Led Astray by Kelley Armstrong

RELEASE DATE 15th September 2015


Two brand new tales anchor this wide-ranging collection from one of urban fantasy's most successful authors. Here is the first time that best-selling fantasy, YA, and crime author Kelley Armstrong has had her stories collected from Otherworld and beyond. With her signature twists and turns, Armstrong gives a fresh spin on city-dwelling vampires, werewolves, and zombies, while also traveling further afield, to a post-apocalyptic fortress, a superstitious village, a supernatural brothel, and even to feudal Japan.

With tales that range from humorous to heart-stopping, these are the stories that showcase Kelley Armstrong at her versatile best.



Rakshashi - a standalone story
Rakshasi are almost genie-like creatures that are tied to serving a family until they've atoned for their bad deeds during life. Of course, they don't exactly like this arrangement.

Kat - a Darkest Powers story
Kat and Marguerite are on the run from the Edison group but Marguerite is keeping something from Kat.

A Haunted House Of Her Own - a standalone story
A young couple buy a dream B&B - it's supposed to be haunted but that's what they want. The woman discovers maybe she's bitten off more than she can chew.

Learning Curve - an Otherworld story
An Otherworld based short featuring Zoe Takano who we met in Broken. Zoe discovers she's being stalked by someone.

The Screams Of Dragons - a Cainsville story
A Cainsville short where a young boy starts hearing the screams of dragons and haveing weird dreams. Then the Cainsville residents start treating him strange.

The Kitsune's Nine Tales - an Age of Legends story
A guard leads the Kitsune traitor to the Forest of the Dead. He's been warned about all his tricks along the way.

Last Stand - a standalone story
A virus outbreak means the recently dead are back, the dead and alive are at war. Our main character is a leader and fears for her group as the numbers are dwindling.

Bamboozled - an Otherworld story
A small group of people hunt down wanted criminals but everyone's in for a surprise with their latest hunt.

Branded - an Otherworld story
People live inside the Fortress for safety - outside are where the branded supernaturals live. A young mand and woman hatch a plan for leaving.

The List - an Otherworld story
Someone has made a list of vampires living in Toronto so Zoe goes to check the author out.

Young Bloods - an Otherworld story
A man realises there are two vampires on the train trying to intimdate people into confrontation but they don't realise who he is.

The Door - a standalone story original to this book
A young girl grows up learning to stay away from the door, only her dad is allowed to leave and comes back with food and toys. She always obeyed until the time came where she had to leave.

Dead Flowers By A Roadside - a standalone story
A man is haunted by visions of his wife and child. He keeps himself busy by fixing up the family car.

Suffer The Children - a standalone story
A village have recently lost all their young and elderly to disease so when two guys visit and claim to be able to bring them back, they agree.

The Collector - a standalone story
A puzzle solver takes part in an online puzzle that eventually leads her to an office for the last part - a puzzle box.

Gabriel's Gargoyles - a Cainsville story
A young Gabriel searches for all of Cainsville's garygoyles while also dealing with his mother.

Harbinger - a standalone story
A young woman is haunted by the spectres of drowned girls. She tries to talk to them, she tries to ignore them but they won't go away.

V Plates - an Otherworld story
Reese want to help Noah lose his virginity and asks Nick to help so they go to a brothel but it's not just an ordinary brothel.

Life Sentence - an Otherworld story
Daniel Boyd is dying so he uses his money and remaining time trying to find a way to stop it.

Plan B - standalone story
A man and his mistress hatch a plan to get his wife out of the picture but nothing goes as planned - always have a plan B.

The Hunt - a Cainsville story
A hunter decides to step up the hunting game and move up a level.

Dead To Me - a standalone story
A woman tries to stop her husband's ghost from haunting her home.

Devil May Care - a Cainsville story original to this book
Patrick only returns to Cainsville once in a blue moon and he learns of a prophecy when he's there so decides to avoid it all together.


I loved all these stories and a few of them were new to me either because I hadn't read the original anthology they were in or they're original stories just for this one.

I never have a bad thing to say about Kelley's work and I highly recommend this anthology whether you're new to her or a die hard fan like me. Although if you're new to her, some of these stories may be spoiler-ific or not make sense.

There were a lot of books I had on my Amazon wishlist purely because they contain a Kelley story that I've now been able to remove so ... bonus!


Book Depository:
Amazon UK: Led Astray
Amazon UK: Led Astray

The Rising by Kelley Armstrong

Maya Delaney is a skin-walker - a supernatural who can 'Shift' into the shape of a cougar. But her gift comes with a terrible cost. With every transformation, she risks losing touch with her human nature - for ever.

Maya and her friends are on the run from the people who experimented on them and transformed them into supernaturals in the first place. They know they must confront their enemies if they are to have any hope of a future. In order to succeed, Maya will need to use her dangerous, unpredictable powers - but the price of freedom could be too high a price to pay ...

Maya, Daniel and Corey are on the run and trying to stay that way whilst also trying to get their friends back. In order to so that they, at some point, have to confront the cabal that took them in the first place. Maya has to come to terms with her powers and the fact that they might make her revert (become more cat than person) like Annie, Rafe's sister. They all face their own memorial services and see what their "deaths" have done to their families - but Maya has family she was unaware of that she can deal with - a means to an end to help her get her real family back.

So we finally see Maya and her friends meet up with Chloe and her friends in this book, it's not really that big a deal actually. They don't get up to much together, just running and then meeting with Sean Nast. I know a lot of people are constantly whining on Kelley's board about Chloe coming back so this will make them happy. Personally, I don't have a favourite but Maya does call to me a bit more than Chloe, perhaps due to the fact that she stand up for herself more than Chloe ever did.

This is the finale in the Darkness Rising trilogy, also the finale to Kelley's YA series - unless she decides to revisit it at a later date (which I hope she will, I love this world and the secrets and the kids coming to terms with things). This was long awaited, anticipated and also feared - it was one of those books that arrived and I thought "Oooh, I can't wait to read this" but at the same time I also thought "If I read it, it means the series is over" but I can never bring myself to NOT read a book like this (even for a little while to make the fantasy last a little longer) from an author like Kelley. I adore both too much - I love Kelley, I love her books and I love her world and characters and the fact that both adult and YA Otherworld series are over is painful for me to write.

Any longtime readers of my blog will know just HOW much I love Kelley and there will never be a bad word come out of my mouth (or fingers) about her. If you've never read her books - go do it. If you like YA, start with the Darkest Powers series - you don't technically HAVE to but it just helps set the story. If you like adult, try her Women of the Otherworld (or just Otherworld in the later books) series. As sad as I am about these 2 series ending, I'm looking forward to Omens coming out.


Book Depository: The Rising
Amazon UK: The Rising

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

Maya Delaney's paw-print birthmark is the sign of what she truly is - a skin-walker. Experiencing intense connections with the animals that roam the woods outside her home, Maya knows she will soon be able to Shift and become one of them. And she believes there may be others in her small town with surprising talents, including local bad boy Rafe, with whom she shares a powerful secret.

Now Maya and her friends have been forced to flee their homes during a forest fire they suspect was set deliberately. Stranded in the wilderness of Vancouver Island, only their extraordinary abilities can help them get back home. But can Maya really trust her friends? And can she learn how to control her dangerous gift, before it controls her?

I'm not too pleased with the beginning of this book, bad things happened that I didn't want to happen! But a Kelley book wouldn't be a Kelley book without bad stuff happening.

I enjoyed the progression of the series in this book. Maya is a very mature YA lead so she's very easy to read, a lot of YA leads are annoyingly immature and yes, I do know they're YA so they're supposed to be young but I mean annoyingly immature. Maya is a nice change from that, although it may also be that she's forced into taking a leadership role to help her friends.

I also really enjoyed the little drops of the Darkest Powers series in here, mentions of names and events and I really can't wait to see them meet up. I can almost picture how Derek will react to the new bunch of people showing up and I cannot WAIT to read that scene. Any Kelley fans will love this and any non-Kelley fans, I suggest you start with The Summoning which is Book one of the Darkest Powers series.


Book Depository: The Calling
Amazon UK: The Calling

Hunting Kat by Kelley Armstrong

Kat is a sixteen-year-old vampire, and she's not too happy about it. After an experiment-gone-wrong and a bullet to the heart, she now hungers for human blood, and the worst part about that is the guilt. But guilt isn't the only thing stressing her. Kat is being hunted by the Edison Group, a dangerous Cabal that is responsible for her undead state. Kat is running out of places to hide, and she has no one to turn to — until she meets Chad and Neil. They're on the run like she is, and they offer to help Kat against their common enemy. But the boys aren't all that they seem, and for Kat, deciding whether to trust them may be a matter of life or death.

As I have stated in previous reviews, I have difficulty writing a review on a Kelley book without sounding gushy. I adore Kelley's writing style and her ability to write fantastic characters. Kat is no different, she died earlier than she thought she would but, with the help of her vampire guardian, she's dealing with it.

Even in a really short story, Kelley manages to draw you in and keep you interested. The good thing with Hunting Kat is, it gives you a little taste of the Darkness Rising world while waiting for The Calling to come out (SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!).

If you're a Kelley fan, this is a must read. It's short (which is both good and bad) and so typically Kelley that you can't not love it.


Amazon UK: Hunting Kat

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Maya Delaney has always felt a close bond with nature. The woods around her home are a much-loved sanctuary - and the pawprint birthmark on her hip feels like a sign that she belongs.

But then strange things begin to happen in the tiny medical-research town of Salmon Creek. A young girl drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. Mountain lions appear around Maya's home, and won't go away. Her best friend Daniel starts experiencing bad vibes about certain people and things. One of those people is Rafe - the new bad boy in town. What is he hiding - and why is he suddenly so interested in Maya ...?

Another YA trilogy from the awesome Ms. Armstrong. A seperate trilogy from the Darkest Powers (The Summoning, The Awakening and The Reckoning) series, with different characters but still related because of the Edison Group.

As with all of Kelley's books before this, I read this in one sitting. Thank god I'd come off an early shift and was working later the next day! If I'd been early shift the next day as well, I would've been screwed, lol.

I love the new setting and I really like the new characters as well. I think a lot of the Darkest Powers fans were worried about the lack of Chloe, Derek and Simon but I think Maya, Rafe and Daniel are a nice team. I think the first characters you meet in a series always make an impression but I really enjoyed the friendship between Daniel and Maya. Plus I like Maya as a YA lead, she's a good role model.

If you like your supernatural YA and don't mind waiting to finish the story, this is a definite must read.


Book Depository: The Gathering
Amazon UK: The Gathering

My 10 Favourite Series

I wrote Top 10 up there in the post title but then thought to myself "I can't actually put them in order of most to least favourite", so I deleted the top and it is now just my 10 favourite in alphabetical order.
The lists are in reading order, I have included links to author sites and, if available, direct links from there to the individual books. Also a link to my review if I've done one.

ALPHA & OMEGA by Patricia Briggs
The first story, Alpha & Omega , is actually a short story in the anthology On The Prowl. My review of On The Prowl.
Cry Wolf. My review of Cry Wolf.
Hunting Ground. My review of Hunting Ground.
Alpha & Omega #3 is due to be published in Autumn 2011

BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD by J.R. Ward
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
Insider's Guide
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine

DARKEST POWERS by Kelley Armstrong
Darkest Powers website
The Summoning. My review of The Summoning.
The Awakening. My review of The Awakening.
The Reckoning. My review of The Reckoning.
And the following book is technically a new series called Darkness Rising but it's the same world as Darkest Powers and is based on the same storyline.
The Gathering is due to be released April 2011

JANE TRUE by Nicole Peeler
Tempest Rising. My review of Tempest Rising.
Tracking the Tempest. My review of Tracking the Tempest.
Tempest's Legacy. My review of Tempest's Legacy.

KITTY NORVILLE by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Kitty Goes to Washington
Kitty Takes a Holiday
Kitty and the Silver Bullet
Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Kitty Raises Hell
Kitty's House of Horrors
Kitty Goes to War

MERCY THOMPSON by Patricia Briggs
Moon Called
Blood Bound
Iron Kissed
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked is due to be released March 2011

MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES by Rachel Caine
Glass Houses
The Dead Girls' Dance
Midnight Alley
Feast of Fools
Lord of Misrule
Carpe Corpus
Fade Out
Kiss of Death
Ghost Town. My review of Ghost Town.
Bite Club is due to be released April 2011

OTHERWORLD by Kelley Armstrong
Bitten
Stolen
Dime Store Magic
Industrial Magic
Haunted
Broken
No Humans Involved
Personal Demon
Living with the Dead
Frostbitten
Waking the Witch. My review of Waking the Witch.
Spell Bound is due to be released July/August 2011
Men of the Otherworld is an anthology of shorts all written from the male's perspective.
Tales of the Otherworld is another anthology of shorts. If I remember correctly, Tales and Men were both written to raise money for charity.
Angelic is a novella written for Subterranean Press and was a very limited run. It is no longer available to buy (except from unscrupulous folks on ebay) but is available in audio book format.
Counterfeit Magic is also a novella from Subterranean Press. Just been released so I'm not sure about available copies. However, knowing the want of Kelley fans out there, it is probably no longer available in print.

SHIFTERS by Rachel Vincent
Stray
Rogue
Pride
Prey
Shift
Alpha. My review of Alpha.
Unfortunately, this great series is now finished.

SOOKIE STACKHOUSE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE by Charlaine Harris
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
Dead in the Family

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong

Chloe Saunders is fifteen and would love to be normal. Unfortunately, Chloe happens to be a genetically engineered necromancer who can raise the dead without even trying. She and her equally gifted (or should that be 'cursed'?) friends are now running for their lives from the evil corporation that created them.

As if that's not enough, Chloe is struggling with her feelings for Simon, a sweet-tempered sorcerer, and his brother Derek, a not so sweet-tempered werewolf. And she has a horrible feeling she's leaning towards the werewolf ...

Definitely not normal.

A brilliant last book in the Darkest Powers trilogy. It answers all the questions we had regarding the first two books but left some of the bigger questions open for the Darkness Rising trilogy which starts with The Gathering, released in April 2011.

It's the pacing, again, that make this such a great read. Unputdownable (yes that really is a word!) and not one to read if you're hoping to go out at some point.

Again, this book picks up exactly where the last one finished and we get to see how the group are coping in safety after being rescued by an old friend.
It's great to read about the friendships becoming stronger as they are put through tougher challenges, constantly questioning who they can trust. Especially great (for me at least) is getting more in depth with Chloe, Derek and Simon. I won't ruin it but she ends up with the right guy!

If you've read the first two then you should definitely pick up this one and finish the series the way Kelley intended it to be finished.

Rating
5/5


Book Depository: The Reckoning
Amazon UK: The Reckoning

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

Chloe Saunders used to be a normal teenage girl - or so she thought. Then she learned the shocking truth - she is a walking science experiment. Genetically altered at birth by a sinister team of scientists known as the Edison Group, Chloe is an aberration - a powerful Necromancer who can see ghosts and even raise the dead, often with terrifying consequences. Even worse, her growing powers have made her a threat to the surviving members of the Edison Group, who have decided it's time to end their experiment - permanently ...


Now Chloe is running for her life with three other supernatural teenagers - a charming sorcerer, a troubled werewolf and temperamental young witch. Together they have a chance for freedom - but can Chloe trust her new friends?

This is the second book in Kelley's Darkest Powers trilogy. Kelley has a talent for pacing her books just right. There's a lot of excitement happening but she doesn't overload one chapter with loads of stuff then make the next several chapters boring. She paces it just right to keep the reader hooked and that's exactly what happens to me with every one of her books. Whenever I try to put them down for a break, something exciting happens that makes me keep reading and before you know it, it's stupid o'clock in the morning and the book's now finished.

The Awakening picks up where The Summoning left off. We find out more about the group of people behind this and the teens find out more about their parents. I actually felt more empathy for Tori in this book, and anyone that's read Kelley's adult Women of the Otherworld series may see some similarities to another young witch.

A must read for any Kelley fan and any YA fan.

Rating
5/5


Book Depository: The Awakening
Amazon UK: The Awakening

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

All Chloe Saunders wants is a life like any normal teenager - the chance to get through school, make friends, and maybe meet a boy. But when she starts seeing ghosts, she knows that normal life will never be normal again.

Soon the ghosts are everywhere, demanding her attention. When Chloe finally breaks down, she's admitted to a group home for disturbed kids. At first Lyle House seems okay, but as she gets to know the other patients - charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a 'thing' for fire - Chloe begins to realise that something strange and sinister binds them all together, and it isn't your usual 'problem kid' behaviour.

And they're about to discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home, either ...

So this is actually a re-read and I'm slightly biased since I love Kelley Armstrong's writing. This is the first in her YA trilogy, Darkest Powers. We meet Chloe and the other Lyle House inmates and we learn why they're all there.

The friendships that are made are interesting. Right off, you're routing for the underdog since they're all kind of underdogs and, as is usual for me with Kelley's books, you get sucked in and don't want to put the books down. Luckily, since it's a YA it's a nice quick read and easily done in one sitting.

The story is a nice intro to the trilogy and by the end you're dying to read the next book.

Rating 5/5


Book Depository: The Summoning
Amazon UK: The Summoning