Promised by Caragh O'Brien (Birthmarked book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't read the first two books in the Birthmarked trilogy, Stop! I don't want to ruin one of my favorite series for you.

The time has come for Gaia Stone to lead some of the people of Sylum back to Wharfton and the Enclave in order to survive. Unfortunately not all of the changes since her departure a year ago have been good. Babies with the right genes are highly prized and sought after while status deeply divides the citizenry. When diplomacy and negations fail, is all that is left terrorist threats? In this gripping conclusion, Gaia finds what matters to her most and what she is willing to sacrifice in order to achieve peace.

Ruled (Book 2.5)

Ruled is an ebook novella that takes place after Prized that offers a glimpse into the mind of Leon Gray and sets up the beginning chapters of Promised.

Visit Caragh O'Brien's website.

Prized by Caragh O'Brien (Birthmarked book 2)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read Birthmarked, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

A couple of weeks have passed since the climatic ending of Birthmarked. Gaia Stone and her newborn sister, Maya, are traveling to the dead forest in search her grandmother, Dani Orien. With both of her parents dead, her brother missing and Gaia herself a wanted girl. She flees the Enclave and Leon in hopes of securing her freedom. But when the formula for Maya runs out and it looks like she won’t live, Gaia is found by a man and he takes the two by horseback to his village. At Sylum, Gaia meets the Matrarc. A wet nurse is found for Maya and the Matrarc informs Gaia that her grandmother has been dead for ten years and she is her replacement. Maya will remain in the village if she lives but Gaia has a choice to make. Visitors can only remain in the village for two days before becoming tied to it. If anyone tries to leave after that time, they become sick and die.

Gaia learns that Sylum is ruled by the women. Their population is steadily dwindling since only one in ten babies born is female. Since she knowingly risked her sister’s life, Gaia is imprisoned. During the night, she thinks she hears Maya crying. Breaking the window slats keeping her prisoner in the lodge, Gaia walks around the village searching for her sister; she soon realizes that the cries are that of a woman in labor. She goes in the cabin and meets Dinah and Josephine. Gaia helps Josephine deliver her daughter and Dinah gives her the scoop on village life. Both Dinah and Josephine are outcasts or libbies since they refuse to marry and have the requisite ten children to repopulate the village. They tell Gaia as a woman and a midwife, she could become influential figure in the village if she chose to stay.

Gaia discovers the window has been fixed and she has no choice but to go to the neighboring lodge for assistance. Norris lets her in and tells Gaia that the Matrarc is waiting for her. He gives her a tea tray and tells her where to go. The Matrarc has Gaia sit down and asks where she has been. She is pleased to learn that Gaia is a midwife and that it changes things. The Matrarc asks to feel/study her face since she is blind. Gaia is uncomfortable due to her scar but eventually relents. The Matrarc can tell she is full of loss not only for her parents but a boyfriend she left behind. In the end, she offers Gaia a deal, stay and be the village midwife and go to school. She can see her sister on occasion but she will have a mother who can care for her. Or she still has time to leave Sylum behind. She lets Gaia know that there are a few rules to life in the village. Men cannot touch women and women speak first. Gaia is surprised but the Matrarc explains with such a disparity between the number of men and women, a woman can be free to choose who she wishes to marry. Finally she lets Gaia know that “any tender touch, any kiss, is strictly illegal until you choose the man you want to marry.”

Will Gaia decide to stay in Sylum? What happens when she butts heads with the Matrarc over personal choice? Why is the male to female ratio in the village so disproportional? And when Leon comes looking for Gaia, what does the Matrarc do?

Join Gaia on her journey of self discovery. Her story will be concluded in Promised due out in 2012.

Visit Caragh O’Brien’s website.

Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien

Those marked with a code will determine the future.
One marked by a scar will unravel the past. 

It's the 25th century and Gaia Stone's world consists of those who live inside the wall and those who live outside. For those who live in the Enclave, life seems good. It's residents have just about everything they could want. The people who live in Wharfton by the former shores of Unlake Superior make do with rations from the Enclave and scrape together what they can. The world has become a dry, desolate place where oil is non-existent.

Recently turning sixteen, Gaia Stone has just completed her first unassisted delivery and is now officially a midwife. After cleaning up and quickly marking the newborn with four dots in brown ink on the ankle, Gaia must now do the hardest part of her job. The first three babies born to each midwife every month must be advanced to the Enclave, where it will be well cared for and the mother compensated. Gaia's two older brothers were advanced at one year of age but she was not because of a burn scar on her left cheek. On her way home, Gaia is warned by her mother's assistant that soldiers from the Enclave have taken her parents and that one has stayed behind for her. When asked why, Old Meg informs Gaia that the Enclave believe that her mother can track the advanced babies back to their parents. Old Meg is on her way to the Dead Forest and wants Gaia to come with her. Gaia refuses thinking the Dead Forest is a myth and Meg hands her a package. She tells Gaia it was her mother's and to guard it with her life. If she decides to follow her later, ask for Danni Orion, Gaia's supposedly dead grandmother.

When Gaia arrives home, she finds Sgt. Grey waiting for her. He starts asking her questions about where she was earlier this evening. Sgt. Grey ends by asking her if either of her parents kept records. Gaia then remembers the parcel Old Meg just gave her. She keeps quiet and is given her mother's job as midwife of Western Sector Three of Wharfton. Sgt. Grey has instructed Gaia to come to the gate and request to see Mabrother Iris if she finds any records. Gaia goes on about her midwifery business and delivers three babies a month to the Enclave. When Gaia hears rumors of the baby quota being raised to five a month and receives a message from her mother to destroy the parcel and go to her grandmother, she starts to question whether the Enclave is right, especially when she receives word that her parents are to be executed. Gaia realizes that she needs to see her parents one last time and return the parcel to her mother. But will Gaia's illegal entry into the Enclave be her downfall or the Enclave's?

This book is recommended to those readers who enjoyed Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. A sequel is planned.
Visit Caragh O'Brien's website.