From the Book of Ether comes a haunting story of two royal sisters. The elder sister, Ash, will do anything to bring her father, King Jared II, back to the throne. The younger sister, Naiva, only wants to save her family from destruction. The bond of sisterhood becomes precariously fragile when one man . . . named Akish . . . falls in love with the younger sister, Naiva. Yet he chooses to marry the elder sister.

The sisters’ hearts are divided. And when Ash becomes queen, seduced by the promise of power and wealth, Naiva watches her world crumble away. She sees only one way out. But it will require forsaking all that she holds dear.

This latest novel by H.B Moore has got to be one of her best so far. I don’t think I even took a breath during the first 100 pages. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration and I most likely had to have, but only when the words started to blur and I reminded myself to do so. The tension between the heroine, Naiva, her sister, Asherah, and Akish was palatable throughout. Throw in the strong, mysterious and devoted Levi, and the emotional tension soared. The way in which Moore recounts this Book of Mormon story reminded me of Like Water for Chocolate where the culture dictated the duties of daughters according to birth order, and the unfairness of being born first, or second in Naiva’s case—only without any naked horse riding, of course.

Uh-uh! Moore’s book has plenty of romance, spine tingling kisses and love triangles, but no shenanigans atop a horse or any other surface for that matter.

So, no worries.

For those of you who like a clean historical romance mingled with intrigue, betrayal and a healthy dose of comeuppance, this is the novel for you.

Enjoy!

A little while back I was lamenting with a fellow writer over my frustration with publishing. I’d finally finished my fourth manuscript, a project that had taken me nearly eighteen months to complete, and had just been rejected by my publisher. My editor had said that the manuscript was too long and too slow and in her words, “not quite ready yet.” And after taking another close look at the manuscript, I had to agree. Then the next day, I received word that I was a finalist for a Whitney Award, which somehow only made things worse.

But then what could I expect. Throughout the time it had taken me to write the latest manuscript my life had taken a few dramatic turns including my husband’s serious motorcycle accent. Also during this time, I’d released three novels that included editing and promotions, one right after the other. With all of that going on it was a miracle, I know, that I was even able to complete a fourth manuscript. And probably explains why I’d overwritten it by approximately 50,000 words. You heard me, 50,000. Yes that’s right, in essence, practically another whole novel. Then after cutting as much as I’d thought I could, I’d sent it to my editor and the rest is, as they say, history.

Consequently, there I was, three novels under my belt, exhausted, rejected and wondering if all my angst was worth it. And my friend, Melina, being encouraging, had said, “But look what all you’ve accomplished. There are thousands of people out there with dreams of being published who would kill to be where you are right now.”

And so then I started  wondering, why is that? Why are there thousands of folks with dreams of being published?

After a long and difficult divorce, Jacey is sure the worst is over. But when the FBI reveals some disturbing information about her ex-husband, she is forced into hiding to protect herself and her son. In the process, she risks losing her identity, her future, and her heart. Thrilling and suspenseful, this novel is an edge-of-your-seat read.

This novel has grit without being course or unnecessarily graphic, bringing authenticity to the story.

The antagonist is corrupt, evil even, while never uttering a word of profanity or behaving salaciously—although, clearly, he has the potential.

The protagonist lies and defies the voice of reason, over and over, but does so in a way that is spot-on for a woman fleeing from an abusive relationship. And though Jacey’s actions and responses might frustrate readers, her behavior is what I, as a former family therapist, would expect from a woman in her situation.

Kudos to Slack for showing the raw side of being human.

I really enjoyed this book.

It has drama, suspense and romantic tension. The secondary characters are vivid and likable. I especially enjoyed Uncle Grant and Aunt Helen. They remind me of the uncles and aunts I used to visit in Southern Utah during my summer breaks as a youth. As for Kale, he is just plain yummy. The suspense is well written and compelling particularly toward the end. And not to give anything away but someone even gets “hogtied” which is too cool.

If you’re looking to make a break from formula LDS fiction, you should definitely give The Alias a try.

Enjoy!

I’m very excited to announce that Count Down to Love was chosen as a Whitney Award Finalist!

Click here to view all of the Whitney Award Finalist.

Count Down to Love was also mentioned in an article at Dawning of a Brighter Day.

Check back in May for a list of the winners. Fingers crossed Count Down to Love is among them.

I’d like to welcome everyone to my final blog tour of 2011. And so to properly celebrate, I’ve decided to give a way one copy of the book each week to one of those willing to leave a comment on this blog post.

Easy peasy, right?

But be forewarned, this is not your typical Christmas romance novel.

Although I love many aspects of this novel, my biggest fear is that readers won’t like one of the main characters, Holly, and thus, won’t give her a chance—won’t enjoy the story. When I starting writing this novel I didn’t want to create the same heroine we all know so well. You know, the leading lady who is pretty, but doesn’t know it, meets a hero who finds her attractive but somehow she just doesn’t see it, blah, blah, and blah. I agree and so I did the unconscionable and wrote a pretty character who actually knows she pretty. But I didn’t stop there, she’s also stylish and…OMG…she knows that too. Gasp! She’s snobby and yes, a wee bit shallow.

Holly is the kind of girl we all knew, and maybe even were, in school who was pretty and popular and new it. The same girl who grew up, married the perfect man, and now lives in the perfect house and by all appearances, has the perfect life. Puke! I know, all y’all already hate her.

Back in the not-so-distant past when I was still querying and being rejected by publishers and agents
in the privacy of my own home, where said communications could be deleted and/or ripped to shreds,
I thought things were pretty rough.

Rejection, as every author knows, can be crushing to the ego, devastating to the spirit and numbing to creativity.

Once my first manuscript was accepted, I thought those rollercoaster days of excited anticipation followed by an agonizing wait that ended with a screeching halt at a patronizing, “This manuscript is good but it just isn’t for us/me,” were over.

Beyond every obstacle is another hurtle.

What I didn’t know was that getting published, in no way, meant the end of rejection. Not only are readers and reviewers free to say wonderfully glorious things about my book, but they are equally unrestrained, much to my chagrin, from being down right nasty. And to make matters worse, their opinions are published on the Internet where there is no delete button and, obviously, no shredder for me to use at my discretion. Just out there, uncensored and raw, for all interested parties to peruse.

So, I thought I would share a little of my joy, along with a pinch of my pain, with y’all by publishing some of my reviews.

Soon after becoming the Supreme Commander of Allied Powers, MacArthur ordered all Japanese weapons confiscated and destroyed. This order includes swords, even Shinto temple swords of great beauty and value.

Some of these art swords, called nippon-to, are documented national treasures. At the same time, Japanese secret societies, such as Showa and the Kanesuka Brotherhood, are to sell them to bigtime foreign collectors for the lucrative profit they will bring.

Oh the brutality, the carnage, the retching!

Just kidding. . .

Although I have it on good authority (from Heather herself) the author may have been warned that she’d gone overboard somewhat in the violence department for a Christian audience, I don’t agree. Take it from someone who barely made it through The Bourne Supremacy because of the brutal content, the fight scenes in this novel are a Sunday picnic but very exciting.

For years the Nephites and Lamanites have lived in peace by drawing a line in the sand, neither straying to other’s side. But when a Nephite prince, Ammon, and his brothers give up their birthright and set off to teach their enemies about Christ, well…as one might guess, they are not welcomed with open arms.

As an unpublished author my dream during those few years between rough draft and publishing contract was to actually see my first novel in print, to share a story that was dear to my heart with the vast community of readers.

As an unpublished author what I didn’t consider was that when the time came to send my work out into the world of literature some readers just might not feel the same enthusiasm for the story that I did. While some will enjoy reading my work, others might go as far as to not like the book at all. That a few of my last-minute edits might somehow go awry on their way to the final copy. That the cover might say nothing compelling about the story. That the finished product overall might come nowhere near living up to the dream.

I was out of town with my family on Spring Break last week when I unexpectedly completed the novel I was reading and found myself without the stack of books on my nightstand patiently awaiting me to get to them. As luck would have it, I found myself in the UVA bookstore (fingers crossed that my daughter is accepted) and face-to-face with Picoult’s new novel. She is a brilliant writer but I often find her books a bit long considering my unfortunate time constraints on reading. No novel needs to be more than 120 thousand words—well-written or not—there are just too many to read and too little time to read them in. However, upon closer examination I was thrilled to see that the length was manageable, and without another thought, I had a new novel peaking out of the top of my purse. (I paid for it first, of course)