There are rules for dealing with ghosts. Too bad Ree Hutchins doesn't know them.
When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman's death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her.
Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as The Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn't understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to rest--before she is locked away forever....
My Thoughts :
I really enjoyed the Graveyard Queen books and hope that one day there will be more of them. This pre-quel to the series, as far as I can remember, was always unavailable to me via Kindle but while browsing the other day I noticed this short story was now ok for me to buy! I snapped it up quick and couldn't wait to curl up with it.
Not told from the perspective of the Graveyard Queen herself, this story is told by Ree, a student who is helping out at a private mental hospital. She manages to get involved in something very sinister and also happens to get to know a ghost hunter along the way.
The story isn't very long but it is full of details and action. I really liked the story and had it read within a half an hour. Well worth checking out if you want to see if the series really is something for you. However with the mystery and the ghosts why shouldn't it be? Oh yes and the graveyards and mental hospital add a nice touch. Nothing more spooky than those two together!
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I am the Graveyard Queen, a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. My father passed down four rules to keep me safe and I've broken every last one. A door has opened and evil wants me back.
In order to protect myself, I've vowed to return to those rules. But the ghost of a murdered cop needs my help to find his killer. The clues lead me to the dark side of Charleston—where witchcraft, root doctors and black magic still flourish—and back to John Devlin, a haunted police detective I should only love from afar.Now I'm faced with a terrible choice: follow the rules or follow my heart.
My Review :
When I came across this series last year, I knew it was going to be good! Just didn't realise how spooky and thrilling it would get along the way! The Prophet is the third book in the Graveyard Queen series and takes place a few weeks after book two, The Kingdom. Although after the small cliffhanger ending to the previous book I expected things to take off straight from where we left off. However it seems that Amelia was procrastinating a little.
The plot is very complicated this time around and sometimes I found it difficult to keep up with who was who. After her trip to Asher Falls I had forgotten about some of the characters that had been introduced in book one, The Restorer. Luckily Amelia does her best to keep the reader on track and managed to remind me about everyone. There are even some interesting new characters that I hope will appear in the next books. The sisters definitely have more to share with us.
There are a lot more surprises in store for Amelia in this book and of course for the reader. The ending left me wondering how things will continue for Amelia and Devlin. Could they finally get together and be happy? Their relationship makes for a nice side line to the weird magical and paranormal goings on in Amelia's life. She is a very strong woman and I admire her ability to keep her emotions in check.
However I felt Amelia had shut herself off too much from her previous adventure. So much happened when she went off to Asher Falls and this time around she hardly thinks about. Yes, this mystery surrounding Devlin is obviously taking up her time but I can't believe that she wouldn't rehash it a bit more. Maybe visit her family and talk about it. After all she finally got a lot of her questions answered in the last book. I wonder if it will actually become an actual topic again in the series or will be gone and forgotten?
If you like mysteries and are not against a few ghosts then this is a series you should try. Amelia's occupation is a fascinating topic and the author has really outdone herself in her research about a job I didn't even think existed. Be sure this isn't a cozy mystery. This one is not funny and isn't supposed to be. Seriously supernatural, spooky and super. The Prophet, for me, wasn't the best of the three books so far but it was still hauntingly good!
Have you checked out the interview? Entered the contest? You could win a copy of the first two books in The Graveyard Queen Series!
You have till Sunday to enter!
The Graveyard Queen Series
#0.5 - The Abandoned
#1 - The Restorer
#2 - The Kingdom
#3 - The Prophet (releases this month!)
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For more chances to win -
Post about this giveaway somewhere on the internet eg. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. Make sure you post the link here so I can confirm your extra entry.
Email your friends about this giveaway. Make sure you add my email address so I also get a copy and can confirm your entry. Amberkatzes_Book_Blog@gmx.eu
Amanda Stevens is my author guest this week! Her Graveyard Queen Series has turned out to be hauntingly good! I just finished book three, The Prophet (review coming soon), which is due out this month.
I hope you will all enjoy this interview with Amanda. Get to know the author and her books a little but don't wait too long to try this series! It really is worth reading!
Keep reading to the end and enter the contest. You could win a copy of the first two books in the series!
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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest! Could you start things off by telling us a little about your Graveyard Queen series?
Amanda - Thank you for having me! The Graveyard Queen series is about a cemetery restorer—Amelia Gray—who sees ghosts. Greedy, grasping, ravenous entities that prey on human emotions and devour their life force. In order to protect herself from the parasitic nature of the dead, Amelia has always held fast to her father rules. But a haunted police detective has entered her world and now everything is changing…including the rules that have always kept her safe.
Whew! That was a mouthful!
Amber - I really enjoyed the first book in the series was surprised to see the next two books in the series are being released within a month of each other. Why the rush?
Amanda - It was something Marketing came up with to hopefully make a bigger impact. Back-to-back series have been pretty effective in the past.
Amber - In the second book, The Kingdom, Amelia finds out a lot about herself and her past. Was it your intention to give away all the mystery surrounding Amelia so early on in the series?
Amanda - Oh, trust me, I haven’t given away all the mystery surrounding Amelia. Not by a long shot! Papa is still keeping secrets and Amelia is in for some nasty surprises.
Amber - What can we expect from the third book, The Prophet? What ghosts will haunt Amelia this time and what trouble will she get mixed into?
Amanda – The Prophet reveals a little more of Devlin’s back story and touches on something in his past that will play a big role in Book 5. Also, Amelia is now realizing the truly dire consequences of breaking Papa’s rules. She’s starting to wonder about her role in the larger scheme of things and what her future will be now that she’s let the ghosts in.
Amber - Why the paranormal? and why mystery? Are they genres you like yourself or just ones you wanted to try?
Amanda - Mysteries are my first love and I’ve always been fascinated by the paranormal. Add a romantic element and it just seems a natural fit for my dark, atmospheric style.
Amber - How long on average does it take you to write a book? Do you have a process you follow? or do you just start at page one and see what happens?
Amanda – It takes a good five months for me. I get an idea, flesh out the premise and characters, come up with a tag line, and then write a synopsis. I work from a very detailed outline so that I don’t paint myself into any corners. I like to know where I’m going before I start, but that’s not to say there aren’t surprises along the way.
Amber - Will there be more books in the series? Will the Graveyard Queen be taking a break or is coming back to us soon?
Amanda - I just sold three more and am currently working on Book Four. It should be out next year and I’m super excited about where the series is going. As I said earlier, Amelia hasn’t yet discovered all of Papa’s secrets.
Amber - Have you ever seen a ghost yourself?
Amanda - No, but one of my best friends has told me some harrowing tales. One scene in The Kingdom was inspired by her real-life experience.
Amber - Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?
Amanda - I just sold a young adult series that I’m over the moon about. The stories have been living in my head for a while. I can’t wait to share them!
Amber - If the series was going to be made into a TV series or Film, who would you like to see playing the main characters?
Amanda – Fun question! And since the option has been bought by ABC TV, it’s one I’ve obsessed thought about. Just going by appearances, I’d say Amanda Seyfried has that strange, mysterious, ethereal quality that I picture for Amelia. Devlin is a little harder to cast. Maybe Matt Bomer or Ian Somerhalder? Dr. Shaw is definitely Donald Sutherland.
Amber - How do you pick the names for your characters? Do they have any special meanings?
Amanda – They sometimes have special meanings. For my main character in this series, I wanted something Southern and a little old-fashioned, and I’ve always loved the name Amelia. Her surname, Gray, is a nod to the gray of twilight when the ghosts come out. Sometimes I just like the way two names sound together, like John Devlin. That name is a little throwback as well. I thought it sounded like a character from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
Amber - And how about the titles for your books? Do you always go with the first title or is it hard to come up with the right one?
Amanda - Actually, the original titles were The Graveyard Queen, The Graveyard Kingdom and The Graveyard Prophet. My publisher wanted the series to be called The Graveyard Queen, so we dropped graveyard from the other titles and named the first book The Restorer. Sometimes I get to keep the original title, but the publisher has the final say.
Amber - What kind of research have you done for your books? You obviously know a your way around graveyards and restoration.
Amanda - I started with the general topic of cemetery restoration, then narrowed it to South Carolina laws and customs. And, of course, lots of research on gravestone symbolism and cemetery history. The Internet makes research so easy these days. Anything you need to know—no matter how obscure—is literally at your fingertips.
Amber - Who has been your biggest inspiration in life?
Amanda – My husband is an artist and both my children are writers and filmmakers. They constantly inspire me with their creativity.
Amber - What are you listening and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?
Amanda - Music definitely inspires me. I actually have a playlist for The Graveyard Queen which includes “Apparitions” by the Raveonettes; “Across the Graveyard” by Rӧyksopp; “My Secret Friend” by IAMX; “Song to the Siren” by This Mortal Coil; “Mistake” by Moby; “To Leave” by Shamrain.
Amber - Read anything good lately? What authors/series are your favourites?
Amanda - The first book of The Hunger Games blew me away. So good. I can’t wait for the movie. Winter’s Bone is another book that left me in awe.
Amber - What's your favorite paranormal movie of all time?
Amanda – Whoa, that’s a tough one. I absolutely adore The Gift, though it didn’t get much love at the box office or from critics. It’s a Southern paranormal mystery that inspired me to write in that genre. Also love The Devil’s Backbone, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, Pan’s Labyrinth.
Amber - If you could meet and talk to the ghost of anyone. Who would you like to meet and chat with?
Amanda – Yikes, I’m scared of ghosts! No communing with the dead for me!
Amber - Thank you for visiting Amberkatze's! I hope you will come by again sometime!
Amanda - Thank you for having me! Good questions!
The Graveyard Queen Series
#0.5 - The Abandoned
#1 - The Restorer
#2 - The Kingdom
#3 - The Prophet (releases this month!)
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Contest Time
Amanda is giving away a copy of The Restorer and The Kingdom to one lucky winner! That means you get book one and two so you don't have to wait to read the second part ;)
How To Enter
If you could see and talk to ghosts, whose ghost would you like to chat with?
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The contest will stay open until 4pm on Sunday 22nd April (Central European Time) and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.
Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town...
My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I’ve been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I’m coming to think I have another purpose here.
Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I’ve discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town—this withering kingdom—and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.
My Review :
When I read The Restorer by Amanda Stevens last year I was left with mixed feelings. The whole ghosts, graveyards and mystery was definitely cool but the writing style and plot somehow lost me towards the end and the story ended in a bundle of fast-paced confusion. Despite this I was eager to read more about Amelia and find out what where the writer would take her next. Bell Lake was not what I was expecting.
The Kingdom starts out with a nice spooky tale about a strange little town. There are always myths and legends surrounding places like Bell Lake and Amelia needs to know these kinds of details in her field of work. The town becomes stranger and stranger by the minute and I am sure I would left way before Amelia did. Curiosity and the mystery of it all keeps Amelia from leaving and what she uncovers definitely has a lot of wow factor to it.
This was a good strong sequel that can hold its own without having read the first part. I didn't need to remember much about the previous book and it was nice to have Amelia fill in some little gaps here and there. The developments surrounding Amelia's personal life made for great reading and I admire the author for not dragging that part out for a few more books. It was pretty surprising to have everything come out into the light already but it certainly was a welcome change.
All in all this was another ghostly delight of a mystery. However my previous problem with this author and her writing style reared its ugly head again in this sequel. Everything was great until the last few chapters. Then everything got so quick and action packed that I found it hard to comprehend everything that was happening and who was who. It was so thrilling and I needed to know what everything meant but I have to admit having to reading some parts twice over to understand what happened. Oh but on saying that I was quite spooked at times and had to turn on an extra light. It kind of all balances itself out into a great read.
The Graveyard Queen series is worth checking out if you like your cozy paranormal mystery a bit darker and spookier. This second book releases at the end of March and book three, The Prophet, releases just a month later in April. I will definitely be following Amelia's story to see what happens next. I am a sucker for a good mystery and ghosts!
My name is Amelia Gray. I’m a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I’ve always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.
It started with the discovery of a young woman’s brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I’ve been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims— lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I’ve vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.
My Review -
When I read the blurb for this book I knew I had to read it. Murder, ghosts and cemeteries! It sounded too good to be true. The Restorer promised so much just from the description and I couldn't resist giving it a go. So when I sat down to read this I have to admit I had quite a few expectations. Which might be the reason why I had a couple problems with this one.
Everything started off well and I was intrigued about what Amelia did for a living. Things progressed nicely and I enjoyed the very unique, if not clichéd, concept of a cemetery restorer being able to see ghosts. Although all the time I felt Amelia's 'gift' was never really discussed or explored fully. The whole seeing ghosts aspect, while helpful in the murder case, seemed to be taboo and was just a huge conflict in her life. For someone who has been able to see ghosts since a very young age, Amelia was more scared than I was of the ghostly figures.
Then after a while the story became a little confusing. Events kept happening back to back with no time to really process what happened. I had the feeling that the author just needed to get that little clue in quick so the time line would work. Also characters kept popping up and disappearing again before I could even get a feel for them. This left me frustrated because obviously one of them was going to be the murderer. To top things off the plot, while getting thicker, seemed to be missing something that held it together. Actually the climax of finding out who did 'it' and why they did it was squashed in the last chapter like the author had run out of time and paper and needed to finish the story as quickly as possible.
It is hard to say which genre this book really fits into. It seems the book itself didn't know where it belonged either. At points I believed this to be a normal mystery thriller but of course the ghost aspect gives it a paranormal feel. Then again the amateur sleuthing skills do point towards a cozy mystery but this came across as far too serious snuggle up with. Also while Amelia was in her late twenties I also got a Young Adult vibe from this one at times. Maybe it was just Amelia's character coming across as younger?
Amelia's relationship with Devlin and her family is something I look forward to reading about in the sequel. Her character developing into something more than a fragile naive young woman is something I hope will come about in rest of this series. While I am a little conflicted about this one I do want to see what happens next. The Restorer is original and has a certain something special. For a first in a series it did well and I hope it will grow into a smashing series. There are worse reads out there!
