Centauriad #1 Daughter of the Centaurs By K.K. Ross

Malora has lived in the Settlement with her mother, a healer, and father a horse trainer.  One day all of the men are attacked and killed by a winged species called leatherwings.  She takes over as horse trainer in her fathers absence.  The leatherwings now having tasted humans attack the village and Malora's mother sends her out to save her.  She survives in the wilderness with her horse and others that have joined her to become a herd.  One day in a storm her herd is trapped in a box canyon and captured by Centaurs to be taken to their city.

Malora is under the protection of Orion, son of the head centaur and a scent maker (alchemist) by trade.  She is adopted by the family as a "pet", taught to read and write, dressed in luxury and also encouraged to find a trade of her own.  As the only human in known existence she feels out of place while surrounded by luxury.  The only time she feels like her self is when she sneaks out of town to hunt in the wilderness. 

This story is all about a girl trying to find her way in the world.  The characters are all very developed and very lovable.  There are different species in this world, including a cat like species that remind Malora of Puss In Boots.   This is a great book in the way that I couldn't put the book down.  There is really no romance but I didn't really mind because there was always something going on and the author was always describing people,events or the overall landscape.  It looks like this is the first book of a series because there are a lot of unfinished stories.  I will definitely be looking forward to more.

Read on August 20, 2011
Release Date: January 24, 2011