Yasmine Galenorn - Autumn Thorns

The first book in the Whisper Hollow series, published October 27, 2015.
Genre: urban fantasy
Cover: I don't really like it, especially her pose. You just don't sit on a gravestone.



In an all-new series, "New York Times" bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn invites readers to Whisper Hollow, where spirits walk among the living and the lake never gives up her dead

Fifteen years ago, I ran away from Whisper Hollow, Washington, a small town on Crescent Lake in the Olympic Peninsula. But truth is, if you were born here, you can never really leave. I'm Kerris Fellwater, and when I returned, I inherited my grandmother s house and her gift. As a spirit shaman, it's my responsibility to drive the dead back to their graves, because around Whisper Hollow, people and secrets don't always stay buried. When I was little, I was told my mother ran off. But now it looks like she was murdered. With the help of my mysterious neighbor Bryan, we begin to unravel the mystery of her disappearance, and in doing so, unearth a dark force seeking to bury Whisper Hollow. Now I must work with the dead, rather than against them, because our enemy will do whatever she can to destroy the town, and she means to start with me."


A new series by one of my favourite authors, of course I had to read it right away! Yasmine has created a whole new world, with 6 different types of ghosts and undead, and Kerris is one of the people protecting the living from their influence and evil. She is a spirit shaman, and together with her lament singer, and her protector (who is a shifter and her mate) she sets out to drive them back behind the Veil. Kerris and all those of her lineage and of some other families, were created for this purpose by the Morrigan, the power always follows the maternal line.
As Kerris left home at a young age, because she could not live with her grandfather another day, she did not learn nearly enough of her craft as she will need to know. And now both her grandfather and her grandmother have died, because the Lady of the Lake took them, she has come home to do her duty. In her grandmother's journals she hopes to learn enough to thwart the evil intend on destroying the town. And she also wants to find out the truth of her mother's disappearance when she was 3 years old.
But there are many long buried secrets and not everyone wants those secrets exposed … There are people working for the Morrigan's old enemy, and they want to stop her, for good …


I did love this story. So much originality, a lot of suspense, and action. Old friendships and new friends, and some of Yasmine's trademark hot and explicit love scenes. I can't wait for the next book and find out what will happen to Kerris and her friends and allies. She is a heroine I liked from the first page, and her hero sure is a strong character as well, and they just fit together. But I like her best friend as well, the only person she staid in touch with all those years.

9 stars.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian