Blog Tour: Book Review The Mayfair Moon – Darkwoods Trilogy #1 By J.A. Redmerski

Title: The Mayfair Moon – Darkwoods Trilogy #1

Author: J.A. Redmerski

Genre: Paranormal YA

Blurb:

After a nightmarish encounter with a werewolf, seventeen-year-old Adria Dawson loses her sister, but gains the love of a mysterious young man and his legendary family.

Strange and tragic things begin to happen in the small town of Hallowell, Maine: residents come down with an unexplainable ‘illness’ and some disappear. In the midst of everything, Isaac Mayfair is adamant about keeping Adria safe, even from her sister whom he has warned her to stay away from.

As unspeakable secrets unfold all around Adria, impossible choices become hers to bear. Ultimately, no matter what path she takes, her life and the lives of those she loves will be in peril. As she learns about the werewolf world she also learns why her place in it will change the destinies of many.

Excerpt:

Pulling up into my driveway, I saw that the porch light wasn’t on. I never noticed before how eerie that old Victorian-style house was in the dark even though I’d seen it a hundred times just like that.

Isaac put the car in park.

“Are you okay, Adria,” he said turning sideways, one arm resting on the steering wheel.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“You will be, or you are?”

Leaning across the seat, I pressed my lips gently to his cheek, just under his eye. “I am,” I said. “I wouldn’t be if you weren’t here.”

A smile softened his face.

I placed my hand upon the door handle of the car and Isaac grabbed me.

“Stop,” he demanded, smelling deeply of the air.

His eyes darted around apprehensively.

Suddenly, Isaac threw the car back in drive and slammed on the gas. My body lurched forward and then backward, thrusting me harshly against the seat. I fumbled for the seatbelt, but couldn’t get it on. The car swerved through the snow, mud and slush, tossing me sideways.

“Isaac!”

“Hold on!” he shouted.

I braced myself against the dashboard, one foot pressing on the door. Slam! Clunk! The hood of the car caved in. Steam and anti-freeze whistled and spewed from the wreckage. The car was dead. Black eyes and dripping teeth bore down on us through the windshield. I screamed. My body pressed so hard against the seat I felt it jump the track forcibly and fall backward.

The windshield crumbled into a thousand nugget-like pieces of glass. The beast’s head entered the opening and roared, blood and thick saliva spewed from its blade-like teeth. I managed to get into the back seat, cowering low halfway into the floorboard.

I heard an uncanny pop! and then a long, grating sound. Isaac’s seat pushed backward and snapped completely off its tracks. I moved over just in time before the seat crushed me. Isaac’s door flew off, landing feet away in the snow. Another deafening roar ripped through the car and Isaac, massive and beastly, burst through what was left of it. The wreckage tossed with me in it. I held onto the back of the front seat. Trees and white ground flip-flopped in my vision many times before the car landed upside-down. Snow cushioned one side of my face, the roof of the car pressed against the other. The taste of blood filled my mouth and I could feel something hard and cold penetrate my side. At first, no pain followed, but then a burst of pain surged through my body.

My Review

Adria and her sister Alex live with a mother that doesn't seem to care about them and an abusive step father. Alex wants to move out and take Adria with her but Adria won't leave her mother. She wants to stick around and watch out for her to make sure she is safe.

On their way home one night through the park they witness a fight between two werewolves. One of the werewolves attacks them and Alex tries to take most of the hits to protect her little sister Adria. Alex becomes with drawn into her own little world and stays in her room all the time after the attack. While at the same time Adria tries to get on with her life and put it behind her.

When they miss a few days of school social services make an appearance at their home. Upon seeing all the bruises and scratches from their attack from the werewolves social services thinks that they came from their step father. They remove them from their home and send them to live with their Aunt and Uncle in Maine.

Adria thinks that they will be safe in Maine. She starts her new school and meets some new friends right from the beginning. One of her new friends is a girl named Zia and Zia is a werewolf. After some of their friends and fellow class mates start disappearing or are found dead. Adria begins to wonder if living in Maine is any better than her old home town.

Adria meets Zia's brother Isaac who is also a werewolf and starts to fall in love with him. It is through Isaac and his family that she learns that her sister Alex is a werewolf now too. She learns that Alex is now a part of a clan of bad werewolves. Isaac tells Adria to stay away from Alex and her clan of werewolves. They are a dangerous clan that likes to attack and turn humans into werewolves so that can make their into a bigger army.

I really enjoyed reading The Mayfair Moon it was one of the best books about werewolves that I have read. It kept you on the edge of your seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. I loved the battle that had been going on between the two clans for years. It has a lot of twist and turns. You never know what is just around the corner. Just when you think you have it figured out bam you are slammed in the face with a whole new twist.

About the Author:

J.A. Redmerski is a Contemporary Fantasy and YA writer - author of THE MAYFAIR MOON and DIRTY EDEN. She’s a mother, werewolf & zombie fanatic, book addict and a happy hermit obsessed with the Universe. Oh, and AMC's "The Walking Dead".

Jessica started her first novel at the age of thirteen and has been writing something ever since. Generally, she loves characters in life and on paper. She pays attention to people, especially those whose personalities make them different from the rest of us: the drug addict roaming the Laundromat that talks to himself, the young, inattentive mother in the park with the meanest kid on the playground - (the entire cast of 'Swamp People') - characters fascinate Jessica and she hopes that it shows in her literary work.

Some authors that inspire Jessica are Neil Gaiman, Cormac McCarthy, Max Brooks, Anne Rice, J.K. Rowling, Richard Matheson, William R. Forstchen, Carrie Ryan, Stephenie Meyer and Lisa Smedman.