Heartstone by Clemency Crow (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Heartstone

by

Clemency Crow

 

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GENRE:  Middle Grade Fantasy Adventure

 

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BLURB:

 

Jeremy isn't surprised his grandfather died. He's surprised he had one.

When the family travel to Cumbria for the funeral arrangements, he realises his grandfather had an important job to complete. Jeremy's grandfather was part of the Order of the Magi, who trapped an evil spirit away from our world, using the power contained within heartstones, and hidden in special places around the county.

But the heartstones need recharging every hundred years, so Jeremy and his strange new friend must find each stone, and complete dangerous tasks to prove they are worthy, before the power of the stones runs out and evil has control over the world.

 

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EXCERPT

 

“Good morning, sleepy!” Ben grinned as he spoke. He looked no worse for wear after his ordeal from yesterday. That is, until Jeremy saw the grey arm resting above the cover. Ben followed his gaze and his grin widened. This boy would make a funny situation out of anything, no matter how grim.

“Do you think you convinced your mum?” he asked.

Jeremy shook his head, as the conversation of last night came back to him.

Ben looked at him, his grin melting away. “What do you mean?”

“She said she knows what’s going on, and that her dad was a mage.” Jeremy screwed up his eyes as he tried to remembered the details of the conversation, but all he could concentrate on was the argument blazing downstairs. The more he listened, the more he wanted to hear. “I’m going to get done in the bathroom,” he mumbled, getting out of bed.

“Report back,” Ben said, completely unfooled by his excuse.

As Jeremy wandered along the landing, closer to the stairs, the voices became clearer.

“I’m not staying here long enough to lose my son,” Jeremy heard Dad’s voice snap. He stopped in his tracks in surprise.

“He’s my son, too, David,” Mum replied, equally harshly. “And he’s got no choice in the matter. If Dad chose him, then the damage is already done.”

“No!” Dad shouted. “I will not have him throw away what is going to be a fantastic life.”

“Right,” came the scoffing reply. “And a fantastic life by your standard is a good wage and a respected job. He will get both of these things in this job. When he’s ready to take it.”

“We… are… leaving.”

There was a pause.

“You may be, David,” Mum said, quietly so Jeremy had to concentrate to hear. “But I’m staying.”

 

Free to read on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Clemency is a primary school teacher, children’s author, and illustrator, based in rural Caithness with her family and two needy spaniels. In fact, Clemency is typing this one handed, because Jess cries if she isn’t stroked for five seconds.

 

When she isn’t writing, Clemency loves designing new parts of her garden, trying to find plants that will withstand the 70mph winds that are likely to batter them. She is oftentimes to be found tearing her hair out at the prevalence of ground elder in the flower borders, while cultivated species struggle to survive.

 

Clemency’s favourite genre to write, and read, is fantasy adventure. This gives her ample opportunity to put her long suffering characters in perilous situations.

 

Book Trailer for Heartstone

 

Website (currently in process of switching to Wordpress, but I’ll keep you updated if it changes)

BlueSky - Social Media 

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GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The tour dates can be found here

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My review

4 stars

 

 

Heartstone by Clemency Crow follows the adventure of young Jeremy, who accompanies his parents to Church Brough, Cumbria in England, to deal with the final affairs of a grandfather Jeremy has never heard about. An irrepressible boy named Ben and Ben’s grandfather guide Jeremy on an unexpected adventure that will change his life forever.

 

This middle-grade fantasy adventure story is inventive and exciting, with lots of fun elements. There are realistic touches, such as when Jeremy witnesses tension between his parents, and mystical aspects as he discovers powers that he never dreamed of and fights against evil. I enjoyed the whimsical nature of the quest as fantastical creatures and startling repercussions evolve, even as Jeremy discovers the importance of friendship and faces the unpleasant specter of betrayal by someone he should be able to trust. This is an entertaining story that is also thought provoking, which will be enjoyed by fantasy lovers of all ages.

 

A copy of this title was provided for review

Taking Wing by Clemency Crow (Spotlight, excerpt, review, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

Taking Wing

by Clemency Crow

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GENRE: Middle Grade Adventure

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BLURB:

Twelve-year-old Freya enjoys karate and is the only one in her class who’s trusted with a part-time job. But everything changes when she meets a boy with yellow eyes. She learns about the guardians, and how an age-old fight has prevented them from fulfilling their purpose.

Freya finds new friends in the Crow tribe, but not everything in the castle is blissful. A destructive shadow lies within her and all she needs to do to release it is close her eyes.

But as the guardians’ war rages on, Freya realises that, although the shadow’s power can be useful, it can’t create peace. To do that, Freya and her friends must solve the mysterious crime that began the war. Can they bring the guardians together before they destroy each other?

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EXCERPT

“Tell me more about the Owls,” Freya requested. She couldn’t deny that the statue fascinated her. It was such a magnificent gift, it seemed tragic that the people who gifted it were now at war. Elialdor, standing behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Their king is a man called Raedwald. He commands perhaps more than even the Crows. Perhaps the most powerful of our kind.” Elialdor spoke almost in a whisper. “It was him who killed my grandfather.”

“The king?” Freya turned around to face him. The prince’s face looked so sad, but proud all the same.

“Yes. But he was my grandfather too.” He bowed his head. “Raedwald was angry with our tribe and sought revenge. So he killed him.”

“Revenge for what?” Freya could not help but ask.

“He believed we committed a crime that we did not. The only way to prove our innocence was to find the truly guilty party: something we failed to do. So we remain at war.”

Although Freya wanted to find out more on the matter, the look of pain on Elialdor’s face stopped her from asking any more questions. She was struggling to piece together the fragments of information she had received, and each conversation made it more intriguing.

Amazon link

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I can't remember when I wrote my first story. We had a word processor when I was very little. It was an archaic piece of technology with no mouse, which meant you had to know the codes for it to work. My sister, Judith, and I wrote several stories using this. I think one of my stories was about a mammoth, probably during my I-want-to-be-a-mammoth-when-I-grow-up stage.

When I was a bit older, during Year 3 at Primary School, another sister brought home several A5 grey jotters and gave one to Ginny and Judith to plan and write their stories in. Naturally, I wanted a notebook too, so I said I was writing a story called "The Rule of the Unicorns". I never finished that rather peculiar tale, but it meant I got one of those A5 grey jotters!

A good few years down the line and I'm a Primary Teacher in the tip-top north of Scotland. To encourage a love of reading in my pupils, I write a story with them in for their Christmas present. The first thing they do is flick through and try and find their name - but I hope they enjoy the story too!

When I'm not teaching, I love writing, working on my allotment and I'm crazy enough to be doing a Science degree at the same time.

Website

Facebook

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Goodreads

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GIVEAWAY


a Rafflecopter giveaway


The tour dates can be found here





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My review:

3.5 out of 5 stars

Taking Wing by Clemency Crow centers around Freya, a young girl who is mysteriously transported to a land that is peopled by tribes of birds, two of which factions are engaged in a deadly war. As she gradually learns the rules that govern the interactions between humans and the tribes that were originally created to protect them, Freya is reluctant to fulfill the role expected of her but gradually is drawn into the conflict. Her biggest challenges are figuring out who to believe and how to harness the power everyone believes she can wield.

This middle grade fantasy explores the challenges of discovering the truth in a world that is entirely foreign, where everyone around you has expectations about your very existence. The story is imaginative and touches on the differences between several bird species but doesn’t go into much detail about anything other than their relative sizes. I think the tale provides fodder for encouraging research into such things as the different types of crows or owls but I found some things confusing and I was a bit surprised by the ending, which evidently implies that the story will continue. Somehow, there don’t seem to be a lot of adult female roles, and those aren’t very sympathetic, and the conflicts between the rulers and their sons seem universal but are not clearly explained. The rules of magic are a bit murky and I still don’t understand how the tribes are protecting humans, but hopefully details will be filled in with subsequent stories.

A copy of this story was provided for review