Title: Isla’s Oath
Series: Isla’s Inheritance
Author: Cassandra Page
Publication date: January
20th 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
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Australia is a long way from the Old World and its
fae denizens … but not far enough.
Isla is determined to understand her heritage and
control her new abilities, but concealing them from those close to her proves
difficult. Convincing the local fae she isn’t a threat despite her mixed blood
is harder still. When the dazzling Everest arrives with a retinue of servants,
Isla gets her first glimpse of why her mother’s people are hated … and feared.
But Isla isn’t the only one with something to hide.
Someone she trusts is concealing a dangerous secret. She must seek the truth
and stop Everest from killing to get what he wants: Isla’s oath.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
“Can I help you all?” A large woman came out from behind
the counter, her sudden appearance making me jump. I hadn’t seen her until she
moved. Her red and gold gypsy-style shirt camouflaged perfectly with the rug
hanging on the wall behind her.
“Just browsing, thanks.” I smiled at her. She didn’t
smile back.
“Your friend there like art?” The woman indicated Ryan
with a jut of her chin.
“He’s a painter.”
She brightened—I noticed a few old spots of paint on her
jeans—and lumbered over to Ryan. However, she kept a gimlet eye on the rest of
us to make sure we didn’t steal anything. Very welcoming.
Bored, Sarah and I waited by the jewellery stand. “I’m
dreading getting back to the cabin,” my cousin admitted, brushing sweat-damped
tendrils back from her face. “It’s going to be an oven.”
“Why don’t we use the barbeques to cook dinner?” I
suggested, wiping my palms on my denim shorts. My nausea was growing. I wasn’t
sure I’d be able to eat dinner. Stupid honeycomb. “At least that won’t heat up
the cabin any further.”
“Good idea.” Her eyes lit up. “Then we can go down to the
beach for a swim afterwards. To cool off.”
“Hey, Isla,” Dominic said, walking towards us. He was
holding something black in one hand. “I was thinking about getting this as a
present for your dad, to thank him for paying for the trip.” He held the object
out to show me, a lump vaguely shaped like a curvy woman with her arms together
above her head.
I squeaked and leaped back, my shoulder thumping into a
hanging wind chime. Wooden tubes clanked furiously. The shop’s owner shouted
something, but I didn’t hear it.
The sculpture was iron. And I’d nearly taken it from him.
Dominic stared at me with wide eyes, the sculpture still
outstretched. The storeowner barrelled over and snatched it off him as though
he was brandishing it.
Swallowing hard, I fled.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
&
SERIES Q & A
What can we expect from ISLA’S OATH?
In short: kissing, self-discovery, a sexy bad guy, and some running. (Love the running!)
The fae, or duinesidhe, in Australia are almost all refugees of one kind or another: “lesser” fae who want to live free of aosidhe oppression. Members of the fae ruling class are renowned for their cruelty. Needless to say, the duinesidhe wild about discovering a half-aosidhe in their midst, as they’re concerned not only that she might try to enslave them but about what she might draw down on them, however inadvertently.
While trying to navigate that side of her life, Isla is also trying to navigate a new relationship with Dominic. He’s suspicious of her friendship with Jack, her duinesidhe friend—largely because Dominic doesn’t know anything about that side of her life.
And then Everest, a full-blooded aosidhe, turns up and things get really interesting.
Where did the idea for Isla’s Inheritance come from?
It was a combination of a few ideas, but the main one was a story idea I had for a psychic vampire—the sort of undead critter that feeds off emotions rather than blood, and can leave people a burnt-out husk. But by then Twilight had already hit the big time and everyone’s interest in vampires was waning. I decided to take the basic idea of an empath who can absorb emotions and turn it into something different. Thus Isla was born.
What sort of research did you do while planning the series?
I did a lot of reading about mythological creatures—mostly European ones like the various fae races—but also some from further afield.
One thing I found really interesting during my research was seeing the echoes of those myths in other authors’ books. For example, I’d bet that J. K. Rowling’s Dementors were inspired by the myths of the sluagh, with a touch of Grim Reaper in their look. Her house elves are very much like the English myth of the hob. (I also have hobs in my series, but I made them quite different, partly because I love Dobby and didn’t want to tread on his toes. I’m glad I did, though, as I’m a big fan of Jack, my leading hob!)
When should we expect the third book to hit the selves? And does it have a title yet?
It’s called Melpomene’s Daughter, and it’s scheduled for release in April this year. So excite!
AUTHOR LINKS
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