The Withering World of Amelia Gray. Guest post by author Amanda Stevens.

Today I'm thrilled to be able to give this blog over in the capable hands of Amanda Stevens, author of the spine chilling paranormal romance series called the Graveyard Queen. If you haven't read the first books yet you're in for a real treat!

The Withering World of Amelia Gray

When I was little, cemetery exploration was a favorite pastime. My house was situated between two graveyards and I spent many a Sunday afternoon wandering through the maze of headstones and statuary. One of the cemeteries was abandoned and I wasn’t allowed to visit there alone. Naturally, it became a favorite escape. Nestled in a deep forest and shrouded by shade, the forgotten graveyard was a place of enchantment, a mysterious necropolis of sunken graves, crumbling headstones and fallen angels. The burials were old—pre-Civil war—and the symbols carved into the headstones intrigued me. I could daydream there for hours.

There’s a term for graveyard fascination—taphophilia.  From the Greek words taphos, meaning tomb and philia, meaning love or obsession.  A love of tombstones and cemeteries.

When I decided to write a paranormal series, I knew I wanted the protagonist to have an unusual skill or occupation. So I did an Internet search for strange jobs and up popped cemetery restorer—the perfect vocation for a character that would share my passion for graveyards. She would be Southern (also like me) and a loner because her ability to see ghosts had isolated her from human companionship. Her first name would be Amelia because it’s Southern and old-fashioned, and her surname would be Gray to symbolize the twilight world of ghosts.

Amelia became so real to me that I knew I had to create a worthy love interest, someone dark and mysterious and charismatic to lure her from the safety of her graveyard kingdom and tempt her into breaking one of her father’s cardinal rules: never associate with those who are haunted.

Papa’s rules are broken in The Restorer; the past is revealed in The Kingdom; and the future is foreshadowed in The Prophet. Set against the withering backdrop of abandoned and forgotten cemeteries, The Graveyard Queen series offers peeks into the lush dreamscape of restless souls, deranged killers and doomed lovers.

I’ve just been given the go-ahead for three more books in the series and I would like to invite you along on Amelia’s journey as her graveyard kingdom becomes ever darker and more mysterious.

…………..

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Check out the first three novels in Amanda's Graveyard Queen series!

The third novel, The Prophet, releases this April!

Book review: The Kingdom by Amanda Stevens

Amanda Stevens is back with her second novel in the creepiliciously   good Graveyard Queen series. Do you enjoy a good urban fantasy/paranormal romance ghost story that make you shiver almost non stop? Look no further you've just discovered your new favorites series! Welcome to Amelia Gray's world of mysteries and cemetery restoring. This review is SPOILER FREE.

Amanda has been asked to restore a cemetery in the foothills of Blue Ridge Mountain, more exact in the dying town of Asher Falls, South Carolina. A perfect excuse to runaway from problems back home in Charleston. Upon Amelia's arrival she instantly feels a disconcerting connection to the place. After discovering a hidden grave nearby the cemetery Amelia gets in trouble with the towns citizens, the dead and an ancient evil residing in the mountains. Not only will Amelia have to solve a mystery, she will also have to dig deep into her own family history trying to discover who she really is.

I got my copy for review from the publisher via Netgalley.

My thoughts:
The second book in a series is more often than not when I decide whether it is worth my time. Needless to say I was nervous before diving into The Kingdom... because I'd already asked if Amanda Stevens would like to make a guest appearance here on Escape In A Book. What if I disliked the second installment? Honesty is my only way, so luckily for me I was yet again completely sucked into the world of Amelia Gray and the tranquility of the peaceful cemetery in Asher Falls.

However the good feeling didn't last very long. Amanda Stevens started wielding that masterful skill of hers, creating that utterly spine chilling feel, Amelia feels it and the reader perhaps even more. I normally don't like being scared but Stevens writes in a way that gets me completely hooked on the story and it is almost impossible to put the book down. I was like "ok, I'm so taking a break for the night, when there is a scene that allows me to calm down and breathe(and I'm not too scared to turn off the light and go to sleep)", but there rarely ever happened.

The Kingdom offers up a continued story about the mystery evolving Amelia and why she can ghosts. What is she? In addition to that we have a mystery that will be a closed case by the end of this novel(well almost, one loose thread still hanging in the air). That means you can read on without fear of a big cliffhanger ending.

The characters in this story are all very interesting, Amanda Stevens knows how to give enough from her characters to make for interesting people. I was invested in every character because they all had their personal story to tell. My favorite character would be a dog named Angus, I'm guessing he will be a regular member of the cast in the series as of now on. Angus was a poor little creature who had been used as a bait dog for dog-fighting. Angus has much to offer Amelia, unconditional love and protection, something she can never have enough of in her in between worlds kind of life.

There is a gush of love in the air, but will it blossom into something more?

Check out my review of the first book in this series, The Restorer.


My rating of this book:

- FIVE silvery moons for Amanda Stevens and her wonderful character Amelia Gray. I want more!

By the way I want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda for being nominated as a 2012 RITA Finalist in the Paranormal Romance genre for her first novel in this series, The Restorer.

 Check out Amanda Stevens on Twitter and visit her homepage!

Book review: The Restorer (Graveyard Queen #1) by Amanda Stevens

Rule #1 - Never acknowledge their presence.

27 year old Amelia Gray is a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. Amelia has followed her fathers strict rules all her life, rules meant to keep her safe from the ghosts.One dark evening Amelia notices a man following her, he introduces himself as a police detective. From that moment on Amelia's life is about to change forever, she is soon in way over her head in a murder case and a hunted cop.

Want to read a novel that is creepiliciously good? If so The Restorer is just the novel you have been looking for. Also a big plus that author Amanda Stevens' main character, Amelia, is a fellow blogger.

My thoughts:
I've just got back from a trip to the graveyard with Amelia, who knew such a peaceful place could be the scene for such horrible crimes? The Restorer has been an addictive read from start to finish. I barely had time to rise to the surface for air. Author Amanda Stevens has succeeded in creating that eerie feeling, it stays with you throughout the whole novel, and I regretted reading it in bed after everyone else had fallen to sleep.

The main character Amelia felt like a friend, I loved her and at times I felt so sorry for her. I guess I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that there is some serious chemistry in the air between Amelia and the police detective John Devlin.

No cliffhanger ending in this first book but the author leaves enough loose ends for you to start craving the second book the minute you've closed this first one. Thankfully the next installment, The Kingdom, will be out in October.

One more thing, I just found out there will be a tv-series based on these books. How great is that?!

Book trailer:

Cover:
It is both creepy and beautiful - very much like the feeling of the story.


My rating of this book:

- Loved it!

Want a second opinion?
The Eclectic Reader
Serendipity

Want to know more?

Add The Restorer  to your Goodreads wish list.

Visit Amanda Stevens' homepage 

Read Amanda's blog 

Follow Amanda on Twitter 

The Restorer (Graveyard Queen #1) by Amanda Stevens 

Published: 2011
Pages(paperback): 376
Publisher: Mira
ISBN: 077832981X (ISBN13: 9780778329817)
Full disclosure: Review copy from publisher via Netgalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.