Genevieve Stellarine inherited not only her title and duchy from her father, but Duke Aldred's vision of living in a country not ruled by an Evil Wizard. And, somehow, after eighty-three years on the throne the Old King has died, leaving behind a power struggle between his former Apprentice and his grandson, King Damien... a young man whom Genevieve saw a single time when they were both children. As the leader of the Rebellion - the so-called Rebel Duchess - it is Genevieve's job to stay back and make sure that the new young King isn't following in his grandfather's vile footsteps before making any overtures of peace. The smart thing to do is to watch and wait... But watching and waiting has never been Genevieve's strong suit, and with her dreams being haunted by a pair of beautiful grey eyes that she is sure belong to the young King... What else can a brave, redheaded warrior Duchess do than check out the situation for herself?
The wedding and coronation are over – just in time for King Damien to fight off a devastating ice-storm, pirate-raid, and evil sorceress who threaten to destroy his Realm. *** Back Blurb: The wedding and coronation are over. Queen Genevieve is well enough to attempt another pregnancy at last. It’s time to proceed with the secret plan to conceive an Heir to the Throne. But a devastating ice-storm is bearing down on the Ilseadoran capitol city of Emeralsee. King Damien suspects Evil Wizardry at work. With all the highest nobility of the Realm trapped in Emeralsee, Damien must battle Nature Itself to save his Realm and his people from an ice-storm that seems somehow targeted to him, personally. And that’s not even to mention the pirates converging on vulnerable, ice-locked Emeralsee… ****************** Teaser: “Thank you, Captain. “You and your men are to stand guard at the entrances to this hall. Do not enter until Sir Loveress lets you in. If that takes longer than a full day and night... inform Duke Elsevier that he is to support King Jason in all ways.” Sir Tim was shocked. “Damien... my King… you can’t be serious...” “You have your orders, Captain Ancellius,” Adam Loveress growled. “Yes, sir!” Sir Tim responded automatically to his former Captain. As the echo of the doors closing faded away, Adam turned to. “So, you think none of us are going to make it out of here alive?” “No,” Genevieve said firmly, “exactly the opposite.” “So, what am I here for then?” Adam demanded. “This...” the king held out a gem on a slender chain to Adam, “will end what life is left in my body that remains.” Adam, in the act of reaching for the proffered jewel, froze. “What?” Damien swallowed. “I need to access the Realm at a deeper level than I have since the very first time it Bound me. And it nearly consumed me then. Our people don’t need a breathing body of a king withering away without a soul. The jewel will stop my heart without leaving any external marks. No one will know what you did.” “And you just carry this thing around all the time just in case?” Adam muttered, staring at the now-ominous-looking faceted red stone.. Damien glanced back at him. “No. I altered that pendant on the way here from the Council chamber.” He put his arms around his silent wife. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, then turned to Adam. “This is why you have to be in here, Adam. There’s no one else I trust for this. But the part about you not coming out – that was just to scare Tim into moving. “Nothing should happen to you.”
It wasn't fair. Princes were supposed to go on adventures. Instead, Thony's older sisters had gone off on The Quest and Left Him Behind. In Aldyrwald, of all places. I mean, yeah, it was their home and Thony was Crown Prince and all, but seriously? Aldyrwald was the boringest, most insignificant place in the world. In any world. And Thony's efforts to “liven things up a little” are always so completely underappreciated. Things start looking up with the arrival of Amanita, a mysterious foreign girl who also likes to play pranks, but refuses to share anything about her past. Befriending her – and saving her from the consequences of her own hot temper – somehow lead to Thony getting treated as more than just a boy. But now his entirely unmysterious parents, Queen Annabel and King Bill, are acting like there's some Deep Dark Secret... ...and that it has something to do with Thony...
The Evil Wizard Henig is dead. The Province of Taridawil has been freed from his curse. Surely, now Karana can hang up her shield and return to her real job as Head of the most important merchant House in the world. There's just one or two small problems: The unpleasant Lord Jaycoff of Mountainmeadow has a contract requiring Karana to marry one of his sons – though not Sir Ivan, her erstwhile Knight-Companion. Karana still doesn't understand why Ivan abandoned them to face Henig without him. And every noblemaiden in the Realm is angling to marry her other Knight-Companion, Sir Kefen, now that he is to be crowned Duke of Taridawil. Nevermind that Kefen actually kissed Karana on the turret of Taridawil Keep right after the pair of them slew Henig, broke his spell, and freed the province. And... nevermind that Kefen has been making sheep's eyes at Ivan for as long as she's known them. And vice versa. What they need is to let everything settle down and become old news, so a simple little mission for the trio of Knight-Companions to escort the Princess Royal to the Holy Isle to seek the Great Goddess' Blessing on her future reign should be the perfect getaway... Right?
Running away from home in order to save his kingdom was a Gallant sort of thing for a Crown Prince to do. A self-sacrificing sort of thing. Maybe even a brave sort of thing. Definitely Proper Princely Behavior. Right? And there should be some pretty awesome adventures as Thony looks for his princess (whom he’s too young to marry yet anyways, so there’s plenty of time before any gross stuff like that). And he’s starting out in the Fairy Wood which has all sorts of amazing and scary stories about it. Other people have all sorts of adventures in there. Unfortunately, Thony’s adventure also involves an annoyingly superior stable-girl (his best friend, **sigh**), a grumpy unicorn, and an all-too-easily-freaked-out horse…
Five years ago the Evil Wizard Henig destroyed Taridawil, turning the prosperous province into a Black Desert. One year ago Karana's merchant parents were slain by Henig's foul minions as they took her to be betrothed to a lord's son. Now, seventeen-year-old Karana has emerged from struggling to survive a brutal winter in the Forest of Ryylyn - a full year on her own with no human contact - only to discover that the foul wizard has demanded that the King turn her over or the rest of the Realm will follow Taridawil's fate. Compounding the problem is that Karana is now the head of her powerful merchant House and has responsibilities that reach far beyond one small Realm. Saving the Realm without ending up as a Sacrificial Maiden is... going to be a challenge...
Back Blurb: She's earned her shield in a quarter the time it usually takes. She's slain the Evil Wizard Henig to save the Realm and extract vengeance for the murder of her parents. She's taken the reins of her far-flung merchant empire - including the Metreedis' Secret and Ancient Mission. And she's managed to navigate a solution to falling in love with both of her Knight-Companions. Karana is surely due a break... But Wind and Wave are no respecters of competence... or are they? Supposedly only those the Goddess really wants to see are allowed to come to the shores of Her Blessed Isle ******** Teaser: "You must ask the Goddess to heal him. That's a fatal wound, Karana. His skull is cracked and blood pools against his brain." "No!" Karana gasped, her strength quite wrung out. Kefen lay unmoving, his head in her lap, the huge purpling bruise standing out from his forehead. "To each their time must come. Perhaps it is simply his time." The words were almost harsh, but the tone somehow carried a compassion that was... beyond human. "No!" Karana cried again. "It can't be!" "And why not?" the strange, silvery woman asked, seeming merely curious. "Because - because-" Words failed the knightess, and she bent her head. "Because?" "Because I don't want him to die," Karana whispered. "We never want those we cherish to die," the silvery woman said calmly. "And yet they all do. Why not this one? Why not now? What is he to you that you would ask the Great Goddess to save him?" Karana shook with tears she could not shed. "He is my Bound Companion." What else could she say after all? It was Ivan's ring on her finger. All Karana had of Kefen was an unsigned contract under review by a coterie of lawyers. And kisses and... more... and a lifetime's worth of promises in eyes that were molten chocolate when they met hers...
Damien sacrificed himself to save his ice-bound city from pirates and sorcery. Now he must endure captivity and learn the sorcery he lacks in order to win free and get back to his wife, his unborn child, his friends… and his Realm that is still facing an unknown threat. ********** Back Blurb: King Damien sacrificed himself to save his ice-bound city from pirates and sorcery. Now he is captive to the ungentle whims of the evil sorceress, Azella the Unpitying. Her magickal ability exceeds his own. Damien’s only hope to win free and go home to his soul-bonded Queen and unborn child – and his still-threatened Realm to which he is also Bound – is to persuade Azella to teach him what she knows. Azella is willing to teach him… for a price. The question is whether Damien can give her what she wants – without following her down the path of Evil Wizardry… Like his grandfather before him… This epic fantasy explores the complex interactions of Magick and Philosophy, Means and Ends, and… CHESS… Want to start at the beginning? Book One of the Chronicles of Ilseador: The Rebel Duchess is available in print and eBook at all fine online retailers! ******** Teaser: “You’ll do.” A smile that Damien was all too familiar with curled Azella’s lips. “You’ll more than do, in fact. My sources hadn’t told me how handsome you are. I shall quite enjoy this, I think.” Damien tried not to roll his eyes. “This beard...” She stroked his chin. “I assume you usually keep it a bit more trim. I usually prefer my bedmates to be cleanshaven. But then, they are usually too young to grow a proper beard. Perhaps I shall make an exception.” “Perhaps you are making an assumption, lady sorceress,” Damien said dryly. “No,” she said calmly. “You are no innocent child, Damien. You know full well the Power that is raised through sex. You will be my Apprentice. You will share my bed. And you will do whatever else I require of you.” He looked back at Azella just as calmly. “I have sworn to my wife that I would touch no other woman in that way. And since I also know that the Power raised is proportional to the joy found in the doing, it won’t do you much good to compel me.” Those blue-grey eyes sparkled. It wasn’t – quite – anger. Nor amusement. It was... challenge. Damien suspected that the sorceress rarely found something she wanted that she could not immediately bend to her will. He suspected that was why she had wanted him in the first place. “Oh, I won’t have to force you to make love to me, Damien. You’ll soon be begging to do so.”
“You will have no firstborn to rule after you She will never conceive your firstborn – or at least not first.” The last words of the Evil Wizard, Lord Prydeen, have hung over King Damien and Queen Genevieve for five years. Five years, wherein Damien has sought to rebuild the Realm, inspiring and requiring a return to honor and noblesse oblige among his corrupt and canny noble class. Five years, whence Genevieve has restored three of the Five Lost Provinces to Ilseador's banner, negotiating by dint of the army at her back – and her own formidable reputation as a warrior. Five years... and ten heartbreaking miscarriages. And then Prydeen had added those other words that either allow for a kernel of hope... or are the grindstone with which to destroy King Damien's hopeful new reign. “You have a Champion of a problem, young king.”
We all worry about our kids learning math. Even if the kids are in school, there’s always a concern. Sometimes it’s about the kid’s concern… sometimes it’s about their teacher’s concern (parent-teacher or otherwise). But a lot of the time it’s about US. It’s about our own math-phobias – those ‘fears, dislikes, or aversions’ that we picked up from our own math experiences and that we inadvertently pass on to our kids. We don’t want them to be afraid of math – we know that limits their opportunities and makes their lives harder and costs them more money – but we just can’t help it. This book is here to help you deal with your own math-phobias and come to – if not outright enjoy math, to at least appreciate it and be able to convey it to your kids without passing on the fear. Kerridwen Mangala McNamara is NOT a ‘math-lover’ but she is a math-appreciator and has worked through most of these issues herself. Let her help you along your homeschooling journey and show you how to fight the Fear-of-Math monster so that it no longer intimidates you – or your kids!
