TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume I
TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume II
TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume III
TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume IV
TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume V
TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume VI
TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume VII

(Cover art designed by Karen Wiesner)

TALES FROM THE TREASURE TROVE, Volume VII A Jewels of the Quill Anthology Edited by Barbara Raffin, Jane Toombs and Karen Wiesner 978-1-60313-394-4 (trade paperback); 978-1-60313-393-7 (electronic) Available now from Whiskey Creek Press Download from Amazon.com Paperback from Amazon.com Download from BN.com

Jewels of the Quill no longer requires our contributing authors in the Tales volumes to use their dame gem in titles and story themes--though, as you can see, most of our authors chose to with this one. Since some of our authors have contributed to every volume, this became overwhelming for them to have so many stories with similar titles.

5 Stars! “In Jewels of the Quill’s newest Treasure Trove anthology, readers, once again, will be rewarded with four short novels to peak their interests. I always enjoy the Treasure Trove anthologies. The authors have such vivid imaginations. Their characters are easy to connect with and they invoke imagination. It’s always hard to pick out a favorite story as they all have a terrific plot to them.” ~Readers Favorite http://readersfavorite.com/cat-71.htm?review=3508

“In this installment of the Treasure Trove, four Jewel of the Quill Authors offer imaginative, fairytale fantasies where characters face down the forces of the fantastic, the whimsical and the terrifying in order to be with their true love. In Topaz and the Lucky Seven, Zaida is charged with finding the perfect suitor for the Princess Alma, whom she has protected since they were children, but instead, who finds love with the bodyguard of one of the Princes in competition for Alma's hand. Tarik is battle-scared and brooding, but fiercely loyal, both to his prince and to the girl who has captured his heart. The agony of Zaida's conflict is tangible throughout the story, as her duty forbids her from influencing the princess' decision for her own benefit. Despite this, she is never a character to be pitied. Tarik brings out strength and determination in her that I didn't see at first, which was a pleasant surprise. The characters in this story are fascinating, as is the world of the castle they inhabit. The Turquoise Gown was probably my favorite story in the collection. Although Theodora's stepmother promises her that a certain gown has the magical power to bring her true love, Theodora has already resigned herself to a life of hopeless spinsterhood. Theodora may be lacking experience, but her determination and good heart more than compensate, bringing about changes she never could have believed. I loved the fact that her "magical" transformation was the result of nothing but her own strength of character. While there was no doubt that Theodora would get her Prince Charming in the end, the simple humor and clean writing made this story pleasure to read and I found myself wishing I could hear more about Theodora and the rest of the characters in her new household. The Amber Tower tells the story of Prince Rafel, who falls under the spell of a witch and finds himself transported to a magical kingdom known as Lamau and imprisoned in an amber tower. …his thoughts on each of the princesses was very interesting, and Rafel himself was an interesting character... Moonlight Becomes You: …the premise of this story is very original and I am interested to see how each member of the family will eventually find their chosen mate.” ~Bridget for The Romance Reviews http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=835

“Topaz and the Lucky Seven by Carrie S. Masek: A great tale. The Turquoise Gown by Jane Toombs: Delightful. The Amber Tower by Janet Lane Walters: Magical. Moonlight Becomes You by Karen Wiesner: A wonderful story. These are very imaginative, refreshing romantic fantasies. Well written and entertaining…, readers will enjoy finding true love in the Jewel of the Quill realms.” ~Harriet Klausner for The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews http://harstan.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/tales-from-the-treasure-trove-volume-vii-carrie-s-masek-jane-toombs-janet-lane-walters-karen-wiesner/

4 Stars! “Those Jewels of the Quill are at it again with this well-paced and entertaining anthology. Masek’s is the strongest story overall.” ~Karen Sweeny-Justice for RT Book Reviews http://www.rtbookreview.com

4 ˝ Stars! “Four separate stories form the unusual tales in this book where the stories are fantasy romance based and each one has a jewel in the title; Topaz, Turquoise, Amber and Amethyst. They are all written by different authors and all well known around the fantasy circuit. Topaz and the Lucky Seven by Carrie S. Masek: It is Alma’s Betrothal Season and her best friend, Zaida must make sure that she picks the one man who deserves her love. They have a strange relationship being born on the same day, and liking one another so much, their friendship could never be broken by anyone. Zaida must be careful though, as she is a low born girl, and one who wouldn’t normally be allowed to see Alma, let alone talk to her, or as she knows, go to any balls the princesses may have. She is teased by the others for this, but she is a headstrong girl and doesn’t mind telling them off for being so cruel. She knows she isn’t like the others but has intelligence enough to notice when other men who aren’t any good for her take an interest in marriage. Alma can't see the problems other eligible men can cause her, but Zaida knows what men are like, and won't let her down. I liked the timing of this story, and as it was short I did want to read more - it captivated me and I didn't really want it to end. The Turquoise Gown by Jane Toombs: This story takes us to paranormal historical territory with Theodora’s stepmother telling her a tale of a gown that will find the wearer the perfect mate. There are skeptics who would think this a useless tale, but when it actually happens, one can only wonder who the handsome male will be, and what he will be like. Theodora is a girl with a fuller figure than most, so she finds it unusual that she could even get a gown like that on. Theo had no idea her mother believed in magic and in a much newer age of 1890 too. Her mother had died when she was very young, so it is understandable that she would want to know more about her and what she was like. I found this a fun read even though it was set in such a past time. The humor comes from hearing about how Theo is being made to have smaller meals and take walks instead of gorging on sweets – it is either an attempt to make her slim for good, or it could be a way of her stepmother helping her to get into that gown of hers. The Amber Tower by Janet Lane Walters: Fantasy romance is the theme of the next story where the rakish Prince Rafel likes his girls, but thinks nothing of commitment with any of them, let alone marriage. He finds he has no depth for love, or affection that could amount to anything that would lead to any commitment, so he goes deep into the woods to find a witch who might change all that for the better. The witch has other plans, though and manages to ensnare him enough to have him imprisoned in an amber tower where he has one of two choices – he can choose from one of two women – but he has to be careful as one is good and the other is bad, or to put it bluntly, one is really the witch herself, and the other is a pure princess. The question is, will he fall for the princess who has nothing or the witch who, it seems has…everything? It has been a hundred years since the first prince had been taken by the witch, and even though he is told about her, he doesn't believe in witches, thinking it is low born gossip. Once he does make the journey to the witch though, he finds that she has put a curse on his family for years, and he is only one in a long line of princes and heirs to the Rafel throne to be ensnared by her - yet he might also be the one to break this curse. Rafel will strike readers as a tragic character who rather than being full of himself is, in reality, a man who cannot lie to women. He really can't love or have affection when his parents want him to marry for prestige and heirs. This story can serve as a cautionary tale, but also as a realization one for the prince and what he thinks of women. Moonlight Becomes You by Karen Wiesner: As a story, this forms a part of her long-running Woodcutter’s Grim Series of novels appearing in a compilation of stories. Since the evil had laid its grip on Woodcutter’s Grim the Defenders have had to make sure their children can grow up in a safer place that it would have been, or the horrors that lurked around there could have picked them off one by one. This story, like her other novels is loosely based on the fairy tale of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. Heather Rowe is at a loss as to what is happening to her child, and when she can’t get any answers from the doctors who look at the child, she has to return to Woodcutters Grim, where her man, Lance lives to find out what is going on. From the first three pages Karen has the reader find out more about the characters than if she had waited. She wants the reader to know of the characters first before she sets the action off in this story. Heather wants to know what is going on with the child, and only he has the answers, but she has only heard a little about Woodcutters Grim and the rumours of the curse, and nothing more. Heather can’t understand why he knows so much about her and her him, but when he answers all her questions, she finally comes to terms with what she has to do to save herself and her child.” ~Love Romance Passion http://www.loveromancepassion.com/review-tales-from-the-treasure-trove-vol-vii/

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