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The Undine’s Tear by Talena Winters  released in May in the Young Adult epic historical fantasy genre.

She’s destined to save the world . . . if she doesn’t destroy it first.

Calandra’s destiny is also her doom. As the most powerful healer since the woman who sank Atlantis, she’s been raised to restore the Heartstone that protects her island from humans . . . before she goes Mad like her mother and all the powerful undine healers before her. When she learns she needs both male and female magic to succeed, she becomes desperate—there hasn’t been an undine male born for over three thousand years. Instead, she’s being pressured to use the siren mind-bond to enslave her childhood friend, the one man she’s sworn to risk a death sentence to free.

When Calandra discovers a cryptic message that shows her exiled mother was not only sane but pregnant with a boy, she questions everything she’s been taught to believe. But revealing the horrifying truth of the bonds could tear her island apart—and concealing it could unleash the Earth’s oldest, most destructive enemy. With insanity looming, can Calandra find her brother and save the Heartstone, the man she loves, her people, and the world . . . before she loses control and destroys them all?

The Undine’s Tear is the first book in the mind-blowing young adult epic historical fantasy series Rise of the Grigori. Packed with complex characters, lush world-building, gritty action, and impossible odds, this intricately woven tale presents mermaids like you’ve never seen them before. Join Calandra in a search for redemption that will threaten the very fabric of the universe. Dive into the adventure today!

“You are wondering how to gain control of your powers,” Damon said without preamble.

Calandra thought about ignoring him or denying it, but what was the point? This was nothing more than a dream, and the slippery logic of dreams fuzzed her will to keep her more rebellious thoughts to herself.

“You know, I shouldn’t even be talking to you. An Unredeemed male. I could get in big trouble.”

The corners of his mouth curved under his trim goatee.

“And who will report you?” He indicated the blackness around them. “Certainly not I. I exist only in your mind.”

She crossed her arms and cocked her head, studying him. “Have you ever been Redeemed?”

His expression became stony. “Redemption is for humans.”

“Redemption is for men. To make them safe. It just happens that the only men are human.”

Thinking of Osaze’s dread, she wondered again at the morality of it. Uncrossing her arms, she shifted her gaze from Damon’s face to his bronze chest.

“And one of them is my friend.”

“All humans should be controlled,” he replied nonchalantly, drawing nearer. “They have not the patience nor discipline to control themselves. And I am not human, yet I am male.”

She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. “I can see that. What are you? I’ve never seen an undine with golden eyes.”

He smiled knowingly. “Not human. But I could be your friend.”

That same feeling of security and warmth from their first encounter enveloped her, as though he were projecting it from himself intentionally. She frowned, wanting to accept it and shake off her heavy heart, but not daring to trust him yet.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to help you.”

Damon came near enough to touch her but didn’t, pausing before her with his arms to the sides in a placating gesture.

She wrapped her arms around herself and glared into the blackness beyond him. “Yeah, well, you can’t. Not unless you can tell me how to control powers that could sink an island and heal the Heartstone without going Mad.”

“Little lark,” he said, amusement dripping from his voice like honey from a spoon, “that is exactly what I intend to do.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Talena Winters is addicted to stories, tea, chocolate, yarn, and silver linings. She writes page-turning fiction for teens and adults in multiple genres, coaches other writers, has written several award-winning songs, and designs knitting patterns under her label My Secret Wish. Master of the ironic GIF response. She currently resides on an acreage in the Peace Country of northern Alberta, Canada, with her husband, three surviving boys, two dogs, and an assortment of farm cats. She would love to be a mermaid when she grows up.

Can you tell us more about the series as a whole?

Sure! The official series description is:

Packed with complex characters, lush world-building, gritty action, and impossible odds, this intricately woven tale presents mermaids like you’ve never seen them before. Join Calandra in a search for redemption that will threaten the very fabric of the universe.

So far, the series includes two books, plus a standalone prequel novella that readers can get for free when they sign up to my newsletter at www.talenawinters.com.

In The Undine’s Tear, we’re introduced to the world of the undines (UN-deens or un-DEENS), an isolated island somewhere in the Atlantic where the all-female undine race has protected, and been protected by, the Heartstone that powers their island’s barrier for thousands of years. Since they’ve lost the ability to produce their own males, they have to capture human men to survive—whom they enslave using the siren mind-bond.

As the queen’s niece and the most powerful healer since the woman who sank their original home of Atlantis, the heroine, Calandra, has been raised to heal the Heartstone and protect her island at any cost—even her own sanity, since every powerful healer before her has gone insane eventually. But when she receives a cryptic message from the mother who abandoned her when she was a baby that hints her mother might have been pregnant with a boy, and that the men she’s been raised to fear are not as dangerous as she’s been led to believe, her entire world is shaken and she starts looking for answers to the mysteries that surround her people and their history… and the brother she never knew she had.

The series is the story of both Calandra and her brother Zale as they uncover the reasons for the devolution of their culture, the divine purpose the undines forgot, and the plans of a nefarious, power-hungry fallen angel who wants nothing more to rule the entire cosmos by using the powerful brother-sister duo to accomplish his goals.

It’s full of adventure, action, and a world you never knew existed right under our noses.

I hope you enjoy the dive!

Books in the series:

The Undine’s Tear (Book 1)

The Sphinx’s Heart (Book 2)

The Waterboy (Standalone prequel)

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This post is part of a tour. The tour dates can be found here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2022/02/nbtm-undines-tear-by-talena-winters.html

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

• a hardback copy of The Undine’s Tear (Rise of the Grigori Book 1)
• and also The Sphinx’s Heart (Rise of the Grigori Book 2) to a randomly drawn winner (International Giveaway)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4112

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