Blog Tour
Kestrel’s Dance
Mad Kestrel Series
Misty Massey
Kestrel, the King’s Privateer, is preparing to wait out the annual storm season when she receives an unexpected royal order to capture and deliver a rare creature for the king’s menagerie. Before she can weigh anchor, news reaches Kestrel of a long-ago friend in desperate need of help—in the opposite direction of her assigned voyage. In addition, her ship may be haunted by something big, loud, and terrifying.
Before Kestrel can plot a course, she crosses paths with an enigmatic dancer who offers an enticing bargain: sail her home to the Continent, an ocean away, and she’ll reveal the mysteries of magic Kestrel has longed all her life to know.
The temptation of answers endangers her crew and might ruin her privateer status. Worse, taking on this passenger could thrust her into the clutches of the ever-watchful Danisoban mages who lie in wait for her to make the perfect mistake.
Every decision is fraught with danger. Each wrong turn may mean her death or the death of her crew. And Captain Kestrel can walk away from none of them.
Kestrel, the pirate who can whistle up the wind, returns in book two of the Mad Kestrel Series. Captain Kes will defy the king, gamble with her friends’ lives, and run the risk of capture by evil mages to get her hands on the magical knowledge so long denied to her.
ASIN: B09YC8JSP5
Publisher: Lore Seekers Press (June 24, 2022)
Publication date: June 24, 2022
Language: English
Print length: 319 pages
Check it out on Amazon: http://mybook.to/KestrelsDance
Check out Book One: http://mybook.to/MadKestrel
Excerpt:
An unearthly howl split the quiet night, echoing over the waves. Kestrel gripped the plank seat. She knew that sound. The accompaniment to her ship being dragged nearly to the bottom of the ocean. So much louder, now she rode this close to the water. Compared to the Thanos, this little vessel was as fragile as an eggshell.
Another howl roared out of the darkness, closer this time, slamming against her ears. The boat rocked hard to one side, water splashing over the gunwales and soaking her to the knees.
The black water reflected the night sky. Something rose from the blackness, arcing up a few feet then sliding beneath the waves again. Its wake tossed their boat, sending more water splashing over the side and throwing her off the plank. She fell forward to her knees, catching hold of the plank seat in front of her.
McAvery flung himself to the bottom of the boat, too, clutching the gunwales to either side. The mysterious creature rose from the depths, closer this time, and as it passed by, she heard the now familiar howl. The sound vibrated the boat, even as the wake caught them. The boat rose on the swell, and dropped sharply.
“Bloody damn!” she cried.
As quickly as it began, the tossing stopped. There was one last howl, and the waves calmed. The rocking eased back to the normal way. Gazing out across the darkness, she saw nothing moving except the rolling of the water. It seemed they were alone. With a huff, Kestrel sat back, landing in the cold water pooled in the bottom of the boat. She struggled to seat herself on the plank. “Wonderful,” she grumbled. “I might as well have swum the whole way.”
“What was that?”
Kestrel shrugged, not looking away from the water. The animal must have been passing by, was all. Looking for another ship for its entertainment, perhaps? Luckily, her boat was too small to be a plaything. Slowly, she retrieved the dropped oar, raised herself back onto the plank, and settled the oar across her lap. “Help me bail this water,” she said, cupping her hands and tossing as much water as she could lift over the side. McAvery knelt in the puddle and bailed in silence. She sent up a silent plea to Bloody Grace to make the Thanos appear, and soon.
Love the Mad Kestrel series and want to stay up to date on Misty Massey’s next release? Follow Misty on Amazon here: author.to/MistyMassey or check out her website: https://www.mistymassey.com/
Review from Booklist for The Mad Kestrel Series:
Massey debuts with a colorful romp through strange lands and stranger seas. In a world in which magic is a monopoly of the Danisobans, and all children showing signs of power are taken from their parents and raised by that order, young Kestrel had hidden her talent and eventually escaped to sea, where magic is cancelled by water. Now risen to the post of quartermaster of a pirate ship, she loves her life. But to keep it, she must never let anyone know that she can magically control the wind. When her captain is entrapped and arrested, the young quartermaster must gather and command the crew for a rescue. That takes all the strength and wit Kestrel can command—and guarded use of her magic. This Errol Flynn–ish swashbuckler features loads of action and larger-than-life characters, plausibly grounded in the realities of life at sea. A real page-turner, and a successor is in the works.
Giveaway:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Misty Massey is the author of Mad Kestrel, a rollicking adventure of magic on the high seas, Kestrel’s Voyages, a collection of short stories featuring those rambunctious pirates, and the upcoming Kestrel’s Dance. She is a co-editor of The Weird Wild West and Lawless Lands: Tales of the Weird Frontier, and was a founding member of Magical Words. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and she’s working on a series of Shadow Council novellas for Falstaff Press featuring the famous gunslinger Doc Holliday. When she’s not writing, Misty studies and performs Middle Eastern dance and will, on occasion, surprise everyone with a batch of home-baked snickerdoodles. She’s a sucker for good sushi, African coffee, SC Gamecock football, and the darkest rum she can find. You can keep up with what Misty’s doing at mistymassey.com, Facebook and Twitter.