Sierra Dean - Autumn

The first book in the Dog Days series, published June 12, 2013.
Genre: paranormal Young Adult
Cover: she looks shivering cold



Cooper Reynolds's life is going to the dogs... literally.
As if being a high school senior in a small Texas town wasn't hard enough, Cooper has bigger things to worry about than who he'll take to prom and whether or not the Poisonfoot Padres will win homecoming. He has less than a year before his eighteenth birthday, when a curse placed on his family will doom him to live in coyote form forever.
The last thing he needs to complicate his already messed-up life is a girl, but fate has other plans in mind for him when it brings Eloise "Lou" Whittaker to Poisonfoot. She's grouchy, sarcastic and has no love for her new Texas home, but she might be exactly the right person to help Cooper break the curse.
The clock is ticking, and Cooper will have to decide if he's willing to let Lou in on his dirty little secret before it's too late.


I was a lucky girl this weekend, for the few minutes I was on Twitter I just spotted Sierra Dean asking for reviewers for her new book Winter. As I love her books, I jumped at the chance, and Sierra sent me a copy. But then I discovered I had not yet read Autumn, and as she told me, you have to read this in order. So my best friend kindly gifted me Autumn (I can’t buy from Amazon myself), thank you again Maia! And after a brutal work Monday I opened the book, and was hooked right from the start. And as it does end on an evil cliffhanger, I am very happy that I Winter. It will be read tomorrow!


After Lou’s father dies of cancer, her mother can’t afford to keep the house they have been living in. The medical bills have almost bankrupted them. And so they are leaving Fresno, California, for a little town in Texas cold Poisonfoot. Lou is not happy about leaving all her friends and her school and her own car behind to go live with her grandmother. But she understands it is necessary and not something her mother really wants to do.
On the long drive there, something scary happens in the filthy bathroom from a roadside gasstation, she suddenly sees her father behind her in the mirror. Of course he is not there at all, she was in the hospital with him when he died. It leaves her shaken and glad to be driving along with her mother.

Poisonfoot is a really small town, there is not much to do. She hates being the new girl, and she is sure if they discover she is a diabetic, she will be even less popular. So when one of the girls is really friendly to her right away, she is relieved. And her new lab partner is also kind and a really cute guy. So when everyone warns her to stay away from Cooper, she does not really want to, especially if no one wants to tell her why he is bad news.

Cooper is not a popular guy in town. He is ignored most of the time, except when he is playing football. The team really needs him. So when the new girl actually talks to him, that is such a nice change for him, he can’t bring himself to warn her off, even if it will hurt her popularity if she is seen talking to him. His family is under a curse. If a boy turns 18, he will also turn into a coyote. Not as a shifter, but for good. His mother did not believe his grandmother’s story, she thought it all an urban legend, until his older brother changed into one. And now his own clock is ticking.

When he finally tells Lou, she is not surprised at all. She has been dreaming about this, and it has happened about 200 years ago. So perhaps they are destined to break the curse?

Cooper is not the only boy who is interested in Lou though. The towns golden boy, Archer, is also interested, but Lou doesn’t really trust him, something is off about him. Is he only pretending to be interested in her because of Cooper? Or is there more to it?


I really enjoyed this Young Adult story, and you all know it is not my favourite genre at all. But if one of the authors I already love branches out into YA, I follow without hesitation.
I really liked Lou/Eloise. She is not overtly grieving about her father, or lamenting her faith that she is stuck in this small town. She is adjusting to her new life, and seeing the good things in it. She likes her new big attic room in her grandmothers giant house. She has been a diabetic since she was 10 years old, so that is perhaps why she seems more mature than other YA heroines I have read about.
I was also nice to read the story from Cooper’s perspective for a big part of the book. How lonely he has been, when no one wants to be friend with him. He only has his mother and his younger sister now, and when he will be gone, they will have even less. Their bond is not as good as his with them. I admire him for staying on the football team, if no one appreciates him off the field, and they all badmouth him and harass him.

I liked how Lou and Cooper are drawn to each other, even though no one wants them to see each other outside of the classroom. Lou’s grandmother forbids her to see Cooper, and so does his mother forbid him to see Lou. Of course, that is just asking for trouble as no one wants to explain it to either of them and they set out to investigate things on their own.

And Archer and his mother, talk about creepy people.

A compelling story, with great characters and a really strange town as background. Sierra Dean has a writing style that fits me perfectly. I enjoy visiting her worlds, remember, she is the one author who makes me love reading a sports romance! I am glad I have the second book on my computer already.

I do recommend it to everyone who enjoys Paranormal YA.

9 stars.





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© 2014 Reviews by Aurian