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Fate Has A Plan
Brynjar: Freki Wolf Clan follows a rejected shifter with a dormant wolf who is sent back to the clan that rejected her and starts to discover the truth behind her dormant wolf and the power she actually holds.
How does Sable’s dormant wolf allow you to examine themes of belonging, self-worth, and personal discovery?
Growing up in a warrior society is difficult when your wolf remains dormant and everyone else’s wolf wakes up. Sable has lived thinking she’s terribly flawed and doesn’t have what it takes to fit in with her clan. Her father, who used to be a distinguished military leader, looks down on her. Her best friend, Roisin, dreamed of shifting, so she could join the Freki defenders’ forces. Meanwhile, Sable has no useful talent to offer, and when she tries to help in time of need, she’s told to shut up and is sent away. Fate has a much bigger plan.
The attack on the Freki citadel and Sable’s mandatory travel to the Vuk clan happen for a very good reason.
Must read the book to find out.
What inspired the supernatural traditions, abilities, and clan structures within the Freki Wolf Clan universe?
The Freki Wolf Clan universe stemmed from a previous series, The Titanian Chronicles. In the Chronicles, we have an extensive supernatural world living alongside humanity. It’s fun when characters from the Titanian Chronicles appear in the Freki world.
What aspects of the Freki Wolf Clan universe are you most excited to explore in future installments?
I’m releasing Ranulf, Book Three, in December 2026. I explore generational betrayal and revenge in this book. Draven, Book Four, will follow Ranulf’s. In Draven’s story, the fight against the daemon race and the struggle for supremacy between supernatural creatures will continue. Envy, greed, and retribution are huge elements in the Freki world.
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Sable has spent her entire life waiting for the wolf that never came. While others shifted and discovered their place within the pack, she remained trapped between worlds, unclaimed by the power that should have been hers by birth.
Now, with daemons threatening the kingdom and the Freki preparing for war, Sable is desperate to prove she can help. Instead, she’s sent to the last place she ever wanted to return. The Vuk clan.
Years ago, her ambitious mother tried to secure Sable’s future through a betrothal to the Vuk heir. The humiliation of that rejection has never truly faded. Neither has her uneasy fascination with Brynjar Vuk, the powerful warrior whose presence still lingers in her thoughts.
But something is wrong. The closer Sable comes to uncovering the truth behind her dormant wolf, the more dangerous her situation becomes. Hidden alliances are forming in the shadows. Ancient ambitions are resurfacing. And someone has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep her power locked away.
Brynjar knows she’s hiding something. What he doesn’t realize is that Sable may be the key to a struggle far larger than either of them imagined. Because when her wolf is finally unleashed, it won’t simply change her future; it alters
the balance of power across the kingdom. And there are those willing to kill to ensure that never happens.
Brynjar, Freki Wolf Clan Series
Victoria Saccenti’s Brynjar brings together a steamy paranormal romance, a troubled aristocratic household, and a growing supernatural conspiracy. Set within her Freki Wolf Clan series, it follows a direwolf warrior and gryphon rider whose convictions are tested when Sable Freki arrives at his family’s mansion after being sent away from danger back home. Their attraction unfolds amid parental ambitions, rigid social customs, and threats that reach beyond the estate. I enjoyed the setting’s peculiar mix of grandeur and everyday convenience: ancient scrolls and formal gowns share space with text messages, tactical clothing, and unreliable phone service. The Dinaric mountains and Montenegro’s old towns also give the adventure a tangible landscape. There’s something appealingly domestic about a fantasy world where navigating an enormous house can be its own small ordeal.
The strongest part of the romance is how much both characters’ family experiences shape their expectations of love. Brynjar’s belief in fated mates sits alongside his fear of repeating the misery he’s witnessed at home, giving his hesitation an understandable emotional source. His protective instincts are intense, and Saccenti writes his possessiveness at full volume. Sable brings a lively, practical voice to that intensity. Her interest in fashion, quick observations, and occasional impatience make her enjoyable company, while her kindness gives those lighter qualities substance. I especially liked the moments when she reads a tense social situation and understands how to handle it. Their chemistry comes through in teasing conversations, physical awareness, and small gestures of reassurance. The explicit love scenes carry the same heightened emotion that drives their arguments and declarations.
Themis, Brynjar’s golden gryphon, deserves plenty of credit for the book’s personality. She’s proud, watchful, and quite willing to challenge her rider, which gives their bond a warmth that extends beyond its magical rules. Lyndra, Brynjar’s mother, adds another welcome source of affection, and Sable’s friendships help make this world feel inhabited by people with relationships worth protecting. Saccenti gives considerable attention to hospitality, shared meals, and the responsibilities of belonging to a community. Those details lend weight to the danger. The pacing does get slowed by repeated explanations of mating customs, magical abilities, and clan history, especially when conversations revisit information we’ve already received. The prose also repeatedly emphasizes the lovers’ beauty and devotion. Its emotional directness is clear, though some scenes would benefit from a lighter touch. Cruelty, coercion, and violence give the surrounding intrigue a distinctly dark edge.
Brynjar reminded me of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling novels through its connection between animal instinct, romantic attachment, and loyalty to a wider supernatural community. In both, trusting a partner involves exposing vulnerabilities that strength and status can’t easily protect. Saccenti gives those concerns her own setting of gryphon riders, elaborate households, inherited obligations, and supernatural law. Her interest in the duties attached to power also helps connect the love story to the political conflict: caring for someone has consequences beyond the bedroom. Readers who enjoy fierce devotion, outspoken heroines, and a substantial supporting cast will find plenty here to engage them. What stayed with me most was the attention to care, whether it comes through friendship, a mother’s welcome, or a warrior learning to listen. That tenderness gives the book’s grand emotions their most persuasive moments.
Pages: 302 | ASIN : B0FJTLRT6L
Wishes and Choices: MorKano’s Wish
Wishes and Choices: MorKano’s Wish, by D.B. Thomas, is a young adult fantasy novel about Kit, Mythral, Cat, and their allies trying to protect the Realms after MorKano’s defeat proves less final than everyone hoped. The story blends magic, time inversion, dark wizards, dragons, gryphons, and a layered three-realm world, but its real focus is on the weight of choices. Kit has wished for adventure and romance, and now she has both, along with danger, responsibility, and the awful knowledge that saving others can demand more than courage.
What I liked most is that the book does not treat fantasy as only a spectacle. There are spells, magical duels, and cosmic stakes, but the heart of the novel is much more grounded than that. Kit is powerful, but she is still young, still learning, still wondering if she is making the right call. Mythral, meanwhile, carries regret like a stone in his pocket. I found that reflective thread compelling. The author keeps returning to the idea that mistakes are not always cleanly separated from victories, which gives the story more emotional texture than a simple good-versus-evil adventure.
The writing has a lively, direct style, and Cat’s interruptions give the book a playful classroom-story feel. Sometimes those asides are funny; sometimes they slow the momentum, but they also make the novel feel distinct. The author seems interested in teaching as much as entertaining, especially when the story moves into ideas about power, self-control, mentorship, prejudice, and protecting those who are vulnerable. The book can be heavy on explanation, but there is sincerity here, and you can really feel that throughout the story. The book wears its moral questions openly, without pretending not to care.
I would recommend Wishes and Choices: MorKano’s Wish to readers who enjoy young adult fantasy with strong magical systems, chosen-family bonds, time-travel complications, and a clear moral center. It will especially appeal to fans who like their fantasy adventurous but thoughtful, with characters who pause between battles to ask what their choices have cost and what kind of people they want to become.
Pages: 224
Respecting Water
The Tralls of Mundi follows a group of tralls headed to the Coming Together celebration who, along the way, discover a dark and dangerous adventure that threatens the tralls’ future. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Illegal damming of water sources is becoming an issue in Australia, especially in areas that have a lot of agriculture and limited water resources.
There are many reasons for this, some quite understandable, and in a vast country like Australia the situation is hard to monitor.
Unfortunately, however, Illegal dams can have a negatively impact on the environment and ecosystems.
They can lead to habitat destruction, degrade water quality, negatively impact aquatic life and cause health risks for humans through contaminated water.
I wanted to make my young readers aware of these issues and hopefully encourage them to be respectful water users in the future.
Were there any characters that you especially enjoyed writing for?
Each book in The Tall Series is dedicated to two of my grandchildren. The two represented in “The Tralls of Mundi” are often complimented on their leadership, persistence, courage and resourcefulness so I was keen to highlight these traits in the main characters, Jete and Jak.
What was the inspiration for the culture of your characters? Is it modeled after any particular society?
There are two memories that are very special to me. The first was when I lived with my grandparents in Tasmania. We spent a lot of time traipsing through the bush and marvelling at the beautiful flora and fauna during the daytime and then at night, we’d read and re-enact the classics. Those memories are very dear to me and I tried to share them with my family and my readers through this series.
The second very precious memory is of the time we spent living on Badu Island in the Torres Strait.
The laid-back, happy, communal life-style of the islanders and the friendly way they included us in their lives had a strong impact on us and Badu and the friends we made there still mean the world to us.
My hope is that by threading that happy, peaceful ambience through my stories , I could impart the same feeling to others.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from The Tralls of Mundi?
I hope “The Tralls of Mundi” engenders a deep respect in my readers for the environment and a desire to protect it. I also hope they learn the importance of all water resources and treat them with consideration and care.
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When the terrified tralls discover that the village of Mundi and all its inhabitants have disappeared they are convinced the Chameleons have returned, and when they find that the mighty River Maire is now only a dried-up mudflat, those fears are strengthened.
Jete and Jak are determined to save their friends but what they find when they enter the Sacred Caves of Mundi leaves them so confused and horrified, they are no longer sure they can save the tralls of Mundi or even their own kinships.
The Tralls of Mundi is the second book in The Trall Series; a collection of environmentally based portal fantasies set in the Australian bush. It is recommended for readers 9 years to 13 years.
The Tralls of Mundi
The Tralls of Mundi continues the imaginative world Gayle Torrens first opened in The Tralls of Nindarry. Set in a vividly Australian-inspired fantasy land, it follows Jete and his kin as they journey to the long-awaited “Coming Together” of the tralldoms. What begins as a joyful reunion quickly twists into an adventure full of danger, mystery, and courage. Torrens builds a realm both whimsical and meaningful, where talking creatures, magical plants, and mythical beings shape a tale about loyalty, bravery, and the strength of community. It’s a story for children and young teens but layered enough to keep adults engaged, too.
Reading this book felt like wandering through a sunlit dream in a forest filled with mythical creatures. The author’s writing has warmth and rhythm. It’s easy to hear the voice of a teacher who knows how to hold a young listener’s attention. Sometimes the descriptions stretch a little long, but the detail also makes the world feel alive and real. I found myself caring about Jete and his friends. Their courage felt honest and their fears familiar. The villains are satisfyingly nasty, yet the story avoids becoming too dark. The tone stays hopeful, grounded in the belief that good hearts and brave choices matter most.
What I loved most was how Australian it felt without being heavy-handed. You can almost smell the bushland and hear the kookaburras. The dialogue has a simplicity that works. It makes the story easy to follow and keeps the fantasy believable. There are moments where I wished the pacing moved faster. Still, the heart of the story, the lessons about friendship, resilience, and doing what’s right even when you’re scared, rings true. It made me think about how small acts of courage can ripple through generations.
The Tralls of Mundi is a heartfelt and imaginative read that blends adventure with a gentle sense of wisdom. It’s perfect for young readers who love fantasy with moral depth, or for parents and teachers who enjoy reading aloud stories that spark discussion about values and bravery. It’s not just a tale of magic and tralls, it’s a celebration of storytelling itself, and it left me smiling long after I turned the last page.
Pages: 306 | ISBN : 1543198619
Chronicles Of A Timebound Warrior
From the very first duel between Anwen and her uncle, this story had me locked in. The book is a sweeping fantasy that mixes Elven honor, dragon lore, portal magic, and tangled relationships across kingdoms. At its heart, it’s the tale of a strong and stubborn warrior who refuses to be controlled by tradition, politics, or even fate. Anwen’s path winds through battles, betrayals, romance, and strange new worlds, and the book never really slows down. It’s packed with sword fights, forbidden magic, and emotional struggles that all feel larger than life.
I enjoyed the writing style. It’s vivid and unashamedly dramatic. There are moments where the descriptions sing, like when the forest feels alive with secrets or when Anwen’s rage burns brighter than her flaming sword. There are moments when the book blends grit and romance in a unique way. The contrast adds to its distinctive energy. I enjoyed that mix.
The ideas in the book are bold. There’s a constant clash between freedom and control, love and duty, magic and mortality. Anwen isn’t always easy to root for. She’s proud, headstrong, and at times reckless, but that’s what made her real to me. I loved the sense that she was always one step away from falling apart, yet still refused to give in. The world-building is layered with elves, dragons, secret councils, and rival houses, and while not every piece is fully explained, I never stopped wanting to turn the page.
I’d recommend Chronicles of a Timebound Warrior to readers who like their fantasy loud, passionate, and unpredictable. If you enjoy a story that leaps headfirst into danger, desire, and destiny, this epic sword and sorcery novel will keep you hooked. It’s for fans who want to feel every battle in their bones and every stolen kiss in their chest.
Pages: 225 | ASIN : B0DXS2SF4Q
My Secret Hideaway
A Goblin’s Mind the bizarre, the enchanted, and the profoundly unwell—with tea, therapy, and an ironclad refusal to get emotionally involved. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Long short story short, I entered a 3 day novel writing contest, and being a psychology major and fantasy lover, I began to string together some ideas. It was truly my love for the “didn’t see it coming” books and movies that seeded the arc for this one.
I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, and how did it change as you were writing?
I have a world where all my fantasy stories exist: The Corwyn Chronicles. It’s been my secret hideaway since I was a teenager. With many short stories, novelettes, and the upcoming first book of a four book series coming out this year, the world (and my writing) has grown exponentially.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
Everything about the human condition makes for great fiction. Ideas can come from anything. The well I tapped for this book runs deep: human flaws and our need to label them. Dr. Harlow can, at times, represent the judge, forgetting that even therapists have their flaws. No one is “better” than the next person; we all just have floating opinions we treat as fact.
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
A Prologue of Deception is book 1 of 4 in the Talisman Series, set in the same universe as A Goblin’s Mind. It’s scheduled for release by Golden Storyline Books before the end of 2025.
Two stand-alone books are in submissions: a YA paranormal story set in the real world and a hybrid poetry/fantasy collection containing many of my award-winning and published works. Another full-length Corwyn Chronicles novel is being written, expanding the world even further.
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Doctor Harlow is methodical. Composed. A trusted mind in a kingdom full of unstable ones. On a remote island far from the crown, Harlow treats the bizarre, the enchanted, and the profoundly unwell—with tea, therapy, and an ironclad refusal to get emotionally involved.
But when a quiet goblin arrives—haunted by invisible friends and stories that don’t quite add up—something begins to crack.
At first, the sessions seem harmless. Eccentric, even amusing. Then people begin to vanish. Details shift. Memories blur. And the threads that hold reality together begin to fray like cheap spell work.
As the island slips further out of sync, Harlow must confront a terrifying possibility: the patients aren’t the ones unravelling.
A Goblin’s Mind
A Goblin’s Mind follows Doctor Harlow, a sharp-witted therapist living in a secluded forest who treats the most peculiar of clients. Through his sessions with a compulsive half-unicorn hoarder, an arrogant wizard, a lonely young goblin, and even royalty, Harlow navigates strange personalities, tangled problems, and his own isolation. Each chapter plays out like a self-contained therapy vignette, yet threads of mystery and personal reflection run underneath, hinting at Harlow’s own unfinished business and the curious island he inhabits. The tone swings between deadpan humor, gentle empathy, and surreal fantasy, making the reader feel both entertained and unsettled.
I enjoyed the way the writing marries dry wit with moments of quiet melancholy. Dresner has a gift for making absurd scenarios feel grounded. A unicorn discussing her belt-buckle attachment issues becomes, in his hands, both hilarious and strangely poignant. The banter between characters is crisp and revealing, with dialogue that often says as much in what is left unsaid as in what is spoken. At times, I laughed at Harlow’s sardonic observations. Other moments caught me off guard with their tenderness. There’s a rhythm to the prose that makes the conversations feel alive, and yet the pacing never lingers too long in one mood before shifting to another.
I also found myself appreciating the undercurrent of loneliness that runs through the book. Harlow may be the one guiding others, but Dresner never lets us forget he is just as mortal as his patients, grappling with uncertainty and longing. The island itself feels like a character, its stillness and strange boundaries adding to the sense that everyone here is a little trapped, including the good doctor. Some of the surreal touches, like the recurring dream imagery and the letter that keeps reappearing, worked beautifully to keep me curious, though a few left me wishing for more payoff. The blend of slice-of-life pacing with the quirks of high fantasy felt fresh.
I’d recommend A Goblin’s Mind to readers who enjoy character-driven fantasy with a strong conversational voice. If you like your worlds a bit odd, your humor a bit dry, and your moments of heart snuck in between the jokes, this is worth picking up. For anyone who enjoys the idea of a therapist’s couch deep in an enchanted forest, Dresner delivers something charming, sly, and quietly moving.
Pages: 176 | ISBN : 1989482082
