This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of The Elf Queen .
A brightly lit Christmas tree glows with warm light and the Christmas spirit on a cold winter night in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
As a family law attorney for many years, I experienced many difficult holidays through the lives of my clients. We all want that magic time that each special day brings—for Christmas, it’s either the evening of Christmas Eve, going to church and opening presents with family, or Christmas morning around the tree, with cups of coffee and hot chocolate and the squeals of joy.
Unfortunately, there are many who don’t get to have those moments. A child is singular; they can’t be in more than one place at one time. Fractured families have broken hearts, so very often.
If a child is lucky, his parents will work together to give him the best time they can. It calls for sacrificing one’s own priorities and happiness to elevate that child’s experience.
Childhood is a time of magic. We are discovering the world, and all its mysteries. We ask “Why?” all the time, endeavoring to find out more about our lives, about all facets of it. Why does water come out of the faucet? Why does your hair stand on end when you scuff your feet? Why do some trees lose their leaves, and some stay ever green? So many surprises, so many chances for happiness.
But for those unlucky children, the magic gradually chips away. Doors are closed. Emotions are quietly shut down. It seems as though joy goes first; can you imagine a world without joy? Why would you want your child to live in that place? And not just for those young years, but without the hope for magic and joy, that closing-off continues into adulthood. The days become plodding, dull and listless.
This is the world in which Jelani Marsh finds herself, in The Elf Queen. A barista in Missoula, Montana, she’s failed at college, at love, and feels like she’s failing at life, too. Her mother is long gone, her father as well. The only one left is the stepmother she always resented. Her life has lost its magic. Little does she know, she’s about to encounter magic like she’s never experienced it before, in the hidden story of sacrifices made by her own family in years past.Jelani, along with her quirky friends, Lane, Crispy and Iris, discover an incredible journey, and take on one themselves. Is magic out there for everyone? Read along and find out.
When Jelani tries on a real glass slipper left lying on the sidewalk, it splits in half and out pours dozens of two-inch high creatures who scurry away into the shadows.
As if that’s not bizarre enough, she is soon approached by two men claiming (of all things) to be elves who need her help to rescue their queen.
Lyndi Alexander has been a published writer for more than forty years, after working as a pizza maker, a floral designer, a journalist and ta family law attorney. Currently a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the aging hippie loves her time in the smoky blue mountains. She writes romance and suspense as Alana Lorens, and sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal mystery as Lyndi Alexander.. She lives with her daughter on the autism spectrum, who is the youngest of her seven children, and she is ruled by three crotchety old cats, and six kittens of various ages.
Buy the book at DFP Books.
Magic is out there. ANd it is special
Sounds like a unique take on Cinderella with the magic shoe. Imagination IS the source of magic.
interesting book