Who's Afraid Too? Maria Lewis

Published:Hachette NZ
Date: January 17th 2017
Format: Paperback
Pages:342
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Thank you to Hachette NZ
Rating:
             

Tommi Grayson: all bark, all bite . . . and now she's BACK!

After the worst family reunion in history, Tommi needed some space. She's spent the last few weeks trying to understand her heritage - the one that comes with a side order of fur - as well as learning about her Maori ancestry and how she can connect to it. But she can only escape for so long.

When an unspeakable evil returns, Tommi will need every piece of knowledge and all the skills she has. With the help of allies old and new, frenemies both helpful and super-annoying, she's going to take the fight to the enemy ...

Well after the shocking end to Who's Afraid - #1 the Tommi Grayson series I was not so sure about returning. But here I am, and I have to admit, sucked in and ready to remain on the Tommi Grayson team and journey. I want the next book now!

Who is Tommi Grayson? Well she is a young 23 year old part Scot, part Maori, who also just happens to belong to a powerful werewolf heritage. She found that out in the first book, and now she is finding out even more about herself and so are her friends and those she has joined with.  I love that cover quote "ALL BARK....ALL BITE!  Yes indeedy.  

In this story we find her in Germany, joining up with a group of rogue werewolves. Lorcan her Custodian or kind of guide is with her. So is Joss a human friend who is in Germany for cancer treatment. In this world there are humans, werewolves and many supernaturals. The Treize are the governing body - and they have the Praetorium Guard who are soldiers and powerful ones at that. Lorcan was one of these before he resigned and took on the work of a Custodian.  We meet a few new PG's as the action heats up.

Tommi is still getting to know herself and her new powers, but they look very promising indeed with I am sure more to come. She's just a babe in this world. The rogue wolves take her on for more training and she becomes a very skilled warrior in many ways. And she will need all the skills and control she can muster because real evil is abroad and it is not playing nice. Ah yes, very revolting is all I'll say. But... Tommi might be a werewolf, but she has a compassionate heart and she sure is not siding with the evil. So watch out. 

This book really helped me grasp better the world Tommi now moves in. There have been new additions, some interesting and some downright evil. There is still the attraction between Tommi and Lorcan that seems to be a no no for reasons apparent mostly to Lorcan.... but I will be watching that space with interest.

If you enjoy a book with world building, interesting characters and lots of action with good versus evil then go for this series. You will need to be able to tolerate werewolves and so on, but really if I got used to them you might too. Well you could be a fan of them already! 

I enjoyed some of the comments at the opening of the book from others about the first book. This is what Darynda Jones says of the first book:

"Gripping, fast-paced and completely unexpected, Who's Afraid has more twists than a tornado. I loved this story! Maria Lewis is definitely one to watch."

However this is the one I loved the most! Its Maria Lewis' mum.

"Definitely worth reading over and over again, as well as buying multiple copies. Great stocking stuffers, those werewolf books."

Hachette NZ have a very interesting interview with Maria Lewis so if you would like to know more go on over to this Maria Lewis interview and learn more.

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Who's Afraid. Maria Lewis

Who's Afraid
Maria Lewis
Published: Piatkus/Hachette
Date: January 2016
Format: Paperback
Pages: 340
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Thank you to Hachette NZ

This is the story of Tommi, a young Scottish woman living an ordinary life, who stumbles violently into her birthright as the world's most powerful werewolf. The sudden appearance of a dark, mysterious (and very attractive) guardian further confuses her as her powers begin to develop and she begins to understand that her life can never be the same again. The reader will be swept up in Tommi's journey as she's thrown into the middle of a centuries-old battle and a world peopled with expert warriors and vicious enemies - this is the start of a series - and a world - you will fall in love with.

A new urban fantasy series begins with Who's Afraid, and it's not quite like any other urban fantasy  I have read to date. Tommi is a smart, sassy young woman in her early twenties who is on her way to being a very powerful werewolf. Not that she knows that as she leaves her home of Scotland for a visit to New Zealand, where she hopes to meet the father  she has never known. However once she arrives there and visits a small settlement outside Rotorua she finds far more than she bargains for. That's where she comes face to face with her heritage, and its tough.

Returning to Scotland under the care of Lorcan, a somewhat mysterious carer and saviour, she returns to her apartment. It turns out Lorcan has been sent by the powers that be to counsel and guide her through the transition of becoming what might be a very powerful female werewolf. As she trains, an attraction builds between herself and Lorcan, but can it go anywhere and who is Lorcan? What else must Tommi face? 

The world building takes place gradually, the reader learns along with Tommi what it is all about. It is all nested in the ordinary every day life of Tommi and her friends. As Tommi narrates the story I not only came to invest in her but her friends as well. Will they ever know what she really is? Can she continue to exist in the world she has known up until this?

There is definite danger, someone is out to attack Tommi if they can and you know for sure they will. Yet this book is more about Tommi finding herself, who she is, what she can do. How her life is changing. She often astounds Lorcan with her abilities, what might have been expected to take months, Tommi achieves quickly. As the story moves along I just can't help but really like Tommi with her blue hair and quick thinking tongue. 

There was just one part of the story I hated! It's dark! But then again I don't think Tommi liked it either.

I really liked Lorcan too, he is an ex Praetorium Guard (a warrior) and now he is a custodian. He has been sent by the Treize - the rulers to be a guide to Tommi in her new life. He is so human but so other as well. And there is beautiful attraction between himself and Tommi.

Enough let the author herself explain a little about this book. She's every bit as wonderful as her Tommi!  Who's Afraid has been released in Australia and New Zealand and will be out worldwide in July.

About the Author:

New Zealand born Maria Lewis got her start covering police rounds in a newsroom as a teenager and has been working as a professional journalist for the past 10 years. Her work has appeared in the New York Post, Empire Magazine, Huffington Post, The Sydney Mail, Junkee and Buzzfeed to name but a few. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

Her website

I loved this interview with Maria Lewis. Even if you don't read the book listen to this articulate, vibrant young woman.