Once Upon a Ren Faire
Keltia has a normal seventeen-year-old life. Except that she was found on the steps of a police station when she was a baby. And she was born with green hair. And no one knows why.
A fun day takes a fateful twist after a group of ren-faire barbarians who actually seem dangerous start chasing her across the grounds. When she follows a handsome jouster, Emerson, into a hollow tree to hide, she finds herself in a fantasy land of giants, killer unicorns, powerful faeries . . . and dryads.
Can Emerson help her find the key to return home? Or will Keltia be swallowed up by this impossible land?
Book 1 of the Willow Green series.
Review of Once Upon a Ren Faire
Like most protagonists entering magic portals, Keltia doesn’t know what comes next. At least she has read the right fantasy books and loves attending the renaissance faire. When a band of Vikings attacks, Keltia follows a victorious jousting knight into a new world that isn’t as friendly as her favorite books. She must discover where she truly belongs—her home state of Texas or the magical land of Artentia. A. C. Castillo’s Once Upon a Ren Faire fulfills and subverts fantasy tropes while exploring themes of family pain.
Best for: Fans of portal fantasy and fast-paced adventure.
Discern: Some violence, heroes withhold truths, light romance with longing glances and light kisses.
As if being a teenager is not hard enough, let’s add in these extras – Keltia was found on the steps of a police station, and born with green hair.
Keltia, Marianne, Blaire and her sister Sasha all are set to go to the local Ren faire in the great state of Texas. The first stop is the jousting arena. Her friend Blair is so captivated with the jouster Emerson. When it came time for the jousters to pick a lady, Emerson headed toward Keltia and her friends. He smiled at Blair, but passed her by and went straight to Keltia. He asked for the ribbon from her hair, for luck while jousting. When the exchanged happened there was tingles felt between them.
Keltia’s whole reason for coming to the fair today was to get her dagger that Chadwick the blacksmith had made for her 18th birthday. The hilt of the dagger matched the brooch she always wore. The broach was fastened to the blanket she was wrapped in when found on the steps of the police station. When she pulled the dagger from it’s sheath a tingle went up her arm. Then to add to the unbelievable she comes upon a willow tree in a large meadow. This is where it’s should not be. The trunk of the tree had the same carving as her brooch. She touched the tree and went through it’s invisible door. To her surprise the barbarians had followed her inside the tree.
Emerson shows up and puts his hand on over her mouth. He needs her to be quiet or they are going to kill them. When they reach a safe place he begins to tell her she’s in the world of Artentia and they all entered through the tree named Sakenforth. In this world she encounters giants, killer unicorns, powerful fairies, elves, dryads just to name a few.
This read will have Keltia meeting her dream-person Hearth. He just happens to be her very best friend. Will Keltia find out about her past? Will she return to Earth? One must read the book to get the answer to these questions.
I received an ARC of this book and read it on my Kindle app. I voluntarily reviewed this book and all opinions are my own.