Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

No one is more *eagerly excited!* for the SEQUEL to “Silver Hollow” – that I am!! Truly – ever since the beautifully lovely hardback of Silver Hollow enchanted my imagination & tugged at my readerly heart – I’ve barely found myself unable to pull myself out of the world long enough to stop contemplating ‘what comes next’ & where do we go from here? It is one of those spell-binding fantastical series you are itching to discover – aching really, if you’re a reader like me – and finding yourself so bemused by how the writer set us in her world that it is quintessentially on your #topfavouritesof2019 lists for books you dearly hope others pick up to read based on your own enthused reception of the story!

However, before you listen to me gush a bit more over this series – I first need to mention a few things about how I know Ms Silverwood:

On my connection to Jennifer Silverwood:

When our paths first crossed, Ms Silverwood and I shared a mutual interest and connection; however, our friendship did not form for awhile afterwards. It was truly after the interview went live and after I noticed I was reading her blog as much as she was reading mine – where I realised we shared a lot of commonalities in our reading lives as well as our writely lives! We decided to stay in touch and it is an honour to find someone who understands the bridge between reader, blogger and writer.

I am disclosing this, to assure you that I can formulate an honest opinion, even though I have interacted with Ms Silverwood through our respective love & passion of reading inside the twitterverse whilst I hosted her Silver Hollow blog tour and privately as well. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. This also applies to hosting a guest feature by the author I share a connection.

Secondly, Ms Silverwood was blessedly one of my guests for @SatBookChat this year – wherein we were discussing her Space Opera novellas series. She’s previously been a host of the chat discussing Silver Hollow – as she’s a conversationalist like I am when it comes to all things bookish – however, if you tuck into that post, you’ll find a link to the chat & find that we discussed a bit more than the Heavens Edge series as well!

Her stories are amongst my favourite to read & it is a delight of joy whenever her #bookmail arrives in my postbox! You’ll be seeing more about Heavens Edge before the close of the month as its tied into how I’ll be closing off my Sci Fi November this year! Never one to let migraines or a Wintry cold hold a girl down for too long (ie. migraines & some life woes derailed #SciFiMonth this year whilst if you’ve seen my #FantasyForChristmas19 posts magically re-organising themselves in your feeds for Jorie Loves A Story this week – consider it courtesy of a horrid Wintry cold which struck me down!) – I am resolute in my efforts to continue reading the stories I desire to finish before Times Square can happily countdown my New Year’s!

Today I was wicked thrilled to be able to ‘ring a bell’ (as Joriebelle rings a belle for #blogmas) for the Borderlands Saga as I had this to share after starting to read the delightful novel:

There was a tight pulling of curiosity – of needing to read another paragraph, of feeling tucked closer to Amie and of developing a keen sense of curiosity for the otherness which was about to jump into focus; I was sure of it, as it was percolating at the fringes round the funeral for her parents. It was then I realised, I think I might have found my footing into the fantastical styling of Ms Silverwood – where I could gain entry into the mythos of her world and settle in for the long haul of the Borderlands Saga!

Silverwood has truly crafted together a tale you can drink in – slowly and ruminatively, as you step into Amie’s footsteps as she starts to pull the pieces together of a life and family she was not privy to understanding til her parents died. And, even then, let’s be frank – it took her longer than most to accept a nod of familial invitation to gleam more about her father’s past and the world he left behind. I loved her instincts for turns of phrase, for how she took time to allow Amie to contrast her thoughts and emotions through colours and wordplay.

The pacing I felt was intimate enough to hug us close to Amie but equally dynamic enough to give us a slight thrill of an adventure we were bound to want to escape inside once we caught a glimpse of how her world was evolving into view. What I appreciated most though is how this story was written – from the choices in direction and characterisation to the elements of the ‘otherworld’ seeping through the opening chapters where Amie is clueless about her ancestral legacy.

The beauty of course, is the subtlety in which they have become fashioned through the Borderlands Saga – as there is a gentleness to the fantastical within this series. You get to step through the veil between the known world and the unseen world as unexpectedly as Amie. It gives you a chance to adjust to the changes but also, it proves the point towards what is seen and unseen is only the very beginning of understanding the unknown.

-quoted from my book review of Silver Hollow

I am *aching!* dear hearts to read this sequel – not that I could *forget!* the release date – not only does it *fall within!* the 3rd Year I’ll be co-hosting Wyrd & Wonder with Imyril & Lisa – but dear hearts, the day of release is of import for my family! It’s my parents anniversary and what is more special than a book release by a beloved author & the next year’s anniversary of your parents!? Absolutely NOTHING! Smiles.

If you want to find your #nextreads for Urban Fantasy, Fey directed Lit and a fantastical world which will bewitch you mind & heart – this is definitely a series to earmark to read!

Here’s a special cheer to Jennifer Silverwood & the lovely writers behind #WeWriteFantasy who help celebrate the fantastical each December during their #FantasyForChristmas events! They truly have increased my love & joy of sorting out which Fantasy novelists I am itching to read next & which writers are curating the stories I most want to be finding on my bookshelf!

Published by: Silverwood Sketches

Converse via: #FantasyForChristmas19, #BorderlandsSaga & #WeWriteFantasy

Published: 25th May, 2020 | *this will be cross-released digitally and in print!

In a single night of madness, Amie won the battle and lost the two people she loved most. As she struggles to be the queen her people need, her family band together against the hidden threat at their borders.Haunted by the ghosts of her past, Amie strikes a pact with an ancient being called The Storyteller. In order to see Emrys again, they must put aside their blood feud, and cross the veil to a place of spirits and monsters.

Blackbriar Cove is a land where superstition and chaos reign, and spirits plague dreams. A dark curse has twisted the Unseelie who once lived in the home the Blackbriar twins vowed never to return. But death is not the end in Silver Hollow, and the war for the Borderlands has only begun.

The Borderlands Saga:

Silver Hollow (book one) – (see also Review)

Blackbriar Cove (book two)

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