"Ivy" Releases October 31

Ivy by Hollow Ryan

Prideful Magick Collection

Book One

© 2015

Cover Design: Jordyn Nehmsmann

Cover Pictures: Leah Alvord

Interior Design: Christiana Nehmsmann

Ivy Graphics: Kyla Andersen

Editing: Leah Alvord and Elizabeth Aguilar

That is a lot of names.  It's only a fraction of the many people involved with making a book go from dream to reality.  Several people have offered aid, time, and advice into bringing this novel into the world, and I am grateful to each one of them.

This is the third book I have published, the first under this pseudonym, the first in this series, and the first I have been so involved with.  When I self-published my previous novels, it was through a company that did it all for me.  I never had to buckle down and work this hard to put a book into my readers' hands.  I have been a part of this process before, however, when the time came for my friend to publish.  Which is why I knew we could do this.

We.  It's such an innocuous thing, until you realize there's something you can't do by yourself.  Then there's this instant flood of relief when you realize that you don't have to.  When you're assured beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have help.  It's a remarkable feeling, and one I'm pleased to have experienced several times now.  Because most of these talented women are with me constantly, ready and willing to offer aid on a moment's notice.  And they're damn good under pressure.

Anyway, I have plenty of people whom I've thanked in my Acknowledgements, but these women really deserved some credit, here.

So onto the book:

Ivy is the first book in my five book series the Prideful Magick Collection.  Each of the five books covers a period in the life of Alexandria 'Lex' Ryder, a powerful young witch.  In Ivy you're given the chance to experience Lex's first brushes with ghosts and magick at the age of nine.  And you get your first heavy doses of 'Ryder Pride.'

The full blurb is:

This is how a house in New England should look.

It is the first thought nine-year-old Alexandria Ryder has when she sees her new home.  Covered with lush ivy, she can't help but feel as if it is concealing something beneath the thick foliage.  A mystery that will sink its claws into her that very first night.

A spirit from 1922 still trails the halls of the aging house, and she has enlisted Alexandria's aid in setting her free.  Yet, it will take far more nerve and skill than even Lex's "Ryder Pride" can conjure.  For that, she seeks out Morgan, the Witch of Old Grove Road.  With her help, she may finally discover the secrets beneath the ivy.

This is the first step in experiencing Lex's journey.  It is far from the last.

Book Review: Dreamthief by Tamara Grantham

Dreamthief by Tamara Grantham

Crimson Tree Publishing © 2015

Kindle Edition ARC

Fantasy

Reviewed by Leah

Dreamthief on Amazon

To put it simply, Dreamthief is fun.  The voice of the narrator and exchanges between characters were snarky, sarcastic, and full of wit.  I absolutely adored it.


Summary:

Olive Kennedy doesn't make a lot of money as the only Fairy Wold psychiatrist, but she helps people.  Repressed memories of Faythander are her specialty, and she takes pride in helping those who were failed by everything else.

Yet, it is a painful truth that she cannot help everyone.  Kids, in particular, are not yet ready to face what has been repressed.  But what if the problem isn't repressed, but ongoing?

Olive faces this very reality when dark magic steals the soul of her godson, leaving his body as a withering shell.  And he's not the only one.  Now, Olive will team up with a viking-esque Wult named Kull to save her godson … in exchange for a dinosaur's skeleton.  No one said this was going to be easy.

Initial Thoughts:

I had no idea what I was getting into with Dreamthief but it was worth all the hours of neglecting everything else.  And for the record: reviewing something you liked is infinitely harder and takes twice as long to do because you're trying trying to put into words everything that made you like something that much.  That is what I'm attempting to do here, and it's why it has taken me so long to put it into words.

Characters:

I loved Olive.  She was hands-down the most real character in the entire book.  Her emotions and thought process (okay, we're exempting Bill Clinton and Albert Einstein's voices, because that was just weird) were on par with what a woman in her situation would be feeling/thinking.  For the most part, her goals were in the forefront of her mind and very rarely were there situations where you felt like shouting 'really?' at her.

Kull was also a bit of a treat.  His traits are nailed down in the terms: proud, cocky, and snarky.  In that order.  He doesn't see a threat as anything more than an obstacle.  There's a determination in him that makes getting a job done a little bit easier, as long as there's compensation to go with the risk-taking he's doing.  Again, he really helped make this book the fun it was.

There were several other characters that added to the dynamics of all of this, but these two are truly memorable.


Plot & Setting:

Faythander was amazing!  Not overly detailed to the point it got boring; none of the description took away from the action in the moment, and it felt like a completely different world.  As far as setting goes, I don't think you could ask for a better balance of the right elements.  It was thought out and it was an experience to be there.

As far as the plot goes, it was--in its own way--believable.  Everything Olive goes through is in direct relation to the overall arch of the story, so you never forget what is at stake and what needs to be done in response.  There were times where it seemed a little scattered, what with all of the traveling and different locations it takes us to, but it all wrapped up in a neat way at the end.

And I have to say this to the author: Thank you so much for a real ending!  I know that this is part of a series, but I'm grateful to have one part of the story wrap up at the end of a book, instead of hitting us with a cliffhanger that is really just the end of 'part one'.  So thank you for that.


Writing Style:

The book is told in first person perspective, so everything was focused on the narrator.  That was a good choice.  Because it's told with Olive's snarky humor and brass-tacks directness, we're given a fuller image than we might otherwise have gotten.  So for being a character oriented FPP novel, the writing style is spot on.  You really have to be in tune with your MC in order to pull this off, and Tamara Grantham did.


Overall Opinion:

Dreamthief isn't a heavy-hitter.  There's no big agenda to make you think.  It's a story about a woman who has all sorts of personal issues as well as the responsibility to change the world.  She also gets to meet a hulking cute guy along the way who is just as snarky as she is.  Again, this novel is very fun and very enjoyable.  A reread is definitely in its future for me.