Marilyn Peake’s latest release, Blood and Ashes, is a fabulous paranormal/supernatural, fantasy novel with a touch of realism, except for the magical part…

I love the colorful color and the red makes it pop off the pages. Very pretty and spills some of the secrets inside.

Cover by Phatpuppy.com

Goodreads  /  Amazon

MY REVIEW

Miracles and magic are happening from the opening pages, and Kaelin’s acting like it’s an every day occurrence in these desperate times.

The financial situation the characters find themselves in, makes me think of current events, with businesses closing, people being deported, people losing everything, and those with hope struggling to survive.

When Kaelin found the baby, I really woke up, became hooked and knew I would have trouble putting the book down, even long enough for a bathroom break.

Her mother has a heart so big, so open and giving, I wish more for her. No one deserves a break more than she does. Some characters…and people…amaze me with their ability to give, and the depths of love that is freely given.

First an abandoned baby, then a kitty with itty bitty legs, Kaelin takes them home and makes them her own.

And Devin, the new guy across the hall. What’s up with him? Why doesn’t she question his sudden appearances? Almost as if he knows something. I know he’s going to be special.

Kaelin has friends, people looking out for her and her family, like Mrs Santiago, who owns the grocery store and Gwendolyn Griffin, a healer who offers to work with her to develop her healing abilities. If you everwant candy, be sure and visit Mrs Santiago’s store.

Kaelin is very resourceful, and even though she dumpster dives for additional food for the family, you would never know it by her attitude. She knows where to find apples and blueberries, ripe for the picking. She has a green thumb, and her touch can be like Miracle Gro.

She does everything she can to make it to college, wanting a better life for them all. But, even though she is accepted, due to cutbacks of the governmental kind, there is no money available to help her. She chooses an alternative, Gwendolyn Griffin’s traditional healing of the witchy kind.

I can see the kids with bags of Halloween costumes, as they are tossed willy nilly, while they each choose the perfect costume. Kaelin goes to the thrift store and creates a mish mash costume that makes her beauty bloom.

The book is divided into three parts.

Part I is Kaelin’s story that takes place in the human world.

Part II is Liliana’s Story that takes place in the fairie world. Liliana is a fairy that crosses into the human world. A romance goes wrong. But the world is not what it appears to be.

Part III brings them all together, exposing secrets and Kaelin’s true calling.

Human, Seelie, Unseelie, good fairies, bad fairies…Magic, danger, romance, love and loss.

Blood and Ashes is written for the young at heart, with easy reading and a quick pace. I love the imaginative world and characters Marilyn Peake has created. Such a great story. I found myself smiling at the simplest things. Her ability to spin a tale keeps her high on my reading list…no matter what genre she writes in.

  4 Stars

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Shade and The Skinwalkers by Marilyn Peake is filled with so much goodness and I fell in love with the ghost whisperer, Shade.

Check out this gorgeous cover by Deranged Doctor Design.

Amazon  /  Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I love Marilyn Peake’s stories, so when I went to the mailbox and found Shade and The Skinwalkers, I could hardly wait to begin reading. I love young adult paranormal and supernatural stories and Marilyn never lets me down.

Shade’s first night in her new home in a trailer park in New Mexico, she meets Kai, who will become her new best friend. They both have special abilities and they will need them.

Shade is very familiar with ghosts…so what comes next?

Her other best friend Misty is still missing (from the first book, Shade) and she can’t let it go. Now, she has a new one mystery to solve, a serial killer who must be stopped.

Shapeshifters good. Skinwalkers bad. We have kidnapping, human trafficking, sex slavery, murder, ghosts, Native American culture, mysticism…so much going on that I was never left wanting for something else to happen, some new threat to raise its evil and ugly head.

We hop from fantasy to reality and back again.

I love flawed characters, struggling through life, trying to do the right thing. It is so much fun watching them grow into the people they are meant to be.

Shade has an awesome group of friends and a new bestie. I can hardly wait to see how that plays out, as they head off to college. The characters are amazing and lovable, and Shade’s mom…well don’t want to spoil anything…So I will be looking for more adventure in the next book of the series.

  4 Stars

Read more here.

• • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting!

Shade by Marilyn Peake is more than just a supernatural/paranormal mystery.

It is a look inside a trouble teenager’s life and how she more than rises to the challenge.

Amazon  /  Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Shade is a YA Paranormal mystery that includes some difficult subject matter, such as cutting and alcohol and drug abuse. More than anything it is the journey of Galactic Shade Griffin as she struggles with life and the danger and difficulties that cross her path.

A drug addict, a ghost, faeries, a troubled teen girl, her missing friend, a messed up mom, an amulet…will Shade be the hero she created in her graphic novel?

Shade has pretty much raised herself and hasn’t done too bad of a job, considering…no father and a mother who drank and drugged herself into oblivion.

Her mother moved them again, and things changed for Shade. She met Brandon Yates, a ghost that haunted their new home. When her best friend turns up missing, they band together to figure out the mystery.

More girls go missing…

I love how Shade struggles and grows to develop. I knew a girl who cut herself and I cannot stress how upset and sad I was for her. I could not understand how hurting yourself could make you feel better. Or maybe it was just so she could feel…something.

I love a good mystery and the paranormal is a nice touch. It adds an extra element I always appreciate. The danger rises and the the mystery is darker than Shade could have imagined. I have read of what can happen to girls who go missing and I fear how vulnerable the female species is…how unprepared and innocent we can be about the evil men do.

Marilyn can spin a wonderful tale that is easy to read and contains lovable characters that will wiggle their way into your heart. I would love to have Shade as my best friend too.

Amongst the dark, there is light.

In the tragic and sadness, there is hope and love.

 

  4 Stars

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