Connor

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Booktrope

Published: July 21, 2014

Length: 244 pages

Blurb:

“One of us would finally end what had been started by the machayiwiw so many years ago. I would have to kill him. It was just that simple. I never thought I would want to kill anybody or anything, but maybe I never had anything worth killing for before.”

-Emmeline Rima Belrose, The Scarring (Spirit Warriors, Book 2)

In the majestic beauty of a Montana summer, Emme and her friends celebrate her near-drowning survival and their defeat of the powerful evil spirit, the machayiwiw. But even as they rejoice, things are amiss. Emme watches helplessly as her family divides, and her friends struggle to hold their relationship together. Worse yet, the love-of-her life, Charlie, announces that he will move back to the reservation, without Emme. Different nightmares take over and Emme realizes she must fight and kill—or watch those she loves be killed. Friends from the reservation reach out to Emme and show her what evil can steal from her. Emme believes that evil can never break her bond with the Spirit Warriors or the love she shares with Charlie. Or can it?

Goodreads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Although this is the second book in the Spirit Warriors series, it can be read as a stand alone novel.

Excerpt

I looked back at him. “I finally figured out that Golden Flower gifted me with the ability to talk to and control animals.” I smiled questioningly at Charlie.

 

Charlie didn’t smile back. “What else have you done?” I told Charlie about Ollie and the church and the birds. Charlie paced around me. “This is not good. The machayiwiw will notice a display like the one you did in town. You must not ever do it again in a public place where others can see you. Do you understand me?” I nodded with my head down. Charlie leaned forward and grabbed my face between his warm hands. “I have to admit that it was an awesome thing to do for Ollie, but we have to be more careful.”

 

I laid my hands over his by my face. I leaned into this chest as he slowly lowered us to the ground. We laid on the ground facing each other. I stared into his eyes lost in his world. Charlie stared back at me and as the beautiful empty world and the warm wind eavesdropped on us, we talked. I told him about Bets, and Mom and Ben, and how hurt Ollie was at the church. I told him about Jack and the preserve and Rose and the baby. We talked laying down and facing each other with our fingers intertwined until the sun started its slow climb to the edge of darkness. The sky was an incredible shade of deep purple with shades of violet blue. Even in the beauty of the sunset, I felt the desperation creep over me. I started to shake. I didn’t want to leave Charlie. I never wanted to leave Charlie. Charlie leaned closer. I could feel his breath on my cheek. He laid his gentle brown hands on my cheeks. I closed my eyes. “Let me take the pain away,” he whispered. We stood up.

 

Charlie closed his eyes and he chanted in a low voice. I listened to his voice. I closed my eyes and leaned into Charlie. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. I felt the desperation leave me and I was filled with a sense of peace and serenity. My breathing slowed, and my mind was filled with the beautiful times that Charlie and I had shared. We were like one in my mind, our thoughts joined and our spirits connected. It was the most incredible intense feeling. It was what I imagined making love would be like. I felt dizzy and my body felt it was on fire from the inside out. My legs gave way and I dropped to my knees. Charlie grabbed me and slowly lowered me down to the ground. “What did you do?” I asked Charlie. He stared back at me. “I showed you our love. I showed you what is worth fighting and dying for.”

As Charlie stood up, he staggered. I reached out and held his arm. “Are you okay?” Charlie put his hand over mine that rested on his arm. “Just tired. You wear me out.” He grinned broadly as I swatted his arm. “Poor me,” I told him. We held hands as we headed back to the main buildings.

 

Ollie and Jack were standing outside of the meeting room talking to Ryan and Hawke. Ryan looked up as we approached. “Hey, Em, can you come back next week? I want to run in the hills with you, and Hawke needs to start working with you on knife and lance throwing.” “Sure thing,” I told him. Hawke looked at Charlie and then at me. Charlie was leaning on the car while he talked to Jack. Charlie’s face was pale. Hawke walked the short distance to me and whispered in my ear. “Every time Charlie carries your pain, he gets weaker. Every time you feel better in Charlie’s presence, he pays the price for it. Is that what you want for him?” I shook my head “No.” I looked at my feet as Hawke said, “Don’t come back here. Walk away. His burden is too big to carry.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry I can’t do that. I just can’t. I love him too much.” Hawke shook his head and walked away.

We all walked to the car. I held Charlie’s hand as long as I could. I climbed in the back seat and Jack and Ollie sat down in the Mustang. As we drove off, I turned around and stared back at Charlie. He stood there watching us drive off.

 

An Interview with Author D.E.L. Connor

What was your favorite book growing up?

When I was old enough to read it was the Little House on the Prairie series. I must have read and reread each of them a hundred times. I honestly thought I was Laura Ingalls Wilder. Most girls my age were into dolls and while I liked dolls and playing house, my version of playing house always had a log house and a covered wagon. They are still my favorite books to read to children. Can’t you just picture yourself on a hot summer day bouncing along in the back of the covered wagon?

Who is your favorite author (living or dead)?

I have more than one. Obviously I love Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I am also a huge fan of Larry McMurray. I grew up admiring strong women writers like Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee and more recently J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyers.

What inspired you to write the Spirit Warriors series?

Actually is has been a long time coming. I wrote the short story that the Spirt Warriors evolved from in college may years ago. The professor asked me to stay after class and he told me how good it was, but unfortunately, it was too dark to be a children’s story. I put it away and went on with my career as a nurse. Finally J.K Rowling and Stephenie Meyers came out with new dark tales and the young adult market was born. The time was finally right! I finished Book 1 in two weeks. The struggle to get it published took more time, but here I am with two books in the story completed.

What character do you most identify with in Spirit Warriors: The Scarring?

Probably Lilly, I tend to be kind to a fault, and love my friends and family unconditionally. I think as a child I wished I could have been more like Bets and Emme. They are headstrong, brave and willing to fight for anything or anyone they cared about. I was shy when I was young, although no one believes that today! LOL

Can you tell us about your next project?

Why of course. I am about half way through book 3 in the series The Burning. There will be 6 books total in the series. Book 4 will be The Lamenting, Book 5 The Ensouling and then a Prequel to be named later. In between those books or after them I’m not sure which, I plan to write a new adult romance novel about loss and finding the chance to love again.

The Concealing (Spirit Warriors #1)

by D.E.L. Connor

Release Date: November 24, 2013

Length: 191 pages

Publisher: Booktrope

 

Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Emme Belrose has it all: four best friends, a horse of her own, a hidden tepee hangout, and a blossoming romance with tall and handsome Charlie. These friends also have a secret. They can move their spirits into animal bodies: an osprey, a mustang, a grizzly, a mountain lion and a coyote.

 

But when Charlie, who has a gift for seeing the future, has a vision of Emme drowning in the icy Yellowstone River, the Spirit Warriors must train their animal bodies to kill an enemy they know is coming… but know nothing about. Suspenseful, romantic, and awash in Native American magic, Spirit Warriors captures the tragic enchantment of the American West—and confirms the power of friendship.

Goodreads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Della was born in South Dakota and raised in the vastness and beauty of Montana on a farm. When she longed for the big city life, she moved to Texas where she attended college and received a PhD in nursing. When not nursing people back to health you can find Della huddled over her Mac writing the stories that have occupied her mind for so many years, or traveling with her best friends, the NOLA’s, riding bikes across the Golden Gate bridge or exploring botanical gardens. She is the proud mother of a champion triathlete, two aging dogs and 1 grand-cat. Della has admittedly confessed to her coffee addiction and swears that her two hour coffee crawl while on vacation in Seattle –was the best two hours of her life!

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Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/spirit-warriors-del-connor/1119969790?ean=9781620154564

itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/spirit-warriors-the-scarring/id899402196?mt=11

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Warriors-Scarring-D-E-L-Connor-ebook/dp/B00KZQ2N6S