Recently fired and residing with her sweetly overbearing mother, Madlyn needs a job-bad. In a moment of desperation, she accepts a part-time position reading at the bedside of adventurer and amateur writer Cody Lofton. A near-drowning accident left the young man in a vegetative state, and his chances of recovery wane with each passing day.Cody's older brother, Dustin, and eccentric grandmother aren't prepared to give up on the youngest son of Portland, Oregon's royalty.Dustin's a personable guy, bordering on naïve, and overwhelmed by familial corporate duties and cutthroat partners. Grandmother Lillian's a meddler with an eye for the esoteric, dabbling in Dustin's life and dealing out wisdom like a card shark. One innocent conversation at a time, she sucks Madlyn into the Lofton story, dubbing her the princess and bestowing on her the responsibility of both grandsons' destinies.And all Madlyn wanted was a simple reading job. Uninspired by her self-imposed stack of literary selections, Madlyn opts for Cody's work-in-progress. Fantasy isn't her favorite, but with only four chapters completed, reading The Sorcerer's Garden should be no sweat, right? Little does she realize, the story will begin writing itself and, by the hand of destiny, become her own.***D. Wallace Peach's eighth novel is a collision of medieval and urban fantasy centered in the Northwest Hills of Portland, Oregon. Madlyn is quirky, blessed with a sarcastic sense of humor, and a tendency to say exactly what's on her mind. At 28, she's also abandoned her dreams of a fairytale life. A satisfying career and happily-ever-after romance simply aren't turning up in her cards, and in fact, her junky car is careening downhill fast. A strong female protagonist with a reluctant streak, she finds herself trapped in a heroic adventure through overlapping worlds, unsure whether one or both are real. Don't look for a run-of-the-mill fantasy here. This is one tangled tale crafted especially for readers who enjoy plot twists that keep everyone, including the characters, guessing.
Author Biography:
I didn't care for reading as a child - I preferred Bonanza and Beverly Hillbillies reruns, Saturday morning cartoons and the Ed Sullivan show. Then one day, I opened a book titled The Hobbit. Tolkien ... literally changed my life. I love to write. It's a luxury I never expected I'd have time for - life got in the way. You know how that goes - kids, work, chores... sleep. I worked for 18 years in business where amassing coin was the all-consuming objective. It required huge amounts of time and mental energy. And for me personally, it was soul-slaying. Then on September 11, 2001 two planes flew into the World Trade Center. I was working in Connecticut, about 2 hours from ground zero, and remember sitting in a conference room, watching the second tower fall. That tragedy initiated a process of redefinition for me, an evaluation of what was vital and important. Life felt short and precarious, and I started to wonder if it was time to do something that actually mattered. I began to write.
