QUEEN WITCH IS HERE! Go buy a copy right now!!!!!!!

Queen Witch: Available on Amazon as an e-book, with a print edition available soon. (I'm going to get a couple of extra print copies when it comes out, so let me know if you want to borrow one!)

Finally, finally, finally!!! I have been waiting for this book to come out for six months. It doesn't even matter that I got to beta read the novel twice, I was still crazy impatient for it to finally be published.

Full disclosure: I'm friends with the author, J.R. Pearse Nelson. She's a self-publishing Indy writer. In addition to Queen Witch, she has also published a pair of novellas (Tribute and Vessel). They are paranormal romance... not really my preferred genre. I don't mind the paranormal but I could do without the "romance." Yeah, call me prudish, I won't be offended.

Queen Witch, however, is just a straight-up paranormal novel about a young witch wrestling with her destiny, her family, and her moral compass. It's written to the young adult crowd so it's (thankfully) pretty PG. But don't let the intended audience dissuade you -- I'm an older Gen Y and I still loved it.

I've read a lot of self-published stuff, and I think that Queen Witch is far and above its peers. So many of the other books I read are poorly edited, the characters fall flat, the scenes feel contrived and forced. Not Queen Witch. It's a real winner. As I said to J.R. when I finished my second beta read, it's a Grand Slam. (That's a baseball reference. Don't worry if you don't get it. :o)

The book is excellently edited. The characters are well-rounded and realistic -- and that's one of my most important criteria in a book. I like to connect with my characters. Sage, the protagonist, is real and genuine and deep. You can't help but like her and root for her, and worry about her when things get dangerous.

There are a couple of good twists in the novel, giving it a bit of thrill and just a hint of darkness.

The storyline generally progresses at an excellent pace, it's always moving forward but you don't feel rushed. I appreciate that all of the scenes have a good flow and add to the overall storyline. It's just plain good, creative writing from J.R. Pearse Nelson.

I will say that this novel started out a little bit slow for me. The story starts when Sage is 14 and those first couple of chapters, at that age, aren't as interesting. But definitely by the middle of the book I was hopelessly hooked, and as the end drew near I couldn't put it down. So if you likewise find that it starts slow, just give it a little more time, it's worth it!