Mundie Moms

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Guest Post- YA Fantasy Guide's 5 Must Have Debut Books

Today I'm excited to have one of our affiliates, YA Fantasy Guide on our blog. Recently I asked Stacey what 5 debut author recommendations she had for us.
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Don't you love books? Lucky for us, they're lots of great books coming out in 2011! I could list some amazing names for you like Melissa Marr and Cassandra Clare, but I'm sure you already know about those. Instead, I made a list of five debut young adult fantasy authors that I'm personally excited about. The list order is based on release dates.

Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney (Published: February 8, 2011)
Freak. That's what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna's own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.
When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton (Published: February 15, 2011)
First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.
Then come the memories.
When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.
Now she must hunt.
Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember.

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford (Published: February 22, 2011)
Eden didn't expect Az.
Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick-up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.
Yeah.
So long, happily-ever-after.
Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.
She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else's game. Her heart is her own.
And that's only the beginning of the end.

Hourglass by Myra McEntire (Published: May 24, 2011)
Since the age of fourteen, Emerson Cole has seen strange things – dead things – swooning Southern Belles, soldiers, and other eerie apparitions of the past. She’s tried everything to get rid of the visions: medication, counseling, asylums. Nothing’s worked.

So when Emerson's well-meaning brother calls in yet another consultant from a mysterious organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to give it one last try.

Michael Weaver is no ordinary consultant. He's barely older than she is; he listens like no one she's ever met before; and he doesn't make her feel the least bit crazy. As Emerson ventures deeper into the world of the Hourglass, she begins to learn the truth about her past, her future--and her very life.

Possess by Gretchen McNeil (Published: August 23, 2011)
Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her overprotective mom, by the hunky son of the police officer who got her father killed, and by the eerie voices which she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Turns out the voices are demons--the Biblical kind, not the Buffy kind--and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them.

San Francisco's senior exorcist and his newly assigned partner from the Vatican enlist Bridget's help with increasingly bizarre and dangerous cases of demonic possession. But when one of Bridget's oldest friends turns up dead in a ritualistic sacrifice that mirrors her father's murder, Bridget realizes she can't trust anyone. An interview with her father's murderer reveals a link between Bridget and the Emim: a race of part-demons intent on raising their forefathers to the earth in human form. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the Emim's plan before someone else close to her winds up dead, or worse--the human vessel for a Demon King.
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Stacey O'Neale is a full-time writer and co-owner of the Young Adult Fantasy Guide. She’s had several articles and book reviews published, but spends most of her writing time on the revisions to her debut young adult fantasy novel. You can read her advice for aspiring writers on her blog The YA Fantasy Freak or you can follow her on Twitter.

9 comments:

  1. I'm reading The Iron Witch right now and am loving it! Hourglass is on my list but I hadn't heard of the others. I'm adding them to the list right now. Thanks!

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  2. Fun choices!! Loved the synopses and I'm looking forward to many of these. It's great to meet an affiliate of MMs and now I have a new blog to follow. Thanks MMs!

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  3. EEEEEEEEEE! What an honor to see HOURGLASS on your amazing list! Thank you so much!

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  4. Heather- The Iron Witch is awesome and so is Hourglass! I can't wait for you to read it!

    Sophie- Stacey has some fantastic things on her blog and I love her choices.

    Rachele- Thank you for the link!

    Myra- I was so excited when I saw Stacey list it! It def. belongs on the list.

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  5. I have the first two. Started reading Angelfire (it's great!) but I haven't had time to start The Iron Witch yet.

    The last three on the list sound really interesting. I'll have to check them out as soon as they release!

    Thanks for the recommendations, Stacey! :)

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  6. I am SO honored to be on this list. With such amazing company!!!!!! Wow. Thank you.

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  7. *is ridiculously proud*

    That is all. :)

    <3

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  8. Thank you so much for the mention!! :D

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  9. Woohoo! ANGELFIRE and HOURGLASS are the ones I'm most looking forward to reading!

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