Blog Tour: The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard (Review + Giveaway)

About The Author

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

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Review
Title: The Forgotten Ones
Author: Laura Howard
Publisher: Amazon
Released: April 28th 2013
Pages: 197 (Kindle)
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US
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Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

I'd had my eye on The Forgotten Ones for a while, so when I was given the opportunity to join in on the blog tour, I jumped right in. The folklore genre is constantly growing on me - there is something I love about the beauty and majestic energy surrounding it. The Forgotten Ones was no exception to this, and from beginning to end, Howard swept me up into the world of the Tuatha de Danaan.

The Lure of Shapinsay by Krista Holle

Title: The Lure of Shapinsay

Author: Krista Holle

Publisher: Sweet River Romance

Released: December 16th 2011

Pages: 260 (ebook)

Buy: Amazon

Ever since Kait Swanney could remember, the old crones of the village have been warning her to stay away from the selkies. They claim that like sirens of old, the seal men creep from the inky waters, shed their skins, and entice women to their deaths beneath the North Sea. But avoiding an encounter becomes impossible when Kait is spotted at the water’s edge, moments after the murder of a half-selkie infant. 

Unexpectedly, Kait is awoken by a beautiful, selkie man seeking revenge. After she declares her innocence, the intruder darts into the night, but not before inadvertently bewitching her with an overpowering lure. 

Kait obsesses over a reunion deep beneath the bay and risks her own life to be reunited with her selkie. But when she lands the dangerous lover, the chaos that follows leaves Kait little time to wonder—is it love setting her on fire or has she simply been lured?

White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick

Supposing you wanted to prove something, something important. Supposing you wanted to prove, for argument’s sake, that there is life after death.

“1798, 10mo, 6d. I believe he intends to practise some unholy rite, a summoning, a conjuration. A thing of magic.”

Two lives, two centuries apart. But they walked the same paths, lived in the same house, and became obsessed by the same question.

When city girl Rebecca steps into the quiet streets of Winterfold that relentlessly hot summer, her uneasy friendship with strange, elfin Ferelith sets in motion a shocking train of events.

There was just something about this book that I didn't like. Firstly, you didn't really get to properly know any of the characters - and secondly, every mystery brought up in the book was not solved, apart from the main one, which was rather infuriating. As you read, you want to know more about Rebecca (how does she feel about everything going on? Is she in love with Ferelith?), about Ferelith (is she in love with Rebecca? Why did she do what she did?), about Rebecca and Adam's past relationship (why did he break up with her?), about John (what did he do to the girl? Why was he blamed? Was it his fault?), what happened to the vicar and the doctor (did they die? Did they get caught?), the Wizard of Oz DVD (how did it get there?) - and so much more. I finished the book and felt completely unsatisfied. However, despite my criticisms, the ending was very good - definately the best part out of the whole book. Throughout the tale, Sedgwick kind of hinted that something big was going to happen - and I really think he did the right thing in the end; I don't think he could have ended the story any other way. I really liked the plot idea, and if it had just been developed a bit more, I really think I would have enjoyed it. But unfortunately it wasn't, and I'm not too keen on reading any more of his books in the future.
Rating:2/5