I’m tickled to be able to feature Dance of the Dandelion by Dina L. Sleiman today. Our latest title from WhiteFire, Dandelion will make her official debut tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see what she does. =)

First, let’s all admire the awesome cover. George of Tekeme Studios did it again, and somehow managed to capture the essence of the book and the author without more information than a questionnaire. The lovely maiden dancing on the cover is Dina’s own daughter, on whom she modeled the heroine. Perfect, isn’t it?

Now, curious about the book yet? You oughta be. 😉 I’ll give you the official description, then chat about it a bit.

Dandelion Dering was born a peasant in the English village of Arun, but her soul yearned for another life, another world. One filled with color and music, with adventure and passion  . . . with more. Haunted by childhood memories, Dandelion determines to find a better existence than the life every peasant in the village contents themselves with. Even if her sweetheart William’s predictions prove true, and her journey leads straight to heartache.

From her sleepy  hamlet to the intrigue of castle life, from the heart of London to the adventurous seas, Dandelion flees from the mistakes of her past, always seeking that something, that someone who will satisfy her longings.

Will Dandelion ever find the rhythm to her life’s dance . . . or did she leave her chance for true love at home in Arun Village?

At this point I’ve read Dance of the Dandelion about three and a half times (some spot reading along the way), so I feel like I know it backward, forward, and inside out. =) But here’s what I remember from my first time reading it:

Dina has a way of writing about life with passion. Passion for her setting, for her topic, and most of all for the Lord. In the course of the story, Dandelion makes some good decisions, some bad decisions, some smart, some stupid. I didn’t always agree with her and there were moments I didn’t much like her. But through it all, Dandelion was searching for love, and for God. And that’s what propelled me through the story, scrolling through madly. That’s what made me love the book and the title character.

This is one of those rare stories that makes you question what you want for the character, makes you wonder what you’d do in her shoes. It’s one of those novels that leads you to a deeper understanding of faith and God, of love and self-identity.

It’s a book that makes you want to dance your way through life.

I’m really excited to have Dina and Dandelion in the WhiteFire family, and I’m confident that anyone who likes my books or Christine Lindsay’s Shadowed in Silk will fall in love with Dance of the Dandelion too. Dina has written with panache and poetic brilliance a book that perfectly fits WhiteFire’s motto: Where Spirit Meets the Page.

I hope you all check it out!
(Digital release is 1 June and print release is 1 October.)