Compelling historical fiction, this is also a powerful story about the bond between dogs and humans, fathers and daughters.

The imagery creates a vivid sense of time and place. Birth and fight scenes are handled realistically and factually. Lara bravely steps forward to fight for her dreams in an era in which women were seen as fit only to be wives and mothers, seamstresses and midwives. The story develops beautifully from Lara's saving Zar and moves swiftly through the conflicts between Lara and her father as well as the confrontations between Zar and the wolves. She knows that Zar, the runt she saved from death despite her father's disapproval, has an important part to play in hunting the wolves that plague the estate if only her father would give him a chance. But visions regarding the dogs still come to her despite her father's demand that she stop them.

Then her baby brother is born, and she is devastated when her father determines that she will marry instead. Training and caring for the animals alongside her father, she dreams of following him as kennel steward. Visit the site here.Gr 5-8–Lara Ivanova Bogdanova loves the borzoi, the dogs her father breeds on the Count's estate in imperial Russia. Now in 2018, with another new series coming out, we decided to just start over with a completely new look, new layout, and all new design. I originally created a site for Varian way back in 2008! In 2014, we did a refresh, changed up some colors and layout, to better match a new book series. I ALSO love makeovers - taking a website that has outlived its look and purpose, and rebuilding it from scratch to make it fresh and new for the years to come.Ĭombine these two things and you get my most favorite thing of all: Author Site Makeovers! (Hey we all have our thing, right?) This year I was able to take five sites that I created in years past, and reimagine them for the authors they represent!Īll of the sites below are mobile responsive, meaning they look great on any size device and get Google’s “mobile-friendly” thumbs up! Click on the images to see the evolution! (Ready to see your own site evolve? Give us a shout!) That’s why I create tons of author websites! I am so inspired by people who can weave a story and share it with the world.

Here, we are, December 1st! 2018 is almost over, and it’s the time when I start to look back over all of the websites I’ve been so so lucky to bring to life this year!

Lara's Gift by Annemarie O'Brien