Moonblood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl - Tales of Goldstone Wood

Book one was Heartless.

Book two was Veiled Rose.

Book three is Moonblood. When I read Veiled Rose I understood so much more of Heartless that I read that book again, something that is unusual for me. I simply did not want to miss one single thing. Now, at long last - Moonblood. From the start of this book with our now familiar characters, I have been walking in another realm. Every time the silvery voice of the wood thrush sings I find myself holding my breath.
I can hear the song in the words:
"Beyond the Final Water falling,
The Song of Spheres recalling.
Won't you return to me?"

Maybe others hear as I do when they read, but I hear in those oft' repeated words the wooing of  the Savior, calling to those who will answer. Every time Rose Red hears "Beloved", I feel the echo pulling in my very soul. After reading the first two books I feel close to Leo and to Rose Red to feel as though I know them. Like a close friend on the net that you have never met in person. By the time I was immersed in this book, the world they live in, the Princes and the Queens, the realms they dwell in feel as real as a trip to another State.

As the poison left lingering by the Black Dragon taints the kingdom, I feel for Leo (Lionheart) as he fights with Death-In-Life, cringing and acting a coward as she tries to twist his thinking and keep him off the path that will ultimately save him. If she can keep following his dream, instead of what he should be doing, his life will be spent as it was under the Dragon's torment, watching his dreams come to pass only to watch his real dreams die yet again. This torture has so altered Daylily that she hardly knows what her mind should be anymore. (And oh- how I know a few that I care about who are so much like her!)

I have almost wept as it is too close to home, the pain Rose Red feels to have love unrequited, to feel ugly, to feel abandoned and alone. To have a destiny you can't quite see, and a future you don't know how to fulfill.
I have laughed at Monster/Bard and Poet Eanrin and aggravating yet endearing cat ways. And Leo, denying the true love he feels, breaking two other hearts, and being betrothed to one who loves him not! Prince Lionheart, stripped of his rank and now well aware of his deeds. To quote Oeric who you will have to meet him for yourself "Though you placed my love in gravest danger, perhaps caused her death...though you betrayed the Prince's Beloved into the very hands of the Dragon, still I could not look on you with hatred."

Oh and then back to Rose Red, cast into the Wilderlands by Leo, who through his own faults and lack of courage was unable to defend her enough to protect her, now is a captive in the land of Arpiar. She is trying to cope with her current situation, and her broken heart as well. Is she still her Beloved's or has she been completely cast away and forgotten?

And then there are the dragons. All the sons and daughters of the Black Dragon. Sleeping, but for how long? Moonblood is approaching and if Rose Red's own father, King Vahe succeeds in waking the horde and controlling them into doing his bidding, nothing and no one will ever be the same again. And really now, what are we to do with this Unicorn?

I think I am about breathless waiting for the next book as well. Starflower is to be the next book in this series. Meanwhile grab this entire series and you will not be disappointed. In fact, you might be changed, and you will definitely be enchanted in good ways, not bad ones.
I leave you with the echo ringing "Will you follow me?"

Carol

This week, the  Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  Moonblood  Bethany House Publishers (April 1, 2012)  by  Anne Elisabeth Stengl

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she enjoys her profession as an art teacher, giving private lessons from her personal studio, and teaching group classes at the Apex Learning Center. She is married to the handsome man she met at fencing class and lives with him and a gaggle of cats. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. Heartless is her debut novel.

Anne Elisabeth is also the author of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, a series of fantasy adventure novels told in the classic Fairy Tale style.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Moonblood Draws Near, and Soon the Dragons Will Wake.

Desperate to regain the trust of his kingdom, Prince Lionheart reluctantly banishes his faithful servant and only friend, Rose Red. Now she is lost in the hidden realm of Arpiar, held captive by her evil goblin father, King Vahe.

Vowing to redeem himself, Lionheart plunges into the mysterious Goldstone Wood, seeking Rose Red. In strange other worlds, Lionheart must face a lyrical yet lethal tiger, a fallen unicorn, and a goblin horde on his quest to rescue the girl he betrayed.

With the Night of Moonblood fast approaching when King Vahe seeks to wake the Dragon's sleeping children, Lionheart must discover whether or not his heart contains courage before it's too late for Rose Red . . . and all those he loves.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Moonblood, go HERE.

Get this book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764207814