TITLE: A Door to Our Minds
AUTHORS: Lilly Brown, Bethany Martin, Jordan E. Lasater, Brenton Porter, and Bearcina

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Stories: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (4)

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Take a journey through the minds of five young, teenage, aspiring authors with this exciting anthology of short stories. You’ll start in a world not too different from our own, where a group of teens are undergoing a deadly quest to bring peace to their land in The Spark. Then, you’ll meet two curious young adults and follow them as they uncover the mysteries of several unsolved disappearances in The Peculiar Case of Matthias Chase. In There is Love in War, you’ll be thrown into a world full of werewolves, griffons, Gods and Goddesses. Next, you’ll travel back in time to a realm where medieval guardsmen fought with swords and bow and arrow to protect their Emperor from building threats in The Trials of Gebhuza. Finally, you’ll travel light-years away, to the endless depths of space in Years in a Blink, where a raging war on the small planet of Rainmia has forever changed the life of young Artemia and set her on a scientific course and a lifelong journey.

Buy it HERE on Amazon!

INSIDE THE COVER:
First let me start by saying that I had my hand in this book as well. Although I am not one of the authors, I did help them through the process. This group of amazing teen authors took their stories from concept to publication, a task that many would love to achieve. I am beyond proud of all five of them and am so honored that I was able to go on this journey with them. It is there first published work and I am looking forward to seeing how the grow as authors from this to the next.

WRITING: I won’t discuss each of the stories or authors separately, but what I will say is that they are developing authors who are learning to express themselves through their unique voices. There is true talent in these pages and I have a feeling this is not the last we will hear from them.

STORIES: This collection contained 5 short stories as you will see below.

The Spark, by Lilly Brown
During the brutal war over the Flame throne, a prophecy was delivered forever changing the lives of Elyse, James, Beth, Dan, and Reese. Even as children they were charged with the responsibilities of being named the Prophecy Warriors. Now, eleven years later, the prophecy has come to bare truth and these noble five must fight to save their country before it is ripped apart at the seams. Not all will survive, but if they can band together long enough to fulfill their birthright then their losses will not be in vain.

The Peculiar Case of Matthias Chase, by Bethany Martin
MATTHIAS CHASE, a small-town Golden Boy, has been missing for three days. With little evidence and no leads, the local detectives are getting nowhere. However, Aiden Altoviti, who recently graduated in Matthias’s class, has become quite invested in the case. With the help of his best friend, Bexley Craig, they uncover some strange details that tie Matthias’ disappearance to cases long in the past.

Unexplainable events continue to happen to Aiden and Bexley, causing them to believe there is so much more to the case than meets the eye. With unknown forces working against them, the teens find fiction and reality blurring together. Aiden and Bexley quickly piece things together, but Matthias’s time is running out. Perhaps Aiden and Bexley can get there in time to save Matthias. However, fate might have other plans for him.

There is Love in War, by Jordan E. Lasater
Have you ever loved someone so desperately but knew in your heart you couldn’t be with them? Love in War is a crazy tale full of werewolves, griffons, Gods, and Goddesses. Two star crossed lovers, Luna and Cyrus, try to make a life together, only to be pulled worlds apart. Surrounded by death and war, their souls get torn apart life after life. Is trying even worth it? After all he is just a boy and she is just a girl. Or are they?

The Trials of Gebhuza, by Brenton Porter
Amerellius and Amy are just two ordinary citizens serving the empire and living a normal life. That all changes when the emperor comes to town. After a failed attempt to take the emperor’s life, the Gebhuza, an elite force, is tasked with protecting the emperor and his empire from any and all threats. The time to put that force to use comes sooner than expected when trouble brews within the kingdom’s borders. Can Amerellius and Amy lead the Gebhuza and save the kingdom from utter desolation or will it fall in flames?

Years in a Blink, by Bearcina
Billions of Lightyears away, something- or someone- may just be screaming out in the endless depth of space, and you just can’t hear it.

A war raged across a lone little planet called Rainmia, and caught in the middle of it was a Betta named Artemia. She yearned for vengeance on a planet to be long forgotten in the eternity of time. Now, the Betta is much older, with her own laboratory that hosts the Universe’s best technology and brightest minds. Princess Persephone happens to get caught up in this mess right alongside Artemia.

Just remember, no one can hear you scream.

CHARACTERS: Again, not going to dive into each of the stories, but considering these are all short stories, I believe the authors did a beautiful job of giving us back story and just enough character development to care.

APPEARANCE: The cover, which was designed by Contagious Covers, is beautiful, whimsical, and draws you in before you even turn it over to read the back. Within the pages of the anthology, each story has its own cover as well. These interior story covers were created by Amanda Orneck with input from the authors themselves. I believe she did a wonderful job capturing the feel of each story.

MY FAVORITE QUOTES:
“You’ve proven you can beat is alone, but we were trained to fight together. How can you stand against two of us?” ~ Reese in The Spark

“Yeah, I’m great. I absolutely love getting thrown against trees, this is the highlight of my day.” ~ Bexley in The Peculiar Case of Matthias Chase

“That’s very generous of you, but I’m giving you one last chance to hand her over – and I promise to make it quick when I kill all of your men.” ~ Princess Luna in There is Love in War

“If there is any more knocking, the door might just break.” ~ Amerellius in Trials of Gebhuza

“Panther, listen, that’s not going to reverse the sulfuric poisoning. I don’t care what kinds of miracle medicine she so called, needs; she can’t wake up, or she’ll die.” ~ Riddley in Years in a Blink

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