A little info about the book: it is 255 pgs long with 1-2 pictures per chapter. It's listed a middle-grade read, ages 9-13 (and for anyone that still feels young at heart :). The book is a sequel to The Magic Warble so, even if you didn't read the first book, you can still read this one, but there might be some things you won't understand.
The Black Shardby Victoria Simcox
Kristina's stay at summer horse camp is horrible to say the least, and it's all because Hester and Davina are there as well, making her life miserable.
When Hester's cruel prank goes terribly wrong, it's actually what sends the three girls back to the magical land of Bernovem. In Bernovem, Kristina is very excited to see her former friend, Prince Werrien. When he invites her to sail with him on his ship to his homeland Tezerel, putting it simply, Kristina can't refuse. Reunited with her gnome, dwarf, animal, fairy friends ... and best of all, Werrien, things seem like they couldn't get any better for Kristina.
But when Werrien becomes fascinated with an unusual seeing stone, the "Black Shard," Kristina is haunted by a ghostlike old hag. Struggling against suspicion, guilt, illness, and ultimately the one who wants to possess her soul, Kristina will see it's in her weakest moment that she will encounter more strength than she has ever known.
Chapter 9, Five Portraits, Excerpt
Then she lay down on the bed and for a moment stared up at the ceiling, thinking how lucky she was. She sat back up and stared at the wall ahead of her, where there hung five small painted portraits, three men and two women, encased in gold frames.
The women’s portraits were each paired, side-by-side, with one of the men, leaving the third man’s portrait on the wall by itself. Kristina recognized one pair to be King Warren and Queen Lafinia, but she didn’t recognize the other pair and the solitary man. “Who are these three portraits of ?” she asked, pointing to them.
“The couple beside my parents is King Sirus and Queen Navesa, and the other man is Prince Raspue,” Werrien said.
King Sirus had medium-brown, wavy hair, gray-blue eyes, and a slender face with high cheekbones. He looked to be in his early thirties, and the expression on his face was serious. Queen Navesa’s portrait was not in very good condition; the paint was faded and chipping in certain areas, making it hard to see exactly what she looked like, but from what Kristina could tell, she had ash-blonde hair and green eyes. Her expression was also serious and somewhat sad. Prince Raspue looked to be in his forties, with olive-toned skin and dark brown, sunken eyes.
“Where do King Sirus and Queen Navesa rule?” Kristina asked.
“Nowhere,” Werrien said.
“So … then what are they king and queen of ?”
“They’re not anymore. Queen Navesa disappeared, and no one knows where. Then soon after she went missing, King Sirus was found dead in his bed.”
Kristina turned to face Werrien. “Are you joking, because if you are it’s not funny?” she said.
“It’s no joke,” Werrien said.
Hearing this caused a shiver to run down Kristina’s spine.
A little info about the author
Victoria was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant father. She now lives in Western Washington with her husband, Russ and their three children, Toby, Kristina, and William. Her other family members are a Chihuahua, named Pipsy and two cats, named Frodo and Fritz. Besides being an author, Victoria is a home-schooling mother of twelve years and an elementary school art teacher of eleven years. In her spare time, Victoria enjoys managing her two older children's Celtic band. She also loves writing, reading, painting watercolors, hiking, good movies, and just simply hanging out with her family and friends.
Giveaway time!
Wait for the Rafflecopter to load and enter to win one of the three ebook copies of The Black Shard. Open INT. Good luck, everyone! ^_^
Really awesome news!! :D I hope that I get to try out this series >u<!
RăspundețiȘtergereI wish you good luck! :D
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