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The Mythic Chronicles #1
Enchanted
Romantic Fantasy
Claire Arden has a lot on her plate. In addition to surviving life as a high school sophomore, while avoiding the pitfalls that come with growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, she takes care of her aging grandmother, does her best to keep her flighty best friend out of trouble, and even holds down a part-time gig at The Burger Shack. Oh! And she recently discovered that she's a princess, but not just any princess. Claire is the half-blood princess of a race of creatures she'd always assumed didn't exist outside of the bedtime stories her gran used to tell her. Forced out of our world by humans of old, the fae, gifted with dominion over the four elements, created Faega, a world behind our own where they govern beings long believed to be mythic. Under the protection of her human mother's closest friend, Claire was spirited away from Faega as an infant because of an uprising of those who opposed her birth simply because she was only half fae. Sixteen years later, with members of the dark fae searching for her, she's reacquainted with the magical realm from her bedtime stories, and all the treachery, danger, and adventure that comes along with it.
-Excerpt-
“Where did you get those?” Dad's voice, sounding equal parts accusatory and apprehensive, drew my attention down the table to him. His eyes were on the crown of morning glories atop my head. His eyes then widened with remembrance. “The wolf?”
I nodded. “He brought them to me after dinner last night.”
“The wolf?” Dad asked again in disbelief.
I tilted my head to the side to look at him quizzically. “Silas, yes. Remember, I sent him to pick them for me, and that's why he wasn't at-”
“Out of the question,” Dad declared. “The boy is unsuitable.”
I rolled my eyes. Hadn't I just told him that Silas hadn't actually given me the flowers? That I'd asked for them? Damn Lennox and his little pranks!
“Arden, you know as well as I do that the boy is a prince among his people,” Sienna reasoned. “His father is one of your closest friends.”
I dared to glance over at where Silas was sitting with the other guards, and noticed his back had stiffened, and he'd stopped eating as well. It was obvious that he was listening. I groaned inwardly. Great.
“She's too young!” Dad protested.
“She is a mere two years younger than her mother was when she became your bride,” Edrea reminded him.
“She is sitting right here, and so is 'the wolf','” I grumbled, and was ignored. I noticed that several of the guards, servants, valets, and ladies in waiting were now surreptitiously listening in. Ugh! This conversation was beyond embarrassing, and completely unnecessary.
“That... we... that was different, and though Silas is a prince among his people, here, he is a palace guard; Claire's personal guard. Their differences in stations alone makes it impossible.”
“You could always make him a eunuch,” Coal suggested absently.
I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness until I saw that Dad was actually considering what Coal had said. My fork clattered to the table. “Dad, there's no need for that. I requested that Silas bring me the flowers without either of us knowing what they represented. Here, I'll take them off.”
“Nonsense!” Edrea's indignant cry froze my hands in the middle of their ascent toward the flowery crown on my head. I looked at her in confusing, and she elaborated. “Wearing it will make the other young men of the court believe that they have competition for your hand.”
I snorted. “Grandma Edrea, I don't know if you've noticed, but the noblemen around this place aren't exactly falling all over themselves to propose to me. I'm a half-blood, remember? Besides, I'm not really ready to part with my hand, or any other part of me. I'm only sixteen.”
“See,” Dad eagerly piggybacked on my refusal to be a child bride. The relief in his face was almost comical. I might have laughed had I not been able to feel the weight of Silas's silver stare...
-End
Claire Arden has a lot on her plate. In addition to surviving life as a high school sophomore, while avoiding the pitfalls that come with growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, she takes care of her aging grandmother, does her best to keep her flighty best friend out of trouble, and even holds down a part-time gig at The Burger Shack. Oh! And she recently discovered that she's a princess, but not just any princess. Claire is the half-blood princess of a race of creatures she'd always assumed didn't exist outside of the bedtime stories her gran used to tell her. Forced out of our world by humans of old, the fae, gifted with dominion over the four elements, created Faega, a world behind our own where they govern beings long believed to be mythic. Under the protection of her human mother's closest friend, Claire was spirited away from Faega as an infant because of an uprising of those who opposed her birth simply because she was only half fae. Sixteen years later, with members of the dark fae searching for her, she's reacquainted with the magical realm from her bedtime stories, and all the treachery, danger, and adventure that comes along with it.
-Excerpt-
“Where did you get those?” Dad's voice, sounding equal parts accusatory and apprehensive, drew my attention down the table to him. His eyes were on the crown of morning glories atop my head. His eyes then widened with remembrance. “The wolf?”
I nodded. “He brought them to me after dinner last night.”
“The wolf?” Dad asked again in disbelief.
I tilted my head to the side to look at him quizzically. “Silas, yes. Remember, I sent him to pick them for me, and that's why he wasn't at-”
“Out of the question,” Dad declared. “The boy is unsuitable.”
I rolled my eyes. Hadn't I just told him that Silas hadn't actually given me the flowers? That I'd asked for them? Damn Lennox and his little pranks!
“Arden, you know as well as I do that the boy is a prince among his people,” Sienna reasoned. “His father is one of your closest friends.”
I dared to glance over at where Silas was sitting with the other guards, and noticed his back had stiffened, and he'd stopped eating as well. It was obvious that he was listening. I groaned inwardly. Great.
“She's too young!” Dad protested.
“She is a mere two years younger than her mother was when she became your bride,” Edrea reminded him.
“She is sitting right here, and so is 'the wolf','” I grumbled, and was ignored. I noticed that several of the guards, servants, valets, and ladies in waiting were now surreptitiously listening in. Ugh! This conversation was beyond embarrassing, and completely unnecessary.
“That... we... that was different, and though Silas is a prince among his people, here, he is a palace guard; Claire's personal guard. Their differences in stations alone makes it impossible.”
“You could always make him a eunuch,” Coal suggested absently.
I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness until I saw that Dad was actually considering what Coal had said. My fork clattered to the table. “Dad, there's no need for that. I requested that Silas bring me the flowers without either of us knowing what they represented. Here, I'll take them off.”
“Nonsense!” Edrea's indignant cry froze my hands in the middle of their ascent toward the flowery crown on my head. I looked at her in confusing, and she elaborated. “Wearing it will make the other young men of the court believe that they have competition for your hand.”
I snorted. “Grandma Edrea, I don't know if you've noticed, but the noblemen around this place aren't exactly falling all over themselves to propose to me. I'm a half-blood, remember? Besides, I'm not really ready to part with my hand, or any other part of me. I'm only sixteen.”
“See,” Dad eagerly piggybacked on my refusal to be a child bride. The relief in his face was almost comical. I might have laughed had I not been able to feel the weight of Silas's silver stare...
-End
297 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 3, 2016
2 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Jessica N. Lane
120 books27 followersHi; I'm Jessica. In a nutshell I'm just a hopeless romantic with a wandering mind and a big imagination who's grateful to God for her gift of storytelling. I've been blessed with a mind and imagination inclined toward all things artistic, so I think a creative career was always meant for me. I've been writing since I was a kid, but I didn't start seriously contemplating becoming an author until I was in college. The idea for this sprawling fantasy series that is now known as The Mythic Chronicles came to me when I was sixteen, and I got so inspired by this little half-formed idea that I wrote my first draft of the story that, 8 years later, became Book 1: Enchanted in about one month.. That first manuscript will never see the light of day because it was pretty terrible, but no worries, My skills have improved a lot since then. If you're up for a sprawling, fantasy series packed with plenty of magic, danger, romance, and adventure, the journey begins with Enchanted: The Mythic Chronicles Book 1. If you have read any of the books in the series, and enjoyed them, don't forget to write a review. Getting feedback from you guys is so rewarding. You can follow me on my various social media platforms (found on the "links" page) to stay in the know. I love hearing from you guys, so feel free to email me at darlingpen2 (at) gmail (dot) com. Thank you guys for all your love and support. I love each and every one of you. Welcome to the faemily!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 16, 2016
This is a wonderful beginning to the series. There is great world building and character building as well. We see a background story slowly come to life as we learn more and more about Claire and who she is.
I love the different themes at play. Through claire we see two worlds collide and come to heads. Her world that is feared by her father’s world. Her father’s world is prejudicial and deals in societal classes where other species and jobs are looked down upon by others. Claire goes against this and keeps true to herself. Her brother Coal harbors some serious anger issues toward her for his perceived taking away of his mom. They do come to terms and begin to show one another love and protection.
My favorite character is Silas. He goes through a lot. He is a prince in his own right trying to deal with betrayal and loss. He slowly sees Claire as more and as he helps her become strong and believe more in herself and keep her from not following her convictions they go from friends to more and it is a struggle because in society they are not supposed to be together. I found it horrible that everyone was okay with Silas until he showed interest and that is when they saw him as less. It was the prejudicial roles taking a shine.
The story is imaginative and fascinating. Keeps you on your toes and the ending wow. I hope Silas is able to do as he promises but also get Claire as his love. Coal and his dad need to learn to communicate and see that they love one another and put Coal needs to grow up more and put aside his anger to see who his dad is and that his dad loves him.
A story that shows societal roles, prejudice, love that is least likely but beautiful and innocent and built from the ground up. Characters with conviction and are real and honest. Imagination and world building with a plot showing us what fear and what happens when people manipulate fear. A great beginning to what seems to be a wonderful series to come.
I love the different themes at play. Through claire we see two worlds collide and come to heads. Her world that is feared by her father’s world. Her father’s world is prejudicial and deals in societal classes where other species and jobs are looked down upon by others. Claire goes against this and keeps true to herself. Her brother Coal harbors some serious anger issues toward her for his perceived taking away of his mom. They do come to terms and begin to show one another love and protection.
My favorite character is Silas. He goes through a lot. He is a prince in his own right trying to deal with betrayal and loss. He slowly sees Claire as more and as he helps her become strong and believe more in herself and keep her from not following her convictions they go from friends to more and it is a struggle because in society they are not supposed to be together. I found it horrible that everyone was okay with Silas until he showed interest and that is when they saw him as less. It was the prejudicial roles taking a shine.
The story is imaginative and fascinating. Keeps you on your toes and the ending wow. I hope Silas is able to do as he promises but also get Claire as his love. Coal and his dad need to learn to communicate and see that they love one another and put Coal needs to grow up more and put aside his anger to see who his dad is and that his dad loves him.
A story that shows societal roles, prejudice, love that is least likely but beautiful and innocent and built from the ground up. Characters with conviction and are real and honest. Imagination and world building with a plot showing us what fear and what happens when people manipulate fear. A great beginning to what seems to be a wonderful series to come.
July 28, 2016
4.5 Stars
Wow what a fascinating start to a series!
Claire has just found out that her bedtime stories were actually real and not only that but she's also a princess in those magical lands. At 16 the most Claire thought she had to deal with was a snippy manager at her part time job and getting through her school work, but when a mysterious woman comes to her work one night Claire's life as she knew it changes in an instant.
Doesn't every girl wish to become a princess? But Claire's fairytale is quite from ordinary and when she's not trying to learn about the new world she is a part of, she's having to deal with snide remarks about being half-human while also trying to learn how to wield the powers that she now has.
Claire is smart and mature for a 16 year old and while she does still make some mistakes she is young and she does learn from them rather quickly. She is also resourceful and knows how to watch what is happening around her and see what's really going on and not allow herself to be manipulated just because she doesn't fully understand everything.
This story takes you into an great new world where magic exists and there are all sorts different creatures. Everything was well described so you didn't have to worry about becoming confused and not understanding something. And that made it all the easier to get sucked into the story and the characters within it!
The storyline itself is very interesting and keeps you on your toes and I'm very excited to see where things go with it!
Wow what a fascinating start to a series!
Claire has just found out that her bedtime stories were actually real and not only that but she's also a princess in those magical lands. At 16 the most Claire thought she had to deal with was a snippy manager at her part time job and getting through her school work, but when a mysterious woman comes to her work one night Claire's life as she knew it changes in an instant.
Doesn't every girl wish to become a princess? But Claire's fairytale is quite from ordinary and when she's not trying to learn about the new world she is a part of, she's having to deal with snide remarks about being half-human while also trying to learn how to wield the powers that she now has.
Claire is smart and mature for a 16 year old and while she does still make some mistakes she is young and she does learn from them rather quickly. She is also resourceful and knows how to watch what is happening around her and see what's really going on and not allow herself to be manipulated just because she doesn't fully understand everything.
This story takes you into an great new world where magic exists and there are all sorts different creatures. Everything was well described so you didn't have to worry about becoming confused and not understanding something. And that made it all the easier to get sucked into the story and the characters within it!
The storyline itself is very interesting and keeps you on your toes and I'm very excited to see where things go with it!
August 4, 2016
Claire is a 16 year old just trying to survive school and her part time job. But a chance encounter at the store turns Claire’s world on end. It seems that the stories her grandmother told her about the fae were true and Claire is a half-blood princess. It’s time for Claire to return to Faega and learn how to control her powers. But this is not going to be easy since she is constantly reminded of her half-blood heritage and she has those that are out to make sure she doesn’t take her place with her father.
This is a wonderful story. Claire is just trying to get by when she gets one heck of a surprise. Who wouldn’t want to be a princess? Unfortunately this is one role that is not very pretty, nice or fun. Claire learns quickly that this is not fun and game and there are those that really hate her half-blood. She makes mistakes, learns quickly and starts finding her place.
This is a wonderful world that Jessica Lane has created. I can’t wait to see what happens to Claire in book 2. If you like young adult, fantasy, romance stories you will love this book.
I received Enchanted for free from Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
This is a wonderful story. Claire is just trying to get by when she gets one heck of a surprise. Who wouldn’t want to be a princess? Unfortunately this is one role that is not very pretty, nice or fun. Claire learns quickly that this is not fun and game and there are those that really hate her half-blood. She makes mistakes, learns quickly and starts finding her place.
This is a wonderful world that Jessica Lane has created. I can’t wait to see what happens to Claire in book 2. If you like young adult, fantasy, romance stories you will love this book.
I received Enchanted for free from Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
August 8, 2016
Enchanted is a magically sweet, book that takes you into a fantastical world of fascinating creatures, danger and excitement. Jessica N. Lane writes beautifully, immersing the reader is a detailed fantasy world. The story of Claire's discovery of the world she only thought was a bedtime fairy tale is great. It was a pleasure to read Claire's journey as she comes into her own and accepts her role in Faega and her burgeoning romance was so sweet. Jessica N. Lane has a bright future in the literary world.
June 14, 2016
Not bad but frustrating
I can't fault the story as that was quite good, however the bad editing at times was annoying and the numerous errors were simple. However what annoyed me most was that every time Claire had a conversation with her father the king, she called him dad in nearly every sentence. So all you would read is, "dad this, dad that, yes dad, no dad" etc. I managed to last a while, but after a while it really grates on you and disrupts the flow of the story too much.
With some decent proof reading this could have been a good book.
I can't fault the story as that was quite good, however the bad editing at times was annoying and the numerous errors were simple. However what annoyed me most was that every time Claire had a conversation with her father the king, she called him dad in nearly every sentence. So all you would read is, "dad this, dad that, yes dad, no dad" etc. I managed to last a while, but after a while it really grates on you and disrupts the flow of the story too much.
With some decent proof reading this could have been a good book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews