Rowena Through the Wall: Expanded Edition (Land's End - book #1) [Kindle Edition]

Melodie Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Regular list price: $3.99 US
Book 1 in Land's End series

"Is that a broadsword on your belt, or are you just glad to see me?"

ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL: Expanded Edition

When Rowena falls through her classroom wall and lands in an alternate world, she doesn’t count on being kidnapped―not once, but twice―and the stakes get higher as the men get hotter.

College instructor Rowena Revel has a magical gift with animals and a huge problem. Gorgeous tunic-clad men keep walking through the wall of her classroom. If that isn't enough, she's being haunted by sexy dreams in a rugged land. Curious, she checks out the wall and falls through a portal into the world of her dreams.

After years of war, women are scarce. Rowena finds herself in a heap of man-trouble when she 'accidentally' marries distant cousin Ivan. Enter Cedric, who dabbles in black magic and has an even blacker heart. Throw in a Viking, the local wolf-king, a band of brigands and a goth-clad student who follows her through the portal, and Rowena is off on a rollicking adventure.

Unwanted husbands keep piling up, but that doesn't stop her from falling for the wrong brother. Not only that, she has eighteen year old Kendra to look out for and a war to prevent. Good thing she has the ability to go back through the wall. Or does she?

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This special expanded edition features an all-new ending based on a sequel I had planned. Due to the overwhelming response from readers who were too excited to wait, here's the entire story, including the thrilling conclusion to Rowena's journey.

REVIEWS:

"A hot, hilarious, romantic fantasy that enthralls you from the first line. If you enjoy Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, you'll adore Rowena and her riotous romps in an alternate world…" ―Midwest Book Review, Betty Dravis, author of Dream Reachers

"Filled with plenty of fun, action, and a main character that takes no prisoners, Rowena Through the Wall is an exciting romp through a fantasy world that will leave you completely and utterly satisfied." ―Allbooks Review

"This raunchy romp transports us to an alternate reality where being a woman presents unique challenges. Luckily, Rowena is equal to both challenge and challengers and never loses her sharp intelligence or sense of humor. She'll need both to survive! Fun and surprising." ―Mary Jane Maffini, award-winning author of The Busy Woman's Guide to Murder

"Time-travel romance with a rollicking sense of humor...A new dimension of romance in a parallel universe." ―Lou Allin, author of She Felt No Pain

"Filled with brutal, sword-swinging danger, yet sexy and funny, you'll be rooting for Row as she uses her head to stay alive and her heart to find love." ―Kelsey Lewis, author of Hot and Bothered

"Multi-published author, Melodie Campbell is a talented story teller. Her award-winning short stories pack a powerful punch and her alternate world fantasy novel, Rowena Through the Wall, is a rollicking, sexy romp through time." ―Dee Lloyd, award-winning author of Out of Her Dreams

"Rowena through the Wall is a wild ride of fantasy, with a lusty lady who male readers will wish had walked through a wall to them." ―Mark Alldis, former editor Distant Suns fantasy magazine

"Rowena is the most interesting, unique fictional character to come along since Lisbeth Salander. She is smart, witty and down to earth...I can't wait for Book Two!" ―Cathy Astolfo, author of Seventh Fire

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

By day, Melodie Campbell is a mild-mannered association executive; by night, she transforms into a fevered scribe of comedy and suspense. Melodie has a Commerce degree from Queen's University, but it didn't take well. She has been a banker, marketing director, comedy writer, association executive and college instructor. Not only that, she was probably the worst runway model ever. Melodie got her start as a humour columnist, so it's no surprise her fiction has been described by editors as 'wacky' and 'laugh out loud funny'. With over 200 publications, and three awards for short fiction, Melodie's work has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Star Magazine, Canadian Living Magazine, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Hamilton Spectator, New Mystery Reader, Mysterical-E and many more. Melodie is now the General Manager of Crime Writers of Canada. She lives in Oakville, Ontario with husband, two kids and giant Frankenpoodle. http://www.melodiecampbell.com

Product Details

• File Size: 575 KB
• Print Length: 264 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1926997522
• Publisher: Imajin Books; 2 edition (February 19, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007B4Q868
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,745 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not In Kansas Anymore July 9, 2011

By Author Emma Butler

Format:Paperback

The thing that led me to Rowena Through The Wall by Melodie Campbell was just that, the title. I love it because its just that little bit different. I was browsing Imajin, saw the title & it immediately intrigued me. Such a clever trick and the rest of the book is equally as clever.

I strongly recommend reading Rowena Through The Wall if you're looking for a strong romantic fantasy adventure with an amazing heroine and world building that will leave you thinking about it long after you put the book down. The hero involved is amazing of course, but what really had me hooked was the world building that Ms. Campbell has created. I'd love to see more books focused in this world!

Rowena as a heroine is perfect. She has a clear voice and you can't help but fall in love with her straight up. She's definitely not a cookie cutter heroine; I found myself loving her sense of humour and her uniqueness. Campbell has created a believable heroine that makes you want to get to know her. It creates a strong bond between the reader and Rowena because we're invested in her. Thankfully Ms. Campbell creates a gorgeous hero for Rowena, most definitely an alpha male protagonist. Which is just what everyone needs.

My favourite aspect of the book has to be the world building however. In the first few pages Rowena is in a classroom, which could not be more run of the mill. Ten seconds later there's a man taken right out of midnight fantasies standing there. But the way in which this is written is so clever that its completely believable. There's no information dumping or hard to get around world changes but just this complete immersion that completely suspends disbelief.

Rowena's classroom wall is a portal to another world, this expertly crafted alternate reality. Not content with wandering into classrooms the rugged men start to creep into her dreams too, which is where we first see Rowena in this world. You have to admire her prescence of mind and sense of humour when she's first pulled into it. Almost immediately she learns that she has a history she knows nothing about in this world, family, connections and a whole host of men surrounding her. The world is built so well though, that each of these things is absorbed by the reader - especially the men! - without it being confusing. We find ourselves learning as quickly as Rowena does. The book just completely draws you in. Un-put-down-able!

Besides well written romance there's an aura of mystery that surrounds the book, which only adds to the depth of the fantasy involvement. This band of beautiful beaus - see my alliteration - all have more than purely physical reasons for wanting Rowena. There's an accidental marriage to someone you wouldn't expect and a twist involving what was first a minor character that throws you in a good way!

I'd thoroughly recommend this book. The romance is well written and easily good enough to sell the book on its own but with the amazing world building Ms.Campbell has created, you can't not read it!

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Emotionally unbalanced and disturbing... February 26, 2012

By gimmebooks

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really liked the concept of the story and I actually enjoyed the world building too - which is why I didn't give it the lowest mark.

However...the way the heroine hopped from bed to bed was disturbing. Not because the bed hopping bothered me - the more the merrier I say! No - it was the way she would start off with any of the men: lustful, enthusiastic and totally involved. And then, all of a sudden, that same man - who always gave her much pleasure - would become a villain and evil and all kinds of bad...?

It's as if the author wanted to create a character who was comfortable with sex but needed to justify multiple partners by making those who came before the current lover evil, so she could feel ok about being with someone else now.

It was so jarring and uncomfortable it really destroyed the book for me.

I kept wanting to suggest to the heroine to take responsibility for her own actions and decisions instead of being a perpetual victim of 'evil' men who made her (in one way or another) incapable of saying 'no'.

I'm really quite annoyed that such a potentially good book was ruined with this dis-empowered heroine.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to put down! I'm panting, like a love-starved Cinderella! June 15, 2011

By Betty L. Dravis VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

Wow--author Melodie Campbell is certainly versatile! Some time ago, when I read a short horror story by her in an Alfred Hitchcock magazine, I never thought I'd see her name on a thrilling romance novel. But what a pleasure it turns out to be...

Just as Campbell had me biting my nails till the end of her horror story, with Rowena Through the Wall she has me panting for my own Prince, like a love-starved Cinderella.

This descriptive author hooked me from the first scene when the main protagonist, college instructor Rowena Revel, gets the shock of her life when a handsome hunk of a man appears in her classroom. He's dressed in medieval attire and carrying a sword... something out of the most romantic fantasy she's ever read. When she approaches him, he gets the shock of his life by the fact she can see him. When she speaks to him, he disappears right before her eyes.

Neither realize that Rowena's classroom wall is the magic portal that leads to the man's alternate world, so they are both baffled. Row starts having sexy dreams of gorgeous, tunic-clad men in a rugged country, but when they start walking through that wall at ease, her curiosity gets the best of her. Inevitably, when she begins investigating the wall, she accidentally falls through into an alternate universe where she is kidnapped, not once, but twice.

According to the book's pre-publicity "the stakes get higher as the men get hotter." Well, if that isn't a line to keep even the least romantic woman reading, I don't know what is! I tell you, this author is good!

Thus begins one of the most fabulous fantasy adventures I've ever read. Not only is this a romantic comedy, it's also a thriller with Row's future at stake. Besides the obvious sexual reasons, why do these handsome men need Row so badly? Why do they vie for her attention? How in the world does she "accidentally" marry her cousin Ivan? How does Cedric fit into the picture? Is his heart really as black as the magic he practices? And how does she feel about the most glorious male of them all--Thane the Viking?

As if that isn't enough, throw in a Goth-student who follows Row through the portal? Do her actions place her teacher in even more danger? If so, it's a good thing they can go back through the portal--or can they?

To find the answers, you'll have to read this top-notch book for yourself. I promise you a fun, sexy time fraught with enough adventures with gorgeous males to last a lifetime.

This is a hot, hilarious, romantic fantasy that enthralls you from the first line. If you enjoy Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, you'll adore Rowena and her riotous romps in an alternate world...

What I'd like to ask this author is: Just where is MY wall? :-)

Review by Betty Dravis, June 15, 2011
Author of "Dream Reachers II" (with Chase Von) and other books

More About the Author

ROWENA AND THE DARK LORD coming in April 2013! Book two in the Land's End series.

Melodie Campbell has been a banker, marketing director, comedy writer, college instructor and possibly the worst runway model ever. Melodie got her start writing comedy so it's no surprise her fiction has been described by editors as "wacky" and "laugh-out-loud funny." Melodie has over 200 publications and six awards for fiction She was a finalist for the 2012 Derringer (U.S.)and Arthur Ellis (Canada) awards for crime writing. Melodie is the Executive Director of Crime Writers of Canada.

The Goddaughter, a comic crime caper, received the following review from Library Journal: "Campbell's comic caper is just right for Janet Evanovich fans. Wacky family connections and snappy dialogue make it impossible not to laugh." Library Journal, Sept. 2012

Warning: Rowena Through the Wall is not a sweet romance; it is a sexy, funny, rollicking adventure that some may find outrageous! Continued in Book 2.