Book Review - Rocky Mountain Rendezvous

 

About the Book

In 1837, Juniper Collins and her sisters are shocked by their father's final request in his will for a special set of beads to be returned to a Piegan Blackfoot woman he credits with saving his life during his travels west. Together, the sisters set out for the trapper rendezvous to find the woman, but their mission turns more daunting when they come upon the mass of men and lodges spread out in the Green River Valley.

Riley Turner came west to find peace and quiet and live off the land, but when four unprotected women arrive at the rendezvous, he feels compelled to help them and is more fascinated by Juniper than any other woman he's known.

As their search brings only empty leads and dead ends, the sisters must decide whether to return east or stay in the mountains to continue looking--and that's if the mystery woman is even still alive. Is the risk to honor their father's last request worth the danger they find at every turn?

Discover the majesty--and treachery--of the Rocky Mountains in this unique combination of exhilarating adventure, inspiring faith, and sweet romance from USA Today bestselling author Misty M. Beller.

My Review

As a fur trade reenactor who participates in modern day rendezvouses, I was really excited to read this book. It drew me in right away. The combination of the four sisters was really fun, and I loved Riley. He’s amazing. I had a little trouble understanding why any father of the time would ever send his daughters out west to try to find a woman he knew twenty years ago. Or why he would keep any information from them. It didn’t make any sense to me. And I don’t think even having Riley around would have kept the girls safe all that time, especially the times they would go off on their own. Not in a huge camp of drunken mountain men. It just doesn’t seem realistic.

But, beyond those quibbles and the book feeling a bit slow in the middle, I did enjoy the story, and I look forward to continuing with the series.

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Ink Dragon Press

 

I've got a little bit of an announcement to make. I have decided to change the name of my publishing company to Ink Dragon Press. This is something I've been planning for quite some time now. A couple of years, at least, but I didn't want to do it until after all of the Ilyon books were released so that there would be no variation in the covers. Now that Daican's Heir is available, I can finally start using the new name.

Why did I change it? I don't really have a specific answer other than I just wasn't "feeling" Living Sword Publishing anymore. I still think it's a cool publishing name, but, as with many things you do when you are young, you realize it's just not you anymore once you're fully into adulthood.

So, going forward, all of my writing projects will be published under Ink Dragon Press. Eventually, I probably will change the Ilyon Chronicles paperback covers over to reflect this change (it will only be a minor change of adding the logo to the spine in place of the LSP). But for now, they will remain the same. 

Along with this change, I have also re-opened my publishing company Etsy shop. If you were part of my Nerd Cat Creations newsletter last week, you will have seen that I, unfortunately, have to shut down that shop due to Shopify increasing the price of their subscriptions. That was where I was selling autographed books and Ilyon merchandise, but it will now be available on Etsy instead. You can check it out here. (I'm still working on getting everything switched over to the shop.)

I'm really excited about the new name and the new logo and can't wait for what projects will one day be published under it.

Daican's Heir Release Day!

 

Wow, I can't believe this day has finally arrived. It's been a crazy (and, oftentimes, frustrating) journey to reach the conclusion of this series, but I am so excited to be here. While writing parts of this book, particularly the ending, was bittersweet, I am so happy with how it turned out and am so excited to finally share it with everyone.

I wrote the bulk of this book while struggling for two years with nearly crippling anxiety. It was one of the worst times in my life. Thankfully, as of last fall, it's no longer a constant, daily battle (though still likes to pop up at the worst times). It's a miracle from God that I managed to do any writing at all during that time, let alone finish this book. I was pretty much terrified from the moment I started the book nearly seven years ago to the day I finished that it wasn't going to be any good and wouldn't live up to the rest of the series. Again, God worked a miracle, because once I got into editing, I fell in love with it. Though it's hard for me to pick a favorite book of the series, this one is a top contender. Everything managed to come together even better than I dreamed, and I hope you will find the conclusion of this series as satisfying as I do. 

To celebrate the release of the book, I will be posting over at the Ilyon Chronicles blog every day for the next week (the final post will be on Saturday, February 25). The next few days will feature the highly popular character Q&As, so make sure you check them out.

Kindle Copy

Paperback Copy

Autographed Copy

I am also having a themed giveaway for the release. I'm giving away a signed copy of the book, an Ilyon Chronicles dragon mug, a custom Jace Funko Pop created by me, and a dragon bookmark by lydiasvintage. Unfortunately, due to shipping costs, this giveaway is only open to those within the US. You can enter by following the instructions on the giveaway posts on either my Instagram or Facebook accounts.