Goddess Fish Promotions Presents

Heartstone
by Clemency Crow

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Jeremy isn’t surprised his grandfather died. He’s surprised he had one.

When the family travel to Cumbria for the funeral arrangements, he realises his grandfather had an important job to complete. Jeremy’s grandfather was part of the Order of the Magi, who trapped an evil spirit away from our world, using the power contained within heartstones, and hidden in special places around the county.

But the heartstones need recharging every hundred years, so Jeremy and his strange new friend must find each stone, and complete dangerous tasks to prove they are worthy, before the power of the stones runs out and evil has control over the world.

5 out of 5

I’m (a lot) older than the target audience, but I found this to be captivating, with excellent character creation, smooth weaving of magic into our rather mundane world, and a storyline that keeps you captivated. The story starts off innocently enough, but quickly piques your interest, and before you know it, you’re drawn into a world of secret societies and magic and good vs evil. I loved the juxtaposition between Jeremy and Ben, and how easily they become friends. Their curiosity and determination are really a credit to both, but at the same time they feel realistic. Neither acts nor says things that seem completely out of left field for their ages, and as for Jeremy not knowing he had a grandfather, families can be complicated, so that wasn’t unbelievable at all. The action scenes during the special tasks absolutely got my heart racing. I will warn you, don’t think you can sit down and quickly read a few chapters and then just pick this up again later (that’s what I expected to do, and the next thing I knew I was halfway in, and it was many hours later). Highly recommend for all fantasy adventure lovers!

Jeremy fumbled around to try and find something he could use to defend himself, but there was nothing but the door. The only way he could escape alive was by going through there, but that would mean leaving Ben with the creature. Still, as the dragon advanced on him and opened its mouth to reveal the glow of fire, Jeremy grasped the door handle. Ben was still too far to make it in time, and Jeremy felt the fear mix with anger than Ben was putting both their lives in danger. The door handle was like a magnet. He could get out of the danger, and Ben was capable enough to find his own way out.

Jeremy froze. This wasn’t him. And Ben would never consider such a thought if the roles were reversed. What had been written in the flowers as the password? Hadn’t Ben been the first person he truly trusted? He couldn’t leave him to die here while he escaped to safety. He was disgusted he’d even considered it.

The serpent, during this time, had decided against fire, perhaps because it had failed to work last time. As Jeremy’s thoughts were brought back to the room, he realised the dragon was leaning its head back into order to getting more power when it struck. It had lowered its venomous fangs to attack him, and Jeremy tried to dodge out of the way, but the fire around him made it difficult to find a safe route away from the fangs. With a speed which would have impressed Jeremy if he had been thinking straight, Ben rushed forwards and pushed him out the way.

Jeremy watched in horror as the dragon lunged forwards and sank its poison into Ben’s arm, which he had raised to protect his head.

Amazon | Goodreads

Clemency is a primary school teacher, children’s author, and illustrator, based in rural Caithness with her family and two needy spaniels. In fact, Clemency is typing this one handed, because Jess cries if she isn’t stroked for five seconds.

When she isn’t writing, Clemency loves designing new parts of her garden, trying to find plants that will withstand the 70mph winds that are likely to batter them. She is oftentimes to be found tearing her hair out at the prevalence of ground elder in the flower borders, while cultivated species struggle to survive.

Clemency’s favourite genre to write, and read, is fantasy adventure. This gives her ample opportunity to put her long suffering characters in perilous situations.

Website | Blue Sky

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