It's Launch Thursday! Today 5 Prince Publishing presents book 2 in the Ilona the Hun series, Secrets Revealed by Erika M. Szabo!
Release Day
For
Secrets Revealed
Erika M Szabo
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Time Travel
Release Date: November 29, 2012
Digital ISBN 13:978-1-939217-16-5 ISBN 10:19392171761
Print ISBN 13:978-1-939217-17-2 ISBN 10:193917172
Purchase link : www.5princebooks.com/buy.htm
Secrets Revealed
Ilona’s story is provocative, rich in characters and detail
that bring a lost world to life, a journey to treasure and remember. In book
one Ilona is a lonely doctor discovering her rich tribal heritage and
birthright to become a Healer. The barrier created by her insecurity kept
others out, but also kept her caged in. She has to break the barriers to
discover her true identity. She discovers growing magical abilities within her
in the strange world of the Huns, which are beyond her wildest dreams. She can
use her given gifts for absolute good or absolute evil; the choice is up to
her. Ilona’s birthright as a Healer runs alongside her desires as a woman.
She’s secretly and hopelessly in love with her best friend, he seems oblivious
to her feelings. Fate brings Zoltan into her life. Will he break her heart, or
will he bring true happiness? Ilona is hoping for a red tulip, the symbol of
devoted love. Who will offer it to her? She discovers some secrets the Hun
society is concealing, a society that is secretive and complex, with strict and
fiercely enforced ancient rules; revealed to only those who come of age. Ilona
is a rebel, who is determined to control and guide her own life. Resourceful
and daring, she crosses the line and breaks those rules. She must face the
consequences and has to fight for her men; both of them disappear from the face
of the earth. She acquires magical abilities beyond her dreams to find and save
them. Ilona has been evacuated from her easy and steady life. She is happy, but
she still has many doubts. She hates that she has to hide in the past from a
faceless enemy, however enjoys meeting her ancestors.
Author Bio:
Erika M Szabo is a Hungarian born American; she lives in the
beautiful Catskill Mountains. She has a PhD in Alternative Medicine; she
published a few books in this subject. Erika loves the art of healing; however,
writing about dry medical facts doesn’t satisfy her thirst for storytelling.
The ancient history of the Huns always fascinated her, it is full of holes,
mysteries and speculations; there are only a few written facts about them
besides their legends. Erika used her fertile imagination to fill the
historical voids in the story of Ilona. She raises questions such as - What if
healing by touch could be possible? - What if we could find a soul mate no
matter the obstacles? - What if we could visit our ancestors on a whim? - What
if our destiny is not written in stone and we can create our future?
EXCERPT: Thanks to these freaking well-guarded Hun secrets,
my life became very complicated almost overnight. Today, in the secret society
of the descendants of the ancient tribes everything is structured and everyone
is on the need to know bases. They move people around like puppets and create
their destiny. I don’t know much about their plans with me and my life yet; I
just found out that I’m a Healer by birthright. I accepted and welcomed this
discovery, because being a traditional doctor doesn’t give me the opportunity
to restructure people down to the cellular level, to heal their diseases, being
a kind of magical healer does. To make my life even more complicated, I met
Zoltan. All my life I nursed my quiet love for Bela, my best friend. He never
gave me any sign of feeling the same; he always just wanted to be best friends
and nothing more. Zoltan stirred emotions within me that I didn’t know I was
capable of feeling. He is handsome, gentle and sensitive and when he kissed me…
oh, what a kiss that was. The dark man relentlessly hounded me and tried to
kill me many times. He couldn’t do it himself for some mysterious reasons, but
he could influence others to try. Then I found out Ema was my sister. She is
the forbidden second daughter of the Healer, who according to the ancient laws
could bring destruction to the Hun nation and have to be destroyed. My mother
and Elza successfully hid her from the Elders council and the Leaders council–
for eighteen years, and then Elza made a mistake by naming her with her true
birthright in a dream address. The Leaders decided to visit us bringing – as we
suspected – the Law Keeper with them to destroy Ema. We couldn’t let them do that
and we were frantically trying to find a way to save her.
I called Ema, told her there was an emergency and she had to
come home right away. She panicked; afraid something had happened to Elza. I
assured her that she was fine, we just had to decide something very important
in a hurry and that we couldn’t talk about it on the phone.
“What is it? Please tell me! You’re scaring me, Ilili,” she
begged me.
I knew she was in great distress, because she used my almost
forgotten pet name. I was suspicious, not wanting to reveal anything on the
phone. Actually, the way I felt was borderline paranoia. Who knows what kind of resources they have? What if they can even
listen to phone conversations? I thought, knowing that I had found out so
many peculiar and mysterious things about my ancestry, it really scared me.
“It’s okay, love. Come home as soon as you can and I’ll tell
you everything.” I tried to calm her, but that didn’t work. I heard the
escalating anxiety in her voice.
“Sure you can’t tell me? Not even a hint?” she probed.
“No love, sorry.” She gave up and promised she would be home
in half an hour.
I remembered an important task and told Elza we had to
prepare some food for the guests. In our tradition, it is an insult from the
lady of the household not to offer refreshments to announced guests.
“I’m on it! I’ll get the food.” Elza’s voice trembled as she
hurried towards the kitchen, her long skirt floating behind her. She must have
been feeling greatly honored, yet scared half to death, by the upcoming visit.
“I’ll help!” I yelled after her as I jumped off the sofa.
“No, you won’t dare!” She turned back, alarmed.
Zoltan gave questioning glances to each of us in turn,
“What’s going on?”
“Her culinary talent doesn’t even cover boiling water!” Elza
exclaimed, in a hurry.
He laughed lightly. “I’m a good cook. It’s kind of a hobby
of mine. Can I help?” He turned to Elza, smiling.
“All right, but you have to keep Ilona out of the kitchen!”
she warned him. He had an amused expression on his face. He chuckled, cocked
his head towards me and then led me towards the kitchen by my hand. “Are you
really that bad?” he whispered.
“So they tell me!” I confessed. He laughed softly and
squeezed my hand.
“She’ll just sit and watch.” He promised, turning to Elza.
I sat down across the aisle on a stool, muttering under my
breath. They set to work, deciding on small sandwiches and cream puffs, which
Elza took out from the freezer to thaw. Soon they were slicing Italian bread
which they loaded with various toppings of cream cheese, pepperoni and olives.
They flavored them with mustard and red pepper paste. As the pile of small
sandwiches grew, Elza looked over to Zoltan with approval. He was a lovely
sight to look at. Shirt rolled up to his elbows, and a thin apron accentuating
his muscular chest and flat belly. He sliced and chopped at a fast and
efficient pace.
“You look beautiful when you’re pouting, by the way,” he
announced, smiling at me. My heart sank a little - it must have been apparent
how I felt.
“It’s not fair! How can I learn to cook if nobody lets me?”
I complained, but I was easing up somewhat.
“I will teach you sometime.”
“Promise you won’t laugh if I mess up?” I asked,
suspiciously.
He made the cross sign over his left chest, trying hard to
conceal a smile, “Cross my heart.”
“Can I at least set the table?” I asked Elza, still pouting.
I was feeling rebellious and left out.
“Actually we need only small plates, napkins and glasses,”
Elza replied. “All right, you can put them on one of the cocktail tables. Get
the ones from the side cabinet.” She sighed as if she was talking to a small
child.
I jumped up happily, grabbing at the chance for something to
do. I carefully arranged the cart as Elza had instructed. I dropped only one
plate in the process which wasn’t so bad...or so I thought, compared to my
usual performances. I heard Elza sighing behind me. “I knew it! That’s why I
told you to get the cheaper china.” She admonished quietly, under her breath. I
blushed deeply, feeling like a berated child.
“Elzaaa!” I yelled at her, embarrassed.
Zoltan snickered softly while I quickly gathered the pieces
on a napkin. “You’re a real klutz, you know!” I swallowed my hurt and looked
up. He flashed a warm smile at me.
