BOOK BLURB:
Maggie has lived the last ten years with a woman who isn't
her mother and carrying the label "Daughter of John Henning", a man
sentenced to live out his days at Sunnyview Psychiatric Hospital after his
conviction of fire bombing a church...
and killing the 8 people inside.
What Maggie learns will change her life.
She is the last of a race of creatures known as "The Phoenix", a race
of supernatural beings with the ability to wield and control fire.
And she will need that power now...
Revenants- walking, living, skeletal creatures who have waged a war against an
unseen, parallel world known simply as The Realm- need Maggie's blood to bring
them to a full power...a power that will give them an unbeatable edge and offer
the deciding weapon in this war.
Maggie is not alone as she learns not only
what she really is, but what
it is her destiny to become...
Phoenix Rising (Maggie Henning &
The Realm: book 1)
Synopsis
“…And I believe you do not have the control over your fire yet to
destroy us all.” He was calling my
bluff. Worse, he was right.
Phoenix Rising is
a first person story revolving around sixteen year old Maggie Henning. Maggie
lives with her mother and has spent the previous ten years of her life wearing
a label- daughter of the murderer John Henning. Her father resides at
Sunnybrook Psychiatric Hospital, having been convicted of killing eight people
inside of a local church, burning them alive. Or so Maggie has always been
told. Maggie’s world begins to change after finding a letter addressed to her
from the psychiatric hospital that offers an ominous warning. She ignores the
letter, waving it off as some random nut sending her mail.
Having to endure visits with her father, per her mother’s
request, has left Maggie feeling isolated and alone, with exception to her one
friend, Stephanie; daughter of her father’s deceased law partner. In an effort
to cheer Maggie up, Stephanie and she take in a little “retail therapy” at the
local mall.
Maggie finds herself drawn into a music store she doesn’t
normally go in to, drawn by a melody played by a mysterious raven haired guy
that apparently alarms Maggie’s friend.
Following an argument, Maggie is abandoned at the shopping
center to walk home, only to spot the mystery man again, riding a motorcycle,
who offers her a ride home. Maggie isn’t normally that reckless, but she
decides to throw caution to the wing and take him up on the offer.
The stage is set after a visit to her see her father,
normally in a fairly catatonic state, comes aware, giving Maggie the same
warning as the letter she received. Creatures, called “revenants” want Maggie’s
blood. Just when Maggie had felt optimistic about her father, the hopes were
dashed. But, she had seen strange things; bones, pointed teeth, rotting flesh…
The drive home reveals that Maggie’s mother is NOT what she
seemed to be and after she’s attacked, the mystery guy, named Michel, arrives
and rescues Maggie from one of these creatures.
Maggie is taken to “The Trust”, a manor house that offers
protection to beings from “The Realm”- another world that lives right below the
surface of the Mortal one. Maggie begins to learn of this strange world and the
creatures that inhabit it, including a young witch with much to live up to
named Autumn, a light hearted fairy named Seatha, and two Vampire Princes of
The Realm, one of which is Michel. Michel is kind and level headed. Luc, his
brother, is a smart ass and calls things as he sees them. The two brothers tend
to be opposites of each other in most things, with exceptions to their kingdom
and now, Maggie.
Maggie meets Liam at The Trust, learning that the crazy
board game eating man from the asylum is really her grandfather. Liam explains
The Realm, offering guidance, and more importantly, informs Maggie of what she
really is- the last of a race of beings called “Phoenixes”, creatures who have
the ability to call fire and use it as they wish.
The revenants, led by a creature named Ossa, will stop at
nothing to get Maggie; needing her blood to bring them to full power.
Maggie must not only come to believe in all that she has
heard, including that she’s one of these mythical creatures from stories, but
also learn how to wield her power to face the creatures that would destroy both
worlds Maggie has come to know of. All of this, even as she begins to feel more
than mere friendship with one of the Princes…
REVIEW
5 stars or more!
First let me say, WOW! Just positively WOW! I was asked to read this book and give my honest review as a part of Lisa Morgan's book tour with Tempting Book Tours and I was happy to, seeing I already had it on my TBR list anyhow. What I did not expect was just how good this breakout book was going to be! It's her first book written and truly a gem of a series to be found. My only regret was that it took me this long to even read it! I could not figure out why I was being asked over and over by another indie author if I had read it yet! Come to find out it was because she was dying to talk about it with me without giving me spoilers!
Anyhow, look at me going on an on...Sheesh! Okay, let me tell you how I really felt about this book *Chuckles* Not like you can't tell already!
Maggie is just a teenager whom is already living a type of hell by having a father in a psychiatric ward after killing eight people ten years ago. She has lived these ten years dreading the scheduled visits to her father hating what he did and the repercussions of it that she was left to face with, with a title of the daughter of a killer. That reputation left her with one friend and her mother, a mother who for some reason refused to leave town and give Maggie a chance at having real teenage years.
A trip to the mall and one more trip to visit her father changed her life forever and will have you reading until 4 A.M ( I am not admitting nor denying this was me *cough, cough*) just to ride one of the best literary roller coaster rides I have been on in a long time! The young man she meets draws her in by forces she can't fathom and the story just rises from there.
I don't think I have ever been on this much of a emotional mess with a book to tell you the truth! I found myself saying awe, wow, oh no, what that...no no don't do that, Oh, you go girl, oh what the.... and DANG IT man throughout the whole story! I was very sure I was in love with the male character Michel at the beginning of the book but then Luc REALLY started doubting my thoughts on this. By 3:30 A.M I was nearly sobbing and by 4 A.M
(Crap I guess I just admitted being up at 4A.M was in doubt me) I was dropping my jaw banging my head against the bed cursing the author for leaving me hanging like that while at the same time wanting to reach in and stop one of the princes from leaving her! ( Nope, not giving that away...Sorry)
This book is sure to have everything you are looking for, Vampire, Fae, Witches and Revenants, a phoenix, deceit, love, heartache and a few good fights! A story-line to have you stalking the authors page begging and pleading for teasers to part 2 in the series (once again, I will not admit nor deny me doing this).
Do yourself a favor, give this series a try. For this being a first book for this author she sure did make a hell of a introduction! Way to go Lisa!
I for one can not wait to get my hands on the second book in this series and am very anxious to see what's in store for all the characters.... I also have this odd feeling her best friend may just re appear in book two ( but this is me guessing seeing this character is very limited in the first book) and I don't think it's going to be how we expect...hmmmmmmmm....
Links:
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-C-Morgan-Author/322116171151749
goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/LisaCMorgan
twitter: @iluvvikingvamps
getglue: http://getglue.com/iluvvikingvamps
Author Bio:
Lisa C. Morgan lives in rural
Upstate NY with her husband, three children, a degu, a precocious Siberian
Husky, and a half Pom/Half Chi spoiled baby named Salacious B. Dustbunny.
A lover of books
and words, it has always been her desire to tell stories that the people near
her could listen and read, escaping the world around them by way of the page.
Always having a
new story idea popping into her head, (sometimes at the least appropriate of
times,) Lisa can always be found with a notebook and writing utensil somewhere
within reach, just as her 8th grade teacher made her promise to do.Lisa has two
short stories previously published in anthologies. A Romantic short titled Nothing’s Terminal (A Home for the
Holidays; December, 2011) and a zombie
themed short titled Antidote (The
Thorn of Death; March 2012). Her debut novel- Phoenix Rising is the first in a new YA series Maggie Henning &
The Realm and will be released July 2012. Upcoming will be the continuation in
the series- Phoenix Burning, Phoenix
Shadow, and Phoenix Ashes.
When she isn't
writing or taxing kids, Lisa enjoys reading, football, softball, cooking,
singing & dancing, tattoos, and spending time with family and friends.
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Priya Ardis loves books of all kinds—but especially the gooey ones that make your nose leak and let your latte go cold. She started her first book at sixteen, writing in notebooks on long train rides during a hot summer vacation in India. Her favorite Arthurian piece is the poem The Lady of Shalott by Lord Alfred Tennyson. A hopeless romantic, she's a longtime member of the Romance Writer's of America. When not living in her characters' world, she might be found at the local coffee shop—her nose buried in a book.
