Flora's Musings...: Paula Brackston

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

A Challenge To Read More... PNR-UF Group November 2015 Challenge

A challenge to read more…

Since joining Goodreads I have found many “new to me” authors and series.

I took the site’s general “2014 Reading Challenge” and have signed up again this year. In addition to that I decided to sign up for a few reading challenges that the groups I belong to set.

“Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy” Group is for the discussion and recommendation of paranormal romances and paranormal erotic romance, along with urban fantasy, science fiction, futuristic, and fantasy romance. If you love vampires, werewolves, and hot faery men, this is the group for you. Join up and discuss your favourite books!

If you have questions or concerns, please contact a mod other than Pamela. She unfortunately doesn't have a lot of goodreads time at the moment, and you'll get a quicker response from another mod. Thanks!

We recommend members be over 18, since we do discuss books with adult content, but this is not strictly enforced. Please be aware that there will be adult discussion in this group!

So, this post is all about the monthly reading challenge that the “Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy” group have set for November 2015.

PNR & UF Group – November 2015 Challenge

It's a couple of days early, but, well, Halloween is a biggie around my house, and I'm getting ready to ramp up the costume race, so thought I'd get this posted now.

November
Have I Read This One Before?
Have you noticed that a lot of PNR and UF books have similar titles? Read a book that has one of the words in each list in it's title.

You can pluralise the word, but it has to be a separate word, e.g. Angel or Angels could be used but not Archangel.

1 – Dark or Darkness or Darker – Dark and Stormy Knight (Knights of Avalon #2) by Nina Mason
2 – Heat or Hot or Fire – Dragons Don’t Cry (Fire Chronicles #1) by D’Elen McClain
3 – Passion or Kiss or Desire – Passion Bites (Biting Love #9) by Mary Hughes
4 – Magic or Spell or Witch – The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston
5 – Night or Midnight or Wolf – Wolves (I Bring The Fire # 1) by C Gockel (Read as part of the “The Paranormal 13” box set)
6 – Vampire or Blood or Bite – Blood Magic (Wing Slayer Hunters #1) by Jennifer Lyon
7 – Shadow or Deadly or Hunger – The Company of Shadows by Lisa Olsen
8 – Seduction or Lover or Mate – Marked by an Assassin (Eternal Mates series #8) by Felicity Heaton
9 – Hunter or Eternal or Heart - The Witch Hunter by Nicole R Taylor (Read as part of the “The Paranormal 13” box set)
10 – Angel or Demon or Dragon – Angel of Mercy by Lisa Olsen

PNR-UF Group November 2015 Challenge Book Montage

*flora*'s favorite books »

So have you read any of the above books? Recognise any of the authors? As usual you can click on the authors’ names to be whisked away to their own websites….

As my regular followers will know, I love these reading challenges – just search my site for reading challenges and see how many results you get!! Lol! Reading challenges are a fun way to “force” us to look further than our noses, to look past those tried and trusted authors and genres that we always read and step into the world of the unknown… we may experience disappointment but we could discover a new “favourite” author and a myriad of new worlds, characters and tales to sink our teeth into! Isn’t it worth the risk?

Funnily enough I found this challenge harder than I expected. My TBR (To Be Read) shelf was lacking in titles containing these words, I really had to scour, however, looking back over the past couple of years, yes I agree PNR and UF book titles frequently contain these words in their titles! Lol!

Monday, 2 November 2015

Flora Reviews... The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

The Silver Witch

by Paula Brackston

Read: 26^th – 2^nd November 2015

Format: Kindle

My Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

...So what’s this book about?

This is a beautifully written paranormal tale that spans the ages. It has romance, mystery and danger with a duel plot that connects an ancient Welsh Celtic seer/shaman/witch and a modern day ceramics artist looking to find herself after the tragic death of her new husband.

Although this book is listed on Amazon as the third book in Ms Brackston’s “Shadow Chronicles”, it can be read as a standalone title.

The blurb says:

My mind is like the willow; it flexes and springs. My heart is a knot of oak. Let them try to wound me. Let them try.

One year after artist Tilda Forwells loses her husband, she is finally ready to move into the secluded Welsh cottage they were meant to be sharing together.

In the valley below her mountain home is a mystical lake which inspires a strange energy in her. She starts to experience potent dreams, visions, presentiments which all lead her to Seren, the witch and shaman who legend has it lived on this lakeshore in Celtic times.

As Tilda explores the lake's powers and her own, her connection to Seren grows stronger. And when she comes under grave threat, she must rely on Seren and this ancient magic to save her.

Although this book is already available digitally and in paperback in Canada and USA, it’s not being published in UK and Australia until 3^rd December 2015 but I was lucky enough to be given a digital copy for free from the publisher (Little, Brown Book Group UK) via Netgally.com in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you very much.

...So, what did I like about it?

I haven’t read any of Ms Brackston’s previous books but I found myself captivated with her beautiful and descriptive use of language. I liked the way that this intriguing tale was told from both of our heroine’s perspectives (Tilda in the here and now and Seren in the Celtic past) and felt that the sad scenes, tense scenes, mysterious scenes and romantic ones were all written particularly well giving us a good balanced plot, with a sprinkle of humour thrown into the mix.

Although this is a work of fiction, the attention to historic detail and the care that was obviously taken when writing her characters made Ms Brackston’s world and the people in it feel very real to me.

I loved the way the story kept us guessing in both the Celtic past and Welsh present; how were the worlds connected? Who was buried in the unmarked grave? What became of Seren and would Tilda solve the mystery in time to have her happily ever after?

...So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?

No (hence the 5 star review).

I have read reviews that complained of a slow start but I enjoyed the gentle way in which Tilda and Seren’s stories were revealed and how the mystery and subsequent danger gradually built, it’s reminiscent of our great literary heroes and the classics that have endured the test of time.

...So, basically what I’m saying is...

No cliff-hangers, a self contained story within one book; a good mystery, a lovely romance, paranormal happenings and all my questions answered by the end. I’ve loved reading this book!

I would recommend this book to fans of mystery stories, historical fiction and paranormal tales as well as readers of YA novels too as there is no explicit sexual content and only a handful of expletives.