Today's read... Shadows of Nightshade by Lyla Owens with Giveaway!

 

Shadows of Nightshade

The Garden of Eternal Flowers #1

By Lyla Oweds

YA Paranormal Romance/ Paranormal Horror

Release Date: 8 March 2023

 

I dream of a time where I was warm, safe, and loved.

But my waking reality is starkly different.

Anxiety plagues me and spirits haunt the shadows. No matter how fast I run, I can’t seem to escape my past.

The only solace and steady force in my life is my best friend, Finn.

And now… there’s a ghost haunting me. And I’m not certain if it wants help or if it wants to kill me. There’s only one person who can understand: Finn’s brother, Damen.

However, in reaching out, I’m betraying Finn and setting things into motion that cannot be undone.

But nobody ever said that doing the right thing was easy.



The Garden of Eternal Flowers is a re-envisioning of my Grimm Cases series. Eternal Flowers has taken my original vision of Bianca's story and transformed it into something new and beautiful. Some chapters are similar, and some dialogue is the same, as The Grimm Cases, Origins, but overall, about 75% of the book has been entirely revisioned with new plot points, mystery, and interpersonal relationships. Also, unlike Origins (originally a Wattpad release), there is now a clear beginning, climax, and conclusion in each individual novel, which allows them to be read alone or as part of the ongoing series.

I hope that you will enjoy Shadows of Nightshade as much as I enjoyed writing it. Truly, it is an honor to write about Bianca and her boys, and all of these characters are near and dear to my heart.

Trigger Warning: This series deals with the aftermath of severe childhood trauma.

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MY TIDBITS

This is a rewrite of the original book, Origins, which I did read and enjoyed. So, to say that I was curious what the author had done now is an understatement. I tread into the first pages, a little skeptical, but came out enjoying it all over again.

Bianca see ghosts, which she ignores until she agrees to housesit for her professor and is teased by a spiritual entity every night. Her best and only friend refuses to listen to her pleas for a little help, which sends her off to seek out his brother, who is supposedly into paranormal stuff. But when she arrives at the door, she's greeted by four guys, who are anything but normal, and although they might be able to help her, she's stumbled across a world that will turn everything she knows upside down.

This is a fun read, and while it does involve a freshman in college, it works fine for older YAers, too. The thing which makes this read fun is the characters. They pack tons of over-the-top personality, which borders on too much but keeps it right at the level where it's fun. Bianca, to put it mildly, is a hot mess. She's been locked out from the world around her and has the oddest way of viewing things. It's not necessarily realistic, and that's awesome. She's all over the place, but there's something endearing about it, too, which makes her addictive. The guys are a bit cliche, at times, but only at times. Each of them is a mystery for itself. Between all of them, it's a humorous back and forth in unpredictable directions.

Then, there's the dark side. The threats are deadly, and the secrets thick. Bianca is in danger and has a foggy past with uncertain players still heavily involved. The stakes are high, letting it veer into the area of horror. This thrown together with the humor above makes for an original and quirky mix...which I enjoyed completely.

There is the reverse harem romance...for all of those fans out there. But while there is tons and tons of flirting and silliness in these pages, that is not the main thrust. It's also slow burn, and considering Bianca's state, nothing else would work. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what the author does next.  

And here she is...

Lyla Oweds is a paranormal / urban fantasy author who resides in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania with her husband, children, and animals. While she enjoys all genres of fiction, she has a deep appreciation for fantasy, romance, mystery, crime, and horror. Lyla has a bachelor’s in anthropology and will be completing her master’s in information technology in 2023.

Writing is her moonlighting passion, and she loves having the opportunity to share her perspective as a disabled (profoundly hard of hearing) woman. During the daylight hours, Lyla works as a principal / lead design and development specialist focusing on user experience and accessibility. When not working, Lyla is usually indulging in one of her many hobbies such as amusing her children, gardening, crocheting, interior decorating, baking, cooking, or playing video games.

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Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Shadows of Nightshade. One winner wins a paperback copy of Shadows of Nightshade.

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours and the tour runs from 13 till 26 March. You can see the tour schedule here.

Review: Origins by Lyla Owens

 Today's book drew me in way more than I expected...and I'm actually reading the entire set now. These characters are over-the-top in so many ways, sliding into almost a sort of cozy-reverse-harem category...a clean one, so far, too (and I'm most of the way through book three). It's such an odd mix of the usual RH trope and...well....cliche? Quirkiness? And yet, serious danger? 

Anyway, it's Friday, and I'm determined to chop some thorn bushes along the edge of my pastures this weekend...or continue to read books four and five? I'm betting those bushes will still be there next week if I give in to temptation and continue to read on.

But instead of rambling, I'll let you read on right now!

Origins

The Grimm Cases #1

By Lyla Oweds

YA/NA Paranormal Mystery

 

The things I see aren’t for the faint of heart.

And I am no longer willing to ignore them. Not even when my family, and my best friend, tell me to keep quiet about what’s happening. They say people will think I’m crazy.

Maybe I am.

But the spirit haunting my professor’s house is definitely trying to tell me something, and I’m the only one who can see it.

The one person who can help me is my best friend's brother. But I don’t know if I can trust him or his friends. Or if I can step outside the protective bubble I’ve built around myself.

At this point it’s a toss up: the ghosts will kill me or my panic attacks will.

Either way, I figure I’m going to die.

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BOOK BLINK

                                                  * reverse harem direction

                                                  * slow-burn romance

                                                  * very quirky main character

                                     

MY TIDBITS

Magic, mystery, paranormal and romance meet a character with tons of heart and a very quirky personality to create a gripping and yet easy read.

Bianca has lived an extremely sheltered life, has one very-best friend, and isn't exactly a people-person, anyway. When her best friend refuses to listen to her request for help, she's not sure what to do. She knows he won't help her, since he believes the ghosts she claims to see are part of her psychological issues...she's been on medication, after all, for years. But this ghost is trying to kill her. Since she's her him mention that his brother has an interest in the paranormal, she steps way out of her comfort zone and seeks him out. She never expects that this small move will flip her life upside down and then some.

I picked up this one simply due to the title...and half-reading the surmise...and completely enjoyed it. While I expected ghosts, magic and romance, I did not expect the lightness this tale holds. The main character isn't only super-extreme naive, her thought processes are all over the place. I'd compare it to a imagination in hyper-drive with way too many TV shows or books used as the basis. Her logic is through the roof, her reactions all over the place...and it makes her very endearing in the quirkiest of ways.  And yet, the ghosts are not humorous, but really pose a threat.

There are all sorts of secrets, evil agendas and impossible to guess secrets. Little by little things start to come to light, but just as many more layers are added to the intrigue. It makes it hard to put the book down. Unfortunately, this is one of those books, which doesn't wrap things up at the end, but left me wanting to dive right into the next one to see what happens next.

Now, to the romance. This does slide into the reverse harem category...and it's super cute. Of course, the guys are gorgeous, muscular, and her perfect protectors. But they are quirky in their own ways. They definitely have more logic behind their actions and build the logic and grit, where she flows through the clouds. The cliches reign, and it's exactly what works. This is very slow burn with nothing to worry about on that end for young adult readers. Not even close. With this main character, flirting kind of bounces right off, and leaves lovely frustration for the other parties behind. It's simply a fun read with just enough darkness to grab and hold

All books in the series:


- Home (The Grimm Cases prequel novella)
- Origins (The Grimm Cases #1)
- Ghost (The Grimm Cases #2)
- Blood (The Grimm Cases #3)
- Hidden(The Grimm Cases #4)
- Balance (The Grimm Cases #5)

Get the first 3 books and the novella Home as a box set!

Mu is the box set collection which combines books 1-3 as well as the novella Home in one handy box set. You can buy it here.

And here she is...

Lyla Oweds is a paranormal romance author who resides in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. She grew up near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and has a deep appreciation for the paranormal, hauntings, and Edgar Allan Poe. As such, she loves all things fantasy, mystery, crime, and horror.

She is the author of the Paranormal Reverse Harem series, The Grimm Cases and related novellas. She has also published the first book of Gloria Protean’s story, The Red Trilogy. You can find out more about her current and upcoming works at her website, http://lylaoweds.com.
When not reading, writing, or working as a web programmer, Lyla can be found doing adult-y things such as being a mom, decorating the house, and baking. She also frequently enjoys makeup videos, massages, wine, and coffee.

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