The Pen Review & Interview with Donna Grant

I enjoyed reading the first book in the series. Serena and Drogan were my favorite characters in the book. I loved their passion, loyalty, and duty. I believe their quest and qualities are what lead them to each other. They would put their lives at risk to save those they love even if it meant them harm. It was a great read from start to finish. One book that you might to take clear your day to read. Take a look at the summary and excerpt to see if yourself!

Summary
With a past soaked in sin and darkness slowly closing in around him to claim his soul, Drogan only wants to live his life in solitude. Years in the king’s service and his numerous deeds directed by the crown have left Drogan with horrendous nightmares and immeasurable guilt.

Serena is a witch, cursed and forever alone. She accepts her future. Until she meets Drogan. With Drogan a passion deep and unyielding awakens inside her. She is willing to sacrifice herself for his love, but can he put his past to rest and embrace the future?

Excerpt

Hawthorne Castle
Central England, 1127

Jealousy, if left unbridled, could turn a good soul as black as Satan.

And so it was the first time Serena of Hawthorne saw Lord Drogan of Wolfglynn. The jealousy was instant and sharper than any needle that could pierce her skin. The fact that she hadn’t even met Drogan and so shouldn’t have noted the beautiful woman on his arm did not go unnoticed by Serena.

She was a bana-bhuidseach, a witch, cursed and forever alone. ‘Twas because of what she was, men rarely caught her attention. Except for Drogan.

Her always sure footed feet faltered and then stopped as the excessively crowded great hall allowed her an unobstructed view of Drogan for a heartbeat. But in that moment, his image would be etched in her memory for all time.

People teemed around her, but Serena didn’t notice. She closed her eyes and let her mind’s eye looked over Lord Drogan of Wolfglynn at her leisure. What she saw made her break into a sweat and her soul stirred for the first time.

Dark auburn hair fell straight and thick, with a slight curl at the end, to his broad shoulders. He had a high forehead with gently arching brows over eyes of a rich golden brown. His nose was straight and aristocratic, and his mouth wide and full.

He wore a brown leather jerkin over a deep green tunic that didn’t hide the rippling muscles in his arms and chest. Her eyes moved lower to his thick legs encased in tight leather. Boots, worn but well cared for, encased his feet and calves.

Serena caught of glimpse of something shiny from the top of his left boot, alluding to a hidden dirk. The broadsword and dagger strapped to his waist let all know he was a warrior.

She opened her eyes and found Drogan staring at her. For the briefest of moments, Serena found herself starting toward him before someone bumped into her. ‘Twas all she needed to break away. She turned her back on Drogan and the longing in her heart.

Duty called.

The second book in the series is the story of Adrianna (Love the name!) and Grayson. Adrianna has been traveling with a band of gypsies for a couple of years. They are like her family until she finds Grayson lying on the ground in peril. What I love about all the women in this series is that they are loving, willing to help, and know their duty. They try to abide by their magical abilities, but in the end know their duty is to their heart. Another part of the series that you will want to read over and over again!

Summary

Never say never to love…

Hiding a secret so awful that his only hope for survival is to remain hidden, Grayson has lived most of his life pretending to be someone he isn’t. After years serving as a commander to his lord and friend, Grayson can no longer hold back the past.

With his weapons and battle knowledge, Grayson sets out to right the wrong he hadn’t been able to stop as well as finding the mother taken from him so long ago.

Summer 1127
Western England, near the coast

Adrianna stretched her neck and flexed her hands that had gripped the reins for too long. When the band of gypsies she traveled with for the past three years stopped for a rest, she gladly hopped down from her seat of her wagon.

The stretch of road they had traveled was narrow and surrounded by woods. She loved wandering with the gypsies, but for the past week, she couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. Or was about to go wrong. No amount of magic had given her a clue, either.

As a bana-bhuidseach, a witch, she had spent her time trying to decipher just what was out of alignment. Each banan-bhuidseach had a special gift, and hers was seeing the future.

Adrianna was many things, but she wasn’t courageous enough to look into her own future. Not when her kind was cursed and slowly fading into legend.

As far as she knew, there was only one other bana-bhuidseach. Where once they covered all of Britain, soon no more would see the beautiful land.

The bana-bhuidseach had been around for so long that none remembered their true origins, though some text claimed they hailed from an ancient land of sand and sun.

Adrianna pushed a stray hair behind her ear and moved into the forest. She leaned against a tree and let the beauty and nature of the area soak into her. The need to be alone had driven her into the trees, but it would also help to calm her and the constant fear that something…evil…was about to descend.

The other bana-bhuidseach she had meet, Serena, had been followed by a man drenched in evil. Ever since then, Adrianna had sensed a growing malevolence throughout the land.

Her hands traveled down the elm tree, the bark scratching her palms. She sighed and began to turn back to her wagon when she caught a glimpse of something in the underbrush. Adrianna leaned down and peered through the ferns to find a bloodied hand.

With her heart hammering in her chest, she pushed aside the underbrush and found a man lying on his side. His long black hair was matted with leaves, blood, and mud and covered his face. By the look of the fine material of his tunic, he was a nobleman who had been ambushed most likely by roving bands of outlaws.

She sighed at the loss of life and began to rise to her feet when a moan stopped her.

“By the saints,” she murmured and gently pushed his hair from his face.

With her finger beneath his nose she felt his slow, shallow breathing. If she hurried, she might be able to save him if his injuries weren’t too extensive.

“Milosh! Yoska,” she called out.

As tenderly she could, she turned the man onto his back. Blood had pooled beneath him and stained his light blue tunic. She saw no weapons, no jewelry.

“Drina,” Milosh shouted.

Adrianna lifted her head when she heard the gypsy leader call out the pet name he had given her. “Over here.”

When the tall Romanian burst through the trees, his brother, Yoska, was right behind him. The men had the same black hair and dark eyes and tall, rangy build. They welcomed her into their family when she had found them, never asking questions of her past. For that she would be forever grateful.

Yoska said something in Romanian that made Milosh nod absently.

“Please help me get him back to my cart,” Adrianna said. “He’s wounded, but alive.”

“And soon to die,” Milosh said softly.

“Please, Milosh. I cannot just leave him.”

With the darkness holding firmly onto his soul, Cade knows he’s destined for Hell. Men like him don’t perform the deeds he has, regardless if they came by order of the king, and not elude the darkness.

A loner, even keeping far away from towns, Cade takes what the land provides and vows to keep the two men he thought of as brothers alive from the great evil after them.

He knows his time is short and the evil is looking for him, but there is just enough humanity left in him to aid his friends.

Interview