Guest Post and Giveaway of A Ranger's Tale and Serenya's Song by Mysti Parker

I decided to do something a bit different today. I figured I would have the awesome author, Mysti Parker, tell us about the Tallenmere series she has created, and give the lucky reader's a chance to win an e-copy of the books. I've read the first book in the series, and trust me, you do not want to miss out on this series.

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Hiya peeps! And a big thanks to Kayla for letting me visit today. I'm jazzed to announce the second book in my Tallenmere fantasy romance series, Serenya's Song, available now from Melange Books!

In case you’re wondering, Tallenmere is a fantasy world that is rather Tolkienesque. In the first three books, the focus is on the elves, whereas in The Lord of the Rings, our pointy-eared protagonists existed as more of a whimsical side plot. If you enjoy fantasy mixed with sensual romance, you'll enjoy this series!

Readers from every corner of the world fell in love right along with Caliphany and Galadin in A Ranger's Tale and felt the twang of Jayden Ravenwing's broken heart. Now, Jayden, the sexy wood-elf secret agent, gets another shot at love. He's met his perfect match in Serenya, a beautiful half-elf with a love of music and art that matches his own.

But, Serenya is no ordinary woman. She can interpret dreams, and she has this curious birth defect that she hides under fawn leather gloves.

Now, I pose a question to you: If you could have a supernatural ability, what would it be? Answer below in the comments, and one lucky reader will win a copy of BOTH A Ranger’s Tale (PDF or Kindle) and Serenya’s Song (PDF)!

Take a look at the blurb and an exciting excerpt to see what's in store for these two:

In the fantasy world of Tallenmere, no one ever said love was easy...

Serenya Crowe may be a half-elf commoner, but she's no ordinary woman. With the ability to interpret dreams, and a birth defect that forces her to wear gloves, she's endured gossip and the cruelty of her husband, Sebastian, The Earl of Summerwind. All she's ever wanted is to live a quiet life and raise a family. When she meets the new stranger in town, her world and her heart, are turned upside down.

Wood-elf Jayden Ravenwing is an ex-secret agent who wants nothing more than to forget matters of the heart. He left the bustle of Leogard and his failed marriage to make a fresh start in Summerwind. He never planned to fall in love again, especially with the enchanting Serenya Crowe.

When a strange portal opens on the Crowe property, Jayden is thrown into an investigation, knowing that if he fails, Serenya and everyone in the town may die.
Together, he and Serenya must overcome an ancient evil, and their own inner demons, to save Summerwind and find the love they've always dreamed of.

Excerpt from Chapter 17:

Serenya
Jayden gripped the body of his harp until his knuckles turned white. “He treats you like one of his possessions. Why do you stay with him?”
A crash came from the storage room, followed by a curse from Dad. Jayden’s head whipped toward the sound. His arm reached out protectively in front of me.
 I put a hand on his elbow and gently pushed it back down. “Dad’s just dropped something. I’ll go have a look. Why don’t you stay here and play for the customers?”
 Though I didn’t look forward to cleaning up a mess, at least it had saved me from Jayden’s probing question. I’d already pushed my husband too far tonight. Telling Jayden about everything would only make matters worse. I couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt or me being locked away.
 I passed through the curtain. One of the barmaids had beaten me in there. She shrugged, picked up the empty tray from the floor, and went back outside. Luckily, the tray had been the only casualty. Dad was leaning against the basin, head hung low, like he could fall asleep any minute.
 “Dad?”
 He jerked his head up. “I’m fine.”
 “Dad, you’re exhausted. Please, tell me about these dreams of yours. They must be horrible if you aren’t sleeping.”
 He shook his head and started filling the basin with water.
 “I just want to help.” I laid a hand on his arm. “It’ll do you good to get it off your chest.”
“All right.” He pulled out a crate from under the basin and sat on it. I squatted in front of him. “In the dream, there was this shadow over my bed. I couldn’t make out its form, except it had these eyes. These big, glowing eyes like a reptile. It choked me until I couldn’t breathe, and then it flew out the window. I don’t know why, but I jumped out after it, and I saw everyone in the town standing around, staring and pointing at me. They started laughing, and this shadowy creature—it was the oddest thing, Renny. It looked like it was wrapping itself around all of them, like a snake squeezing the life out of a rat. They were naked, except for this thing around them.” He scratched his head and winced. “And the crazy part was, I was naked too. When it started wrapping around me, I woke up. It’s been much the same every night.”
I closed my eyes and sat back on my heels. Dad’s words penetrated the window of my mind. A churning, black mass blurred everything in sight. A rush of air blew it away. I concentrated carefully as the town of Summerwind came into view. My vision carried me overhead, as if I was flying through the night sky over the center of town. I passed over our tavern, recognized Sammy’s store, the bank where Mrs. Carvo spread the juiciest gossip, the small pavilion in the center of the square where I sat for hours and listened to traveling musicians play.
No one stirred. I shivered at the atmosphere. Deathly quiet, unnaturally still. My vision brought me closer, farther down. Silhouettes of people came into view. But they were everywhere—on the ground below, on the terraces and porches. And then I realized, they were bodies. All of them. Cold, dead, dismembered bodies. In the bushes, draped over the wrought iron benches of the park, pieces of the people I’d grown up with all my life were scattered about the walkways and littered the flower beds. Speeding closer to the ground, I flew faster than the mightiest wind, directly over the carnage, so close I could have touched the tattered flesh had I been there in body. I even held my breath, afraid to smell the putrid scent of death.
And suddenly, I stopped—right on the edge of town, at a place so familiar, I knew it by scent. Lilly’s cottage. My vision turned toward her fence, where so many times we had sat by the roses and spoke as freely as two friends can. On two of the finials, like grisly ornaments, perched her head and beside it, the head of Sammy, her fiancé. Maggots pulsated from their hollowed-out eye sockets, dropping on the roses below.
My eyes shot open. Head spinning, I fell to the floor, paddling my feet until my back hit the shelf behind me. A mug toppled from overhead and shattered on the tile. I tried to push myself to stand. A shard of glass cut through my glove and bit into my palm. Dad grabbed my arms. I screamed.
“Renny, what did you see?”
He knelt in front of me, pale, his eyes full of fear. I held my hand in front of me and watched the blood soak through my glove and drip onto my knees. Warm, delicious, intoxicating blood. Slowly, I drew my hand to my mouth and licked.
Dad shook me. “Renny! What happened? What is it?”
Jayden burst through the curtain. He was beside me in an instant and whipped the bar towel from Dad’s shoulder. He pulled out the shard of glass, removed my glove, and wrapped my hand in the towel.
“Serenya—are you all right?” He turned to Douglas. “What happened? You don’t look well, either.”
Dad stared at him wild-eyed for a moment. His jaw trembled. “She…she saw something. A dream I had. I don’t know what it was though.” Dad touched my cheek. I flinched. “Renny, Jay’s here. Tell him what happened. Please.”
I looked up at Jayden, pushed myself to my knees, and sobbing, melted into his arms.
                                             
    ******

Mysti Parker is a full time wife, mother of three, and a writer. Her first novel, A Ranger’s Tale was published in January, 2011 by Melange Books, and is the first in a fantasy romance series. She is also the proud writer of Unwritten, a blog voted #3 for eCollegeFinder’s Top Writing Blogs award.

Email: mystiparker@yahoo.com
Unwritten Blog
Twitter: @MystiParker
Facebook Page
Goodreads Page
A Ranger's Tale
Serenya’s Song

THE GIVEAWAY
One lucky person will win ebook copies of A Ranger's Tale and Serenya's Song. There are just a few simple rules:

• Answer Mysti's question that she asked above
• Go to her Facebook page, and thank her for donating the ebooks.
• Follow my blog via GFC, Networked blogs, or Facebook.
• Leave a comment with the answer to the question, how you follow my blog, your Facebook name, and your email address.
• Winners will be chosen on 5/13 at 12:01 pm EST
• Winner will have 48 hours to reply to the email.

Good Luck and have fun!