Beauty Restored: A Winter Solstice Chronicle

by Ashley Beach

Two sisters torn apart by a curse. A prince on a quest to save his realm. Erianna was banished by the Snow Queen at a very young age because of a curse that turned her into a beast every full moon. She must find a way to break the curse by her 21st birthday or she will remain a beast forever. After years of isolation, she finds herself in the abandoned garden of a young girl who looks a lot like the sister she was forced to leave behind. Knowing she will be in grave danger if the Snow Queen discovers she is in her kingdom, Erianna makes her way back into the forest where she has an unexpected encounter with Gabriel, a dashing prince from the spring realm.Gabriel has been sent to the winter realm to discover why his realm is losing its power. He encounters the mysterious woman, Erianna, on his quest to find answers, and through an unfortunate understanding, ends up with a poisonous arrow in his arm. Both Erianna and Gabriel have only until the winter solstice moon rises to break the curse and stop the poison from reaching his heart, or all will be lost. Can Erianna break the curse and find a way to restore her relationship with her sister? Can Gabriel find the answers he needs to restore his realm to its former glory and keep his heart from turning to ice?Follow them on this journey as they discover strength in their afflictions and the powerful faith that will restore even the thorniest of hearts and bring beauty back to the winter realm.

Genres: Fantasy

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2020

About the author

Ashley Beach is a Christian writer who seeks to find the beauty in every story. She is the author of the inspirational fairy tale adventure series, The Solstice Chronicles, and modern day Christian adventure series, Heart of God.

Ashley was born and raised in Denver, CO, and outside of a few years out of state here and there, has continued to call Denver her home. She attended Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, IA for a few years pursuing a degree in Music Education, but realized her junior year that path wasn't for her. After hearing about a Christian college in the southern tip of Kansas City, MO that had just started a theatre department, Ashley transferred and graduated from Calvary University (then Calvary Bible College) with degrees (yes, plural) in Theatre Arts and Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. Ashley has always had a love of story and it brings her joy to see (and participate in) beautiful stories brought to life through art, music, theater, and of course writing. She was shown the power of story and how the Gospel truths can be woven into even the most secular stories by her high school drama teacher as well as her college theatre professor, and Ashley had taken that teaching and incorporated it into her stories.

Ashley has always enjoyed writing devotional content, even long before her days as an author of full-length books began. Check out her devotional blog:
https://theatregirl18.wordpress.com/

Ashley also writes devotional blogs about her books and the deeper truths she's incorporated into her stories that can be found on her author website, where you can find information about Ashley and her books and author goings-on's as well:
https://beautyrestored.org/

Follow her on Facebook and Instagram @beautyrestored18 for book-related content and thoughts God has laid on her heart.

The Solstice Chronicles takes place against the backdrop of realms based on the different seasons. Each of the royals of the Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall realms have been granted gifts of magic that were meant to help their realms thrive, but darkness has entered the realms and twisted and distorted their gifts and their abilities to rule their realms. Beauty has been lost, the princes and princesses have been faced with unimaginable circumstances, and darkness seems to be winning the battle against the realms. These books are clean stories based on different fairy tales with elements of the Bible woven throughout. They are great for children and adults of ALL ages and carry deeper truths and elements that are reflective of real life struggles everyone faces.

Heart of God is similar to National Treasure with a Biblical twist. Selah Cross and Dylan Kinkaide go on adventures around the world in search of biblical artifacts and are faced with unusual and high stakes circumstances that put their faith in God to the test. Each must find where the treasure of their hearts truly lie in this series full of Murder, Mystery, Romance, and strong stories of Faith in the midst of adversity.

Reviews

[Hella · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a refreshing twist on the classic “beauty and the beast” theme! The writing is lyrical, the pacing perfect, and every scene is filled with emotion. I especially loved the sisterly bond between Erianna and her sister, it gave the story so much soul. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy and heartfelt storytelling.

[Eliana Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating tale of sisterhood, curses, and courage. Erianna’s struggle to break the Snow Queen’s spell is both emotional and thrilling, filled with magic, mystery, and hope. Perfect for fans of enchanting fairy-tale adventures.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I enjoyed the story and its fairy tale elements. Building a world based on the four seasons is unique, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of how that is developed beyond the Winter Realm. That being said, the writing quality itself does have an "author's first book" feel to it that I (grammar nerd that I am) found a bit distracting at times. Still, I am looking forward to the next book in the series.