Review, Excerpt, Guest Post & Giveaway: Return of the Legacy (Portals of Destiny)

Original Title: Return of the Legacy
Series: Portals of Destiny
Author: K. H. LeMoyne
Published Date: March 12th 2011
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Three magical dimensions…Two mystical bloodlines…One undeniable destiny.

Born a magical empath, Logan MacKenzie has spent his life protecting his family from discovery. Evil has found them anyway. What begins as Logan’s search for answers on Earth becomes a race for survival in the magical dimension of Loci.

The battle to save those he cares about will reveal his true lineage—the bloodline of the Makir, one half of a pair of sentinels chosen to guard the mystical portals between dimensions. The price of his acceptance: a love he never imagined possible and a heartbreaking choice.

Her family attacked, her home destroyed, and now stranded on Loci, Briallen of Tir Thar, descendant of a magical race, has only to summon the power within her to return to her own dimension—or so she had hoped. Unfortunately, her powers aren’t cooperating, and the sorcerer bent on her family’s destruction will stop at nothing to possess her.

Raised without knowledge of the portals, the Makir guardians, or her own destiny, Bri takes a leap of faith in an alliance with Logan.

Embracing an uncertain power and accepting his goals as hers offers her the only way home. If they fail, the consequences of allowing the portals to fall to evil are unthinkable—the destruction of every magical dimension throughout space.

REVIEW

Well, first I have to say about the cover.  I shared with many people about the cover..another cover crush. :)  So, cute and beautiful! 

This is the first of the new world of magical series.  The author has done great world-building and character backgrounds.  Both Bri and Logan belong to two different magical realms and both have different type of pains in their lives, but they share a destiny.

Bri, uses magic, in which she is not trained, to save her brothers.  But, the effect of that magic, although saved all of them, throws her into a different dimension in space.  Still not trained and unsure of her powers, Bri lives a regular life, healing people, in her new world for nine years.  An evil sorcerer, who was after all her pains, is still after her. Logan, an empath, is a protector of his family in Earth.  He is guilty for not able to save his father's death.

When Bri meets Logan, and although both are aware that they have a shared destiny, they take some time to make a truce.  Sparks don't fly immediately, and the romance part takes a long time to emerge.  But, when it does, it was satisfying.

Although this novel was a bit slow at the start, soon the magic and plot became engaging and good.   I can understand this slow start is due to all this world building and most of the first book in the series has this problem.  But, the author has really made it!

Recommended for fantasy romance lovers!

EXCERPT

A glint of steel flickered in the shadowed dusk.

“What’s your business here?”

Logan shifted his eyes to make out the owner of the deep rasping voice. He slid his hand higher to palm the child’s head and shield her.

The sword was fisted in the hands of one short, but solid, old man. White hair was plastered to his head. Fierce eyes challenged Logan’s, urging him to make a wrong move. Logan had no doubt a mistake now would end his life. Practiced calm seeped through him and froze him in place.

“Logan.” Robert moved closer, but a sword blade from a second person motioned him silent. Robert sank to his knees beside Logan, hands raised in submission in an attempt to defuse the aggression and take the brunt of the attention.

The position would make no difference. Robert was as deadly on his knees as he was on his feet. So was Logan if the protection of the fragile child hadn’t come first.

“There’s no need to hurt anybody.” Logan’s voice stayed calm and low. “We’re no threat.”

“That’s not for you to determine,” the older man rasped.

He moved his second hand from the rock to the sling.

“Hefin, there’s a child.”

The deep, sultry voice drew Logan’s gaze to the woman’s face. His eyes narrowed. He moved back as she reached toward him, but the sword stopped his movement. Slender long fingers touched the sling with a gentle touch. They paused to cover Logan’s hand on the child’s head, and then retreated. Beneath her hood, he saw the outline of full lips and high cheekbones. Recognition struck a blaze through his body in spite of the wet and cold.

“Stay back from them, Briallen. They’re likely Vandals. Or scouts.”

Her hood feel back. Almond shaped eyes widened before her delicate brows drew together in puzzlement. “No, they are not.”

Ignoring the rivulets from rain that streamed down his face and the sword at his neck Logan met her gaze. “The girl is very sick. She needs a dry, warm place and some medical attention.”

The hand gently pushed aside the blade at Logan’s throat. “Hefin, there is no harm here.”

GUEST POST BY K.H. LEMOYNE

The Five Best and Worst Books

The five best books? Now that’s a really hard call. I have a keeper shelf, which is really a bookcase so I obviously have more than five books. My keeper list is permanent. No book falls off. But occasionally new ones join the ranks so I’ll probably add another bookcase one day. I’m going to cheat here and delineate a few of my favorites by genre.

Fantasy
The Name of the Wind and A Wise Man’s Fear (Patrick Rothfuss) – These are the first two in the Kingkiller Chronicles trilogy that is a story told as a story. It is one of the few I read slowly, a chapter or two at a time, to savor and control the impact. I can sometimes see what’s coming but it doesn’t lessen the impact of this tale of a most talented young man, perhaps the most powerful mage of all time, and his journey. There are delicious parts and heartrending parts. If you don’t like a long story this probably will hold little appeal. If you do, be warned that the final book isn’t due until 2013.
Cast in Shadow, and the Chronicles of Elantra (Michelle Sagara) – The world building is wonderful. The action and suspense for each book involves an ongoing cast of immortals and myriad races along with a central character with her own evolving powers and storyline. 

Romantic urban fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Lover Awakened and Lover Avenged (JR Ward) – Zadist and Rehvenge. Need I say more? But really, strong men with fractured pasts who sacrifice for their family always grab my attention and keep it.
The Iron Hunt, the Hunter Kiss books in general (Marjorie m. Liu) – I love the way she handles the ongoing love story in this series and the paranormal characters are fresh.
Dawn’s Awakening , Coyote’s Mate, and Lion’s Heat (Lora Leigh) – Alpha breeds are fun but this first book has a human hero who’s incredible for how much he’s sacrificed because of his love for his breed mate. The tiny details are beautiful. He spent years collecting soaps to use on her body on the faintest hope that someday she would come to him (oh, be still my heart!)
Dragon Child (LJ DeLeon) – A vibrant, imaginative story in a fast-paced new series.

Historical romance
Devilish and Something Wicked (Jo Beverley) - I love it when two people who are so perfect for each other fight to be together.
Leopard Prince from the Princes Trilogy (Elizabeth Hoyt) – Two unexpected characters who fit together so well.

Erotic romance
Anything by Joey W. Hill  - I think she’s a wonderful writer. Her stories are woven with psychological insight, her characters are heartbreakingly open and multifaceted, and the love scenes—well they’re hot. Frankly I think it’s really hard to achieve all three in erotic works.

Urban fantasy
Blood Rites, or any of the Harry Dresden series (Jim Butcher) - This book in particular really jerked my heartstrings.
The Better Part of Darkness (Kelly Gay) – Actually, I’ve enjoyed all of the Charlie Madigan series so far. Wonderful characters and interesting world building.
Nightlife or the Cal Leandros series (Rob Thurman) – She weaves a wonderful series about the two brothers who fight for each other amidst a creative paranormal spin on our world.
Child of Fire (Harry Connolly) – This is first in the Twenty Palaces Series with a very compelling ex-con as an unexpected protagonist.

The five worst books. Hmm.

I have to draw a line here. I try very hard not to put negativity out in the universe. That may sounds dweebish, but being a writer is, for me, participating in a universal art form. One that is full of people at all levels of their art. I feel very lucky to spend my time doing what I love and I suspect other writer’s do as well. I also see writing as very subjective and always evolving. As such, I’m not really here to judge others in their attempts. I’m happy to flag stories, movies, and TV shows that I love because sharing good things is part of life. I occasionally do reviews for books that I enjoy and it’s my personal approach to not post reviews unless I find them to be three out of five or above because I want to share the good stories. Call me a softy.

People can find enough bad things on their own. I’d rather help direct them toward the good in life. So thank you to Books Are Magic for letting me visit and share and instead of five worst books, I offer a baker’s dozen of my favorite authors!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A former technology specialist, KH LeMoyne now writes romance fulltime with series in urban fantasy, high fantasy, and scifi/futuristic. She lives in Maryland with her wonderful husband and corgi. Much to her dismay, she rarely encounters supernatural beings other than on paper. Visit her website: http://www.khlemoyne.com/  or blog: http://fantasypoweredbylove.com/

AUTHOR ONLINE: Website | Facebook | Twitter

GIVEAWAY

This part is so easy.  All you have to do is comment on this post to win.

PRIZE INFORMATION

The author will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour as well as to the host with the most comments (excluding the author's and the host's). Additionally, she'll choose two randomly drawn winners of the Dragon Rider’s Gift eBook (A Portal Tale), due for release May 1, 2012.