THE SIGN OF THE SERPENT by Majanka Verstraete (The Adventures of Marisol Holmes #2) -- ***Guest Post: Find out what inspired the Author's world -- Giveaway***


The Sign of the Serpent  

Majanka Verstraete 

(The Adventures of Marisol Holmes #2) 

Published by: Firefly Hill Press
Publication date: February 12th 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult 

Meet Marisol Holmes: High School Student, jaguar shifter, and great granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes. She’s solved countless supernatural cases, but her next one’s the hardest yet. Why?

Marisol is about to lose her heart.

Two days ago, terrible events shattered the very foundation of the Conclave. Now, Marisol Holmes swears she’ll stop at nothing to destroy the man she once loved: her arch nemesis, Mannix.

But when a cryptic clue left by Mannix leads Marisol to a secret room that once belonged to her father, she realizes that hunting down Mannix won’t be that easy. If she wants to catch him, she’ll have to retrace the steps of her own past and discovers secrets that might have been best left buried.

When the hunt for Mannix brings Marisol to London, she teams up again with Roan and Wyatt on a quest for the truth that leads her through the dark alleys of London, to shady shifter pubs, to libraries cloaked in magic, and eventually to an abandoned castle in Scotland that once belonged to her family.

But Mannix is as sadistic as he’s smart. At every turn, Marisol and her friends face harsh truths and deadly puzzles, and risk their lives to uncover a past that should stay buried. With the stakes getting higher and Marisol’s attraction to Roan growing, can Marisol deny what she truly wants, even if it puts her new love on a collision course with her villainous ex?


Guest Post

What Inspires the World my Characters live in. 

by Marisol Holmes



The world Marisol Holmes and her friends live in is, in part, inspired by the regular world. We have cities like London and Paris that are realistic replicas of the real-life equivalent.

However, the catacombs of Paris, rather than being home to hundreds of corpses, also houses a secret organization called The Conclave, created over a century ago by Marisol’s great-great-great grandfather, none other than the famous Sherlock Holmes. The Conclave is an organization of shifters – jaguars, owls, ravens, bears, serpents, any animal you can think about – who solve crimes committed to other shifters. The shifters have lived in the shadows for centuries, hiding their existence for human kind. Marisol Holmes’ mother, The Duchess, is the leader of all shifters, and Marisol is set to inherit her throne if anything happens to her mother.

That’s the world of Marisol Holmes in a nutshell, but there’s much more than that. What secrets are hidden in the dark hallways of the catacombs? What is the Conclave’s ultimate purpose – is it to solve crimes, or is it something darker? With Marisol being half-human and half the shifter population opposing her claim to the throne, will she ever become the next jaguar queen?

Creating a world that is firmly set in the real world yet adding magical touches to it is quite a challenge. I had visited Paris and London, two important locations in the books, before, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have to do a lot of additional research to make realistic representations of the two cities. Additionally, creating a magical world that was not too different from our real world – where shifters live but are hidden, where crimes are still solved the way a regular police force would solve them, yet slightly different because shifters have enhanced abilities that can help them – those are all aspects I had to take into account when writing the world of Marisol Holmes.

Whereas in the first book, Marisol’s world is still relatively small, here it opens up as more and more layers are unveiled. I love these additions that made her world all the more realistic. I hope you enjoy The Adventures of Marisol Holmes, and that you’re just as excited to discover her world as I am!





Author Bio:


Author Majanka Verstraete has written more than twenty unique works of fiction. A native of Belgium, Majanka’s novels explore the true nature of monsters: the good, the bad, and just about every species in between. Her young adult books include the acclaimed Mirrorland (YA Dark Fantasy) and Angel of Death (YA Paranormal) series of novels.



GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

XBTBanner1

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ALL IS FAIR by Dee Garretson ***Guest Post: Learn about the era-specific issues in her main character's world -- Giveaway***

Image
  All Is Fair Dee Garretson Published by: Swoon Reads Publication date: January 22nd 2019 Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult Lady Mina Tretheway knows she’s destined for greater things than her fancy boarding school, where she’s being taught to be a proper English lady. It’s 1918, and war is raging across Europe. Unlike her father and brother, who are able to assist in the war effort, Mina is stuck sorting out which fork should be used with which dinner course. When Mina receives a telegram that’s written in code, she finally has her chance to do something big. She returns to her childhood home of Hallington Manor, joined by a family friend, Lord Andrew Graham, and a dashing and mysterious young American, Lucas. The three of them must band together to work on a dangerous project that could turn the tide of the war. Thrilled that she gets to contribute to the war effort at least, Mina jumps headfirst into the world of cryptic messages, spycraft, and internati...
Read more

KILLER LAWYER -- A New Thiller by Mark Nolan ***Guest Post: Learn fun Facts about Killer Lawyer -- Excerpt -- Giveaway***

Image
Thriller Date Published: 12/10/2018 Add to Goodreads No rest for the wicked. Trained as an assassin by the CIA, Jake Wolfe now wants a new life of peace and quiet, living on a boat and practicing law. But when his city is shocked by a serial killer and he’s framed for the murder of a friend, Jake must race against time to find the killer before he strikes again. Drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse; at every step, Jake and his loved ones are being hunted by the clever, twisted madman. As the city is gripped in fear of the seemingly random shootings that could strike anybody, Jake investigates and uncovers ominous clues until a shocking reversal of fortune changes everything. With the clock ticking and lives at stake, will Jake be able to find and stop the killer in time, or will he become the next victim? Buckle up for a wild ride as Jake Wolfe and his exceptionally intelligent dog, Cody, return to action ...
Read more

A Strange Affinity by Rebecca Rook - Fantasy, Young Adult

Image
A Strange Affinity by Rebecca Rook Publication date: March 26th 2024 Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult A Strange Affinity is a hypnotizing cross between the television show Deadwood and Tamora Pierce’s renowned Tortall Universe. This young adult fantasy novel, set in an alternate nineteenth century American Wild West, will appeal to fans of Vengeance Road and Retribution Rails by Erin Bowman, Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto, and Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey. In the Wild West, magic is real. When two strangers arrive in her small town, Gloriana Rue learns that she has the magical ability, or Affinity, to manipulate metal. She also learns that her mother was a renowned magical scholar but had abandoned the world of Affinities. Glory is desperate to know why her mother hid her past, and so agrees to attend an academy for magicians in the hopes of finding answers. Glory is soon immersed in magic and mystery when she stumbles upon a disturbing discovery: A killer is hunting ma...
Read more