As You Wish Reviews: Temperance (The Arcanian Chronicles Book 1) by Ella Frank New Release, Review and Giveaway

Temperance
(The Arcanian Chronicles Book 1)

by Ella Frank

New Release, Review and Giveaway

Release Date – January 13^th 2015

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1A9zHX2
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1AHPbEA
Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/1spJhHF
B & N: http://bit.ly/1wP0BCH

“Tell me about this place. This…Arcania.”
What if your life as you knew it ceased to exist?
That is the question Naeve Brannigan and her three sisters are faced with on the eve of their 25th birthday.
Continuing a tradition they’ve hidden from their mother for years, the four women arrive at a tarot shop to have their futures told.
Only this time their futures aren’t predicted—they’re forever changed.
They’ve awoken in a strange time and place with no knowledge of how they got there. All they have to go by is the word of a man who claims to be family—a family they’ve never heard of.
He tells them of a world they could never have imagined. One that has been cursed by an Empress fueled by old revenge—revenge their mother appears to be at the center of.
As they fight to survive the people and dangers of an unknown land, they slowly begin to unravel its mysteries to find that they hold the key to saving this world…this Arcania.
The question that remains for each of them is: Who do you become when the you that you always were is no longer?

“Don’t. Make. A. Sound.”
The low, gravelly voice reverberated through her as she felt a tear escape the corner of her eye. The arm that was banded across her chest was full-on muscle as it easily held her in place against a body that was as impenetrable as a brick wall.
Naeve didn’t move a muscle, but she lowered her eyes the best she could and saw a black leather glove that went halfway up that thick forearm. As the hand on her right shoulder tightened, she grimaced and felt the tip of the knife press against her throat.
“Where is your other sister?”
Naeve remained silent, not sure she could even remember how to speak, and then she felt those fingers grip her shoulder harder as they spun her around and pulled her up close.
The sight that greeted her was like something from her worst nightmare.
She couldn’t have imagined ever feeling the terror she felt right then. For that reason alone, she’d never known that her response would be to become one hundred percent paralyzed.
As she stared up at the towering figure before her, she had to wonder if maybe she was already dead and he’d been sent to collect her. Cloaked from head to toe in nothing but black, he almost blended into the shadows except for the shiny blade he had pointed at her throat. She couldn’t make out a face behind the hood and mask, but all she continued to hope was that, if he planned to kill her, he’d do it fast.

Original to its core, Ella Frank has once again delivered a turbulent story full of intricate characters, in a web of deceit and disloyalty, combined with strong, courageous individuals who will hopefully save the day. Based on a complex combination of myths and legends, this story finds its foundation on the Tarot cards of Divination. Using the Major Arcana to develop her main characters, our author has created a unique story full of fantasy, mystery, suspense, thrills and a sensual romance including the knight in shining armor. Of course there is a villain... in this case the sister of the Empress and keeper of one of the keys to the realm. Feeling jealous upon her sister's coronation as Empress and of the newly chosen partner as Emperor, events are set forth that will encompass the near destruction of the realm and will have far reaching tentacles into the world we currently live in.

In this realm where women have been cursed and driven away for the past 20 plus years, four sisters are transported to fulfill the devious plans of the evil usurper of the throne - The Empress Seraphina. Their individual gifts are their strengths and their weaknesses. The Empress Seraphina will not stop until she achieves her ultimate goal, spelling gloom and doom for the sisters, their mother (the true Empress) and their father (the missing Emperor).

It was 5 AM when I finally finished this book. I picked it up and could not put it down. There was no way I could leave this story and go to sleep. This is book 1, and there are plenty more adventures to come. I normally do not read fantasy, but when Ella Frank is involved, I will take a gamble feeling assured it will be a memorable story. I was not wrong!