Meredith Hart's Blog, page 2

Sneak Peek at Monster of the Deep Forest

“Stop,” Bairgus croaks.

I turn around to glare at the raven who’s been my only friend for years. Stop? Here? In this level of the Deep, at this time of night?

“Great plan,” I rasp. “What, you want tea?”

My voice is still wrecked from the effort of pulling so much magic through my body, and my arms and legs are shaking from the climb down to this level. 

Still, we’ve got to move. I spent the better part of the past hour lashing thin little branches together to make a litter so I can drag the woman along the branch paths until we reach my island. My magic is all but spent, so that leaves my muscles.

Bairgus tilts his ebony head at me in a way that feels remarkably condescending.

“Look at her,” Bairgus caws.

I turn away from the sloppy-ass litter I’m making and turn to the woman. Her dark, elaborate braids spill across the thick moss and tumble over the dusky skin of her throat. Some of the training I received about life on the Inner Plains comes back to me in a low whisper. Those braids mean something, rank in the village or marital status or something else I can’t remember.

I watch her face in the thin, flickering light of the phosphorescent creatures flying around us. She’s got full lips, this woman, and high cheekbones, like a lot of the women living in the villages dotted across the Inner Plains. Her brows are drawn together in a frown, making her look like she’s still trying to fight the sleep magic that dragged her under. She’s wearing a simple green tunic that looks like maybe it belonged to the man she was traveling with. It’s a threadbare, simple outfit which seems at odds with her elaborate hairstyle, and damn, I really shouldn’t be staring at the way her curves fill that shapeless fabric.

I shake my head and drag my attention back to the shitty litter I’m attempting to make. Bairgus hops closer to the woman.

“Look at her,” he croaks again.

“Yes, I did,” I snap.

Bairgus makes a little tsk sound in the back of his throat.

“Look at what she’s wearing,” he says.

I grit my teeth and glance at the woman one more time. Her chest rises as she breathes, pulling the green fabric tight across the swell of her breasts. I turn away.

“Yup,” I mutter. “I saw.”

“Around her neck, you idiot,” Bairgus croaks.

With a sigh, I set down the branch I’m trying to tug through the poles of my litter and turn to Bairgus. He’s staring at the moss beneath the woman’s neck, beside the flutter of her pulse. One of the phosphorescent insects drifts toward the moss beside her. A flash of yellow washes over her full lips.

“She’s not wearing anything around her neck,” I growl.

And then I see the dark band crossing her skin. With a groan, I come to my feet, step carefully around the pool of her cloak, and kneel where Bairgus is pointing with his ebony beak. I peer through the shadows and into the thick moss, following a leather band as dark as her hair as it winds over the smooth skin of her neck, drops into the moss beneath her, and—

My breath dies in my throat. 

I jump back like I’ve been burned, stumble blindly through one of the spindly bushes, and land on my backside just as the branch begins to curve downward. Panic howls through my skull, screaming like all the White Riders of the Towers combined. 

Bairgus tilts his head as he stares at me.

“She’s hunting you,” he croaks.

Monster of the Deep Forest comes out on September 17th!

Click here to preorder Monster of the Deep Forest

Review of the Week: Heart’s Rescue

Delightful AF

“I adored this book entirely! I tend to devour books I love much too fast for my own good lol but I just did not want this one to end!

The characters were wonderful & the self discovery was superb. I truly, truly loved witnessing Arryn realize her own strength & find happiness in her own power. My heart dropped over Rowan & his very relatable angst a couple of times, but I am relieved this was a baby roller coaster instead of the Demon or something lol enough to be an exciting ride without sending me into fits of despair like certain other books I’d need a trigger warning to mention!

It was great to see so many fair & just figures in power. This is such beautiful, sweet, & sexy love story. & the chapter titles are to die for!! I was excited for every new chapter name & LOVED finding them in the story. A+++ , valedictorian GPA , top of the class book, truly.“

Click here to read the review of the week on amazon

Thank you so much for your review! I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the chance to share these worlds with you.

ARC Applications are Open!

Sexy, snarky, and fast-paced, Monster of the Deep Forest is an epic fantasy romance adventure with dual point-of-view (his and hers) and characters who think, act, and curse like adults.

This steamy romantasy about the man who killed a god and the woman sent to hunt him is perfect for readers looking for their next magical romance.

And, if you’re interested in receiving an Advance Review Copy of Monster of the Deep Forest in exchange for your honest review of the story, my ARC team is now open for applications!

Click here for the ARC Application

Sneak Peek at Monster of the Deep Forest 👀

I remember two things from the day a monster killed the god of our mountain. Fire and him.

R’then Kylargha, the lord’s son, with his wide smile and dancing eyes. R’then, reaching his hands toward me, pulling me from the lake as flames streaked across the sky and ash rained down on the water, hissing and spitting against the ebony waves.

Our forest burned when the god died. We only survived because our lord led us to the water. We huddled together in the waves as flames devoured everything we had once held sacred. Our hunting grounds. Our shrines. The fields we’d managed to carve from the mountainside, catching precious water as it ran from winter snowfields to fill the lake and then the rivers that snake across the wide plateau.

How long we were in the lake depends on who you ask. The lord said it was three days and three nights, the same amount of time the Hero Twins spent in the underworld, but my mother would shake her head and snap her tongue. A smattering of hours at most, she says. It only felt like forever.

And, she would add, I should remember. I was not a child when the mountain burned; I remember the shrines, the fields that were destroyed. I remember what it felt like to walk beneath trees, not the massive columns of the Deep Forest, but pale, slender aspens and tall, spindly brush pine. I even, in my dreams, remember the battle that followed, when our brave lord faced the monstrous Godkiller and broke the instrument of his destruction.

But my memories of the fire are like shards of broken pottery, jagged and useless, good only for slicing my palm. No, for me, my adult life began in flames. There has only ever been the blackened shore, the quiet sobs of people who’ve lost everything, and R’then pulling me to safety.

Of course, my mother laughs at that memory too. Why would the son of the lord choose to rescue me, the fatherless, the lowest of the low-born children in the village? Why would R’then choose that moment to show the first signs of bravery in his entire life?

Still. I know my own mind. R’then pulled me from the water, like a second birth, and the path of my adult life was laid down before me. I would follow the man who saved me. His victory would be my victory, and his defeat would be my defeat.

So, when R’then was given the quest that no other would accept, it was also given to me. Even if he didn’t realize it. I listened in the shadows outside the courtyard as the lord and his advisors conferred. I knew what they would announce even before R’then knew. And I knew I would follow him, even if I had to steal away to do so.

Which, it turned out, I did not need to do. When the village assembled to wish R’then well on his hero’s journey, my mother met me with a pack in her hand and a small, resigned twist to her lips, and I realized she recognized my destiny as well. I was meant to follow him.

That was my mother’s farewell, a pack containing her favorite cooking pot and her only silk dress, and the wet press of her tears against my shoulder as she hugged me. It was just another step down the path that was set for me when the lord’s firstborn son pulled me from the waves, a path I’ve never questioned.

Until today.

Monster of the Deep Forest comes out on September 17th!

Click here to preorder Monster of the Deep Forest

Review of the Week: Flame & Blade

Read. This. Book.

I read hundreds of books a year and this one is absolutely fantastic. Magical without specificity (Irish, Nordic, etc) but the structure of magic makes sense in the story. Strong but flawed main characters who fall in love during a difficult quest (always fun). Ends at a point that leads to the next book but ends this quest.

Click here to read the review of the week on Amazon

Thank you so much for your review! I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the chance to share these worlds with you.

In the Deep Forest, the deadliest monsters steal your heart…

Inira is hunting a monster.

To take her place in her village’s inner circle, she must find the man who murdered the old god of her village. But her mission looks like it’s destined to fail when the terrifying White Riders attack her in the Deep Forest. Now, her only chance of success is the mysterious stranger who claims he saved her life. But what does he really know about the Godkiller Inira sacrificed everything to find?

Aveus knows the woman came for him.

She’s wearing a piece of the weapon he used to kill an old god, and he saved her from the White Riders who trained him to use that deadly magic. After years of hiding from the Riders, saving her risks his safety and his freedom. He should drop her on the edge of the Deep Forest and be done with his past forever. 

But as the connection between them deepens, Aveus decides to help her instead. Together, perhaps they can undo some of the damage he wrought years ago.

As long as she doesn’t discover he is the killer she’s hunting.

Monster of the Deep Forest comes out September 17th!Click here to preorder Monster of the Deep Forest

In the Deep Forest, the most dangerous monsters are the ones who steal your heart.

Inira wants nothing more than to take her place in her village’s inner circle.

For that to happen, she must find the monster who murdered the old god of her village and burned their mountains. But after two years of searching, she’s no closer to finding the Godkiller. Worse, her companion is ready to abandon the mission. And, when the terrifying White Riders who invaded her village after the god’s death find Inira in the Deep Forest, her companion abandons her too.

Aveus knows the woman came for him.

She’s wearing a fragment of the amulet he used to kill an old god, and he saved her from the White Riders who brought him across the ocean. After years of hiding, saving Inira risks his safety and his freedom. He should drop her on the edge of the Deep Forest and be done with his past forever.

But as the connection between them deepens, Aveus wonders if he should help her instead. He knows what the White Riders do to the people they capture. And perhaps, together, they can undo some of the damage he did years ago.

As long as she doesn’t discover he is the killer she’s hunting.

Monster of the Deep Forest comes out September 17th!Click here to preorder Monster of the Deep Forest

Review of the Week: Monster of the Dagger Mountains

Super sweet

This was such a surprising little gem!

Witty and refreshingly devoid of shadow daddies, prince/princesses, over the top drama, or nonsensical romantic pairings. The relationship development here was top notch-so much realism and depth packed into a short read/span of time.

Fun banter and flirtatious moments and proper steam with a simple, easy to follow plot that never lost sight of the heart of the story. Great cozy read.

Click here to read the review of the week on Amazon

Thank you so much for your review! I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the chance to share these worlds with you.

Review of the Week!

Super sweet

This was such a surprising little gem!

Witty and refreshingly devoid of shadow daddies, prince/princesses, over the top drama, or nonsensical romantic pairings. The relationship development here was top notch-so much realism and depth packed into a short read/span of time.

Fun banter and flirtatious moments and proper steam with a simple, easy to follow plot that never lost sight of the heart of the story. Great cozy read.

Click here to read the review of the week on Amazon

Thank you so much for your review! I’m incredibly honored and grateful for the chance to share these worlds with you.

Those Two Magic Words…

THE END!

The first draft of Monster of the Deep Forest, the third (and maybe final?) book in the Killers of the Towers series, is finished! 

I’m so excited to share Aveus and Inira’s adventure with you!

Like the other books in the Killers of the Towers series, Monster of the Deep Forest is an epic, steamy, stand-alone romantasy adventure.

The events of MotDF happen after the previous books, and while Reznyk and Kira (from Monster of the Dagger Mountains) and Syrus and Veloria (from Monster of the Silver City) show up in this book, you don’t have to read the previous books to enjoy this one.

I don’t have a preorder link yet, but watch for Monster of the Deep Forest sometime this September.