Myla by Moonlight [Paperback]

Inez Kelley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2010

 

Magic bites…

 

Created at Prince Taric’s birth, Myla is a spell, an enchantment designed to appear and protect him when he needs it most. She has always been content to do her duty…until one night of forbidden passion leaves her longing to experience life—and love—as a mortal woman. Yet the risk is too great. Even if her blood runs as red as his, she can never give him the one thing he needs: a child.

 

Taric’s blessing—and his curse—is knowing the kingdom’s future depends on his producing an heir to continue the bloodline. His bond with Myla has always been that of protector and protected. When it suddenly becomes something much more, he unwittingly sentences his people to certain death.

 

An old enemy is plotting to destroy all he holds dear: his lands, his people, his father, and his lover. And this time, even if they fight tooth and blade, their shared magic may not be enough to save them…

 

Warning: This book contains a shape-shifting bodyguard, sizzling sex scenes, supernatural lilac mist, swordfighting and heartbreaking sacrifices. No jaguars were harmed in the writing of this story.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Myla by Moonlight is one of the best books I’ve read in a quite some time. The author has brilliant talent. Not only was I drawn in completely by this magical story as it unfolded, but I was impressed with how beautifully it was composed. This author could teach a class on showing vs. telling with her flawlessly written sensual details.”
~ Long and Short Reviews

“Myla by Moonlight takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride that has many happy endings. A story that I can firmly say you will want in your fantasy/paranormal library to be re-read many times.”
~ Joyfully Reviewed
 

About the Author

Inez Kelley writes what she reads, which is pretty much anything with a romantic flair. Deep in the boonies of Appalachia, she lives with her hero, three school-age sequels and two cats. Following the logic of her scattered mind, she took her honors-level advertising degree and became first a restaurant manager and then an E911 dispatcher. Finally the voices in her head became too loud to ignore.
She now divides her time between creating stories that touch your heart and picking up piles of dirty underwear and socks off the floor, since no one in her family has the ability to actually hit the clothes hamper. The NBA is safe from her genes.
Stop by http://inezkelley.com/ and drop her a note. Or you can check out one of two blogs: http://chicks-n-scratching.com/ or http://talesfromthecrit.wordpress.com/.
 

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Samhain Publishing (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1605047740
• ISBN-13: 978-1605047744
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,910,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I hear voices. But more than that, I see faces and stories that unfold in my mind in full vivid color and sound. I thought it was just my burden (yes, burden) until I put pencil to paper. (Yes, pencil and paper. This was a bazillion years ago before computers came into my world.)

I have poor vision and have worn glasses since age three. This somewhat limited my ability to take part in sports or whatever outside. I have limited depth perception, which means I walked into my share of walls. The sun was too bright and would zero in through my lenses, blinding me. Plus, I didn't like getting sweaty. So I would read. And did I read!

I consumed books like chocolate, never getting enough. I would spend babysitting dollars at yard sales and walk away with WAGON LOADS of books. I didn't care what they were; they were food for the soul. Sci-fi, mystery, police drama, romance, you name it, if it had a cover, I read it. Getting to the library in my rural town was hard during the summer but those five and ten cent books kept me fed. I read books I would cringe to let my pre-teen read now.

A friend in elementary school wrote a story and I liked it. I realized then she, like me, had a world in her head no one else knew about. So I wrote a tale. And another. And another And have never stopped. My stories grew as I did from young adult (before there was a specific genre called that) to romance.

Why romance? It was the theme that ties everything I read together. Star Trek to Murder in a Small Town to Scruples, everywhere I looked was love. So that is where I found my home; in love, in romance and all the flavors it had to offer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing read, December 31, 2010

By 

JEANNENE WALKER (Vilonia, AR, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Myla by Moonlight (Paperback)

Inez Kelly goes out of her way to bath the reader in a rich tapestry of visual and visceral images in this beautiful fantasy of love and war. When the crown prince falls in love with his mystical guardian, he must find a way to make her human. The resulting conflict is resolved with stunning action and heart wrenching emotion.

The bottom line is this is a wonderful love story that will keep you turning the pages to very end.

This is a must read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Curiosity Killed the Cat, October 7, 2010

By 

fredtownward "The Analytical Mind; Have Brain... (Mocksville, North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Myla By Moonlight (Kindle Edition)

Men of the Segur bloodline suffer under an unusual "curse": they can only conceive children with a magic-marked heartmate. To make things worse, this bond only works one way; should a true heartmate refuse or never be found, the Segur man is doomed to childlessness; should a bonded heartmate die, madness looms. Of course there are advantages as well; such marriages tend to be very strong, conflict among heirs is reduced along with their numbers, and a Segur man can sow his wild oats without having to pray for crop failure.

This would be complication enough in an ordinary family, but in a royal family it becomes an ongoing crisis: a royal heir must be produced, must survive to adulthood, must heart bond successfully, must produce an heir himself, and so on. Perhaps it was in order to improve the odds for her newborn son, Crown Prince Taric of the kingdom of Eldwyn, that Queen Tarsha, reputedly the greatest sorceress of her age, made her dying gift to him: a magical guardian, Myla, sometimes woman, sometimes cat, but always deadly and always indestructible,...

until a session of Prince Taric's wild oat sowing is interrupted by an assassination attempt, and Myla receives what in a mortal would be a mortal wound. Magic restores her magic-born body but cannot restore the status quo. Myla is beginning to think like a woman rather than a coldblooded killing machine, and Prince Taric is beginning to realize how much Myla means to him.

Chaos ensues because the ongoing bitter and violent struggle for the throne of Eldwyn is about to escalate significantly and get a lot more complicated. Can a magical guardian become a real woman? If so, at what cost?

As I noted to unnecessary length in my review of the sequel, Salome at Sunrise, which due to circumstances beyond my control, I read first, any description of Myla or Salome as "just a spell" is a gross oversimplification. What becomes clear in this novel is the reason for this gross oversimplification: magic fearing people's preference not to know the truth. Even King Balic, who loved Queen Tarsha more than he hated her magic, didn't really want to know the details concerning the magical guardian of his only son and heir!

Those who would never be caught dead reading a romance novel can take comfort from the knowledge that in addition to the lovey-dovey (or in this case the sexy-wexy) this is a pretty interesting novel of military conflict and political intrigue, complicated by shape shifting and magic and the local form of government: feudalism, which makes the king more first among equals than absolute ruler. (There's a fascinating and pivotal royal trial of Prince Taric for breach of promise near the end.) Author Inez Kelley keeps the suspense wound to the highest pitch by tossing in twists, twists to the twists, twists to the twists to the twists, etc., all logical, all defendable, but really annoying to those of us who consider ourselves smart enough to figure out how things are going to turn out. An Inez Kelley story isn't over 'til it's over, not 'til the last chapter is read, the epilogue is read, maybe not until the ads at the end are read! Despite what the brief book descriptions might have lead you to believe, these two books are quite different because of the differing circumstances and more importantly IMHO the differing personalities of the protagonists: fierce killer Myla versus peace bringer Salome and playboy Prince Taric versus grim would-be suicide Bryton. To my surprise this was the grimmer book with a blood drenched finale while Salome at Sunrise was in many ways a light romantic comedy by comparison.

Defects? About the only thing I can find to complain about is the lack of a map, without which I found it difficult to keep track of all the movements. Perhaps this is more of an issue for the male reader who would like to find his way around this imaginary realm WITHOUT having to ask for directions.

Note: The concluding book in this "Born of Magic" trilogy "Darach in Darkness" is coming out around the beginning of 2011.

Note: For full disclosure I won an ecopy of this book from the author rather than purchasing it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Hearts from TRS!, May 24, 2010

By 

Tina Pavlik "Tina" (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Myla By Moonlight (Kindle Edition)

Myla by Moonlight is an erotic fantasy filled with magic, enchantment, fierce loyalty and devotion entwined with very human fears and desires. I really enjoyed my journey into Inez Kelley's world and the way she slowly accustoms Myla to her human form and emotions. Taric's feelings for Myla are genuinely male, even when he gets exasperated with her. I was delighted by their banter and games of one-upmanship. And loved the way Myla got really angry with Taric for his high-handedness and made him suffer for it, literally.

Ms. Kelley's secondary characters are a delight as well. Bryton, Taric's captain and best friend is a perfect counterpart to Taric, respecting Taric as his prince but giving him just enough sass as his best friend to keep the lordly prince humble.

I highly recommend Myla by Moonlight for readers who enjoy sensuous tales loaded with magic and suspense that will keep you turning pages. - Kathryn