Author Christy Sloat: Tempest's Fury by Alicia Michaels

Tempest’s Fury by Alicia Michaels

Release Spotlight + Giveaway

Title: Tempest’s Fury (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada Book Four)

Release Date: February 28, 2015

Genre: YA Paranormal/Fantasy

Publisher: Marion Press

Blurb: Gretchen Thomas isn’t exactly princess material. She’s not thin, perky, graceful, or refined. So, when a mysterious man claiming to be from another world appears, telling her that she’s royalty, her first instinct is to laugh in his face. However, his assertion that she’s from this strange parallel realm rings true—especially given the freakish abilities she’s had since childhood.

Yet, with that knowledge comes a set of expectations Gretchen isn’t sure she can live up to. With an entire kingdom relying on her to fight for them against an evil queen, and a long lost family hoping to reunite with her, being a princess doesn’t seem like all it’s cracked up to be. One thing is for sure; when the war between good and evil spills over from one realm into another, disrupting her life and threatening the brother who raised her, Gretchen will not hesitate to unleash the powerful storm brewing inside of her.

*A fairytale reboot of Hansel & Gretel*

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Excerpt:

Brooklyn, New York

Moisture coated the air, steam from the showers lingering on the air along with the chorus of Miley Cyrus’ “We Won’t Stop”. Gretchen Thomas scowled. She hated the song with a passion, almost as much as she hated the girl who sang it.

To add insult to injury, the locker room echoed with the constant chatter of high-pitched voices. They sounded like a flock of birds … a flock of tall, leggy, blonde birds with perfect bodies and daddies who gave them everything they wanted.

The goddesses of high school. The banes of Gretchen’s existence.

They giggled together and danced to the music, not at all shy about their various states of half-nakedness.

Turning her back to them, she peeled off the sweatshirt she’d worn to gym class. Beneath it was her not-so-skinny body and nondescript black sports bra.

She tried to be quick about covering herself. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough.

“Whale, ho!” one of the high-pitched voices said from behind her.

She stiffened, her face growing hot as the insult washed over her. Refusing to turn around, she pulled on her long-sleeved black and white striped tee, before layering it with a shorter-sleeved purple one.

“Want some butter for those rolls, porky?” a second voice asked.

Ariana Smith and Jessica Simmons … she recognized the voices as two of her most dedicated tormentors. Their insults sent giggles through the locker room, and now she could feel the stares … the eyes of the other girls boring into her.

Determined to ignore them, she slid out of her sweats and into her jeans as fast as she could. One of the girls muttered something else, but she couldn’t hear it through the anger causing her heart to pound, filling her ears with the sound.

Gritting her teeth, she shoved everything into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Not bothering to put her shoes on, she carried them, making a quick escape.

“Watch out, wide load!” wailed Ariana, giggling and backing out of her path in a dramatic motion.

She glared over her shoulder at both of them, then retreated. She could still hear the laughter as she paused, leaning against the wall outside the locker room and closing her eyes.

Ignore them. They’re just a couple of mean girls who put other people down to make themselves feel better. Be the bigger person. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Fitting in is for losers.

Yeah, none of that worked. The more she fought against her anger, the worse her need to lash out became until she felt a familiar heat beginning in her palms. The air around her shifted and moved like a gust of wind, and a bluish-white spark flashed in one hand.

Taking a deep breath, she swallowed past the lump of rage in her throat. She could hear Hayden’s voice in her head, telling her not to act out, not to use her abilities in public. But, her big brother wasn’t here, and her anger won out.

Releasing the emotion on a wave of energy, she grinned as the sound of screams and curses filled the locker room. The staccato pitter-patter of raindrops wasn’t enough to satisfy her, though. Fighting back laughter, she peeked around the corner for a glimpse of her handiwork.

Girls ducked and covered their heads, wailing their distress over the soaked clothes strewn across the locker room floor. Water rained down on them from overhead, drenching them all. Ariana and Jessica stood in their midst, screaming as their ruined hair fell around their heads, and water streamed down their faces, ruining their makeup.

Gretchen grinned, turning away from the locker room. She slid into her Converse sneakers, then reached into her backpack to retrieve her phone. Jamming her earbuds in, she cranked up the volume as Aerosmith crooned “Janie’s Got a Gun”.

Laughter burning in her chest, she made her way to lunch, practically skipping the entire way.

Check out the rest of the Lost Kingdom of Fallada books, a series of YA fairytale reboots!

Book 1: Daughter of the Red Dawn

A FREE Read!

Blurb: On the outside, seventeen year-old Selena McKinley is like any other teenage girl. Yet Selena has always felt as if she doesn’t belong and is counting the days to graduation and her freedom from the small town that makes her feel so out of place, when the arrival of a stranger turns her world upside down. Selena will learn just how different she is and the truth of where she comes from.

A lost princess, they call her, the catalyst for a war involving a world that Selena was taken from as a child. An evil queen obsessed with her own beauty with a plan to enslave the human race.…the notion seems so silly, yet Selena knows in her heart that it is true. Then there is Titus, the shape shifter whose blue eyes and claims of destiny hold her heart captive. Can Selena find the strength to do what she must while following her heart?

*A fairytale reboot of Little Red Riding Hood*

Book 2: Child of the Sacred Earth

Blurb: Get a degree, get a job, save adorable foster siblings from the clutches of the evil foster mom …

These are Jocylene Sanders’ top priorities as she enters her sophomore year of college. The last thing she expects is to find herself the champion of an entire kingdom. However, that is just what happens when the mysterious Faerie, Rothatin Longspear, appears to her, tasking her with saving a parallel world full of creatures from her wildest dreams.

Jocylene journeys with him into the world of Fallada, hoping for answers about her birth parents and background. What she finds is a mystifying past, and an even more uncertain future, as her heart becomes entangled with the stoic, battle-hardened Rothatin, as well as Eli, the untroubled Panther Shifter with no loyalties and no home. With her heart and soul pulled in so many directions, can Jocylene find the strength needed to become the savior one nation so desperately needs?

*A fairytale reboot of Rose Red*

Book 3: Rise of the Tide

Phaedra Jones’ life is perfect. She loves her small coastal town and the beach, graduation is just a year away, and she’s in love with the boy of her dreams. Unfortunately, everything changes when Phaedra’s boat goes down in a storm. Luckily, Phaedra survives, finding herself in a world beyond anything she could ever imagine. Not only does she discover that she is a Mermaid shifter of the underwater kingdom of Zenun, but the kingdom of Fallada—where fairytale creatures live and breathe—is depending on her. Phaedra risks losing everything: her perfect life, her family, even the boy she loves … all for a cause she has no stake in.

Arrian Riverleaf, Elf prince of the Riverleaf Clan, has been shunned by his people for over a century. After his arrogance caused him to be cursed, he became a hideous creature, only a shadow of his former self. When Princess Phaedra arrives in Fallada, he does not intend her to steal his heart. With her lost love to compete with and his own insecurities over his unattractive face, Arrian fights his feelings, knowing she could never look beyond his curse to love him.

As the two fight together to save Phaedra’s people, the realm of Fallada and the world of men will both hang in the balance as the battle between good and evil rages on.

*A fairytale reboot of The Princess and the Frog*

Prequel: Beyond the Iron Gate (Zara’s Journey)

In the year 1845, before the mystical land of Fallada was separated from the realm of men forever, the two worlds coexisted in harmony. Man could mingle freely in the world of the Elves and Faeries at will and peace reigned.

In the hills of Shropshire, England, just miles from the gate separating the village of Ludlow from the world of mystical creatures, farmer’s daughter Zara Wells longs for answers. It is not only the golden hair that trail feet behind her, or the strange hue of her violet eyes that separates her from the other girls her village. There is something inside of her, something touched by magic that longs to know more about what lies on the other side of the gate.

In Fallada, darkness has begun to spread. As the youngest and most beautiful girls of her village begin to disappear, Zara comes closer to discovering the true circumstances surrounding her birth. Little does she know, that the closer she comes to the answers she so desperately desires, the closer she will come to being ensnared in the dark queen’s web of growing treachery.

*A fairytale reboot of Rapunzel*

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