The Northern Witch's Book Blog

Marking Time by April White 4 out of 5 Synopsis Seventeen-year-old tagger Saira Elian can handle anything... a mother who mysteriously disappears, a stranger who stalks her around London, and even the noble English Grandmother who kicked Saira and her mother out of the family. But when an old graffiti tag in a tube station transports Saira to the 19th Century and she comes face-to-face with Jack the Ripper, she realizes she needs help after all. Saira meets Archer, a charming student who helps her blend in as much as a tall, modern American teen can in Victorian England. He reveals the existence of the Immortals: Time, Nature, Fate, War and Death, and explains to Saira that it is possible to move between  centuries – if you are a Descendant of Time.  Saira finds unexpected friendships at a boarding school for Immortal Descendants and a complicated love with a young man from the past. But time is running out for her mother, and Saira must embrace her new identity ...

Harlow Whittaker & The Apprentice by Valerie Day-Sanchez 5 out of 5 Synopsis Two weeks ago nineteen year old Harlow Whittaker discovered that being able to travel to different worlds, while she slept wasn't just a weird secret that she had hidden since she was a child. In fact it meant that she was extraordinarily special. She was the first human soothsayer, the savior of the worlds. After abandoning her world and surviving the treacherous journey to Carnelian Comba, where she was finally united with fellow soothsayers. She has little time to recuperate from her imprisonment by her attacker, because just as she sits at the round table with the council members they realize they are under attack. Once again there is no time to waste, in order to survive, Harlow must leave Carnelian Comba. As Harlow begins to discover who she is, as she leads her army, she realizes that seeing the future while she sleeps was only the beginning. Unfortunately as her own abilities grow so a...

Well, it looks like another of those over-stimulating weekends where I should go sit down and have a nice cup of tea instead. I had two causes for excitement this week, and I will leave you to judge exactly how geeky I am to get worked up. For example, over the years of wanting to be an author, and dreaming of the day when I would see a book with my name on the shelf - I never imagined how giddy I would get over a bookmark. But I dare you to look at it and not agree with my friend Khloe, that it is "sexy as phuck". This is part of the promo package that popped up in my email from my cover designer Beth Syler .  She's the amazing artist who has done all three covers for the Witch-Hunter series.  I'd like to say that she's made my books look professional - but "professional" seems too sterile a word.  She's made my books look... addictive. Anyway, as agreed, Beth had done the cover for book 3 - The Shadow Falls (which can be seen on my websi...

Prince of Wolves by Quin Loftis 1 out of 5 Synopsis Jacque Pierce was just an ordinary 17-year-old girl getting ready to start her senior year in high school in Coldspring, Texas. When a mysterious foreign exchange student from Romania moves in across the street, Jacque and her two best friends, Sally and Jen, don't realize the last two weeks of their summer are going to get a lot more interesting.  From the moment Jacque sets eyes on Fane she feels an instant connection, a pull like a moth to a flame. Little does she know that the flame she is drawn to is actually a Canis lupis, werewolf, and she just happens to be his mate; the other half of his soul.  The problem is Fane is not the only wolf in Coldspring, Texas. Just as Fane and Jacque are getting to know each other, another wolf steps out to try and claim Jacque as his mate. Fane will now have to fight for the right to complete the mating bond, something that is his right by birth but is being denied him b...

Book Release! Back in February I got to interview the lovely Valerie Day-Sanchez , the writer of Harlow Whittaker & The Soothsayers - an original and vividly-imagined mix of paranormal and normal-normal (hint: go read ). The last four months have flown by, and personally, I wish I could report that I'd won the lottery; qualified for the dressage nationals; and/or met Michael Fassbender (yes please).  Ok, I digress... Valerie has been much more productive with her time, as she revealed this weekend on her  blog , part two has finally been released!  So after months of waiting for the conclusion of "The Soothsayers", which left us on that shocking cliff-hanger where Harlow and- right, no spoilers. So please welcome Harlow Whittaker & The Apprentice . Two weeks ago nineteen year old Harlow Whittaker discovered that being able to travel to different worlds, while she slept wasn’t just a weird secret that she had hidden since she was a child. In fact it m...

Fire Country By David Estes 4 out of 5 Synopsis In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely.  Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers. Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with.  As the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun. Review Siena is drawing closer to her sixteen...

So What!  Stories or Whatever! By G.J. Griffiths 2 out of 5 Synopsis STORIES FROM THE CLASSROOM! HOW DO THEY SURVIVE? WHETHER STUDENT, TEACHER OR PARENT THEY WILL HAVE YOU LAUGHING OR CRYING! Waterloo Road or Grange Hill meet Gervase Phinn - well maybe! Whether you love this book or hate it you will have to admit that the stories about its characters will stay in your memory for a long time. With over twenty years teaching experience behind him, G J Griffiths has brought to the reader some of the stories about the children he taught, in this amusing and often poignant book. Parents, teachers, pupils and students will all recognise the characters and their tales. All through the book we are made aware of the joys and disappointments experienced by their teachers, Mr Jeffrey and his colleagues. With the ever-present controversy about changing the education system (again!) this is a timely illustration of what is to be found in the classrooms of the contemporary High School....