Uncategorized

Finding Sanctuary in Another Universe

Finding Sanctuary in Nature: Anyone who desires peace can follow the roots to their source and find shelter under The Great Tree. Although born a Huron, he brought peace to the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations by teaching the Great Law of Peace , or way of right thinking, which came to be known as the Iroquois Confederacy. This confederacy later formed the basis of the democracy emulated--however imperfectly-- by the first colonists in America. This Great Law of Peace envisioned all men and women existing as equals, within one circle beneath the Great Tree of Peace, whose roots extended to the four cardinal directions and whose branches held an eagle that could see far into the future and warn of trouble.

This image reflects the essence of right relations between all peoples. When we develop right thinking, we become one with the tree of life, relating to all beings as leaves on this tree, our roots going deep within the earth, to all four directions, our limbs reaching to the sky, toward the Creator, our consciousness like the eagle with awareness of everything above and below, past and future.

We are the Tree and we are the Eagle. We become one with everything and ultimately with the Creator. Various cultures have names of their own for the Creator or for the sacred space where an individual is one with the Creator. In ancient Hebrew, the name for the Creator is the initials of the four elements—fire, water, earth, and air—the basis of all things on earth: I do not think I would characterize it as a "light read" simply because I was tense the whole story. There were so many risk and unknowns. It was impossible to know where the story would go, which causes the reader to be on edge hoping for these two guys to make it.

But it was worth every tense moment and tear I shed to read this story and welcome these characters into my memory. Oct 13, Sarita Chapdelaine rated it it was amazing. I love this book!

See a Problem?

This is beautifully written and filled with incredibly intricate characters. The world building is fabulous and I was totally immersed in this book from the first page. I found myself so intrigued by the story and how Ori and Patton's relationship developed from childhood to adulthood. The maturity, strength and perseverance that Patton used to help Ori on their incredible journey to sanctuary made me very emotional cue the tears.

Ori is an omega determined to chose his Wow! Ori is an omega determined to chose his own mate and he runs away with Patton so they can have a life together. The secondary characters were well developed and added so much to the book.


  • Sanctuary (A Tale from the Mercy Hills Universe).
  • IELTS Vocabulary by Matching Word Exercise – Easy/Level 1;
  • Enel Sanctuary Garden Key Quest • AO-Universe;
  • .
  • Finding Sanctuary in Nature: Healing Yourself and Others by Jim PathFinder Ewing!
  • The Immune-Neuroendocrine Circuitry: History and Progress: v. 3 (NeuroImmune Biology).

I now have to read the Mercy Hills series and I hope there will be more books about Ori and Patton as they settle into their new life. The author kindly gave me an ARC to review. Nov 11, Wandering Reader rated it really liked it Shelves: This might be my second favorite book in this series. I felt the suspense, fear, love and determination to stay together throughout the book. It's nice to occasionally read something wherein the main threat is from without and not the two main characters fighting each other or their feelings.

I really didn't fe This might be my second favorite book in this series. I really didn't feel the whole retelling of the rest of the stories or set up scenarios for future books as I have with the other books in this series. Very good escapist reading. A 5 star adventure! This was such an adventure! I love that we go through the whole journey with them, from when they were young up and through every step of the way of their runaway to the sanctuary. Nov 18, Paul rated it it was amazing Shelves: Mercy Hills will always be on my favorites list and Ori and Patton just added to it.

Dec 07, llv rated it liked it Shelves: I got really bored about half way in and started skipping and skimming chapters. Maybe that was what the author was trying to convey, but I felt like the journey to Mercy Hills was interminable. I liked the beginning. There was this one scene where Patton gave Ori a gift that broke my heart.

Enel Sanctuary Garden Key Quest

I think if the book had been pared down some I would have given it a higher rating. The beginning was good. The ending was good. The author just lost me in the middle. Oct 20, Nica rated it it was amazing. I am a great fan of the Mercy Hills series. I have read all of them, and although this one was the first advanced reader copy I received for my unvarnished opinion, I was already very familiar and very much in love with the books. Each book deals with an omega and alpha pairing, and each builds up on the Mercy Hills universe, which has gotten quite epic in its scope, although we also have a human and shifter pair.

This time around, we have an unexpected pairing: Ori and Patton Perseguir quickly became one of my top three Mercy Hills couples. They live in the Perseguir shifter enclave, and have been raised in a very fundamentalist, traditional setting of betas for betas, omegas for alphas and everyone knows their place. Their hearts have belonged to each other from the moment they clapped eyes on each other, and grew up as best friends, secretly longing and loving each other. Ori, as an omega, is destined to be paired off with one of the enclave alphas, or sold off to a outsider alpha to benefit their enclave.

Patton, as a beta, has been repeatedly told not to hold any hope of ever pairing off with Ori, and has grown up knowing that he can only hope for his friendship. When the time comes for Ori to be traded off to an outsider alpha, Patton agrees to help Ori escape the match, traditions be damned, and plan their escape to the Mercy Hills enclave.

They have heard strange rumors about the Mercy Hills shifters, how they "sell" themselves to the humans for money, or that they abuse their omegas by making them work; but they have also heard that they are prosperous and that they allow their omegas to choose work or school, instead of just keeping them at home for child rearing or trading off.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how Ori is so optimistic and brave, how he tries to see the best out of their situation, even in the scariest of circumstances. And Patton, just, ugh! I loved Patton, what a sweet beta. He does his very best to take care of Ori, and shake off the belief that he is less than because he is not an alpha.

I love how the author deals with deep issues, like traditionalist raising, gender norms, prejudice, homophobia, homelessness in all the books, without being preachy. How each main character tries to reach their dreams, even when they think they didn't have a right to dream. I rooted for Ori and Patton throughout, and even though we know that Ori didn't show any signs of being a True omega, I think he is very special guy and I hope to see more of him in the future, as well as the good Samaritan omega who helps them out.

I can't wait to see what is next in the Mercy Hills universe.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Episode 52: Leak Frog

Apr 17, Christy rated it it was amazing Shelves: I was looking forward to getting a view of something different and a beta and omega pairing is certainly different. All the rest of the packs seem quite content to continue with their medieval ways even though the leaders at Mercy Hills are trying so hard to improve human and shifter relations for all the packs.

Hell, they even met with the President in the last installment! Although, I simply visualize the years leading up to World War II for the Jews in Germany and anyone who was different than the Aryan race, and that pretty much explains this world for me. My heart was, in equal parts, filled with joy and then with heartache, watching the friendship Ori and Patton have from a young age.

He has to go to special omega-only classes where he learns how to cook, care for a home, and take care of his future pups. His parents and the chaperones surrounding him at all times actively work on keeping him apart from Patton. Patton is equally perturbed as he has no interest in a beta, he just wants his best friend. His best omega friend. But, do you mind--if I can sneak out of the house? Can I come over? I don't care if they say we can't be friends because you can have babies.

I don't want to lose my best friend. Nov 01, Morgan Skye rated it liked it. I like this series quite a bit but I do find some of the detail a bit too tedious. In this world, the knowledge of shifters is out there and they are subsequently treated very poorly and kept in enclaves. I really hate this type of story but I so admire the love stories the author is capable of giving that I wade through the sadness and despair to find the happy and the sweet.

Our two MCs have a truc I like this series quite a bit but I do find some of the detail a bit too tedious. Oct 12, Ashley S. Ann-Katrin Byrde is such an amazing author and I cannot recommend this series enough. I didn't think it was possible, but I think I love this book even more then I have loved the previous books in the series.

Ori and Patton were amazing characters who came alive instantly and whose story grabs you and doesn't let go. I love that Ms Byrde gave us a story from another enclave, so we can see how other packs act and how other packs view the Alpha-Beta-Omega etc. I also love that we got to Ann-Katrin Byrde is such an amazing author and I cannot recommend this series enough. I also love that we got to see a love story between a Beta and Omega, since so far this series has been exclusively Alpha-Omega pairs.

It helps add even more depth to an already detailed and interesting universe. If you haven't read the other books in this series, go do that! If you liked the rest of the series, or want something a little different, this is a book you should definitely pick up. Nov 03, Russell blain rated it it was amazing. Loved the continued story line I have received a ARC for an honest review of the book. I loved this story in the Mercy hills universe.

Finding Sanctuary | HuffPost

It's our first experience, really. Hopefully all of us get to have that feeling of being held reinforced, as I did while I grew. I can still hear my mother's voice against the backdrop of my own tears: Or, my grandmother Fernie: Last week was an awful, awful week in our country. Hours before blind rage turned to gunfire and screams in Dallas, I sat in my home office watching on social media two men breathe for the last time.

I watched Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, struggling and pinned to the ground as lethal bullets drove explosive fire power in to his body. I watched the force of trauma flood out of Alton's son Cameron on live television when his best efforts to be brave broke like a dam, giving way to tears and wailing. I watched the stain of blood wash over a white t-shirt as the life of Philando Castile in Minnesota drained away I heard that Minnesota officer's voice break like a child's voice after something horrible happens.

Hours later, in a newsroom it was my assignment to pull the latest video from CNN and NBC and get it on the air as quickly as possible while bullets flew in Dallas. I left my computer and the TV monitors, ran up a staircase, around a series of corners and down a hall to find a men's room where I entered, shut the door, cut off the lights and sunk down to the floor to just breathe. And, it was a moment I have replicated many times over and over in the days since the co-created experiences in our nation have joined together to remind us the work of healing and hearing each other is not only imperative if we are to survive, but also far from over.

But I know where to find them.

The answers are inside the quiet places that exist in the hearts of every woman and man alive.