Haven Lost (The Dragon's Brood Cycle, Book 1) by Josh de Lioncourt REVIEW

Haven Lost 
The Dragon's Brood Cycle, Book One
by Josh de Lioncourt

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite 

Emily is a high school hockey star in Minneapolis, with an extremely dysfunctional family life. For the most she is a typical teenager, except for her strange ability to know when and where another player on the ice is going to move. One day it all changes when she starts seeing the reflection of a boy in mirrors and windows, and when she gets home finds her mother dead of a drug overdose. She runs away and when she awakes she is in another land, another time, another world? Haven Lost is the tale of Emily's discover of what is important to her and her life in this strange place. She makes friends, decides without any prior knowledge of people who is good and who is evil and sets out on a quest she doesn't understand. Along the way she picks up a best friend in Celine, a ward in Michael and someone who just might become more than a friend in the future, Corbbmacc. Together they travel the land, looking for the answers that they need to understand what is going on. Josh de Lioncourt has done a wonderful job of mixing history, fantasy, and magic together into a tale that is compelling and exciting.

Haven Lost is set to be the first book in a series titled The Dragon's Brood Cycle. This first book sets the story up very well, you have a grand adventure, and it is not a short adventure either. It takes time to tell, yet the story never seems to get bogged down or drag, it is always moving along and begging you to turn the next page and keep going. The answers always seem to be on the next page. Josh de Lioncourt is a wonderful storyteller in that he is able to keep your attention and have you guessing the entire book. I never saw the reveal from the last three pages coming until I got to them, and that is not usually the case with mos books. This book and series has the potential to sky-rocket into the forefront of youth and teen reading, becoming the next Harry Potter series.

View all my reviews

Bloodstone - Deep Water: Book One by Jeffrey Aaron Miller BOOK REVIEW

Bloodstone - Deep Water: Book One
by Jeffrey Aaron Miller


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .


In the world of Jeffrey Aaron Miller's imagination there is a small village that lays nestled in the valley surrounded by mountains. Over the years, the village has isolated itself and cut itself off from the outside world. The idea was for protection, but soon they are to learn that it did not work. Jaren is a young man, bored with life in the isolated village. Arelas is a merchants daughter, one day a large team of horse-mounted knights ride into the village, only to destroy it completely. Jaren and Arelas are able to escape through a hidden cave. Bloodstone follows them as they travel from town to town, only to find that the knights have been there and destroyed it too, looking for people. A dying stranger gives them some answers to what is going on, and they set out on a quest to stop the madness.

Bloodstone gives you the feel of a old-world tale, with knights and villages surrounded by walls, and most people traveling by foot. This feeling makes is easy to envision this world where a small bit of magic has turned a King and his Knights mad with power and greed. Jeffrey Aaron Miller gives us a hero in a young boy, probably around 16 to 18 years old and the daughter of a merchant close to the same age as a heroine. As they travel the world looking for answers, they find themselves in much more than they bargained for. The story was well written and kept my attention throughout, although I have to admit that I did not enjoy the sudden end to the book, as it is book one. I do want to read the next book now, so I am sure that was the intention. This book would be great for all readers, and with the ages of the characters, even young adults and teens would be able to relate and enjoy the story.


View all my reviews