Wolf Sirens Series by Tina Smith + Interview & GIVEAWAY

A little while back I was asked to review a series of books called Wolf Sirens.  Most of you know that I absolutely love the Paranormal genre…however, when it comes to the Young Adult genre it’s a bit touch and go.  I was on the fence with my answer to reviewing this book – but eventually my love of Paranormal won out and I decided to give this series a try.  And I am so glad I did!  This series is an ongoing saga, with one book leading straight into the next….it reminds me a bit of the Imdalind series by Rebecca Ethington or perhaps a touch of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer – only featuring strictly werewolves instead.  So pick up this series and immerse yourself in a whole new world…

Book #1 – Forbidden – Discover the Legend

The Mystical Bond, the Fatal Allure … of Hunter & Prey 
Misunderstood seventeen year old Lila Crain unwillingly moves to the foreboding town of Shade, prepared to face her punishment – Shade High. But she can’t begin to anticipate the life-altering events that lie in wait for her.  The dark and charismatic Reid has a wolfish grin and amber eyes that would make any girl blush and he has his sights set on the new girl in school.  Reid’s stunning friends – including icy top dog Sam – invite Lila into their clique. Suspicious, yet flattered by their attention she answers the intriguing call like a moth to a flame.  Thrillingly introduced to the local nightlife by the enigmatic group, Lila finally feels like she belongs. But her newly found friendships threaten to turn sour when she unwittingly develops feelings for the leader’s off-limits boyfriend, Sky.  Tensions rise further when a quirky local named Cresida warns Lila to stay away from the clique at all costs.  Undeterred, she is irresistibly drawn to uncover the truth behind their mysterious lifestyle.  Lila unwittingly starts off a chain of events that will forever alter fate for both hunter and hunted as she learns they have been waiting for her… 

Book #2 – Fever – Many are Born, Few Are Reborn

Eternally Cursed to Love & Not Purely Desire…Temperatures rise as the flames of longing still burn in the thrilling sequel to Wolf Sirens Forbidden. The legend continues. Apollo, god of deadly plague, conspires to undo his sister’s legacy. The wolves exist between two worlds, one in the town another in the forest.  Prophecy says hunters and wolves are cursed to a mutual attraction. Increasingly, each successive slayer becomes more alluring to the wolf. The predestined enemies struggle, to both resist and contain their fierce rivalry in a conflict powerful enough to tear two worlds apart. 
A shadow has fallen over the heartlands of myth and reality. The chosen is reborn broken-hearted, in the scorching embers of grief. Devastated, Lila trains tirelessly as the assassin. She must submit to deliver justice and protect the innocent of Shade.  But is it love or revenge which motivates her?  Will the huntress or her heart prevail? Breaking away from the call of destiny and fearing betrayal, Lila makes a desperate escape in search of her lost beloved. The intensity between two ancient enemies ignites. The history of the wolf pack is revealed as devotion and desire in the underworld reaches fever pitch.  If The Bite Doesn’t Get You, Then the Fever Will…

Book #3 – Night Fall – What Rises Must Fall

Uncover what Happens after Dark in Shade…In the rainy valley the sky is covered by cloud as the Thunder God wars with his son, Apollo. As dusk descends the wolves haunt the forest.  A crescent moon rises and all days are nights for the huntress, until the ancient battle is won. What lurks beneath the surface in the heartlands of myth and reality is a tale as insidious and devious as the wolves themselves.  The sun has not yet set forever on a love that has defied time in a valley cursed for centuries.  Lila has nothing to lose, except for the one thing that means everything. The unwilling heroine with a chip on her shoulder treads between two worlds on a path of inescapable fate that the Goddess has chosen for her.  Lila must follow a dark path towards a war that no one can win. Suspicions rage as the fight takes her into the belly of the beast. Lives will be lost in a vicious clash.  Who will be left standing after the fray?  The hunter’s legacy must be fulfilled in a vivid tale of heartbreak and betrayal as what rises must fall and those that have fallen must find the strength to rise again.  No one will emerge unscathed.

Book #4 – Dusk In Shade – The Wolves Ride at Sunset

There is no escape from fate…Dark clouds gather as the legend continues. In the town where secrets lie and natural justice rules, the sirens have fallen – captured and defeated. The fate of the hunters is in the hands of the wolves. In the grip of the largest full moon in centuries the stakes climb higher.  Aided by a thwarted enemy, Apollo unleashes a long-awaited plan to defeat Artemis once and for all. Wolf venom spreads across the Valley like a catastrophic virus.  Those that Lila loves most must choose to take cover or go on the defence as the battle for supremacy reaches new heights.  Bonds are tested as devastation and mistrust escalates to breaking point. The tumultuous relationship between wolves and hunters reaches a bloody climax.  What will the huntress uncover and who will be lost in the cross fire?  Lila combats a new breed of predator in a war that will ultimately decide the fate of Shade. 

Review

Series:  Wolf Sirens Series

Author:  Tina Smith

Genre:  Paranormal, Young Adult

Thoughts:

When I started this series, I really didn’t know what to expect.   The story is so in-depth, intriguing, and complex….you spend moments of never wanting it to end – and then cursing cause you just couldn’t read it fast enough and you simply have to know what happens!  The author weaves a spellbinding tale that – once started – you just can’t put it down.  Thankfully, I received  the much of the series at once or it would have driven me crazy having to wait!  It’s also unpredictable….no matter how much you guess and think you know what’s going to happen – there is just no way to guess all the complexities behind all these storylines.  They are just so expertly woven together – it almost seems as if it is just one long novel.  Granted, an extremely long one.  But each book flows seamlessly into the next.

Lila is a teen who has moved with her mother to the small town of Shade.  Just like most teens, she wants to fit in and be accepted.  Imagine her surprise when first, everyone avoids her like the plague – and then the (in an abrupt about-face) the most popular clique in school befriends her.  And that is just the beginning – it’s quickly apparent that there is more going on in Shade than what  meets the eye.  The author manages to really peg the teenage angst that most of the characters are experiencing, and I felt was a reflection of real life teens.  After forming my own opinions of the book and/or series, I browsed around just to see what other  people thought.  One thing that caught my eye was some reviews regarding the ‘weirdness’ or unanswered reasoning about why the characters behaved as they did or why the acted a certain way….I felt that that was the intention on the behalf of the author, so it didn’t bother me that much.  As the story progresses and move on through the books, more and more things make sense – and the more and more we get answers to important questions about the goings on in Shade.  A lot of people took major issue with Lila and found her shallow, confused on what she really wants, etc. – but come on – really?  She’s a teenager….she’s still finding her way.  She’s allowed to be a little confused – particularly with an absentee father for the most part and a Mom who is may as well be somewhere else for all the attention she shows her.  She’s still a little immature – but it was an acceptable immature – a real teenage portrayal.  I have read so many books where it was just a ridiculous immaturity – in Lila’s case, I thought it matched her age very well.  I can see how she may grate on people’s nerves (she did mine a few times), but on the plus side we get to see her grow a little as the books progresses.  The numerous poor parental examples was a little far-fetched, but considering the nature of the book it was easily overlooked – a little difficult to have werewolves and hunters running around with all this drama if they have parents hanging over their shoulder 24/7.

I definitely recommend this series, particularly to people who enjoyed novels like the Imdalind series by Rebecca Ethington or the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer or those similar in nature.  Sections of the books also had me flashing back and thinking about the movie Mean Girls – particularly in the first book with all the discussion of ‘cliques’….LOL  Of course, there is just so much I could say about each book, but 1) I don’t want to spoil the books for anyone, and 2) I think it will be so much more enjoyable for you to discover them all for yourself!  They may seem a little slow going for some readers….there are times when it does drag a little, but most of that is worth it for the character depth that we are allowed to see and the complexities in all the relationships.  The number one thing to keep in mind – they are so good!

Rating:  A

INTERVIEW WITH TINA SMITH

TBRG:  Which character from the Wolf Sirens series do you most relate to and why?

Lila, of course, though I am not my characters. They have their own demons and experiences. I think that some authors consider their MC or the tone of their novel a direct reflection of their person morals—and in many cases it is. Though at the same the same time I think if you disassociate yourself from the characters and imagine them as real people with different motivations and lives than our own it makes a much better tale.

TBRG:  Do any of the characters have traits that you yourself wish you had and if so, what traits would those be?

Lila is less sensitive than I am, I think in part she has denied that part of herself. She is lucky to be able to do so. I wear my heart on my sleeve, no matter how hard I try to cover it up it peeks out—though age has toughened me up a lot.

TBRG:  Which of the characters do you feel is the most misunderstood, and what do you feel is important for readers to know regarding their character?

Lila comes off as selfish and that grates some readers the wrong way, I have even been told that some reviewers wanted to throw the book across the room because of it. I think we should all be a little selfish but if Lila comes off as highly so, I think that her reasons are that her father and brother have abandoned her and her mother has emotionally abandoned her. So with no one left she has to look out for herself.

Also I’d like readers to know that there is a strong connection between the wolves and the hunters, a strong magnetic attraction. I think that they aren’t as beautiful as Lila thinks they are but the cosmic pull makes her see them through rose tinted glasses.

TBRG:  What is your guilty pleasure?

Chocolate with a hot herbal tea and television would have to be up there. I stay clear of most of the really bad stuff.

TBRG:  What is the one thing your readers would be the most surprised to know about you?

I work extraordinarily hard. I am a terrible speller and I think way too much, though that may not be such a shocker…

TBRG:  Where is one place that you would love to visit and haven’t yet?

Europe, Greece. I’d like to tour the whole place. I have German roots and I study Natural Medicine so to see the ruins of Ancient Greece would be fascinating. Paris and Italy are must sees. I’d love to tour Rome too—I’m a romantic.

TBRG:  When you hit a little bit of writer’s block, what techniques or things do you do to get your writing back on track?

Push on. Or get up and go do something else. If I really don’t want to write or edit then I go do other work, like study or I do the dishes and thenit’s funny how quickly my mind wanders back to plot ideas….

TBRG:  You gave a good piece of advice to aspiring writers – “Write alot.  Write what scares you.  Write like no one will read it and then edit it like everyone will.”  Did you find it really hard to release that first book, when you put so much of yourself and your vulnerabilities into it? 

No. I dug deep, but that comes naturally to me. I read a quote on Facebook yesterday that said: ‘Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.’ –D.W Winnicott. I wanted to express myself, I am an artist. I put on a tough face and I tell myself that I am very proud of what I have achieved. I know what you mean, it’s hard to put your heart on a plate but I try to act because of fear—don’t let it hold you in place.

TBRG:  Has promoting your book been harder than you thought, and what would you recommend to other authors that are trying to get their names out there?

It was extremely hard to get my foot hold. I put all my mental energy into my book, to writing and editing, polishing, sculpting it and publishing it. Thethe day I released it I suddenly had to turn my attention to learning how to let people know about it. My advice would be to join groups online and find a good blog tour company.

TBRG:  I see that there is a book #5 in the works, Dawn in Shade.  Are there any hints you can give us (without giving too much away of course)?  And is there a general/anticipated release date yet?

Soon! Dawn in Shade was meant to be the final installment but it will now be followed by book six and a prequel. Making Seven books in total.

Dawn in Shade is action packed and keeps quite a pace. The war between the hunters and wolves reaches new heights. Expect plenty of twists and surprises, as usual!

There is little time for Lila to take a breath as she struggles to find the inner strength to combat the oncoming battle. Due out October 2014.

Storm in Shade is the title of the sixth book in the series. Anticipate more war and romance which culminates to an explosive ending. If you like tough chicks and paranormal with a contemporary epic feel, Wolf Sirens is your cup of tea!

GIVEAWAY – Tina has been generous to provide us with quite a few items for the giveaway – you can enter to win a copy of the first book in the series Wolf Sirens Forbidden: Discover the Legend, Wolf Sirens charms on a chord, and the Grand Prize – a Suncatcher!  Enter to win here:  Wolf Sirens GIVEAWAY