BLOG TOUR - ALPHA ERASED - ALPHA GIRL BY AILEEN ERIN

Title: Alpha Erased

Series: Alpha Girls

Author: Aileen Erin

Publisher: Ink Monster LLC

Genre: Paranormal, YA

Release Date: 12th May 2020

BLURB supplied by Xpresso Book Tours

Tessa—part witch, part werewolf, raised human and now the unofficial leader of a newly minted supernatural alliance—thinks nothing of her brother, Axel, texting her and Dastien to meet up. The location pin is in a weird spot, but maybe he found a magical anomaly? But when Tessa steps into the darkened warehouse, she doesn’t expect to see her brother laying in a pool of his own blood, smell the sulfuric scent of black magic, or feel the pain of her mate being shot full of silver.

Tessa has seconds to make a choice, but there’s only one thing she can do to save the two most important men in her life—sacrifice herself.

The last thing Dastien hears from Tessa is her plea—help Axel. Then their bond goes silent. He can’t hear her. He can’t feel her. And there’s no sign of the attackers who took her.

Dastien does everything he can to save Axel before calling his friends in a panic. It takes all of them to find Tessa, but when Dastien’s finally reunited with her, there’s no sign of recognition in her eyes.

No magic in her touch.

No wolf beneath the surface.

Everything that made Tessa who she was…has been erased.

Goodreads Link 

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

B&N 

iBooks 

Kobo 

Google Play 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Aileen Erin is half-Irish, half-Mexican, and 100% nerd–from Star Wars (prequels don’t count) to Star Trek (TNG FTW), she reads Quenya and some Sindarin, and has a severe fascination with the supernatural. Aileen has a BS in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles, and spends her days doing her favorite things: reading books, creating worlds, and kicking ass.

How many books will be in the Alpha Girl series?

Alpha Erased is the ninth and final book in the series. That’s not the end for the world, though. I’ll be spinning off Samantha (who appears in Being Alpha and Alpha Erased) into her own series next.

Do you, basic plot/plan for each individual book in the Alpha Girl series, before you actually begin writing it all out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story? 

I actually do a mix of both. I do a very quick outline from Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat. He has thirteen key plot points to a story in his Beat Sheet, and from there, he expands into forty note-cards.

           

I used to do the note-cards, but I found that once I started writing, I always strayed from what I wrote on them. It ended up being a waste of time for me. So, I stick to the thirteen points as my framework, and then let the story flow from there.

As you add books to the Alpha Girl series does the process become easier or harder?           

It’s been both easier and harder. Easier in the sense that I’ve lived in that storyworld for a long time now. I can slip into it quickly, and it’s not work to get there.

           

It’s harder to keep the writing fresh and original. That’s why I’ve decided to end the current series and spin off another series. I still have plans for Tessa, Dastien, and the rest of the gang, but I think breaking the current series at nine books is for the best. Otherwise, I’d have to move into a monster-of-the-week format, and that doesn’t feel creatively fun for me. I found I enjoy bigger, multi-book arcs.

Did you have to any specific research for the Alpha Girl Series? If so what/how did you do it?

Not as much anymore. I used to research different magics and bad guys/demons/etc but the world is so fleshed out now, that I don’t find myself researching as much.

Who designed the Covers of the Alpha Girl Series? Do you have a lot of input into the process?

Ana Cruz Arts designed the cover art, and I used a separate graphic designer to do the layout of the fonts and titles, etc.

I have a ton of input. It starts with an email to Ana with my idea and a PowerPoint full of stock photos for inspiration. From there we go back and forth on what she thinks will work best. We go through a LOT of rounds where she sends me previews, and sometimes, we end up trashing a whole cover and starting over with a new concept. We did exactly that for Alpha Erased a few times, but it was worth it.

People love to say not to judge a book by its cover, but that’s because we judge a book by its cover. It’s the first thing that draws a potential reader in. Getting the right feel and look for a book is essential to finding those readers.

If you had to choose to be a character from the Alpha Girl Series, which would you be and why?

Tessa! She’s the most like “me” of all my characters—minus the whole werewolf and witch bit. ;)

What can we expect from you next and in the future?

I’m currently writing the last two books in the Aunare Chronicles. It’s a young adult space opera book. It’s fast-paced and has a solid romance sub-plot. Book Three—On Mission—comes out on 12/1, and the finale of the series—On Destiny—comes out next spring.

After that, I’ll be working on Samantha’s book—Invocation.

Where can your readers follow you?

Blog: https://inkmonster.net/blog

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/aelatcham

Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7190350.Aileen_Erin

Twitter: @aileen_erin

Instagram: @aileenerin ßThis one is my favorite of the bunch. I love Instastories, and it’s the one I check the most.

Other: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/InkMonsterFans/ßThis is another place I check frequently. I love the group and chatting about all kinds of things with readers.

I’m a very introverted—and very shy!—so I don’t post a ton, but I feel less shy about Instastories since they’re short-lived, and the Ink Monster Superfans Facebook group is a safe space with good people. So, come say hi! J

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW - RED HOOD BY ELANA K ARNOLD

Title: Red Hood

Author: Elana K. Arnold

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Re-Tellings

Publisher: Balzer + Bray, Harpercollins 

Release Date: 25th February 2020 US

                             16th April 2020 UK

BLURB from Goodreads

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked.

And the wolf is angry.

Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone.

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US

Amazon UK

REVIEW

I think the first thing that attracted me to the book was the cover, it immediately made me think of wolves. Then the title Red Hood and the blurb pulled at my curiosity. I’ll be totally honest I don’t usually read and really enjoy re-tellings, or the “new takes” on fairytales & fables, though I have read a few, such as Briar Rose by Jana Oliver and Splintered by A.G. Howard and loved those two. I felt like reading something a little different than my usual genre choices.  Another genre I don’t read a lot of, are books with poetry though it doesn’t put me off as much as it once did, so decided despite this being a re-telling I would give this one a go

The book begins with a “Dear Reader” section which I really liked, it was almost like having the author in front of you talking to you, introducing the book. The book is told in a third person style as though someone is telling Bisou and you the reader the story. I did love the comparison of people & sourdough saying they are both full of potential and able to share again and again as well as to rise and grow and fill each space.

The main character of the book is 16year old Bisou who has lived with and been brought up by her grandmother Sybil, or Mémé as she calls her. Bisou has a rather tragic past and still suffers flashbacks to certain traumatic things that she witnessed. Bisou came from a home where her father was violent towards her mother. Bisou keeps flashing back to seeing her mother on a bed covered in blood and then her grandmother arriving to take her away.

The book begins with Bisou awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend, James, to pick her up to go to the homecoming dance. It isn’t really Bisou’s idea of a great time, she isn’t as outgoing and popular as James is. When they arrive at the school, they naturally gravitate to the rest of James basketball team mates and their dates. Bisou goes through all the chatter, giving compliment and receiving them, all the while wishing the night was over and she was alone with James. Nothing out of the ordinary happens other than a rather drunken Tucker, one of the basketball team members wanting to cut in and dance with Bisou. Bisou ends up telling Tucker he can’t even dance when he is sober, which naturally embarrasses and infuriates him and as he retaliates, James steps in. It takes some of the other members of the team to stop James and Tucker from having a physical fight.

After the party things between James and Bisou are getting steamy and this is when the book feels a little odd as it is quite detailed in what they are doing and then the fact that suddenly Bisou becomes embarrassed as she discovers she is bleeding and having her first period. I’ll be honest I almost stopped reading at this point as I personally didn’t think all the detailing was needed. Bisou gets out of James truck and runs off into the woods. It’s whilst she is heading home through the woods that she hears something behind her. At first, she wonders if it could be that James has followed her, but then she realises she is hearing four feet not two. Then she is attacked by a large wolf, though she manages to fight it off with a large branch she finds and kills the wolf.  As the book goes on it is revealed that she has some sort of special calling, that the moon, and her period cycle somehow run together and she has to go into the woods and search for a wolf and kill it. Though there isn’t a wolf to kill every month still Bisou has to go out into the night and search for one.

I don’t really want to reveal anymore as it would basically tell you the whole story. The wolves Bisou is tasked with killing are not “just wolves” so they have their background and parts in the story too. Through rescuing a girl from a wolf and being sympathetic and offering a shoulder to lean on Bisou ends up making a couple of female school friends in her own right. Bisou often reveals within the book that she thinks people are only talking to her because of who her boyfriend is. There is the whole “coming of age” and “teenagers having sex” element within the book as well as the theme of “loss” with Bisou’s mum being murdered when she was at such a young age and then the bodies of murdered boys turning up in the woods. I really like the camaraderie the author created between Bisou, Keisha and Maggie. The way separately the girls felt weak yet when they stand together, united, they feel able to do anything and overcome anything. I adored the portrayal of the relationship between Mémé and Bisou, they seem to second guess each other a lot. They can work together in the kitchen and pre-empt what the other one needs or means by their actions. Then the other side of the book is the fantasy, and Bisou being prepared to battle and kill wolves every month. There was certainly a lot going on in the book, maybe a little too much, I’m not sure. It will be difficult to put a number out of five on this book because there are sections which deserve a five out of five yet other parts that don’t seem to really belong so would score a one or two out of five. I don’t know how to explain exactly how I feel about the book other than it feels almost like too much is being crammed in, like it’s a “coming of age” book, teen angst (periods & relationships) female angst, and a fantasy book mushed together, and its just not quite right. Individually all the elements would make great plotlines but mixed together in the way they are in this book….I just don’t know. Did I enjoy it? Well it wasn’t a bad book, but it didn’t wow me either.

My immediate thought upon finishing the book were that the book was not what I thought it would be, in fact I would say it was “more”. Also, despite not being what I thought it would be I ended up quite enjoying it.

Summing up, the book felt a little disjointed in places as though there had been a list of things to that all had to fit into the book, yet they didn’t necessarily all gel together brilliantly. It felt like the book still needed tweaking, or editing a bit more. For me the book still felt a little disjointed. It felt like it wasn’t quite finished, or rather should I say polished.

PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT - NEON NIGHTS BY KATEY TAYLOR

In the anticipated sequel to the heart-wrenching novel Inebriated, Neon Nights will keep you on the edge of your seat with another wild ride into Cait's life.

Title: Neon Nights : A Sequel

Author: Katey Taylor

Genre: YA

Release Date: 24th March 2020

BLURB from Goodreads

Liquor and lust and troubled boys who are hard to trust...

After a harrowing summer riddled with tragedies, seventeen-year-old Cait is forced to deal with the aftermath of poor choices and failed relationships.

Will Cait be able to continue her journey despite the heavy chains from her past, or will she be dragged down by the same mistakes?

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US 

Amazon UK

Katey Taylor's heart-wrenching debut novel will have you strapped into the intense rollercoaster ride of Cait's life and one chaotic summer that will change it all.

Title: Inebriated

Author: Katey Taylor
Genre: YA
Release Date: 26th February 2019

BLURB from Goodreads

Barely seventeen and as pretty as can be: the summer is their playground. Cait and her best friends Steph and Allie take on San Francisco's party scene with fake IDs and short dresses.

When Cait meets Adrien Cross, the charismatic lead singer of her favorite indie band, she's introduced to a hedonistic world of liquor and lust that she never wants to leave.

But then that world spirals out of control and the harsh realities of reckless living take a toll on Cait and the ones she loves.
What will be left when the makeup masks wash off, the bottles are empty, and Cait begins to lose her grip on everything?

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US

Amazon UK

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH 
KATEY TAYLOR
BY SMITH PUBLICITY

Katey Taylor is the author behind the emotionally wrenching young adult novel, Inebriated. Katey's passion for storytelling stemmed not long after she first learned to write with a pencil. Every story she writes is infused with a piece of her heart and her absolute muses of music and travel. She's a San Francisco Bay Area native living in a house that sits on a bayside lagoon with her husband and two cats.

Can you tell us what Neon Nights is all about?                Neon Nights is a raw and emotional story that follows seventeen-year-old main character Cait and the serious issues she has to tackle in front of her. Neon Nights is a spiral of events dealing with boys with bad intentions, drugs, and new drama. 

This is the second book in the series. How does Neon Nights continue the story of Cait that you began in your first book, Inebriated?

Neon Nights picks up right where Cait left off in Inebriated but due to the life-altering incidences that took place in the previous book, Cait’s whole world is turned upside down. Readers will be able to dive right in and see the immediate new challenges she faces, and whether your rooting for her or screaming at her, you won’t be able to look away.

You write about a lot of very real topics. Are these novels based on any true experiences? 

At first, I strictly denied my life had any relation to my books. Fiction is fiction. But it was getting hard to deny that was true to friends and family who had read the books. I grew up in a San Francisco Bay Area suburb and snuck away to San Francisco to party in my teen and young adult years. Like a lot of teens, I experienced or was around underage drinking, drugs and the aftermath that comes with that. Cait’s story is not my story but a lot of the emotion and experiences she goes through are similar to mine. I think Cait did take on my teenage persona maybe more than I’d like, but I also think I wrote her qualities I wish I had back then. Cait might not be able to see the bad or danger in people at first, but when she does she is willing to stand up for herself and for the ones she loves. I think her inner strength is one of her best traits.

Music is an obvious theme in the books, and Adrien is a musician. Is he inspired by any real-life musicians?

Oh boy. Adrien definitely morphed into his own real character, but I will admit when I first started to write him, I was inspired by a particular lead singer of an indie band called The 1975. His aesthetic mostly, and I’ve seen him play live many times and he exudes that sort of the slick, dark, wounded musician vibe that Adrien carries.

Do you listen to any particular music while writing?

I have to listen to music while I write, they both go hand and hand so naturally for me. When writing a scene, I usually pick a song that relates to what I’m writing, and I will play it on repeat for hours to help me visualize the setting or express a certain emotion. My music taste is quite eclectic. Indie rock is my go-to, but I love older bands like Fleetwood Mac or Van Morrison. I’m also a huge pop fan probably because I grew up listening to Britney Spears and N*sync. But when writing, I will listen to any song in any genre with deep emotions or lyrics that inspire me.

Social media is such a massive part of teenagers lives these days. What message about social media did you want to portray to your readers?

A minor plot point in Cait’s story in the books is she was admired and often criticized on social media. Yet all of those people had not a clue about the hardships she endured on a daily basis. Life isn’t always what it seems, and just because your seemingly pretty and popular doesn’t mean that life is easy or that you don’t make terrible decisions.

Besides a great read, what else do you hope teens get from Neon Nights?

Not just teens, but parents of teens could read these books as an eye opener to what teenagers are capable of getting themselves into. You might think your kid – or you! – wouldn’t do things like this but sadly those are the people who end up blindsided by addiction issues, find themselves in a toxic relationship, or make the simple mistake as getting in the car with someone under the influence. These things sadly do happen every day. I hope by tackling some of the harder topics of being a teen with truth and honestly, I’ll help my readers think about their choices when in stickier situations, and think about doing what is best for themselves and the people they love. 

  

For more information, visit www.kateytaylor.com, and connect with her on Instagram and Facebook. 

BLOG TOUR - SLUMBERLAND BY DERRA NICOLE SABO

Title: Slumberland

Author: Derra Nicole Sabo

Genre: Biography

Release Date: 21st March 2020

BLURB supplied by Silver Dagger Book Tours

How do you dream? Are your dreams in color or black n' white? Do they feel surreal or all too real?

Well, I'd like to introduce you to my little slice of bittersweet. These subconscious woods hold every fear and my anxieties masked are as wolves. Nightmares that play on a loop for weeks, even months at a time. Symptoms of waking in cold sweats and shaking. The only moments of peace are found in the sporadically studded dreams that happen every now and again. These woods house every past demon as well as certain past versions of who I once was. This place is worse than death, yet it inspires. So...

...Before my alarm clock goes off, before I take the last train out of here, I take one last glance back, one last glance at all of the Polaroids pinned to every tree branch, polaroids of every dream and nightmare that have stolen my nights since '95...

These dreams...these woods...this place...it's my upside down...

This is my Slumberland…

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Higher Ground Books & Media 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As someone with anxiety, writing is my way of speaking. When my verbal skills fail, my pen excels. I have always had something to say to the world and to the humans residing in it, I just could never get my mind and mouth to be on the same level. So, I picked up a pen and haven't looked back. I have a message for you. A message for my family, my friends and to all the beating hearts. Dear You is a letter personally written, from me to you.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website 

Twitter 

Instagram  

Amazon  

Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW - NO PLACE LIKE HOME - DEAD AWARE SERIES BY ELEANOR MERRY

Title: No Place Like Home

Series: Dead Aware

Author: Eleanor Merry

Genre: Sci-Fi, Zombie, Horror

Release Date: March 2020

BLURB from Goodreads

It’s been seven years since the FIRE virus devastated the globe, leaving most of the world population decimated. From the wreckage, infected and non-infected survivors emerge to find their new places in the world.

Since rising after the infection, Max and Clara abscond to the British Columbia wilderness to live in peace, away from the rest of the world. Their life is hard, but happy, until outside forces tear their family apart in efforts to find a cure for FIRE.

Max and Clara must leave their home and once more go against the people who consider them no more than ‘zombies’. With the help of new and old friends, will they be able to finally overcome humanity's prejudice against them?

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US

Amazon UK

REVIEW

After reading and really loving the characters of Max and Clara in A Zombie Journey I had put this book straight on my Want To Read Wishlist! So as soon as I realised it was available, I had to buy it, and read it straight away. The cover fits well with the others of the series, and features a young girl on the cover who I would say is Joan.

The book picks up where Clara has given birth and she and Max have chosen to call their daughter Joan. Joan has not experienced the bad in the world, those that would be against them because they are infected and are different. She has not come in to contact with other infected people, or the less aware zombies either. In fact, she has only her parents for company since they isolated on an island, thinking it safer to just keep away from everyone. They think it is important to remain in hiding as if those that do experiments like those scientists and officials that had Clara before where to realise Joan’s existence, they would more than likely want her and Clara. The trouble is Joan is a lively child who wants to explore and no longer viewed as a baby. When her father gives in and allows her to accompany him to the main land they are both seen by three infected men. Max has a very uneasy feeling about the men and quickly returns to the safety of the island. This upsets Joan as he had taught her how to set traps and she had wanted to check them but he insisted they go back home without checking them. Joan of course being a bit rebellious secretly sneaks off and makes her way to the main land to check the traps and walks straight into the three men who want to sell her to a military base with Doctors. They will get good money for her, and that’s all they can see. The book then tells the story of Max and Clara finding their daughter gone, their boat gone and having to make their way to the main land in an attempt to find her. They soon uncover tracks and see she is no longer alone. When they find out where she is being taken. They know they will need help to get their daughter back. So, they return to old friends who are like themselves, who have made a community together with some uninfected.

There’s lots of hints about what is going to happen and links back to the time when Clara was held in the medical facility. Is it time the “dead aware” made a stand? Can Clara, Max and a few friends really rescue their daughter?

I loved the return of Max and Clara as well as learning about the new character of Joan too. There’s a return of some of my favourite characters from earlier in the series. There’s lots of action in this book and it has quite a fast reading pace, which I loved. I had thoughts about where things might go regarding a possible new leader in a certain community and though I wasn’t totally right I was really happy where Eleanor took the story and community leadership. This honestly is one of those books, in fact its one of the series I could talk for ever about!

Some things seem resolved, but one thing is for sure the uninfected still have the mentality of killing the “zombies”. The Uninfected don’t see the different zombies. They don’t recognise the “dead aware infected” as any different to the mindless, flesh eating variety. Will that attitude ever change? Will there be more trouble for the dead aware community?

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this book were that the more I read of this Dead Aware series & world, the more I love it. Definitely looking forward to reading more.

Summing up, well I love this series and am really looking forward to reading more and am (im)patiently waiting for the next book already!

BLOG TOUR - TIMBERLINE - COLLEGIATE PEAKS BY SKYE MCNEIL

Title: Timberline

Series: Collegiate Peaks

Author: Skye McNeil

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Rom Com

Release Date: 11th April 2017

BLURB supplied by Silver Dagger Book Tours

Best-selling romance novels are Jessamine Davis’s life. Well, editing them at least. Her own love life is far from a fairytale. Just when she thinks nothing could put her New York City lifestyle on hold, she receives an unexpected wedding invitation.

Asher Whitaker is a swoon-worthy romance author, but his writing stalls, so he takes a part-time job at a local coffee shop. When a gorgeous woman asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for a wedding in Colorado, his writer’s block suddenly dissipates.

Wedding shenanigans and trying to pass off a faux relationship lead Jessamine and Asher to discover a stronger connection than either expected.

Can love under false pretenses stand a chance?

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US

Amazon UK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Skye McNeil began writing at the age of seventeen and has been lost in a love affair ever since. During the day, she moonlights as a paralegal at a law firm favoring criminal law.

Skye enjoys writing romantic comedies and romantic suspense novels that leave readers wanting more and falling in love over and over. She writes contemporary and historical novels ranging from sweet and sassy to steamy and sultry.

Her constant writing companions are two cats and two dogs. When she's not writing, Skye enjoys spending time with family, photography, volleyball, traveling, and curling up with a cup of coffee and reading.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website

Facebook 

Readers Group 

Twitter 

Instagram 

Pinterest 

Bookbub

Amazon 

Goodreads 

GIVEAWAY

Two $5 Amazon Gift cards 

Follow the tour HERE for special content 
and a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW - DAMON - BLUE RIVER WOLVES BY ALISHA ROTHROCK

Title: Damon

Series: Blue River Wolves

Author: Alisha Rothrock

Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Shifter

Release Date: 30th March 2020

BLURB from Goodreads

Damon is in a tight spot and he knows it. On the run with his sister Anastasia, the crafty old wolf Nanny, and the rightful Alpha of the Blue River Pack Lena, he now has to get everyone ready for the battle that lies ahead. It's not going to be easy to stay off the radar and train two teenage girls how to fight like a wolf. New feelings crop up almost as often as new dangers, and time is running out. Betrayal and old secrets threaten everything as their ragtag group tries to stay hidden, and alive.

Goodreads Link

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US

Amazon UK

REVIEW

After reading Lena I immediately looked up what the next novella was called and when I could read it, so when I discovered it was already available, I purchased straight away and started reading. I found that I slipped right back into the world and the adoring budding relationship between Damon and Lena. There is even a “chemistry” between their wolf parts, Cane and Serlida. It’s so cute and totally believable how Ana and Nanny tease the pair. I also enjoyed the internal conversations between Damon and his wolf Cane. I found it amusing how Lena is at first shocked by her wolf Serlida, talking to her inside her head and then when she changes form, she is still a little surprised that she can hear Damon in both his human and wolf form inside her head too.

We learn more about Nanny in this book though there is still an air of mystery around her. Damon is continually shocked yet impressed by how organised and prepared Nanny is with multiple sets of clothes not only for herself & Lena but for him and his sister Ana too. Damon is totally impressed the way Nanny has pre-empted certain situations and the fact they would need to disappear quickly. Nanny immediately sorts out a winding route to hopefully put off anyone following them. She also has new documents in different names for each of them so they do not leave a paper trail. Nanny decides it is time to educate Lena more about her other side, which involves her shifting to wolf form and back to human form with control and speed. They also need to teach her endurance, fitness and fighting, as by now they have all come to realise that there will be a fight of some sort at some point soon. They need to be as ready as they can be. Damon and Ana know that their father will be ruthless as much towards them as he will be with Lena & Nanny. There’s a rather big revelation about Nanny’s past which would be a huge spoiler if I revealed it, so I won’t just that its one of those “oh wow, really?” moments. Finally, after training hard and it being Lena’s birthday, Nanny decides they have all earned a visit into the local town. It’s whilst there that the group separates and Damon goes into a store to buy a gift for Lena that he meets someone who not only knows what he is, but who he is. This mysterious woman helps him find the perfect gift but also gives him a vague message to give to Nanny, who is clearly shocked and a little shaken by the fact this person now knows where they are. It means trouble may be heading towards them a little faster than they thought. Someone else makes a mistake of trying to contact the pack hoping to boost their numbers when it comes to the inevitable battle. Sadly, it doesn’t work out as they thought.

This book is action packed and feels fast paced when you are reading it too. I still think there is more to learn about Nanny and the Blue River Pack. Does everyone in the Blue River Pack support the current Alpha? Could the Blue River Pack be ready to accept a new Alpha? Or maybe it would be a new Alpha couple?

My immediate thoughts upon finishing this novella were, Wow, what a place to stop! What a cliff-hanger! I really hope Nanny survives to meet back up with Lena & Damon. Why did Ana run off? I think Nanny, Lena & Damon would have forgiven her mistake. Oh, when can I read more??

To sum up, really, really enjoying this series and looking forward to reading more of it as soon as I can. As each of the novella’s so far have been named after one of the main characters, will that pattern continue and whose turn is it next, Ana or Nanny? A truly captivating series for YA readers and Shifter lovers too.