Good evening,
I was very lucky to receive a digital ARC of So I Married A Sorcerer which was released today and talk about a wild ride of a book!
You can get your very own copy of this book here and local places where you may shop:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
One of the many reasons why I enjoy reading Kerrelyn’s books is because I know that there will always be a hot guy on the front and there will be lots of laughter to be had in the story itself. The guy looks like he could be a merman or Poseidon himself!
Here’s a snippet into what this book is about:
Brigitta has spent her life on the Isle of Moon in a convent with her fellow adoptive sisters. While it wasn’t a very exciting life, she grew up surrounded by the support of her adoptive family and aware that she has gifts though didn’t know who her parents were. She is on a journey to see her eldest sister Queen Luciana’s birthing along with her sisters when they are delayed by a fleet of ships, directed by a man from Tourin that demands Brigitta be turned over for she is the lost Princess of Tourin and her brother Gunther, the King, wishes her to be returned to her homeland. Just before she can decide whether to go along with this supposed truth, another set of ships show up involving pirates including the famous Rupert who is believed to be dangerous and powerful and Brigitta is forced to go with the pirates to save her sisters and one of the nuns that was making the journey also goes with.
Brigitta soon figures out that there’s more to Rupert and his fellow pirates than meets the eye and other than forcing Brigitta aboard, treat her and Sister Fallyn as honored guests… well sort of. I won’t give too much more away because spoilers but these two certainly make things interesting for a ship full of pirates.
Then it is revealed the real reason why Rupert wants to go after Brigitta’s brother who is King and quite the selfish jerk. Never one to sit idle and let fate take the reigns, Brigitta is determined to save those she cares for and finds herself drawn to Rupert whose hidden heritage will certainly throw a wrench in the monkey works of the Jerk King’s plans.
I loved the interactions between Rupert, Brigitta, Sister Fallyn and Captain Stefan. To make a long story short, Captain Stefan has raised and protected Rupert since he was a child and has a huge heart!. I was laughing through most of the book especially when Sister Fallyn realized she wasn’t so against Stefan who punches a guy later on in her honor for being so insulting.
Rupert and Brigitta are such a wonderful duo and really compliment each other though both are too stubborn at first to realize that fate meant for them to be thrown together.
Also, I really loved reading about Brody who can change shape and I really hope he will have his own special story at some point.
This book was full of adventure, humor, magic, mystery, and what can happen when a lass is determined to set things right plus there’s dragons too! I highly recommend reading this book and I can’t wait to see what next Kerrelyn has up her sleeve, also which adopted sister is next to find love!
I have here a peek at the first chapter for those who haven’t gotten their hands on this book!:
Chapter One
“I cannot play,” Brigitta told her sisters as she cast a wary
look at the linen bag filled with Telling Stones. Quickly
she shifted on the window seat to gaze at the Great West-
ern Ocean. The rolling waves went on for as far as she
could see, but her mind was elsewhere. Calm yerself. The
prediction will ne’er happen.
At dawn they had boarded this ship, accompanied by
Mother Ginessa and Sister Fallyn, who were now resting
in the cabin next door. This was the smallest vessel in the
Eberoni Royal Navy, the captain had explained, sturdy
enough to cross the ocean, but small enough to travel up
the Ebe River to the palace at Ebton. There, they would
see their oldest sister, who was now the queen of Eberon.
According to the captain, Queen Luciana had intended
to send more than one ship to safeguard their journey, but
at the last minute the other naval ships had been diverted
south to fight the Tourinian pirates who were raiding vil-
lages along the Eberoni shore. But not to worry, the cap-
tain had assured Brigitta and her companions. Since the
royal navy was keeping the pirates occupied to the south,
their crossing would be perfectly safe.
Indeed, after a few hours, it seemed perfectly boring.
“If we don’t play, how will we pass the time?” Gwen-
nore asked from her seat at the round table. “ ’Twill be
close to sunset afore we reach Ebton.”
“I wish we could wander about on deck,” Maeve
grumbled from her chair next to Gwennore. “ ’Tis a
lovely spring day, and we’re stuck down here.”
Sorcha huffed in annoyance as she paced about the
cabin. “Mother Ginessa insisted we remain here. I swear
she acts as if she’s afraid to let anyone see us.”
“Perhaps she fears for our safety because we are Em-
braced,” Gwennore said.
Sorcha shook her head. “We’re safe now in Eberon.”
But only in Eberon, Brigitta thought as she studied the
deep-blue waves. Being Embraced was a death sentence
anywhere else on the mainland. The other kings abhorred
the fact that each of the Embraced possessed some sort
of magical power that the kings, themselves, could never
have.
When Brigitta and her adopted sisters were born, the
only safe haven had been the Isle of Moon. They’d grown
up there in the Convent of the Two Moons, believing they
were orphans. But almost a year ago, they’d discovered a
shocking truth. Luciana had never been an orphan.
Since then, Brigitta had wondered if she had family
somewhere, too. Had they hidden her away or, worse,
abandoned her? She feared it was the latter. For in all her
nineteen years of life, no one from the mainland had ever
bothered to contact her.
You are loved, she reminded herself. She’d grown up
in a loving home at the convent. Her sisters loved her,
and she loved them. That was enough.
It had to be enough. Didn’t it?
Sorcha lowered her voice. “I still believe Mother
Ginessa knows things about us that she won’t tell.”
Brigitta silently agreed. She knew from her special
gift that almost everyone was hiding something.
“Let’s play the game and let the stones tell us,” Maeve
said. “I need to do something. This cabin is feeling smaller
by the minute.”
Brigitta sighed. Sadly enough, this was the largest cabin
on board. Captain Shaw had lent them his quarters,
which had a large window overlooking the back of the
vessel.
The ship creaked as it rolled to the side, and Sorcha
grabbed the sideboard to steady herself.
“Have a seat afore ye fall,” Gwennore warned her.
“Fine.” Sorcha emptied the oranges from a brass bowl
on the sideboard, then plunked the bowl onto the table as
she took a seat. “Let’s play.”
Brigitta’s sisters gave her a questioning look, but she
shook her head and turned to gaze out the window once
again. It had been twelve years ago, when she was seven,
that Luciana had invented the game where they could
each pretend to be the Seer from the Isle of Mist. They’d
gathered up forty pebbles from the nearby beach, then
painted them with colors and numbers. After the stones
were deposited in a bowl and covered with a cloth, each
sister would grab a small handful of pebbles and what-
ever colors or numbers she’d chosen would indicate her
future.
“We’ll just have to play without her,” Sorcha grum-
bled. A clattering noise filled the cabin as the bag of
Telling Stones was emptied into the brass bowl, a noise
not quite loud enough to cover Sorcha’s hushed voice. “Ye
know why she won’t play. She’s spooked.”
Brigitta winced. That was too close to the truth.
She could no longer see the Isle of Moon on the hori-
zon. As the island had faded from sight, a wave of appre-
hension had washed over her, slowly growing until it had
sucked her down into an undertow of fear and dread. For
deep in her heart, she believed that leaving the safety of
the convent would trigger the set of events that Luciana
had predicted.
But how could she have refused this voyage? Luciana
would be giving birth soon, and she wanted her sisters
with her. She also needed Mother Ginessa, who was an
excellent midwife.
“I’m going first,” Sorcha declared, and the stones rat-
tled about the bowl as she mixed them up.
“O Great Seer,” Maeve said, repeating the line they
spoke before each prediction. “Reveal to us the secrets of
the Telling Stones.”
“What the hell?” Sorcha muttered, and Maeve gasped.
“Ye mustn’t let Mother Ginessa hear ye curse like
that,” Gwennore warned her.
“These stones are ridiculous!” Sorcha slammed them
on the table, and out of curiosity Brigitta turned to see
what her sister had selected.
Nine, pink, and lavender.
Gwennore tilted her head as she studied the stones. “In
nine years ye will meet a tall and handsome—”
“Nine years?” Sorcha grimaced. “I would be so old!”
“Twenty-seven.” Gwennore’s mouth twitched. “Practi-
cally ancient.”
“Exactly!” Sorcha huffed. “I’ll wait nine months for
my tall and handsome stranger, and not a minute more.”
She glared at the colored stones. “I hate pink. It looks ter-
rible with my freckles and red hair.”
Maeve’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Who said ye
would be wearing it? I think yer true love will look very
pretty in pink.”
“He’s not wearing pink,” Sorcha growled.
“Aye, a lovely pink gown with a lavender sash,” Gwen-
nore added with a grin.
“Nay, Gwennie.” Maeve shook her head. “The lavender
means he’ll have lavender-blue eyes like you.”
“Ah.” Gwennore tucked a tendril of her white-blond
hair behind a pointed ear. “Could be.”
“Are ye kidding me?” Sorcha gave them an incredu-
lous look. “How on Aerthlan would I ever meet an elf?”
“Ye met me,” Gwennore said. “And apparently, in nine
months, ye’ll meet a tall and handsome elf in a pink
gown.” She and Maeve laughed, and Sorcha reluctantly
grinned.
Brigitta turned to peer out the window once again.
Over the years, the Telling Stones had proven to be an
entertaining game. But then, a year ago, something strange
had happened. Luciana’s prediction for her own future
had actually come to pass. She’d met and fallen in
love with the tall and handsome stranger she’d foretold
in specific detail, using the Telling Stones. And if that
hadn’t been amazing enough, she’d become the queen
of Eberon.
Eager to experience something equally romantic, Bri-
gitta had begged her oldest sister to predict a similar future
for her.
A mistake. Brigitta frowned at the churning ocean.
Blue, gold, seven, and eight. Those had been the stones
Luciana had selected. Blue and gold, she’d explained, sig-
nified the royal colors of the kingdom of Tourin. Seven
meant there would be seven suitors to compete for her
hand. And eight . . . in eight months, Brigitta would meet
a tall and handsome stranger.
The eight months had now passed.
She pressed a hand against her roiling stomach.
When they’d boarded this morning, she’d quickly as-
sessed the captain and his crew. None of them had struck
her as particularly tall or handsome. Captain Shaw was
portly, bald, and old enough to be her father.
As for the seven suitors vying for her hand, she had
initially been thrilled, considering the idea wildly exciting.
But when her sisters had likened it to her being a prize in
a tourney, she’d had second thoughts.
Why would seven men compete for her? She had noth-
ing special to offer. Even the gift she possessed for being
Embraced was hardly special. And did this contest mean
she would have no choice but to marry whichever man won
her? The more she’d thought about this competition, the
more it had made her cringe.
So, five months ago, she’d played the game again, hop-
ing to achieve different results. But to her shock, there
had been four stones in her hand.
Blue, gold, seven, and five.
Had some sort of mysterious countdown gone into ef-
fect? Reluctant to believe that, she’d attempted the game
again a month later. Blue, gold, seven, and four. Alarmed,
she’d sworn never to play again.
But one month ago, Sorcha had dared her to play, taunt-
ing her for being overly dramatic. Those words never
failed to irk Brigitta, so she’d accepted the dare. With a
silent prayer to the moon goddesses, she’d reached into
the bowl, swished the pebbles around, and grabbed a hand-
ful. And there, in her palm, four stones had stared up at
her.
Blue, gold, seven, and one. A fate was shoving itself
down her throat whether she liked it or not.
And she did not.
Brigitta had been raised on the Isle of Moon, where
women were free to determine their own futures and
everyone worshipped the moon goddesses, Luna and
Lessa.
It was different on the mainland. Men were in charge
there, and everyone worshipped a male god, the Light.
Luciana had been fortunate to find a good man who
respected her independent nature. As king and queen,
they had declared it safe to worship the moon goddesses
in Eberon.
But it was not that way elsewhere. In the other main-
land kingdoms, Brigitta would be executed for making
the sign of the moons as she prayed. Executed for being
Embraced. So why did she keep picking the blue and gold
colors of Tourin?
And why would seven suitors compete for her? She
glanced at her sisters. Sorcha had always seemed the stron-
gest, with a fiery temperament that matched her fiery red
hair. Gwennore had always been the smartest. Maeve, the
youngest, had always been the sweetest. And Luciana—
now married—had been their brave leader. Brigitta had
never been quite sure where she fit in.
Gwennore, with her superior intellect, had always been
the best at translating books into different languages.
Maeve had excelled in penmanship, and Sorcha in artwork.
Luciana had been good at everything.
But Brigitta . . . the nuns had despaired with her. When
transcribing a book, she could never stay true to the text.
A little embellishment here, a tweak there, and eventu-
ally she would take a story so off course, it was no longer
recognizable. This, of course, upset the nuns, for their
male customers on the mainland were paying for an ex-
act copy of an old tale, not the romantic fantasies of an
overly dramatic young woman.
Whenever the nuns had fussed at her, her sisters had
come to her defense, insisting that her story was much
better than the original. And each time the nuns tried to
use Brigitta’s overly dramatic mistakes for kindling, her
sisters always managed to rescue the pages and give
them to her. They’d even begged her to finish her stories
about dashing young heroes, so that they could read
them.
Brigitta adored them for that. She’d do anything for
her sisters, including this voyage to Eberon that she
was so afraid would activate the events she’d been dread-
ing.
She shifted her gaze back to the rolling motion of the
ocean, and her stomach churned. Did a person’s destiny
have to be set in stone, in this case the Telling Stones?
This was her story, so why couldn’t it be one of her mak-
ing? Surely she didn’t have to stick to a text that had
already been written without her consent. Couldn’t she
be the author of her own destiny?
“Ye should watch the horizon, not the waves,” Maeve
said as she sat next to Brigitta on the window seat. “ ’Tis
a sure way to make yerself ill.”
“Oh.” Brigitta turned to her youngest sister. “I didn’t
realize . . .” Her stomach twisted with a sharp pain, and
she winced.
Gwennore gave her a worried look. “Ye look pale.
Would ye like some bread or wine?” She motioned toward
the sideboard and the food that had been left for them.
Brigitta shook her head. Perhaps if she sat perfectly
still for a few moments, the nausea would pass. “Did ye
finish playing the Game of Stones?”
“Aye,” Maeve answered. “Didn’t ye hear us giggling?”
Brigitta groaned inwardly, not wanting to admit she’d
been too engrossed in her own worries to pay her sisters
any mind.
“My prediction was the best,” Maeve continued. “In
four years, I’ll meet a tall and handsome stranger with
green teeth, purple hair, and three feet.”
Brigitta wrinkled her nose. “Ye call that handsome?
How can he have three feet? Does he have a third leg?”
Maeve waved a dismissive hand. “We didn’t bother to
figure that part out. But he is taller than most.”
“Aye.” Sorcha snorted. “By a foot.”
Maeve grinned. “As ye can see, the game is nonsense.
Besides, I have no desire to meet any man, no matter how
tall or handsome. I plan to live the rest of my life with all
of you at the convent.”
“Aye,” Sorcha agreed. “I’m not leaving my sisters for
an elf in a pink gown. ’Tis naught but a silly game.”
“Exactly.” Gwennore gave Brigitta a pointed look. “So
ye shouldn’t believe anything the stones say.”
They were doing their best to relieve her fear, Brigitta
realized, and as her heart warmed, the ache in her
stomach eased. “Thank you. What would I do without ye
all?”
The ship lurched suddenly to the right, causing Bri-
gitta and Maeve to fall against the padded wall of the
window seat. The oranges rolled off the sideboard and
plummeted to the wooden floor. Empty goblets fell onto
the floor with a series of loud clunks.
Sorcha grabbed on to the table. “What was that?”
Loud shouts and the pounding of feet sounded on the
deck overhead.
“Something is amiss,” Gwennore said as she gazed up
at the ceiling. “They’re running about.”
Maeve peered out the window. “I believe we made a
sudden turn to the south.”
“That would put us off course,” Gwennore murmured.
The door slammed open, and they jumped in their
seats.
Mother Ginessa gave them a stern look, while behind
her Sister Fallyn pressed the tips of her fingers against
her thumbs, forming two small circles to represent the
twin moons.
So that wraps up my review for this very entertaining book. This was my first foray into Kerrelyn’s new series and now I want to go back to read about Luciana’s story and read her other books that she’s written too!
Now I am off to read about more magic, Highlanders and other fantasy themes that may catch my eye. I will be sure to post again soon so please feel free to stop back again and thank you for taking the time to drop by.
Slainte
~Meg
I hope you’ve enjoyed my bookish ramblings and if you’re curious about this book, go check it out! If you’re curious about where else I post my bookish thoughts, you can find me here:
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