Blog Tour & Giveaway: The Forgotten Ones by Laura Howard

@itchingforbooks @laurahoward78

Welcome to my tour stop for The Forgotten Ones hosted by Itching for Books Blog Tours. For the complete tour schedule please click HERE

 

 

Title: The Forgotten Ones

Author: Laura Howard

Series: The Danaan Trilogy #1

Release: April 28, 2013
Genre: NA Paranormal Fantasy

 

Summary:
 

Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

 

 

Review:

 

I really enjoyed this book and was immediately addicted to the characters, especially Allison and Ethan. This was definitely a great spring read as well because the writing felt so light and flowing. The action and the plot were well balanced. Nothing happened to fast or to slow, it had great pacing.

Like I said the book is full of great characters. Looking at just the Mortal realm we have the group of “friends” I put the quotes because I think that Allison would use that term loosely. There is her cousin Nicole who is her best friend. Then we have Nicole’s boyfriend Jeff who also happens to be the brother of Ethan. Then there is Sean who grew up in the house across the street and of course Rachel. Although Rachel is friends with Nicole, she has a lack luster relationship with Allison. I think they would claw each other’s eyes out if they could but they manage to tolerate one another.

There are some great fairy world characters as well. Liam, Allison’s dad, of course but there is also Aodhan who almost seems like he becomes a protector of Allison. I think it has more to do with her human status than anything else but it’s kind of sweet. You can tell he is one of those characters that you will love in the series. There is also Niamh who I really liked. I just felt like she is going to play out to be a decent ally. There are many other characters both good and bad and with different degrees of what they consider to be wrong and right when it comes to human interaction.

I like the description of Tír na n’Óg, the image in my head is that people seem almost drunk when they wander around there. Not so much the Fey themselves but humans that enter into it. This is how I’ve always interpreted the fairy realm myself. I kept thinking in my head that Allison shouldn’t eat the food and then remembered wait that’s the underworld. LOL.

I loved the relationship between Allison and Ethan. I firstly loved the fact that it was something already in progress when we join the story. Secondly the thing I like is that they’ve kind of had a crush on each other since they were young kids. Plus the interaction between them is just too cute! You can feel the attraction and chemistry between them. I wanted to keep reading their exchanges. I can tell you the ending of the book stressed me out a bit.

There is also a strong family presence, which is always nice to see. Especially with the type of story this is. Family is a common theme for both the mortal realm and the fairy realm.

The ending definitely left you wanting to know what happens next and there are plenty of unanswered questions that I’m sure we will find answers to as the series goes on. I really liked this story and was actually a little sad it was so short. I mean that as a complicate Laura Howard because I liked her writing so much. I want to know so much more about some of the characters and I can tell you I will definitely pick up book 2 because I need to know what happens with Allison and Ethan!!!

Quotes:

 

These are a few of my favorite quotes from the book. I didn't want to do too many because they probably would have been all Allison/Ethan related and I didn't want to give the whole book away. :)

“I’m going to take you home now, while you still think I’m so great.” (p.50)

“One minute he was all business, the next his eyes brightened like he was a man in the desert and I was a cold drink of water.” (p.53)

“Which one is Deaghlan again?” I asked. My mind swirled with all the new names to remember. (132)

  

 

Giveaway:

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


About the Author:

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

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