Title – Changeling
Series – The Siofra
Chronicles
Author – K.R. Wilburn
Genre – YA Urban Fantasy
Publication Date – 5/2/14
Length (Pages/# Words) – 239/80k words
Publisher – Crushing
Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing
Cover Artist – Stephanie White of Steph’s Cover Designs
BOOK SYNOPSIS –
All college Freshman Cassie Marshall has ever wanted was to be brave enough to find her own place in
the world without her friends or family choosing for her. When she wakes up on her nineteenth birthday
in a parallel world she feels she may have finally
glimpsed her true purpose. She learns that she is a
Changeling with the ability to pass through the Dreaming and into the Otherworld. Now she has one
year to decide whether to forsake her destiny and remain a mortal, or to sever her ties to become an
immortal Fae, standing guard over the dreams of sle
eping humans.
When other changelings go missing, whispers of a dark and shadowy threat begin to spread through the
Fae courts. There is an Erlking, an elf twisted by
thousands of years trapped in the mortal world, hun
ting
down the changelings where the Fae can’t protect them and draining the magic from their souls. Cassie
is thrown into a race against time to decide what she wants most before it finds her and devours her
soul and takes away her choices for good.
BUY & TBR LINKS
EXCERPT –
"Cassandra," the strange man called, his voice deep and melodic at the same time. My heart skipped a
beat when I heard my name on his lips. "I am so glad you’re finally here." He walked toward me, all
grace and easiness, and I had to remind myself to breathe, chiding myself for being nervous about a
strange man in a dream.
"Do I know you?" I asked as he stopped in front of
me and smiled down at me familiarly. I frowned at
him. He was taller than I was, my head not quite reaching his chin, and I had to look up at him, resisting
the urge to stretch onto my toes to get a better look at his eyes.
"Not yet," he admitted, "but I have been waiting for you nonetheless. My name is Aleksander. I am your
Caomhnóir."
"My what? What’s a kweevrore?" I stumbled over the
unfamiliar word, trying to mimic the way it had
rolled off his tongue.
"Your Caomhnóir. Like a guardian or protector," he
said, a ghost of a smile playing at the corners of
his
mouth from the way I’d tested out the unfamiliar word.
"And what is it exactly you think you are guarding
me from?” I asked, my eyes glancing suspiciously over
the trees as the branches rustled with a breeze.
"I am not your guard, Cassandra.” He smirked
at me as if the thought of guarding me was
somehow amusing. "I am your guardian, your mentor.
I am here to guide you during your time here in
Otherworld." He spread his arms wide and gestured to the lush landscape surrounding us.
I scowled. "Please don't call me Cassandra. Only my
grandfather calls me Cassandra. "
"What would you like to be called then?"
"Call me Cassie," I said. "What is Otherworld?"
"All right then, Cassie. It’s hard to describe in mortal terms, but I will try," he said with a grin,
reaching
out and taking my hand in his.
I inhaled sharply when his hand touched mine. My palm tingled strangely, and a strange heat passed
briefly between us. I wondered if he had felt it as
well. He caught my gaze, his startled green eyes
mirroring my own before he looked down at our hands
, studying them.
I was sure he had felt that sizzle too. I was
starting to get curious. I couldn't recall ever actually
feeling in my dreams before. Unless you counted my
nightmares. Somehow I always felt those as
if they were real. Was this a nightmare?
When I thought about it, I realized that I shouldn't be able to taste the salt in the air or smell the
woodsy
aroma of the trees around us. I frowned with confusion. This dream was far too real for my taste, and
it
was starting to make my head hurt.
"The Otherworld is the land of the Fae," Aleksander
explained patiently. He tucked my arm under his,
turning and leading me down the beach. The waves swept gently up the beach and over my feet,
deliciously warm and again bothering me because I k
new that I shouldn't be able to feel the
warmth.
"The Fae? You mean like faeries?” I asked finally,
trying not to think too much about how disturbingly
real it all was even as I relished the feeling of the warm water and the sand. It had been so long
since I had seen the ocean, and strange as this all
was, I wasn’t in that dark clearing sniveling and
waiting
to be killed.
"The Fae are...well, for lack of a better term, yes
, Faeries. We are what is left of the guardians of
the
realms of dreams."
He must have seen the look of confusion on my face
because he patted my hand reassuringly, drawing
me closer to his side as he led me across the glittering sand. My breath caught in my throat. Under any
other circumstance, strolling down a beautiful beach hand in hand with a gorgeous man would be happy
dream. Instead, I was overwhelmed and felt panic starting to build within me. My heart beat rapidly an
d
my breath sped up as if adrenaline were beginning to flow.
"This place is our home. It lies outside of the mortal realm, on a different plane of existence, but one
that runs parallel to it. I know that probably doesn't make any sense to you yet, but it will with
time.”
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that I'm in so
me kind of alternate dimension here?” I asked,
frustrated and confused. “Oh man, I've got to
lay off the Supernatural reruns before bed."
A different realm of existence? Those cheap grocery
store cakes were off the shopping list permanently.
All those preservatives had probably fried my brain
. Becca was right. It was time to go organic. Science
fiction and junk food obviously had dire consequences when combined.
"You are a Síofra,” he said, ignoring my outburst.
“Sheefra?” I repeated, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. What weird language was he
speaking?
He stopped and turned to face me so quickly that I
walked into him. I could feel his breath on my cheeks
as he looked down at me, bringing his hands to my upper arms and holding them gently as if bracing me
for something important.
"You, Cassandra Matthews, are a changeling."
Main Character Bios:
Cassie Marshall is a nineteen year old from Northern California. She grew up the middle child of an
accountant and a homemaker. She has an older brother Elliott who is a soldier in the US Army stationed in Kentucky, and a younger sister , Brittany, who still lives at home. She’s very attached to her family and has a hard time being away from them for the first time. She’s a freshman at Chico State University – major undecided- where she rooms with her childhood best friend Becca who she generally lets run her life for her. Cassie is a fan of science fiction, especially Doctor Who (she pines for Christopher Eccleston) and Dragonball Z, and believes that there isn’t anything in the world that can’t be cured with ice cream and the Winchester Brothers.
Dom Black is a twenty year-old college student also at Chico State University. He is a fan of Celtic
Tattoos, pretty girls with green eyes and is the self-declared culinary master of all things to do with
Ramen Noodle Soup. He’s not particularly close to his family and finds his father domineering and
pushy. He’s enjoying his time away from his family doing his own thing and experiencing all that the
world has to offer. He’s not a fan of bridges, or crazy cat ladies.
Aleksander Chase was born in early 1940 at the tale end of the Great Depression to a close knit family in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has one sister, Anne Marie, to whom he was entirely devoted. After the tragic loss of his high school sweetheart he sought solace and redemption standing guard over sleeping mortals as a Fae. Generally serious with a serious hero complex, Aleksander takes his duties as Cassie’s Caomnhior seriously. Even when that might cost him what he wants most.
Rebecca “Becca” Bradshaw is Cassie’s best friend. The only child of Hannah Miller and Martin
Bradshaw, Becca has spent her childhood bouncing between her parent’s homes. She and Cassie have
been best friends since kindergarten when Becca saved Cassie from bullies and shared her sandwich
with her. They’ve been inseparable ever since. Becca is meticulous about her dietary habits and takes
every chance to lecture Cassie about the dangers of gluten and refined sugar. Unlike Cassie, Becca
knows what she wants in life and goes after it.
AUTHOR
BIO:
KR Wilburn was born in Northern California and has
traveled the world with her family but currently
calls Fairbanks Alaska home. A veteran of the United States Army, she began writing as stress relief and
found she truly enjoyed it. As the mother of six children and the wife of her childhood best friend Ben
she enjoys being able to hide away in the other worlds she creates. When she isn't writing, she is busy
reading everything she can get her hands on and counting down the moments until she can find
inspiration capturing the perfect Aurora through the lens of her Camera
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