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 Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
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.
PB Morlen lives her life looking for the next fascinating moment, whether in a book, behind a tree in the woods, around a city corner, or at home. Having spent the last thirty years of her life traveling through life's 'mystery schools,' seeking the secrets of the divine human has taught her to trust her own voice, listen to her heart and pursue her dreams: simple secrets to a magical life. A lover of metaphysics, sword play, dragons and magical worlds, her novels, from present day to ancient times, offer the reader a wild dose of reality mixed with fantasy in a grand adventure where dreams are most common and divine secrets are unveiled. When she's not working on the next novel in her White Bird Series, she's out in the garden, on another adventure, discovering new authors or lost in a good book. She lives in Minnesota with her mother, two very small dogs forever under her feet, and three cats who insist on being in her books.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
Illuminating Crystal is Book One in the White Bird Series by PB Morlen. Crystal Blue doesn't realize what she's been blown into. She thought it was an escape from the cold outdoors that pushed her inside a bookstore. It was more than just the cold. It was fate and an unraveling of destiny, her destiny, past and present, that would unleash some incredibly complex and diverse chain of events. All she had to do was convince the owner, Cosmos, to hire her. Once hired, her job was not upstairs in the cosy bookstore, but downstairs in the dark, poorly lit basement. She had to unpack and inventory boxes of books and look out for one special book, one with powers that could unravel all of humanity, as well as Crystal.
Illuminating Crystal is a real page-turner. Mixed in with fantasy, there is mythology and a good deal of mystery. It is convoluted and complex as the characters, increasing in numbers, all somehow connect to one another in both good and evil ways. There is subterfuge and adventure as characters are kidnapped, rescued, and obliterated. It is a very exciting plot with intense twists and turns. As evil encircles an innocent, unsuspecting Crystal and her sister, Claire, the intensity of the story thickens.
PB Morlen has written a fascinating tale that weaves facts with mythology and fiction. There is a deep connection between Crystal and the bookstore's owner, Cosmos, well-named for his earthly endeavor to be well-ordered in a bookstore, no less. This is an outstanding fantasy that pitches good against evil in an endless battle for the preservation of the human race.
