Behind the Scenes of Burning Rose by Hope Ann

The week we have all been waiting for. (*cough* you've been waiting for this week as much as me, right? *cough*) Yes, as I was saying... Burning Rose is here! You heard me fanbling about this book a little while ago, and today's the official release date! I am SO excited to get my hands on my own copy of Burning Rose!

A war, founded in ancient legends, changes the lives of those it touches forever.

Elissa, a villager from the northern mountains, attempts to save her brother and ends up trapped

in a hidden valley with a strange host and a treacherous enemy.

Evrard, the Wingmaster of the Prince’s army, races against his own weakening powers to

discover the location of his twin and save her from deadly mistbenders.

Haydn, a pardoned rebel from Tauscher’s army, confronts shadows of myth and former

comrades in his struggle to keep his sister safe and find the stolen Stormestone.

BONUS

Before the war, before the legends, before the Separation, there was a man who started it all.

There was a curse, a promise, and a sacrifice. There was the Oathkeeper.

Fairy tales retold as you have never heard them before.

ROSE OF THE OATH: Beauty and the Beast

SONG OF THE SWORD: Rapunzel

SHADOWS OF THE HERSWEALD: Hansel and Gretel

and

ROSE OF THE NIGHT: a Rose of the Oath prequel

Order Burning Rose now!

Read on to see my review of this lovely book... but first, here's a bit o' behind the scenes of Burning Rose by Hope Ann. It's on the music inspiration for Rose of the Oath, and if you wish to see more about it, make sure to visit Hope's web sight here.

I enjoy music. I find it hard to write without listening to soft soundtracks, though loud siblings might have something to do with that. But not only do I enjoy listening to music as I write, I also love finding songs for my characters. Sometimes I can find them, sometimes I can’t. Sometimes they are perfect and sometimes they are only close. The song for Adrian, from Rose of the Oath, is pretty close. It is Love Feels Like by TobyMac: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73CNoOoMdxo 

Read Adrian’s full story in my new paperback collection, Burning Rose!

My review of Burning Rose: ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩
Did I just put six stars? YES! I could give it more, seeing as it's four five star-worthy stories. 😁
I really, really liked Burning Rose. The four stories in it are written in such a fresh, inspiring, and beautiful way. I found out about them from being personal friends with the author so I read the first for that reason, but after that, I was simply hooked! I've never read any other fairy tale retellings and I'm not really into fairy tales, but I do love fantasy and adventures, and these stories are amazing. Everyone takes you on an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrilling journey. The ingredients for a book being likable for me is, either tale of simple ordinary life or an exciting adventure, lovable and relatable characters, and an encouraging message that's perfectly seeped into the story line without saying it right out. For me, Burning Rose was perfect.

Adventure- Every story keeps you flipping pages as you follow along with Elissa, Evrard, and Haydn to find answers to questions in their personal lives, and what the sacrifice of the Prince can do for them. Their different stories happen before the war, during the war, and after the war. There's action and swords and all that exciting stuff. 😉 There's a sort of mysterious feel to the beginning of all the stories as various backstory events are hinted at here and there. The endings were all very satisfying with all of the loose threads tied up. All of the plots develope brilliantly.
Characters- I must admit that the people in the stories are usually my favorite part of reading any book. And these characters--wow! I saw so much of myself in them. I found myself so involved with them. I felt their joy, pain, surprise, and triumphs. Everyone has wonderful character arcs that I loved reading.
Theme- Every story has a different fruit of  the spirit theme. I learned a lot from them, but we are never told flatly out the message. Instead, we learn by the experiences of the characters. Elissa learns what love really is. So do we. Evrard learns the true source of joy. So do we. Haydn learns to let peace into his life, and we see how we can, too.

I'm so happy to see these four wonderful stories finally put together in one book that I can hold. Hope has a magical touch with writing; so gripping and moving. I am very much looking forward to reading what she writes next.

Alright. I'm done for now. All of you people who read all of the way to the end, I highly recommend you considering buying this book. It will be well worth it. :) 

Excellent Writing Advice

I came across this awhile ago and think it's a wonderful power boost for when you don't feel like writing. What's your favourite writing advice?

Poetry Leaves #1 - My Place of Solitude

With autumn soon coming, I find myself in a nostalgic state that always comes when the air grows cold and leaves begin changing colours. This year, however, it's different. Instead of just thinking, it's made me write. I want to finish those stories I've started. I want to write more poetry. I want to take myself out of a mindset of dreaming of the things I could discover on pen and paper and acting on those dreams instead.

I thought I might share a few poems on here. I can't guaranty how soon they'll be put up on here, but for now, here's my first poem:

photo from the Internet

My Place of Solitude

I know a place of solitude

It's down the road a stretch.

I can go there when I need to

Have a place to sort my thoughts.

It's a spot down at the river

Where it makes a little bend.

I found my special "Thinking Rock" there

For quiet reigns as king.

As the peaceful river
Goes gliding along
And the glow of the sun is reflected
Like a thousand diamonds in the water

It soothes and rests my soul,
And I can ponder the countless ages past
Or consider all that can be
In the days yet to come.

Time itself is apt to stand still
In my place of solitude.

"Burning Rose" by Hope Ann - Cover Reveal

It's here! It's here! It's FINALLY here!

Item one: I prefer physical copies of books over e-books. Item two: I adore the Legends of Light novella series being written by Hope Ann. Item three: The first the books are coming out in paperback in October. Item four: I have some fangirling to do. Item five: Who wants to see a gorgeous book cover?

A war, founded in ancient legends, changes the lives of those it touches forever.

Elissa, a villager from the northern mountains, attempts to save her brother and ends up trapped in a hidden valley with a strange host and a treacherous enemy.

Evrard, the Wingmaster of the Prince’s army, races against his own weakening powers to discover the location of his twin and save her from deadly mistbenders.

Haydn, a pardoned rebel from Tauscher’s army, confronts shadows of myth and former comrades in his struggle to keep his sister safe and find the stolen Stormestone.

BONUS 

Before the war, before the legends, before the Separation, there was a man who started it all. There was a curse, a promise, and a sacrifice. There was the Oathkeeper.

Fairy tales retold as you have never heard them before.

ROSE OF THE OATH: Beauty and the Beast

SONG OF THE SWORD: Rapunzel

SHADOWS OF THE HERSWEALD: Hansel and Gretel 

and

ROSE OF THE NIGHT: a Rose of the Oath prequel

If you haven't heard my gush about the Legends of Light (see this post, this post, this post, and this post), you can check out each ebook individually here or the Burning Rose page here. The Kindle version is available for preorder, but the paperback won't be up to buy until the launch on October 3rd. In the meantime, you can add Burning Rose to your lists on Goodreads.

And now, can I get drum roll? 🥁 ..........................................................................

Designed by Kate Flournoy

Less than one month until you can finally hold Burning Rose in your own hands! I know what I'm looking forward to most in October. 😁

Skip on over to learn more about Hope Ann and her writings at: https://authorhopeann.com/

Ps. I'm having trouble with the design on this blog, so apologies if things look boring or out of place.

Treasured Friendships

Isn't this a lovely thought? I'm so blessed by the many treasured friendships I've made through blogs. Here's to you!

Roses, Scars, Wolves. . .an Exciting "Beauty and the Beast" Retelling Release

Hullo, dear friends! I come today with some very exciting news. You may know by now how much I love the "Legends of Light" series which is being written by Hope Ann, and she just released another one!!

War clouds the horizon and rebels gather under a mysterious leader. Alone, with her two younger sisters, Elissa watches the mountain road desperately for her brother’s return. Instead, she receives news of his capture by a strange figure covered in scars and cloaked in wolf skins. With rebels drawing nearer, she sets off to find her brother. To save him. There is no one else who can.

Yet she soon finds the rose that granted her warning now holds her captive in safety. Outside the valley, war threatens those she loves most. Though her strange host claims the ancient promises of the Prince’s return and victory over the rebels, Elissa knows the blood-drenched truth. She is on her own. Elissa will do anything to keep her family safe, but more than one kind of wolf stalks the Blackwood and danger lurks closer than she could ever imagine.

For some clarification, this is the new first book in the series. It's replacing the previous "Rose of Prophecy" and it adds more details about the history of the kingdom of Aslaria and sets a good foundation for the rest of the series.

My review: ✩✩✩✩✩
This book was so engaging! If it wasn't an e-book, I'd say I couldn't put it down, but as it is, I'll say that it was very hard to close it out. :) I've learned to be prepared to be surprised when reading something by Hope...you never know where she's going to take you, but the destination is satisfying. "Rose of the Oath" was quite a bit darker and more dramatic than its predecessor "Rose of Prophecy" and the characters much deeper. The plot developed very well and was gripping. As always, the whole cast of characters were amazing and surprising. Beauty in this version was harder for me to relate to than the other one, but seeing the fact that's she's given a harder past, that's understandable. And I loved how the tragic past made her more relatable to the Beast. Throught the story we're shown plainly and beautifully what true love is, and I also found faith to be an important theme in it. Magical, inspiring, pleasing. . .this novella is highly recommended in my opinion!

And listen to this lovely good news. . .it's being offered for free!! So what are you waiting for? Go and download yourself a copy!

Download at: Amazon • Smashwords • iTunes

Add it to your shelf on Goodreads

But don't go away yet! There's also a prequel to this Beauty and the Beast retelling, Rose of the Night - an account of how the ‘Beast’ became the Beast.

Click here to claim your free copy!
Add to your shelf on Goodreads

Can things get any better? Yes! In honor of the official release of Rose of the Oath, Hope's other novellas are $0.99 for this week only!

Buy Song of the Sword: A Rapunzel Novella

Buy Shadows of the Hersweald: A Hansel and Gretel Novella

About Hope Ann

Hope Ann is a speculative fiction writer who lives on a small farm in northern Indiana. She has

self-published three Legends of Light novellas and writes regular articles for Kingdom Pen as the

Writing Team Captain. Reading since the age of five, and introducing herself to writing at age

eight, she never had a question that the author’s life was the life for her. Her goal is to write

thrilling Christian fantasy and futuristic fiction — stories she longed for while growing up. After

graduating from homeschool, Hope now teaches writing to several of her eight younger siblings.

She loves climbing trees, archery, photography, Lord of the Rings, chocolate, and collecting

shiny things she claims are useful for story inspiration.

You can visit Hope’s blog at authorhopeann.com, or follow her on Facebook, Pinterest,

Instagram, or Twitter.

This post is bursting with good news for anyone who loves Christian fantasy and fairytale retellings. If you fit into one of the mentioned categories, go and read them for yourself. Then I'd love to hear your thoughts. (And so would she...help support your fellow authors!)🌹

The Love of Good Books

Photo from the Internet

"I remember hearing Grandpa say that a love for good books was one of the best safeguards a man could have.” 

― Archie, from Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott

A favourite quote from a favourite author.