How are you? It has been so hot here that my stargazer lilies burned and browned. A few weeks ago we had a birthday party for my daughter, who turned six, and enjoyed a 75 foot slip-n-slide in our backyard! The weather was hot and the yellow jackets stayed away. It was a wonderful time.
Yesterday was release day for Luminous!
Luminous: A Noblebright Fantasy Boxed Set
This is a fantastic boxed set (ebook only) of ten noblebright fantasy novels. They’re clean and noblebright, appropriate for YA and adult readers. I’ve raved about several of these books before, but others are new to me and I’m so glad to have discovered them!
My book in the set is The Lord of Dreams, a fairytale adventure with a coming of age element and a hint of romance. If you haven’t read The Lord of Dreams yet, I’ve included the prologue at the end of this post so you can get a taste of it. The prologue occurs about nine years before the novel begins.
What is noblebright?
Set apart by a sense of hope, noblebright fantasy includes at least one character who, although flawed, still deliberately pursues goodness. And that goodness has the power to make a difference. In a noblebright story, even villains are not without hope. Their redemption isn’t guaranteed, of course, but it is a possibility.
For a limited time , Luminous is at a special release price of only $2.99. Even if you already have The Lord of Dreams, you won’t want to miss this set!
Find it here:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Smashwords
Books included in Luminous:
The Lord of Dreams by C. J. Brightley
A Threat of Shadows by JA Andrews (link goes to my review)
Heir of Iron by J.S. Bangs
The Hawk and His Boy by Christopher Bunn
Chronicles of Steele: Raven: The Complete Story by Pauline Creeden (link goes to my review)
The Firethorn Crown by Lea Doué (link goes to my review)
Wolfskin by W.R. Gingell (link goes to my review)
Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani (link goes to my review)
Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland by L. Jagi Lamplighter
The Pygmy Dragon by Marc Secchia
Thank you for reading!
~ C. J. Brightley
The Lord of Dreams
Prologue
When Claire was seven, she had a very strange dream.
Impossibly tall trees towered above her, the sound of their distant rustling like whispers. The air in the dappled shadows was cool and still, broken only by a murmuring of unseen water. Claire looked down at her bare feet, skin pale against the deep green moss covering the earth. Static made her pink nightgown cling to her slim legs.
Where was she?
A fluttering overhead caught her ear, and she looked up, her eyes searching the shadowed branches. Nothing was visible, but the whispering of the leaves seemed to increase ominously. She began walking carefully toward the sound of water, chewing her lip.
What was this place?
Her feet padded on the moss as if it were thick green carpet, soft and cool against her skin. She made her way through sparse brush, the leaves parting before her invitingly.
Screech!
The sudden cry behind her made her start in fear, and she froze, looking back into the shadows. It was darker, as if the sun had not only disappeared behind a cloud, but descended to the horizon in a matter of moments.
Her heart thudded, and she whimpered a little. Another angry cry gave wings to her feet.
She flew through the brush, tiny twigs and leaves slapping her in the face and across the arms. She glanced behind her once, not sure what she expected to see.
Green eyes glinted in the twilight.
Claire cried out and stumbled when her foot hit a nearly buried rock. She fell headlong, her hands splashing into a pool of water.
“You aren’t right. You’re not what you’re supposed to be!”
Claire looked up to see a boy of about her own age glaring down at her.
“There’s a… a…” She pointed helplessly behind her, too terrified to look for the eyes of the creature that had pursued her.
“Yes. A cockatrice.” The boy’s blue glare intensified. His eyes were rimmed in red, and she had a fleeting thought that perhaps he had been weeping. “You should know better than to wake a sleeping cockatrice.” His eyes flicked behind her with a frisson of fear, and he grabbed her shoulder. “Back you go, then.” He pushed her into the pool of water, hurrying her deeper while glancing over his shoulder. A final shove sent her flailing, the water closing over her head. Her last glimpse of him was of his silver-white hair plastered down by water, one arm flung up against a beaked maw that struck with cobra-like speed. Claire screamed, water filling her mouth.
She woke, trembling and sweaty, tangled in her blankets.
Read more in Luminous!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Smashwords
