I am wary of new authors and investigate thoroughly. For an
odd and fateful reason I fell into Valor by Taylor Longford without reading the
sample chapter, back cover, or reviews.
By all that is Holy, I hit the jackpot
MacKenzie opens a crate sent by her ‘step-person’ (love that
btw) and finds a life-size statue of a young man. A gorgeous man. While she
eyes the realistic sculpture, MacKenzie is unaware that the stature looking
back. He is a gargoyle who turned himself to stone hundreds of years before and
awaits only the touch of sunlight to return to flesh again.
The Greystone Series details the adventures of a pack of
young gargoyles from 13th century England. After being trapped between the
walls of an old building, they're unearthed eight hundred years later and
shipped to the United States. Ms. Longford continues the series with Dare and Reason. Folks, this is a keeper.
The tone of the books range from lighthearted and fun to a
bit on the dark side, depending on the different characters and their
personalities, YA paranormal with – IMHO – a bit of New Adult as well and romance that goes from sweet to smokin' in zero point 5 seconds.
Valor is Ms. Longford’s debut novel and she is working on
the fourth in the series, Defiance. She is self-published, a monumentally
difficult but ultimately rewarding road to take. In her words:
“I decided to self pub rather than try any of the other routes like a traditional or small publishing house. Basically, I heard of Amanda Hocking's success and was encouraged to try and ‘make it on my own’.”
7 comments:
Sounds interesting. What's "New Adult"? Not sure I've ever heard that term before.
One of the largest publishers, St. Martin's Press, suggested the genre in 2009. The tone of this genre appeals to the in-betweens, the 18 to 30 year old, college-age and beyond.
Some agents are gun-ho on the idea but book stores wonder where to place the stories on their shelves.
I heartily agree with the premise of New Adult but feel people don't really care about the category if the book is good. As I example, The Hunger Games is *supposedly* YA, a claim that I would argue is incorrect.
Sounds like a fresh take on the paranormal with the gargolye characters.
Great hook, and I especially like that the author made used the gargoyles as they were intended - as protective beings rather than evil ones. Not wild about that cover though. A better one - one that showed or hinted at what the book was about - might appeal to people more.
I like this one better :) http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/cf/ec/23b8e57b27d00ad8976fe7.L._SX80_.jpg
I agree.
I stumbled upon Taylor's series and I'm hopelessly hooked. It's fresh, imaginative and fun. I good mix of action, fun, darkness and just a touch of romance. It could easily be a movie I'd love to watch. Taylor is now on my list of "must read" authors.
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