“Tell me about this place. This… Arcania.”
What if your life as you knew it ceased to exist?

That is the question Naeve Brannigan and her three sisters are faced with on the eve of their 25th birthday.
Continuing a tradition they’ve hidden from their mother for years, the four women arrive at a tarot shop to have their futures told.

Only this time their futures aren’t predicted—they’re forever changed.

They’ve awoken in a strange time and place with no knowledge of how they got there. All they have to go by is the word of a man who claims to be family—a family they’ve never heard of. He tells them of a world they could never have imagined. One that has been cursed by an Empress fueled by old revenge—revenge their mother appears to be at the center of. As they fight to survive the people and dangers of an unknown land, they slowly begin to unravel its mysteries to find that they hold the key to saving this world…this Arcania. 

The question that remains for each of them is: Who do you become when the you that you always were is no longer?

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW

DGR: Hi Ella, thanks for allowing me to interview you once more. I love having you here at DGR. Can we start with a quick introduction for readers that may not be familiar with your work yet?

EF: Hi Lana! Thank you for having me. I always love visiting DGR whenever I can.

A quick introduction on myself…let me see. I’m a Gemini, which may or may not explain the multiple voices and personalities always coming out of my brain.

I love to write all kinds of romantic based fiction, whether it is M/F contemporary, M/M, erotic and erotica, and now I can say fantasy. I love it all!

DGR: Temperance marks the beginning of your new series, The Arcanian Chronicles. This is certainly a step away from anything that you’ve written in the past. What made you want to write in this genre?

EF: I wanted to write something different. I love to read all genres, but sometimes I find that when I’m reading the same thing over and over I tend to get bored. The same could be said with my writing. Sometimes you need a change, and for me I definitely felt the need to switch it up, to try something new.

DGR: I have to say, I absolutely LOVE the synopsis for this book. It sounds almost whimsically good. Was it as fun to write as I’m sure it’s going to be to read?

EF: Was the synopsis fun to write? Ha! Funny you should ask because I am pretty sure all authors would agree that the synopsis is NEVER fun to write. It’s the monumental task of trying to condense a three hundred-page story into three paragraphs. I’m thrilled you loved it, and that it took you on it’s own mini journey. That is what I was hoping for.

DGR: Can you tell us a little about the series and your plans for it? How many books do you plan to write for it?

EF: A little about this series…hmm, well I can’t say much without giving things away. But I will tell you there will be four books for sure, since there are obviously four sisters. There is the possibility of a fifth because there is one character in there that certainly needs a story of his own…so we will see how that unfolds. But for now I would say between four and five books.

DGR: One of my favorite parts of this book were the incredibly vivid visuals and world building. Was there anything in particular that you used for your visual inspiration for this?

EF: Thank you! That was the hardest part. I must have re-worked those first fifteen chapters, three or more times. Trying to capture the way I wanted the world to look. With the first book in a series such as this, you are certainly going to encounter a lot of character introduction and world building, you just hope against hope that you do it in a way that intrigues the reader and takes them to another place. Enough so that that they want to know more about it and can really envision the land you have created. It was a huge challenge and one I procrastinated over for months.

I built up a very full Pinterest board, and had a lot of images I drew inspiration from as I built my Arcania.

DGR: There are a lot of things happening in Temperance and quite a few unique characters that are introduced. Are all books in the series going to follow this kind of formula with multiple POVs and other interwoven storylines along with the romance?

EF: Yes, there is a lot going on, I know. But I kind of like my stories that way. I love knowing what every character is thinking and how they are feeling as the story progresses. So yes, I do see the entire series being told in a similar light.

While this is a fantasy romance series, and there is an aspect of romance that will be in each of the stories, it is also about the relationships between the families and the people within the world that I really want to build.

So hopefully that will come through for the reader, and will make them either root for good or evil, or to know more about the magical beings that will pop up. There is plenty more to discover as we go deeper into the world, that’s for sure.

DGR:  In Temperance you introduce some very intriguing characters like Ry’Ker, Kai, Bastian, and the 4 Brannigan sisters. Will each of them be getting a romantic interest of their own?

EF: Yes, yes, yes and yes (ßwas that vague enough? Ha!) I can’t tell you anymore than that. They will each have a story, and some of them have already met who they will fall for, while others…have not.

DGR: I loved Naeve and Kai together. Are we going to get more of them in the next book?

EF: Yes! Certainly. Their story has just begun. I feel as though everyone’s story will be told through all of the books, even though it is obvious there is a main couple it’s focused on…does that make sense? I won’t just be leaving Kai and Naeve as they were when you finished the book. They still have a long way to go on their journey.

DGR: If you had to describe Temperance using only 3-5 words, what would they be?

EF: Different
Beautiful
Intriguing

DGR: So what’s up next? Can you give us a little sneak peak into what the next book will bring or how soon we can get our hands on it?

EF: The next book I’m working on is the second in the co-authored series I am writing with Brooke Blaine, and then Trust (the third installment in my Temptation Series). I have no set dates yet, but both will be in the first half of 2015.

The second book in The Arcanian Chronicles will likely release around the same time this one did next year, as they take longer to write and I wish to dedicate the time it requires and do a good job on it. But in between I’m sure there will be some other project from myself.

Thank you as always for having me here on your blog Lana. It’s always a pleasure to work with you.

Xx Ella

Who do you become when the you that you always were is no longer?

I added this book to my TBR before I even knew what it was about. Ella Frank has been an auto-buy author for me for years, so if I see a book by her it’s a no brainer add. Period. After finishing this all I know is that I just want to live in her brain for just a day. I’m so serious. I’m convinced that the woman is storing a whole workload of pervy worker elves up there. How on earth does she keep coming up with such brilliant plots and then putting them off so flawlessly? I ask you! It’s just not humanly possible. And yet, when it comes to Ella, she continues to blow me away with each new book.

Why don’t you tell me about this place? This…Arcania.”
“Come closer, and I will show you.”

From just the first chapter I knew I was in for one amazingly intriguing and unique read, and I was so right. The world of Arcania was vividly painted through words, magical, and filled with so many unique characters that it actually took me a little bit to truly get a grasp on it.

Many years ago, a being that is now know as a “sensualeer” brought was almost the cause of the destruction of the entire land. An empress, born to magical powers, she gave in to the cravings inside her when she came in contact with a man, and the darkness within her took over. Since then an order was born with a higher being to oversee it in order to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Years later, set in Arcania past, Maeve, the eldest of her 4 siblings, is getting ready for her 25th birthday on which she will be meeting the man that is fated for her. Unfortunately the man that is destined for her is also the one that her sister is in love with. A sister that also happens to be marked with the blood of the crazed empress that upon the news that she will never have the man she loves, surrenders to the darkness within her

…and so the story begins.

In present time and in the modern world, Naeve along with her 3 sisters, are getting ready for their 25th birthday. A birthday where a tarot reading transports them to a different world and introduces them to things that they have never imagined.

There is A LOT of plot development and world building that takes place in this book. So much so, that there are multiple POVs that are also introduced, aside from the one of Naeve. This is also the brilliance of Ella Frank; because where I would usually find something like this to be too convoluted it actually worked here. The more I read, the more questions I had, and the more things begin to tie together. And I was absolutely sucked in before I even knew it.

He was like everything else in this strange, new world- a beautiful nightmare. Dark, dangerous, and lethal.

Kai was the mysterious brother of one of the Imperial Guards and the man sent to help find the 4 sisters when they get dropped in the world of Arcania. Knowing nothing about who they are or where they came from, he begrudgingly agrees to help find them in exchange for something that he wants to be named later. Kai was a character that grabbed my attention from the very beginning with his obviously dark secret, brooding personality, and tortured self. He was a bit of an enigma…much like his brother and head of the Imperial Guard’s Ry’Ker.

There was A LOT going on in this book. There were the connections between all the characters, the mystery behind what L’iAM, Naeve’s uncle and current ruler of Arcania is hiding, the secret of his son and his still unknown powers and so much more. Because of this, the romance that begins to develop between Naeve and Kai kind of took a secondary place. But don’t get me wrong, while it may not been predominant, it still played a role…

From the beginning Kai had overwhelmed her, frightened her, and controlled her destiny. But right near and now, the look in his eyes told her that she was the one in control. HE was under her spell.

As much as I’d love to give you more than this, I’d only confuse you. This is one of those books you really need to experience to understand. Having read a number of books in the romantic fantasy genre, this was very different…but in a good way. I wouldn’t really qualify this as JUST a romance because it’s so much more than that. Though I did wish that it did have a bit more with the romance since it did take me quite a bit to finally wrap my head around everything.

This is not a complete standalone in a series. This is a continuing plot that will continue throughout the series. While there is a somewhat cliffhanger, it’s not as bad as it could have been. It leaves off in a satisfying enough place that it won’t leave me a rage mess until the next book comes out. But it gives you just enough of a tease to still crave the next release anyway,

I can’t wait to see what the genius mind of Ella Frank has in store for this series next. Definitely a series I will gladly be continuing with.

**Teasers taken from the fabulous Ella Frank

• Fallow Key
• Those Who Wander Key Necklace
• $30.00 Amazon GC
• $20.00 B&N GC
• Signed copy of Temperance & Bookmar/Postcard

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Tick, tick, tock.

Time.

That’s all I have now.

A small room, a photograph, and time.

They want me to trust them and confess my sins.

They told me they wouldn’t judge me—they lied.

I thought we could convince the world that this wasn’t a crime.

We were wrong.

Time doesn’t stand still.

The clock keeps ticking, the world is unconvinced, and now…

Now he is gone.

I’d waited until he got out of the truck before approaching. I didn’t want his escape to be as easy as driving away. Standing in the small stone alcove of the gate, I knew it would be best to wait until he stepped away from the lit area. That way, any cars driving by wouldn’t be able to see us.

I wanted no excuses, no reason for him to worry, but I could see my silence had caused just as much concern as my presence would have. He turned to me, and I finally took a moment to really look at him the way I wanted to.

His hair was still pulled back but several pieces had now escaped and been pushed behind his ears. The darker stubble lining his square jaw made my fingers tingle with the need to touch.

“Oh, thank God,” he whispered, sounding relieved.

I thought he would move away from me once he knew I was safe. Instead, he reached out and squeezed my shoulder.

“I thought something had happened to you.”

I don’t think he realized that he was slowly massaging me.

“Jesus, don’t do that again. Okay?”

Taking another step closer, I agreed quietly. “Okay.”

He licked his lips and removed his hands, and I saw in his eyes the minute he decided it was time for some distance.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked. His casual black sports jacket shifted with the breeze, and all of a sudden I couldn’t remember why I was there. All I knew was that I wanted to touch him.

“Addison?”

His voice had the ability to make all of the noise inside my head cease.

Blinking up at him, I finally answered, “Yes?”

“What are you doing out here?”

Moving in so my jacket brushed the front of his, I finally reached to touch him, but he grabbed my wrist, holding it away.

“No,” he told me, and his voice was so stern I probably should have heeded the warning…but I didn’t.

“No?”

His head bent down, and when his face was a hairsbreadth from my own, he repeated, “No. Tell me why you’re here.”

His breath was warm as it ghosted over my lips, and I couldn’t help but part my own, hoping by some miracle I could taste him on my tongue.

“Why are you here? That’s a better question, don’t you think?”

“I know better than this.”

I reached up needing to touch him, but he took that hand too, holding them both prisoner. Being held in place with nowhere to go elicited a hunger in me that I didn’t yet understand. 

He’d calmed me when no one else could.

He’d saved me from myself.

If only they knew the truth…

But no one is listening, and his time is already up.

Tick, tick, tock.

WOW


If this book isn’t proof that Ella Frank is an incredible writer, I’m not sure what is. This had to be hands down, bar none, one of the best Student/Teacher romances I have ever read. The writing, the story, the characters; I can’t even put into words what this book did to me. But if I really had to try?

If you’re a fan of this author, this book is a must read. And if you’ve never read anything by her, than this book will have you putting her on your auto-buy list.

This will be a spoiler free review. I’m doing you a favor, believe me, because this is a book that simply has to be experienced.

The story captures you from the very beginning. Miss Frank gives you just a little taste of what’s to come that will leave you sitting on pins and needles the entire time you’re reading. You know that something happens, but you don’t know what or when. You know where Addison ends up, but you don’t know how. This book gave me the worst case of anxiety EVAR. I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what happens next, and at the same time I was completely terrified of it happening.

Addison is a senior in high school, but she’s not the typical young heroine you’d find yourself reading about. She’s not shy, she’s not even remotely meek, she’s no virginal ingenue, and she’s certainly not suffering from a low self esteem.

She has the perfect looks, the perfect life, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect everything…or does she? Behind the veil of perfection, lost somewhere in the shadows of her darkest dreams, is a broken girl with a painful secret

But then everything changes when she comes to her first day of class and sees
him.

My ending, staring right at me from the very beginning.

When Addison lays eyes on her history teacher, Mr. McKendrick, she knows that she has to have him. And she pursues him relentlessly, without any shame, using her entire arsenal of incredible looks, charisma and sexual temptation.

She was everything I couldn’t have and shouldn’t want, but the more she taunted, the more my resolve crumbled. Temptation had come to visit, and her steely determination would likely destroy us both.

The story is told in dual first person POV. As much as I loved being inside Addison’s head, being able to see inside his head is what ultimately made this book. You feel his struggle to stay away from this girl. You feel how mcuh he fights it, how hard he tries, only to give into what you already know is inevitable.

Trust me, I do see you”, he stressed.
“You’re all I fucking see, Addison. When I close my eyes, when I open them, when I’m teaching. You’re. There. All. The. Fucking. Time.
Sometimes I wish I’d never seen you.”

Reading about their relationship was like watching a car crash about to happen and being powerless to stop it. You know that the odds are stacked against them, you know that the relationship is doomed. But at the same time you have NO FUCKING CLUE how or when. But you know that it will.

The book is told in alternate flashbacks from present to past. Ella Frank took two broken characters and alternating between erotic and emotionally charged, weaved it into an unforgettable, keep you at the edge of your seat story of a forbidden love.

If you’ve read her books in the past, you know that she can write a ‘melt the panties right off of you’ love scene. And this was definitely no exception. The two of them together was pure scorching hotness.

Look at you sitting here with your legs spread and my cock so fucking deep I don’t think I’ll ever leave. Jesus, Addison. I thought you were perfect before. Now I fucking know it.

I was stuck between trying to drag this book out as long as I can because I didn’t want it to end and not being able to put it down because I simply had to know what happens next.

Temptation be damned. I’d given in long ago. She was now my very own personal sin.

It was simply perfect.

You’re going to be the death of me.”
Life is full of ironies, because with him, I’d never felt more alive.

This is a book that I cannot recommend enough. It will steal your breath, capture your heart and break it all at once. It’s just one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. I feel the mother of all book hangovers coming on after this.

Ella, I may be running on 3 hrs of sleep and too much coffee and my nails might be chewed to shit with the amount of anxiety this story gave me, but DAMN, woman! I will now forever worship at the altar of your awesomeness.

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Book Synopsis:

My Review

•  TOA: Total Ovary Annihilation
•  The constant need to attack your significant other
•  A constant and persistent Hot and Bothered sensation
• The repercussions of having to take care of said Hot and Bothered sensation if significant other is unavailable

I had pretty high expectations for this book when I first found out about it. Especially since it was right around the time I read Edible, which I friggin LOVED! I couldn’t wait until Ella’s foray into the MM genre. But I was almost afraid to read this, thinking I may have set my hopes a little too high. Well disappointed, I was not. I loved the hell out of this book! Try was one hot fucking ride, (pun most definitely intended) that I didn’t want to end.

If you’re looking for a deep and emotional story, that’s not quite what you’ll get here. I think my BR pal Allison had it right with it being 90% sex and 10% story. But you know what? I was VERY OK with this. It wasn’t mindless smut, it had just enough story to keep the reader engaged and begging for more. Given that this is book 1 out of 3, I’m thinking we’ll get a whole lot more story in the next books.

I knew I would love Logan after the quick intro we get of him in Edible, and I was definitely right. The man was just delicious. The things that would come out of his mouth? He had me worked up with every dirty and outrageous word that would leave his mouth.

“Does every word that comes out of your mouth have to do with sex?”
“Usually, eighty/twenty, but with you, it seems more ninety-eight/two.”
“And the other two?”
“The other two I have spent trying to convince you.”
“And do you think I’m convinced?”
“I think you’re getting there.’
“And when I do? What happens to the two percent? More sex?”
“I think when you get there, you’ll never want to leave. One thing about guys—we like sex. How long has it been, Tate? I’ll give you the best sex you’ve ever had.” 

Tate was the perfect ying to Logan’s yang. I loved how hard he tried to resist Logan. But let’s be honest, how can anyone possibly resist Logan for long? The man is damn persistent when he knows what he wants. He’s not shy about voicing his desires, and he was definitely desiring Tate.

This? This changes things. If you think I’m going to walk out of here and you’ll conveniently forget about what happened, you should think again. This wasn’t a fluke, no matter how much you try to pretend. You wanted it as much as I did, and you should remember that tonight when you jerk off, thinking about my tongue in your mouth.”

And when these two get together?

I thought my Kindle just might spontaneously cumbust. Holy fucking hot cock, batman!

I think I might have highlited every single thing that came out of Logan’s mouth. I sat there for hours trying to pick and choose quotes for my review, and at the end, I pretty much gave up. Everything he said is pure gold, and I think I’d have a never ending review even if I gave you just a few of my favorites. So this is all she wrote…

For those that are afraid of a cliffy, this had a very satisfying HFN end. No major cliffys that will drive you batshit waiting for book 2 to come out.

Miss Frank,

You are the queen of steam. I cannot wait to see what book 2 will bring.

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