17453523“The Carnelian Legacy” is Cheryl Koevoet’s debut novel.  Set mostly in a fantastical parallel dimension called Carnelia, it follows the story of modern-world girl Marisa MacCallum and her search for true love.  After the death of her father, Marisa feels like her world is falling apart as she seeks comfort in her daily horseback rides in the woods on Gold Hill.

After a freak accident that suddenly finds herself transported to Carnelia, Marisa realizes that she’s no longer in the world she knows and had grown up in.  Set in a time where swords and horses were the norm, she meets an arrogant nobleman on a mission to try to negotiate a peace treaty with his cousin and archenemy.  With no other choices left to her, Marisa joins this nobleman on his journey and soon finds that it’s beneficial to herself as well since she begins to fall in love with him after realizing that, underneath his arrogance, he has a soft side as well.

For a debut novel, it was very well-written and the characters were solid and likeable.  I found it easy to get drawn into the story and felt like I was right there with Marisa in the world of Carnelia.  I can’t wait to find out what else Cheryl Koevoet has in store for us, but I will definitely pick up her next novel and hopefully it is either a continuation of this story, or a new story set in this same environment!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com&gt; book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255