Hearts' Home by Jeanette Greaves

 

2024 

Werewolf cousins Mark and John are now bringing up their own pack with Andy, whom they have ‘infected’ and two females, Diana and Zoe.   

Relationships within the band and with outsiders are complex and polyamorous. Rock band Ransomed hearts continues to be successful and Mark and Andy have the added tension of having a family outside the pack.  John is also a wolf-dad but doesn’t have a second family. The pack grows and the children are growing up.

The novel ends on a dramatic high note as Diana shares her research into the physiology of werewolves with the world.

The pack has already been attacked by the White wolves and they are now exposed to more danger.  This leaves plenty of scope for novel four.     

Usefully the author provides a character list and a summary of child / parent relationships in glossaries at the end of the novel.

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 421 pages including glossaries and acknowledgments. It is for the upper end of YA and could also be described as a New Adult book.   

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Ransomed Hearts by Jeanette Greaves

 2022 

Cousins Mark and John are brought up by their mothers.  Their fathers have abandoned them in order to keep the family safe. They and their fathers are werewolves.

With some other friends, the boys form a rock groups Ransomed Hearts, which in time enjoys great success.  Relationships within the band and with outsiders are complex and polyamorous. However, Mark saves himself for a wolf woman who fails to appear – until after he has met the woman he considers to be the love of his life, Katie. Then Diana appears and he forms an addictive relationship with her; she is the wolf woman he had been seeking for years. Their love-making results in the birth of twins.  Another two werewolves for the pack?     

There is a slightly down-beat ending but the novel leaves room for the next story.  There are in fact at the time of writing two more books in the series in print.

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 241 pages. It is for the upper end of YA and could also be described as a New Adult book.      

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing. 

Embers: The Wings of War by Karen Ann Hopkins

 

2014 

Ember’s parents die in a tragic car accident. She lives with her aunt and her aunt’s partner, who starts to abuse her. Her brother finds that an old will of their mother says that Ember should go and live with her Aunt Ila.

It had always puzzled Ember that she had not died in the accident with her parents, that wounds healed quickly and that she always felt as if she was running a temperature. Aunt Ila reveals that both she and Ember are Watchers, the children of a love match between a human and an angel. 

Near to Aunt Ila’s cabin is a compound where Growlers and Demons live.  Growlers are creatures such as were-wolves who spend some of their time in human form and some of their time in animal form. Demons feed on the human souls.

A complex situation arises. Ember falls in love with Demon Sawyer. He becomes her Guardian. They become bonded in a way that makes them even closer than if they were married.   

She also befriends Growler Ivan whose creature is wolf.

Ila is an effective mentor and Ember can soon use her powers well.  But she makes mistakes. The story ends on an optimistic note and leaves room for more story;  there are several books in the series.      

Sadly, Aunt Ila has to die as she has exhausted her powers in saving Ember and Sawyer. Watchers do die though they live much longer than humans.

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 432 pages.     

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing.  

  

Natascha's Story by Gill and Ashleigh James

 2024           

 

Natascha is forever falling off the piano and getting sucked up by the vacuum cleaner.

She is the smallest of a set of Russian dolls and envies her bigger sisters as they have more detail on them.

The family acquire a new vacuum cleaner and this time it takes Natascha to another world where she has an amazing adventure.  This seems very much like what happens in The Wizard of Oz. So is it all a dream and related to the story the mummy is reading to young Alfred? It’s left to the reader to decide.

She finds herself being sucked up by the new even more powerful vacuum cleaner and then returned to the piano to join her sisters. Young Alfred remarks that she has lace on her dress, pretty shoes and a tiny bracelet that he’s never noticed before.

The book is 53 pages long. The text is double spaced and ragged right. It uses a simple font that has easy ‘a’s and ‘g’s. There over twenty illustrations that both add to and clarify the story. 

 

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Mission Find Mum by Jo Somerset

 

2024   

 

Isla and Lac’s mum goes missing. ‘Aunty Lou’ – not really their aunty but a friend of their  mother who looks after them from time to time – cannot look after them this time as  she has to go to hospital for an operation.  Mum had not realised this.

Isla, who is partially deaf, and wears an aid, is bullied at school and now has to act as parent to Lac, short for Lachlan, her younger brother.  A look at her mum’s browsing history indicates to Isla that mum has gone to the Hebrides.

So, she Lac, her hamster Weasley and Lac’s Luke Skywalker toy set off. They manage but don’t shine at camping and fending for themselves. Jo Somerset really has got rid of the adults and left the children to have the adventure on their own.  Unlike in the Enid Blyton books this isn’t fun and it isn’t even too comfortable.

The police and social workers are now looking for them.  

There are some charming coincidences, just like in all the good works by Dickens, Molière and Shakespeare. The children inadvertently end up at their Granny’s home. The co-pilot in the helicopter that is looking for them is their father. Granny recognises the ring Isla has brought with her.

It’s all a slightly uncomfortable read.  Was Mum negligent to go off and leave them like that? Why had Dad abandoned them?

It comes right in the end but still leaves questions.    

The book is 209 pages long.  It uses a blocked text and an adult serif with difficult   ‘a’s and ‘g’s.   Each chapter heading has a black and white picture of something to do with the chapter.

In the acknowledgments Somerset refers to her work with Greenback Primary school.

There is also a note for children about where they might get help if they are facing problems like Isla’s.  

 

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing

 

The Others by Sarah Merrett

2024   

Reuben lives with his grandmother.  He has to wear special glasses because he has something wrong with his eyes. He and his grandmother are constantly looking for visitors form other planets.

Then one day they arrive. Grandma rushes off to find out more about them. Reuben is left mainly to his own devices. However, he finds a survivor form the crashed space ship; he calls her Blue because a blue light comes from her.

Archie, a local grocer’s son, befriends Reuben and together they look after Blue, saving her from captivity by the scheming Professor Pinfield who wants to win the Pierre Guzman prize – a huge cash award for anyone who could communicate with life on another planet.

Grandma has sent a letter to Reuben to let him know what is going on but he left their home before it arrived.  It is the first time he has ventured out beyond the gates of their house. He is almost overwhelmed by the activity there.

Reuben and his grandmother do find each other again and Blue is reunited with the other survivors of the crash and with some of her other people who have bene living on Earth form some time. Now he finds the truth out about himself: he is also from the other planet and he has to keep his eyes covered because of the way they behave. He can gradually learn to keep this under control.

He has the choice of staying with Grandma or joining the ‘others’ like him. At the end of the book it looks as if he’s going to divide his time between the two places.  After all, he has found a good friend in Archie.

The book is 340 pages long.  It uses a blocked text and an adult serif with difficult   ‘a’s and ‘g’s.   Each chapter heading has a black and white picture of Inky, Reuben’s’ cat, a telescope and Reuben’s special glasses. There are a few full page black and white illustrations.

There is a short bio of the author at the beginning of the books and several notes from her at the end. She explains all about the Guzman prize which really existed.   

 

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing