This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Kim Headlee lives on a farm in southwestern Virginia with her family, cats, goats, and assorted wildlife. People & creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins -- the latter having been occupied as recently as the mid-20th century -- seem to be sticking around for a while yet.
Kim is a Seattle native (when she used to live in the Metro DC area, she loved telling people she was from "the other Washington") and a direct descendent of 20th century Russian nobility. Her grandmother was a childhood friend of the doomed Grand Duchess Anastasia, and the romantic yet tragic story of how Lydia escaped Communist Russia with the aid of her American husband will most certainly one day fuel one of Kim's novels. Another novel in the queue will involve her husband's ancestor, the 7th-century proto-Viking king of the Swedish colony in Russia.
For the time being, however, Kim has plenty of work to do in creating her projected 8-book Arthurian series, The Dragon's Dove Chronicles. She also writes other romantic historical fiction under the pseudonym "Kimberly Iverson."
Reviewed by Ray Simmons for Readers' Favorite
Dawnflight by Kim Headlee is volume one in a series on the Arthurian legend. This is an ambitious work on a subject and characters that many writers have tackled. Ms Headlee sets herself apart by making the story about Gyanhumara, or as she is more commonly known Queen Gwenivere. The story begins with Gyanhumara preparing to meet Urien, one of Arthur's commanders and the man she is expected to marry as part of a peace treaty forced on her clan when Arthur defeats them. There are many reasons Gyanhumara should marry Urien. He is a handsome, respected warrior and heir to the chieftainship of clan Moran. The land of their two clans border each other and a marriage between the next chief of one and female leader of the other will make both clans stronger. The marriage also fits into the plans of Arthur to strengthen and unite Britons against Saxon and Irish invaders. It makes absolutely no sense at all for Gyanhumara and Arthur to fall in love, which of course makes for a great love story.
Dawnflight is a tale reeking of historical authenticity and detail. The use of archaic names for people and places gives this novel a tone and feel many novels about this era lack. The descriptions of life in an England beset with fractious strife between clans and the constant threat of invasion is very convincing. Ms Headlee does a great job weaving plot, character, and setting into a very wonderful story.
