Hero by Alethea Kontis
Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world.
Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?"
As in Enchanted, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.
When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.
The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?
New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. She’s known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters, turning garden gnomes into mad scientists, and making sense out of fairy tales.
Alethea is the co-author of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter Companion, and penned the AlphaOops series of picture books. Her short fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in a myriad of anthologies and magazines. She has done multiple collaborations with Eisner winning artist J.K. Lee, includingThe Wonderland Alphabet and Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome. Her debut YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award in 2012 and was nominated for both the Andre Norton Award and the Audie Award in 2013.
Born in Burlington, Vermont, Alethea now lives in Northern Virginia with her Fairy Godfamily. She makes the best baklava you’ve ever tasted and sleeps with a teddy bear named Charlie.
AND she's guest posting today about a topic near and dear to my heart: pirates. Aside from playing a pirate occasionally at renaissance faires, I was a sailor on an historic tallship when I was 18 years old (which, if it actually paid, would be my dream job).
My uncle has been a sailor his entire life, and he's been sailing around the world with his sweetheart for the past 3 years (they're headed toward Thailand, right now). Although I do worry about modern-day pirates (his vessel is tiny- 30 feet- but he sails uncharted waters, and any vessel has something a thief can use), Alethea's story about her grandfather is downright charming:
"My paternal grandfather Sotos (Sam) was a pirate for a brief time, in real life. His mother and siblings escaped from Turkey during the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922 (he was only five at the time) and took refuge on a Japanese Red Cross ship that dropped them off in Greece. While in Greece he joined the Merchant Marines, and was working on a ship during the Axis occupation of Greece in 1941. During that time he was "a man without a country," and he and the captain and crew stole supplies from other ships to survive. The ship finally came to safe harbor in America, and Sotos took refuge with his older sister Despina in Pennsylvania. It was there that he met my grandmother, who had been in love with Sotos since she had seen his picture on her friend Despina's mantle when she was thirteen...but that's another story. (Below is the picture.) Sotos died before I was born. He is the inspiration for my Pirate King in the Woodcutter Sister universe."
Giveaway
Sept 22 - Oct 17
Fairy Tale Gift Basket (US only): Signed copies of both Enchantment and Hero by Alethea Kontis plus swag!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Fairy Tale Adventure Tour*
Sept 22 - LAUNCH
Sept 30 -- USA Today Happy Ever After interview
Oct 7 - Character interview with Saturday Woodcutter at
I Smell Sheep
currentVote
noRating
noWeight
Labels: book tour, giveaways, guest post
New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. She’s known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters, turning garden gnomes into mad scientists, and making sense out of fairy tales.
