Review & Author Interview ~ The Violet Hour

Rating: 5/5 stars
Author: Andrea Wells
Formats Available: eBook, Paperback, Hardcover
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Publication Date: 05-11-2015          Pages: 324
Purchase - Amazon                            Add to Goodreads 

Still shocked over her mother’s mysterious death, California socialite Logan Keller is handed a one-way ticket to her long lost roots in Wyoming where love, deceit and danger await. Though she could forget everything staring into Luke Callahan’s eyes, Logan is quickly thrust into a fight for survival. Taking fate into her own hands, she begins unraveling the dangerous deceptions that abound at every turn. Her father is keeping secrets and Luke is keeping more. But Logan is keeping the biggest secret of them all.

The Violet Hour is a page-turning captivating twist of young romance and the paranormal

My So-Called Review:  

Logan Keller is a California socialite who has suffered a horrific tragedy by the death of her mother. The story opens with Logan just having arrived in Wyoming to live with her dad who she hasn’t seen in 7 years and her step-mother whom she didn’t even know existed. She’s left behind her boyfriend and her childhood best friend and really feels like she’s lost her place in life, her direction and everything she’s ever known. I instantly connected with Logan in these opening chapters, the heartache and despair that this young girl feels over the loss of her mother was just heart wrenching to read! Logan soon discovers that her dad and step-mom have also taken in 3 teenage boys whose own parents died the year before. Logan instantly feels a connection towards the middle brother Lucas and it’s completely believable here, he’s a sensitive, caring boy who I suspect still hadn’t fully recovered from his own parents deaths. He knows exactly what Logan is going through and because of this he manages to be the one person she feels safe with and can open up too. I just loved their connection right from the start! Lucas isn’t without faults though; Logan becomes increasingly confused by his ever changing moods. Logan is convinced that Lucas, and possibly her dad, are hiding something from her and she’s determined to find out what it is!

I absolutely loved The Violet Hour; from the opening sentence to its poetic closure it was perfect in every sense of the word! One of the things I loved most was Logan herself. She is strong, independent and doesn’t take crap from anyone! Even as her feelings for Lucas deepen she continues to push the boundaries of their relationship by demanding honesty and truth, not willing to settle for anything less. I love having this type of heroine in a YA novel; I think most of us are a little burnt out on the helpless damsel in distress types, these are the types of girls I want my teenage daughter reading about :)
 

Andrea wrote quiet the twisty little tale here so careful, not everything is as it seems! You’ll think you’ve got all the secrets figured out, that you know exactly what’s going on and how it’s all going to end. Well you don’t, and you really won’t and it’s this aspect that makes the story so damn brilliant and satisfying once all the pieces come together!! It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel and I’m so pleased to know that it’s the first in a series of 3 books. Now, I’m a stickler for NO spoilers in my reviews but I feel compelled to at least say….. WooHoo NO CLIFFHANGER ENDING!!!! There are still a few things that we, as well as Logan need answers to by the end of this novel and it’s these unanswered questions that will make you long for book 2 to hurry up and get here! But there is still a full, complete and wonderfully satisfying ending here in which I loved! 

The Violet Hour is a suspenseful, exciting, and fast paced thrill ride that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves YA, Paranormal, or Fantasy. It’s suitable for ages 13 & up with Logan being a fantastic role model for girls and teens! This is a book series that I predict mothers and daughters will be fighting not just to read but also over whose come up with the better dream cast ;) I would love to see this on the big screen someday! 

“It’s the violet hour; when the day stands at the threshold of night taking a deep breath before crossing over into the darkness…..Casting shades of reds and oranges, yellows and pinks, and that elusive violet purple that assures us tomorrow is going to be even better than today. The silence of the hour leaves us in hushed wonderment as the shadows of life blur into our surroundings until the cloak of darkness wins its battle with the sun. The violet hour doesn’t mean the end of daylight; it means the beginning of night and the promise of tomorrow.”

I stumbled across The Violet Hour on Facebook due to the awesome giveaway that was associated with its release. Immediately what caught my eye was the amazing cover, it’s breathtaking and I couldn’t stop staring at it! I quickly clicked on the Andrea's FB page, left her a comment congratulating her on her book release & told her how stunning I thought the book cover was. I then hopped on over to Amazon to investigate what this book was all about, once I read the synopsis I knew it was something I had to read! I love YA Fantasy books & am not ashamed to admit I’m a huge Twilight fan so this book immediately appealed to me. I was dismayed though to see both the paperback and hardcover issues were sold out. I knew I could read the digital copy but when a cover looks this good I like to buy a print copy so that I can display it :) I went back by Andrea’s FB page & left her another comment telling her how eager I was to read her book but it was sold out. I was hoping she'd give me some inside scoop on when it might be back in stock. The next morning I received a message from Andrea saying that she appreciated my comments and since I was so interested in reading The Violet Hour she would gladly gift me a digital copy to read right away, this way I could still wait for a print copy to come in. To say I was shocked is an understatement! Here was an author who was in full swing blog tour mode & honestly didn’t need any added publicity I could offer from a review of her book yet she wanted to gift me a digital copy because she felt bad her book wasn’t in stock when I wanted to read it! This kicked off the beginning of what’s turning out to be a wonderful new friendship!  I can’t stress to you guys enough how awesome Andrea is, we’ve chatted often since my first FB post to her and she doesn’t seem to mind my fan-girl stalker tendencies ;) She even agreed to answer some questions I had that I wanted to include in this review. Mark my words, this is one author to look out for!! So, thank you Andrea; I am so glad I came across your FB giveaway post that day & I've loved every moment of every chat we’ve had thus far!!

My So-Called Interview:

I've read that The Violet Hour series has been in your subconscious for 5 years just begging to come out but what inspired you to finally turn it into a novel now, at this point in your life?

At some point, I realized my imagination was outpacing my memory. In the beginning, an inspiring song or quote would add another dimension to Logan’s story or character. But as The Violet Hour grew, I found myself creating scenes or new characters in my mind that were demanding to be penned. So I finally bought myself a notebook and started jotting down notes. In a matter of days, The Violet Hour was all I could think about. On November 9^th 2009 I sat down and let the storyline take root. Still, to this very day, the series is constantly unfolding in my mind. 

I love the idea that you started with just a notebook, jotting down notes! I think a lot of us reviewers can relate to that process :) Logan Keller is a very strong, independent female protagonist (love her!). What made you decide to write her this way vs. the more typical "damsel in distress" type of character found so often in YA Fiction?

I think as a reader, no different than every other reader, I’m constantly being crushed and embraced by every newly read book. But as a writer, my creativity wildly fills in the holes other writers have left. I can see the good in every book I read but can also recognize a missed opportunity or maybe how I would’ve done something a little (or a lot) differently. There are themes, ideas and concepts in The Violet Hour that have been done before – it resonates like a familiar place. But, after reading over and over and over again about damsels in distress/weak-willed leading ladies, my heart finally whispered, “What if?” and my imagination took off. Logan is a character I have never read before and The Violet Hour is just the beginning of her story.

I love that you refer to Logan as coming from your heart! Is there any part of Logan's character that is based on yourself or someone else in your life, past or present?

No, not at all. Logan is someone I’ve never met (but would totally love too!) and while she may have a few character tics that my closest friends might recognize, she is a unique being. She is more similar to a Cleopatra or Joan of Arc – powerful, unapologetic and vulnerable – but simply, she is a level above everyone else. She is that type of woman that becomes a legend.

I would so love to meet her too! And a woman that becomes a legend, you can feel that brewing just under the surface by the end of this first novel ;) So, The Violet Hour starts after Logan has experienced a very tragic event in her life. What made you decide to start the story this way?

My intention was never to write a paranormal novel – I never outlined this story. Instead, I started writing and it poured out into its current shape. I knew I wanted to start in the midst of things and in the grip of emotion because I knew that was how Logan would be her most relatable. She isn’t a normal teenager in so many ways and I wanted to start her journey from one of the most common, and horrible, human experiences she was going to face. At some point, we have all struggled to hold onto the frail pieces when our world has been turned upside down by grief. 

So true! And I think this is what makes Logan such a relatable character, especially to teens. They may not have suffered the same type of loss but every teen can relate to the emotional turmoil Logan goes through throughout her journey. I love secondary characters & believe they're extremely important to the success of a story, no matter how small their part. The Violet Hour has one of the best casts of supporting characters, good and bad, that I've read in a long time. One character though just really stood out for me and I wanted more, Diego!! I just loved him, he had me in hysterics & I've got to know; will we be seeing more of him in books 2 or 3??

HAHA! Diego came out of nowhere for me but I too fell madly in love with him. Every time we worked through edits in his scenes I couldn’t help but laugh at him. Of all my characters – even Luke and Logan, he was the only one who needed no development because he just landed on the page perfectly. I can tell you without a doubt, you haven’t seen the last of Diego. He adores Logan (and her hair) far too much to stay away for long.

Yay!! I am so happy to know Diego will be making a return appearance! If you could pick just one song to represent The Violet Hour what would it be?

Only one?! Geeze! Hahaha! I worked with a playlist of about 20 songs while writing The Violet Hour and the majority of those songs are posted in a playlist on my website. I think Book #1 goes on such an emotional journey that it demanded a wide range of songs both lyrical and instrumental. Music helped me dive deeper into emotionally charged scenes and was also the glue to keep me in that scene.

For instance: To dig deep into the loss of her mother, I listened to I’m In Here (Piano/Vocal Version) by Sia.

Can’t you hear my call?

Are you coming to get me now?

I’ve been waiting for you to come rescue me

I need you to hold

All of the sadness I can not, living inside of me.

As you can see, this is a pretty sad song. It wouldn’t work for the entire book because the entire book is not sad. So I can’t commit to just one, but I can confirm – without a doubt – that music played/is still playing a huge role in my writing for this series.

Such beautiful lyrics, I can see why you listened to it while digging deep into those emotions! If The Violet Hour was turned into a TV series or Movie (keeping fingers crossed) who would be your dream cast?

Oh my... you did not just ask me this!! HA! First of all, I’m humbled by the mere thought. That being said, to answer your question, I’m sure the cast would be made up of completely unknown actors.

Oh no, your not getting off that easy!! I was looking forward to comparing your dream cast with mine so we WILL be returning to this question after book 2 LOL On a final note, what is the one thing you'd like to tell your readers about The Violet Hour or its characters that we don't already know?

Everything I write is me turned inside out, nothing more and honestly nothing special; but passionate readers – readers who like to lose themselves in the maze of words and feel that twinge of suffering when they know they are reaching the close of a book they wish would continue forever - those are the people I want to share The Violet Hour with.  

 

Such beautiful and heartfelt words! Thank you so much Andrea for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog and allowing me and my fellow readers to get to know you a little more. You have an amazing passion and vision for this story and it's characters and I can't wait to see where Logan and Lucas take us next :)

The Violet Hour Series has been begging to escape Andrea’s subconscious for more than five years. Focusing on a wonderful career, handsome husband and two beautiful children by day, she began feverishly penning the series by night. Now a full-time writer, Andrea debuts The Violet Hour.

You can visit her at her website at www.andrealwells.com or at the following social media sites: 

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