Spotlight – Summer Queen by Amber Argyle
This morning, I am giddy to be posting a spotlight for Summer Queen by my friend and mentor, Amber Argyle. I’ve featured her books on my blog before. She’s definitely one of my top five faves. Well, a few weeks ago, I was asked if I wanted to participate in the blog tour for this new release, and I was so excited to hop on board. I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but when I do, a review will follow. Let me just say this: What I have read so far is just fantastic! They say an author’s first million words are practice. I’ve read some awesome debuts and it always makes me wonder how an author could possibly top that. Well, let me tell you, if you liked the Witch Song series, you’re going to love this series.
Speaking of Witch Song, it’s currently free wherever you can buy e-books, so if you haven’t read it, you have no excuse!
Today’s book, Summer Queen, is the second in the Fairy Queen Series. The first book, Winter Queen, is currently on sale for $0.99. I’m excited. I haven’t read it yet, so it’s going on my Kindle today. You can get it at this price for 4 more days, until April 17th. Here’s where. There is a companion story to the series, called Of Fire and Ash, which is also currently free (for a limited time), and can be found here and here. Okay. That’s a lot of free and cheap reading, and it’s quality stuff. But let’s move on to the star of the show. Summer Queen.
Nelay never wanted to be queen.
Poised to become the most powerful priestess in Idara, Nelay doesn’t have time to become a pretty bauble for the king. She’s too busy saving her people from the invading army sweeping across her kingdom.
But in defeat after defeat, Nelay begins to realize a bigger power is at play than that wielded by mere mortals. Only she can stand between the cinders of her once-great nation and the vengeance of a goddess.
Excerpt:
Nelay slipped down alleys, went through a bar and out the back entrance, and twisted down two more blocks to make sure she hadn’t been followed. She climbed up a wall, using a windowsill and beams as steppingstones, before hopping onto a roof.
She crouched, staring at a man of the desert tribes. Though she’d contracted with him to smuggle her out of the city, she’d never met him. They had communicated only through her spies, so now she scrutinized the man who held her life in his hands. He wore the robes and headscarf similar to that of an Idaran, but in muted colors that blended in with the deserts. With his veil tied up, only a thin slit of his eyes showed.
The skin around those eyes crinkled in amusement when he saw Nelay. “So, this is the woman willing to pay a king’s ransom to slip behind enemy lines.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation, Rycus.” She didn’t want him to say anything that would give away her identity to any listening fairies.
He tugged his veil down under his chin, revealing a surprisingly young face, only a couple years older than her. His nose was a little on the big side, and his forehead reminded her of a shovel. But he had liquid eyes the color of sand at midnight and a nice smile, with brilliant white teeth against his dusky skin. This was the most renowned smuggler in two kingdoms?
“No,” he replied, “but we’ll be sharing close quarters for two months, so we might as well be friends.”
Nelay had enough experience with criminals to know they had their uses, but they were also incredibly unpredictable, and therefore dangerous. “I don’t need friends,” she said.
“Everyone needs friends.”
“If I’d known you were going to be this talkative, I would have picked someone else.”
Rycus grunted. “No you wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have settled for less than the best.”
Nelay tossed him the bag of coins she’d received in exchange for two of her ceremonial rings. When the high priestess found out, she’d be furious, but Nelay would deal with that later. “We must hurry—the Immortals are nothing to be trifled with.”
Rycus pushed the bag into the folds of his robes without counting the money. He would receive the other half when he returned her and her family safely to Thanjavar. “You don’t have to come with us, you know,” he said.
Nelay snorted. He might have a reputation as a fair man, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t cross her—say, if the king offered more money. “I already told you. It’s not a place marked on a map.”
“I could figure it out,” Rycus replied.
“No offense, but I don’t trust you.”
He shrugged. “And afterward, you’re sure you wish to return? Whatever has you running away will still be here then.”
“That is not your problem.” She might be Suka’s favorite, but even the high priestess couldn’t overlook what she’d done. Nelay’s only hope was to stand in the public bethel and announce herself the next high priestess. Then she had to beat Suka in the game of fire, the winner of which would become the next high priestess. King Zatal wouldn’t dare touch Nelay then.
And if she failed . . . she shuddered. She’d have the wrath of a king and a high priestess to face.
“What are you running from?” Rycus questioned.
About the Author:
Amber Argyle is the number-one bestselling author of the Witch Song Series and the Fairy Queen Series. Her books have been nominated for and won awards in addition to being translated into French and Indonesian.
Amber graduated cum laude from Utah State University with a degree in English and physical education, a husband, and a two-year old. Since then, she and her husband have added two more children, which they are actively trying to transform from crazy small people into less crazy larger people.
To learn more about Amber, visit her blog at http://amberargyle.blogspot.com
To purchase Amber’s books, find her at one of these links: Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Amazon.
To find her online, you can look in any of the following places: Twitter, Facebook, Her Blog, Pinterest, or Goodreads.
And this last link is a pretty cool one. if you’d like to join her street team, which involves helping spread the word about her books in exchange for awesome prizes and sneak peaks, you can check out the Argylers Street Team, here.
Want to win a free drop box copy of Summer Queen? Enter through this Rafflecopter by finding Amber on social media.
Also, if you really want to win a copy, I’d totally suggest following Amber on some sort of social media to get the rest of the schedule for the blog tour, because there may be more giveaways, and you should also be able to find some reviews.
