Windward Shore Blog Tour: Book Review + Giveaway

 **I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are my own. 

About the Book

 

Book:  Windward Shore

Author: Sharon Hinck

Genre: Christian epic fantasy

Release date: May 11, 2020

The island world of Meriel faces an old adversary and a new danger. Will the reformed Order die before it has a chance to blossom?

Storm clouds loom on the horizon as Carya and Brantley struggle to overcome wounds of the past and build a future together. The fragile new Order is on shaky ground, with too few dancers and sparse resources. Then trouble erupts—and now an insidious rebellion and a new foe threaten their entire world.

When she uncovers an old enemy behind all the destruction, Carya realizes the past is not done with her. With conflict tearing apart the dancers and villages, rimmers are soon overrun, and Carya must unite her people by leading the battle to protect the very heart of her world … or lose it all.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Award-winning author Sharon Hinck writes “stories for the hero in all of us”—stories about ordinary women on extraordinary faith journeys. Known for their authenticity, emotional range, and spiritual depth, her novels include the groundbreaking The Sword of Lyric fantasy series and the imaginative new The Dancing Realms series, which began with the Christy Award–winning Hidden Current and was followed by Forsaken Island. Sharon’s writing has also been honored with three Carol Awards. For this latest series, she drew on her experience as a ballet teacher, dancer, and choreographer.

 

More from Sharon

Windward Shore is the final book in the Dancing Realms trilogy. In the earlier books, Carya and Brantley have already faced down a corrupt Order, a world that has forgotten truth, and a whole new island that has sold its soul. Yet in this new story, old enemies return—at the worst possible time. Confronting the past becomes a vital part of protecting their future.

 

We all face trials in life, seasons that are more challenging than we expected, opportunities to deepen our faith as we lean into God, times that test our courage. But I’ve found that sometimes the most difficult problems are those that I think I’ve already beaten—and then they rise up again. I drew from that experience to shape the new battles in Windward Shore.

 

Q: In the Dancing Realms series, the Maker has given dancers a special gift to serve their world. Why did you choose dance as a means for bringing provision or protection?

 

A: I was a dancer and choreographer for many years before becoming a writer. Dance is a means of communicating with the whole being—heart, mind, and body. So dance became a beautiful way for Carya to connect with her Maker and serve her world.

 

Q: What other interests shaped the series?

 

A: I’ve been studying cults and how people become trapped in lies, and more importantly, how they find freedom. So that concept helped me create the various traps that characters faced in all three books.

 

Q: What is a key theme in Windward Shore?

 

A: Although I write “Stories for the hero in all of us,” I recognize that we can’t always be the hero—at least not in our power. Our determination alone isn’t enough. Our Maker calls us to dependence on Him, and often He asks us to lean on others as well. That’s a key challenge that Carya faces in Windward Shore.

My Thoughts

Windward Shore is the third and (I believe) final book in Sharon Hinck's The Dancing Realms series. While there are many series in which you can pick up the final book of the series and still understand and get full enjoyment out of it, I feel like The Dancing Realms is not one of those. I had not read the previous books in the series and found it took quite some time to figure out what was going on. I cannot fault the author or the book itself for that, and can only say I would certainly recommend every reader go back and read those first two books first before this one. 

That being said, despite feeling like there was story I was missing, I could tell that this story was very well written. The author does a good job of creating this world and these characters that were very well written, drawing the reader into the story. Again, it's a bit hard to judge when coming in at the last part of a story, but I definitely felt like this is one that if read from the beginning, fans of fantasy stories would be sure to enjoy. 

Blog Stops

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, May 29

Worthy2Read, May 29

Texas Book-aholic, May 30

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, May 31

Mia Reads, May 31

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, June 1

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, June 2

Woven by Words, June 2

Inklings and notions, June 3

For Him and My Family, June 4

Blogging With Carol, June 4

deb’s Book Review, June 5

For the Love of Literature, June 6

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, June 6

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, June 7

Locks, Hooks and Books, June 8

Tell Tale Book Reviews, June 9

Simple Harvest Reads, June 9 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 10

Through the Fire Blogs, June 11

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Sharon is giving away the grand prize package of the first two books of the series in hardcover (personalized and autographed), along with a bookbag, several bookmarks (enough to give to friends) and an autographed bookplate to put in their copy of Windward Shore!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/10ca3/windward-shore-celebration-tour-giveaway