This is my post during the blog tour for Scarred Beauty by Jennifer Silverwood. Scarred Beauty is the second book in the Young Adult Fantasy Fairytale series Wylder Tales.
This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours and the tour runs from 1 till 14 April. You can see the tour schedule here.
By Jennifer Silverwood
Genre: Fairytale/ Fantasy
Age category: Young Adult/ New Adult
Release Date: 31 March 2024
Blurb:
When the Beast wakens, nothing will stop him from claiming his bride, even if it means destroying everyone she loves.
Vynasha is certain of two things: she is forever bound to the monster who loves her, and she can never return to Castle Bitterhelm again. Escape has come at a high cost, and though Vynasha freed the imprisoned beasts, she has awakened an ancient evil that now stalks her. For the curse is unfinished with the one the prophecy spoke of, and Grendel continues to haunt her dreams.
This time she won’t fight the oncoming darkness alone.
Ceddrych may not be her brother by blood, but their bond has only grown stronger. When the wolves they’ve found refuge with threaten them, Ceddrych and Vynasha must fight together to overcome enemies around them. Danger lurks at every corner, and only by playing the pack alpha’s games can they survive the winter.
One thing rings true in the waking world and her dreams: Grendel won’t sleep forever.
Only by claiming her powers can Vynasha protect her newfound family and prevent the ruination of Wylderland. A dark tale of enchantment and woe, perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Holly Black, Scarred Beauty is the second installment of the epic Wylder Tales Series!
Excerpt:
Bang! Bang!
They jumped
as the barred door rattled in its frame.
“Come out,
Wanderer,” a harsh voice called from the other side. “Come and see the cost of
harboring your witch!”
Vynasha
wrapped her arms around her curled legs. Her awareness spiked as her new
beastly senses took over. “Ceddrych?”
He
spoke with the village council. What else has been said?
Ceddrych met
her gaze and a flash of guilt burning behind his gaze.
The voices
on the other side of the wall grew louder.
“My boy is
ill because of your witch, Wanderer!” a woman shouted.
“Yes,”
growled an older male, “we know you took her outside the village, no doubt to
practice her dark magick.”
“Who knows
what she summoned from that infernal castle!”
“—not one of
us!”
“She’ll
murder our children!”
Vynasha dug her
forehead into her knees and placed her hands against her ears as the villagers
continued to jeer beyond the walls. Until Ceddrych’s hands tugged at her wrists
until she surrendered to his hold. His smile transformed his world-weary face
to the boy she remembered.
A sob caught
in her throat as he pressed his forehead to hers, at his acceptance, at the
reminder that he had claimed her regardless. He would always choose her.
Ceddrych’s eyes
flashed wolfish green as he pulled away, the only outward sign of his internal
fury. He squeezed her wrists briefly in comfort as he released her. Only then,
with his back turned, did he seem to grow taller. Magick of the forest, of loam
and pine, snow and moss, filled the cabin as her brother crossed the cabin to
unbar the door.
“Why have
you come?” Ceddrych’s voice cut through the din and stunned the villagers into
silence. “Why do you threaten us when Vynasha has not left my side beyond the
walls of this cabin?”
“If she is
so harmless, why did my Asa’s cough begin the day she arrived?” the woman from
before snarled. “Tell me, how is my boy so weakened he can hardly stand from
his bed!”
“What if we
are all infected with her curse?” someone called.
“Never
suffer a witch to live!” another cried.
“Stay back,
damn you!” Ceddrych threw his arms to brace against the door frame and began to
tremor. “Children fall sick every day. My own sister has been recovering from
what those monsters did to her.”
Vynasha
cringed at the unspoken implication. Were the villagers somehow right, after
all? Had she carried some dark magick with her?
“Our
children never fall ill. Our blood has always protected us,” an older
male growled. “You have been with us a short time, Wanderer, you do not
understand our ways.”
“He is not
one of us!” the first woman shouted. “The lone wolf has no place among our pack.”
“Onya is
right,” an elderly woman agreed, “you agreed to live among us, but you refuse
to protect us.”
“Enough,
Gira!” Balos interrupted in his deep voice. “You have said your piece.
Wanderer, you know the rules of our pack…”
“Vynasha has
done no spell! I would have felt it,” Ceddrych protested.
“And how do
you explain Asa’s illness?” Balos asked. “How do you explain the stench
of evil infecting our village? We warned you what would happen if she called
the beast again. Such magick is forbidden in these lands for a reason.”
Oh,
Saints, the amulet, she
thought. It had been burning when she woke. Had Grendel called to her dream, or
had she called to his? Bile rose to the back of her throat. Was the boy’s
illness truly her fault?
“We have
survived all these years because we kept noses to the ground and away
from the lost city,” Balos continued. “Anyone who breaks our law draws the
city’s evil to us. And there is only one punishment for such a crime.”
“You can’t!”
Ceddrych cried.
“We cannot
suffer a witch to live among us,” Balos snapped back.
“Vynasha is
my sister, she is under my protection. And if any of you so much as look
at her wrong, I will show you exactly how savage I can be.”
“You cannot
endanger our lives like this!” the elderly woman from before cried. “Would you
sacrifice everyone in this village for that witch? Mayhap you practice dark magick
as well?”
“Better her
life than yours,” Ceddrych growled.
The voices
rushed together, overlapping with one another.
Vynasha
gasped and stumbled forward until her forehead pressed against the door of the
cabin. She couldn’t let them harm Ceddrych, she wouldn’t.
Even
if I need to become the monster they fear.
The elder
male who had spoken before released growling shout. “Silence!”
Vynasha’s
claws bit into the wood and she drew in a breath filled with brewing violence
as the male continued.
“We took this
lone wolf in as one of our own, because he is a protector, by blood right. That is enough claim for
him to make his home among us. Let him plead his case, but I warn you, boy, do
not threaten or lie to us again unless you seek exile.”
Vynasha
peeked through the crack between the wood and the world beyond. The sun blinded
her sight at first, masking shady figures in heavy furs. Yet at the edge of her
vision she could also see a woman with scales instead of skin and fire-red
hair, three men half the size of the other villagers with beards trailing to
their knees, and did she imagine a child with wings? The wylderfolk clung to
the outskirts, the shadows, watching with solemn faces. But the closest
villagers’s eyes were gleaming luminous emerald like the wolves, with the
promise of a fight.
Ceddrych’s
back was to her, his shoulders heaving as he lifted his head and faced the
wolves. “All I know is that my sister was a prisoner in that castle, a victim…
just like your missing daughters.”
The crowd
shifted and a soft wind carried whispers of ageless sorrow.
Ceddrych
straightened to his full height and turned to face a wrinkled male with
feathers instead of hair, and the round eyes of a hawk. “Galtis, you and the
other council named me a protector. Now you ask me to turn my back on Vynasha
because you’re afraid of what you don’t understand. If it were your daughter,
your sister standing here, could you abandon them so easily? Would you?”
“Our
daughters knew the cost of answering the beast’s call, far better than you,
Wanderer,” Galtis replied with a bird-like tilt of his head.
“You speak
of what you do not understand,” Gira, the elderly woman from before, snarled
and her words shredded with her voice into a wolf’s bark. “Every day she spends
is another we risk bringing the wrath of her upon us all!”
The others
continued to rave, their protests growing louder, pressing closer. Vynasha
closed her eyes and clawed at the amulet burning like ice against her skin.
Balos broke
his silence. “Our elders speak true, Wanderer. Whoever your sister was
before she entered the lost city is no more. We can all see the marks of her
change, the mark of evil. And you know the law. We cannot suffer a witch to
live.”
Vynasha
shifted on her toes and fought the flare of magick heating her blood. She
braced her hands against the wooden door so hard her hands bled.
Links:
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Craving Beauty by Jennifer Silverwood
A dark tale of enchantment and woe. Become the beast's bride or become a monster herself.
Links:
- Goodreads
- Amazon
- iBooks
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
- Books2Read
Jennifer Silverwood has been involved in the publishing world since 2012 and is passionate about supporting the writing community however she can. After studying traditional art at university, she began helping Qamber Designs bring authors’ books to life. In real life, she’s a mom of two, a passionate reader, and an occasional artist. Jennifer is the author of three series—Wylder Tales, Heaven’s Edge Novellas, and the Borderlands Saga—and the stand-alone romance titles Stay and She Walks in Moonlight.
Author links:
- Website
- Website book page
- Goodreads
- Books2Read
- Newsletter
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Scarred Beauty. One winner wins a signed hardcover copy of Craving Beauty and Scarred Beauty + swag.
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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