Persephone

by Phoenix Johnson

Persephone takes her life and heart into her own hands when she meets and follows a mysterious stranger on a sweet summer day. However, tragedy strikes, and her lover, the mystifying Adrian, begs her as his life Persephone, head to the sea. Honouring his request, she begins a journey where she discovers her true heritage and finds the family she always dreamed of. Persephone almost finds peace and happiness until her past catches up. She is not about to give up, however, and is determined to obey Adrian’s dying wish.


But what is waiting for her at the shore? Will she find her destiny, or lose everything she had fought so hard to find? Can she become the Witch that her true parents wanted her to be, or will she succumb to the Darkness?

Genres: Romance

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2015

About the author

Phoenix Johnson has always been intrigued by the written word, and is rarely far from a book, whether it’s one she’s reading or writing. She has a particular fascination with paranormal and fantasy, where her imagination can run wild with dragons, magic, far off lands, and strong female characters.

She was first published through Naughty Nights Press, where she did well. Phoenix won the Best Paranormal Award through Easychair Bookstore in 2015, and, along with a few other authors, hit the USA Today bestseller’s list shortly before she had to take a step back for health reasons. Phoenix is now returning as an independent author, and is very excited to see what is in store for her this time around.

Phoenix lives west of Brisbane, Australia, with her husband, Michael, their daughters Jayde and Hela, cats Flash and Furgus, and a red cattle x, Rusty.
She wandered away from writing for a few years, but was soon encouraged to return and, within months of picking up the proverbial pen, Phoenix’ first story, The Wolf In The Neighborhood, was accepted for publication by Naughty Nights Press. While working on the rest of the Wolf Smitten Trilogy, Phoenix decided to take on a university degree, and is now in the final stretch of her Bachelor of Art’s degree in Professional Writing and Publishing, with plans to continue on to her Master’s degree.
In early 2015, Phoenix was thrilled to discover she’d made two Top 5 lists with three entries in the Easychair Bookstore Awards. In June, it was announced she had placed first in Best Paranormal with Once Bitten Twice Shy, the second installment in her Wolf Smitten Trilogy, while The Wolf In The Neighborhood and Wolf Smitten placed third in their respective categories of Best Paranormal and Best Series.
With her inclusion in the Alphas on the Prowl Box Set in 2015, Phoenix hit the top 100 bestsellers lists across numerous distributors, number 1 bestseller on several Amazon lists, and this was quickly followed by the announcement of her achievement of number 1 bestseller for her publisher, Naughty Nights Press, for the full second quarter of 2015. The awards and achievements have only served to strengthen her ambitions, and she is now aiming at reaching the bestseller lists for USA Today and New York Times.
Phoenix has been working hard to make 2015 her year, and has been busy organizing paranormal anthology Twisted Tales with seven other authors. Its release at the end of June is greatly anticipated, and she is extremely excited to see where her writing career takes her next.
To follow other projects by Phoenix Johnson, please visit http://deaalmon87.wix.com/phoenixjohn.... She can also be found on Facebook, where you can sign up to her newsletter, The Nest. She is also on Twitter.

Reviews

[Tammy Nitschke Sokol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, and I couldn't put it down!! I was ensnared from the fist chapter! I wept, I smiled, I cringed. I was so happy at the ending! I hope to read more and see more from this wonderful author along this same story line!! Simply wonderful. Some of the reviews on her other work I found very hilarious, like hooked like a crochet addict in a yarn store, or something to that effect. I felt just like this!! I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I hate to give away too much about the book, since I don't like it when someone does that. Trust me, it's simply wonderful. I cried, I was so happy at the end though. ;-)

[Miranda Beazley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received and ARC copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

Persephone is engaged to the son of the Mayor of her small town. She doesn't love him, rather she is being forced in this marriage by her parents. On a walk in the forest one day, after her father has taken his anger out on her, she chances a meeting with a gorgeous man. Adrian and Persephone are instantly attracted to each other and agree to get to know each other a little before they run away together, thus avoiding their arranged marriages. But on their escape Adrian is killed in front of Persephone.

This book was amazing. Persephone is an amazingly strong woman, who has lived through hell and still perseveres in her life and keeping her promise to Adrian. Her life before him was lonely and horrible. But upon leaving her family and village she finds a whole different life. The life she deserves. This book is filled with tears and courage. The story flows so thoroughly you won't want to step outside the pages within this book.

[Roxie's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An Enchanting Book"
The story line of this book is fantastic!. The characters are Marvelous. Persephone is the oldest Daughter of a drunken Father and a over worked Mother. As the oldest of the siblings it is left up to Persephone to take care of the home and wait on her abusive Father. Persephone is of marring age so her parents plan to marry her off to the Mayors son. Only she does not want to marry him. Persephone would rather read and walk in the forest that she goes to to escape her family. One day she meets a handsome stranger in her forest. This encounter changes her life forever!. This is truly a sweet and touching story plus I will warn you it will bring tears to your eyes to lol. This is a must read story!.

[Leanne ~ Tales From The Heart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gifted this ARC for an honest review and what a gift it was. Not having read this author before I wasn't sure if I'd like it not. From the first chapter I was hooked.
No spoilers, read the blurb then read the story and you won't be disappointed.
It was an original story and I laughed and cried along with the characters. It had a beautiful ending and such a feel good moment.
Well done Phoenix, I really look forward to more stories from you :)

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very emotional fantasy ride. This book takes place in a mythical world, with witches (light and dark), Wizards, Angels, and even ghostly gypsies. Persephone is a strong character, she has more than her share of hard times, but perseveres. There is a lot of action. There are heart rending times. And some romance.

[Jo ann boothby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome from beginning to ending

[Diane Ehlers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was originally posted on Paranormal Sisters:http://paranormalsisters.blogspot.com...

*Was given a copy from the author in exchange for my honest review*

The premise and the title is what got me interested so I signed up for a chance at the ARC of Persephone. I've also never read anything from this author before so I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I don't read much fantasy but when I do I enjoy the genre when it comes my way. However, I didn't enjoy this world within Persephone. In this world parents choose who you get married to and women are like property but that's not what bugs me. I love reading stories that go back in history, it's a completely whole other world and I love it! What bugged me was the cheesiness of her running into a complete stranger in the middle of the woods and falling head over heels for him, wanting to run away with him from the horrible life she lives. I'm all for her running away but what she's feeling for him can't possible be love, it's no doubt just lust.

But, I let that slide especially when he dies. This leads Persephone to keep her promise to him to head to the coast. What's at the coast, nobody knows. But she goes anyways, it's her chance to get away and now with her betrothed out to get her, she has no choice but to run away from this evil man. Honestly after the first two chapters I got easily distracted by two other books, which I finished before this one. I mean, at first I was interested but then it started to dwindle.

I had no idea where this story was going. There was multiple plots going on and which that's always good, these just didn't flow well for me. You can clearly see where the cut was when a plot point ended and another began because it felt like the characters completely forgot about what happened a few pages before. Like, the guy she fell in love with was actually an angel and to save her life, he gave her his powers which is how she came to be with red wings. But once she learned how to hide them, it's like she completely forgot she had them. Which she actually did forget about them the deeper we got into the book. And as I was reading I was like, "Are we going to get anything more about it? Why has the main girl totally forgotten about them? How can anyone forget that they suddenly have wings sticking out of there back?!?". Seriously, it was frustrating.

Seriously, this read became more frustrating by the minute and I was close to calling it quits, I probably should have.......

Anyways, Persephone I wasn't a big fan of this character. I understand how this journey will change her but for her being a virgin I don't understand how she would fall into bed after spending one day with a man she just met. Seriously, I don't understand her motives. And yeah, once again she fell in love with a total stranger after just meeting him- ugghh! Again, it's just lust Persephone. I honestly don't find this romantic and if it's supposed to be, then it's just not my kind then. I need the feelings to be more developed, I need to actually fall in love with the guy just like the characters for me to actually root for them. The romance needs to melt this hopeless romantics heart, not have her cringing instead.

Overall this just wasn't my cup of tea. Nothing was working for me, I like my stories more developed. None of this cheesiness of love at first sight- twice. Reading this started to feel like a chore, I honestly just wanted it to end and let myself move on from this. The ending was cheesy, again, is this supposed to be romantic? I just really didn't enjoy this book. Nothing flowed really well for me and the ending just made me wonder what was really the point of this book, of all that happened? I just wasn't invested in it or the characters for me to feel any connection to it or for me to actually care.

[Misty Nickels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this book! I could not put it down! I read it in two days, but of course my schedule doesn't allow me to read much. I probably could have read this in one day it was so good. The story line is spectacular. I believe that there is a God or Demi God named Persephone, but I do not think that this story has anything to do with that mythology. I could be wrong though because I have never read much about the historical Persephone. Anyway, this book took place in what seems like early American settlement days. I would say the victorian era, but I am not sure. The way the author described the clothing of the characters made me think this because the depiction of the dresses were beautiful in my mind. The authors writing is very descriptive, but not too much. I love how the story does not drag out. It gave me exactly what I wanted out of this story. One scene flows smoothly into the next. I was never left questioning what a character's name was, or where the story's timeline was at. When the story seemed to have flip flopped, it really didn't. It was perfectly written. I love paranormal fantasy romance and this book delivered. It was an original story. Something that I had never read before and I loved the combination of magic the book used. It was a combination of things I never would have expected. This book did contain mild sexual content, but was nothing over the top. I believe this book is quite suitable for a teenager (17+). I cannot wait to read more by this author. Her writing style is exceptional for this genre and the picture she paints with her words is simply beautiful. If I could give more than 5 stars for this book I totally would!

Reviewer for Bloggin with M Brennan.

[Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

~I received a free ARC in exchange for a fair review~

Persephone, the title character, is a young women dreaming of a different life. Chafing under the demands of her bitter parents and facing an unhappy, arranged marriage, she is searching for a future of love and independence. When she meets a stranger in the forest, events are set in motion that see Persephone fleeing her village and uncovering the secrets of her past. With a legacy of magic behind her, Persephone discovers her true destiny.

In fantasy, one of my favourite things is the imagined world created by the author. World building is important and I like to have a solid picture of the context that the characters live within. The world of Persephone is a quasi-medieval setting, common to high fantasy, complete with taverns, inns, horses as transport, small villages and a patriarchal society. This novel's world has some modern features that don't quite fit with the medieval style fantasy. For example, in between the taverns and smithies of small villages, there are also cafes, serving up coffee and pastries to characters flopped into cosy armchairs. This did jar me out of the fantasy world sometimes. There are multiple magical systems in Persephone's world: light witches, dark witches, earth wizards and angels. Each system works in unique ways, such as earth magic requiring the person to be touching earth to perform spells. I always enjoy seeing magic in fantasy and how it affects the characters and the world. The author may be planning more novels set in this world and deliberately held back on details to reveal later. I say this as there isn't very much information on the types of magic and how they work. More details would help to clarify the differences between the types of magic, making the systems more distinct and complex.

The treatment of the sexual agency of characters, especially the women, is contradictory. Persephone spends her childhood mocked and shunned because the villagers suspect she is a bastard child. Marriage is the only real option for women and virginity is vital for a bride. Yet later, Persephone is encouraged to sleep with a man she has just met, to help her relax. All characters see no harm in this and actively push her to have this one night and lose her virginity. The afternoon that Persephone meets this man, she accuses another woman of being a tramp for showing her cleavage and moving her hips suggestively. That night, Persephone and the man have sex, which her companions are all very pleased about. These inconsistencies with social and sexual beliefs are a bit confusing.

The novel takes place over a short span of time. There is a lot that happens to the characters over roughly a week and I think that it would be more exciting and engaging if it unfolded over a larger timeline. Persephone had a lot of major traumas all at once and I felt like I didn't have enough time to process them all, let alone Persephone herself work through them! She also develops her magical powers within a few days. I think that if this was spaced out, it would have been less overwhelming. Persephone learning to use her magic could have been really interesting and I would have liked to read more of that. Persephone has the powers of a three different magical systems and they all come to her at once. These different types of magic make for an interesting blend and more details would have been great.

Persephone is very sweet, and although her childhood was difficult, she has a real innocence to her. She definitely didn't become bitter or haunted by her upbringing. Persephone can be a real Mary Sue and her beauty is commented on often. With her pale skin, emerald eyes and long ebony hair, she is admired by every man she comes across. As the novel progresses, Persephone unravels the secrets of her family and her past, bringing her to a future she could have only ever imagined. I would have liked more depth to her character; at times Persephone came across very passive. She undergoes major turmoil with limited inner, emotional or psychological struggle. Her character would be far more complex and complete if her inner world was shown more.

My main reaction to reading Persephone is that the novel would really benefit from more. More detail, more character development, more world building and more plotting. Further development of these features would make the novel richer, deeper and more engaging. I'm interested to see what the author does next. Perhaps another novel about Persephone and her love is in the works?