VBT: Giveaway and Review ~ To Dance in Liradon by Adrienne Clarke

 BLURB:

Seventeen-year-old Brigid O'Flynn is an outcast. A chance encounter with the Faerie Queen left her tainted in the eyes of the villagers, who blame the Faerie for the village’s missing women and children. Desperate to win the village’s acceptance, Brigid agrees to marry her childhood friend: Serious, hardworking, Connell Mackenna. But when Connell disappears before their wedding, Brigid's hopes are shattered. Blamed for her fiancé’s death, Brigid fears she will suffer the same fate as the other village outcasts, the mysterious Willow Women. Lured into Faerie by their inhuman lovers, and cast out weak and broken, the Willow Women spend their lives searching for the way back into Faerie. When Connell suddenly reappears, Brigid is overjoyed, but everything is not as it seems. Consumed by his desire for beauty and celebration, Connell abandons his responsibilities, and Brigid soon finds herself drawn into a passionate, dangerous world of two.

When Brigid discovers the truth behind Connell's transformation she’s forced to choose between two men and two worlds. Brigid’s struggle leads her into glittering, ruthless Faerie, where she must rescue her true love from a terrible sacrifice or lose him forever.

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Excerpt:


The Faerie Queen raised one eyebrow so that it disappeared behind the gold circlet she wore around her head. “Another favour? I’m afraid this one shall cost you.”

Brigid nodded. What good was the flower if she couldn’t find her way back again?

“Close your eyes,” the Faerie Queen commanded. “What do you hear?”

“Nothing.”

“Still your breath, and let the pictures in your head slide away. Listen to what’s underneath the silence.”

She tried, but it was hard to do. And then she heard it, the gentle trickle of running water.

“Follow the sound. It will bring you back to the path and your father. But hurry, the forest is no place for a child.” And then she began to laugh, the sound surprisingly harsh and deep.

Brigid ran towards the sound until she saw the sky peeking through the trees, and felt the path beneath her feet. When she saw her father, she ran into his open arms, the Faerie Queen’s laughter still ringing in her ears.

“We thought we’d lost you forever,” her father whispered into her hair.

“But I’ve only been gone a short time,” she said.

“Nay, my sweet. The sun has risen and set twice since we came into the forest. Your mother and I have been searching everywhere.”

She showed her father the flower. “The Faerie Queen gave it to me so I could give it to Mother.”

Her father smiled, but fear spread across his face like a stain. Three days later he was dead.

AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

I think I became a writer because the world inside my head was so real and vivid, sometimes more so than the outside world. In some sense I have lived parallel lives, present in my real and imaginary lives in different ways. Because much of my childhood was spent searching for faeries or reading about them, it is natural that my work encompasses fairy tale themes and other magical elements. In the words of Tennessee Williams, forget reality, give me magic!

Adrienne has previously published short stories in The Storyteller, Beginnings Magazine, New Plains Review, and in the e-zines A Fly in Amber, Grim Graffiti, Les Bonnes Fees, The Altruist, The Devilfish Review, and Rose Red Review. Her short story, Falling was awarded second place in the 2008 Alice Munro short fiction contest. To Dance in Liradon is her first published novel.

An avid reader of fairy tales and other magical stories, a thread of the mysterious or unexpected runs through all of her work. When she’s not writing Adrienne can be found searching for faeries along with her daughters Callista and Juliet.

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*Adrienne will be awarding the winner's choice of a Kindle touch, Nook Simple Touch, or a $100 Apple gift card, and one crystal Faerie necklace similar to what Brigid wore to the Faerie ball to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.*

As always, the more comments you leave on the tour, the better your chances of winning are! You can find the Tour Schedule here.

My Thoughts:

I really like the cover. It almost looks magical.

This was a tale of Faerie. I both liked and disliked parts of it. The fact that I have such strong feelings says that Adrienne Clarke did a good job writing this enchanting book.

When Brigid was eight years old she was essentially ostracized by the town. You see, she was lost in the forest for a few days. While lost, she spoke to the faerie queen and lived to tell about it. Three days later her Dad died, the rains would not stop for a long time, and a few others were taken from their homes and never returned. The town blamed her. As she grew and became an adult the town still feared that she was cursed. This was one of the things I really disliked about this story. Why do they have to be so mean????

Her mother announces one day out of the blue that she should marry Connell. She wants to wait and marry for love but she agrees to marry him to ease her mother's mind. I admire Brigid's sense of loyalty to her mother but at times I felt like I had whiplash because she would go back and forth about her feelings or decisions. Connell was good, loyal, and caring not just to her but to everyone.

I had quite a few get real moments. Things happen and I was shaking my head saying yeah right, as if.

I don't want to spoil anything so let me just say that the fair folk get involved in the story again about now and the twists and turns, deceit and lies get pretty deep.  This story was pretty entertaining. 
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I honestly thought it was an entertaining adventure.

Question: How long could you live in a town where everyone hated you?

I'd love to know what you're thinking. Please leave a comment!