May Day by Josie Jaffrey
Hello Book Nerds.
Today is a bit of a special post because it is about the winner of the BBNYA 2021 competition This book was voted first place by the judges of the competition to take the crown and the glory of that illustrious first place. As you can guess the book is May Day by Josie Jaffrey. As usual the tour is organised by the fabulastic (I made that word and I am keeping it - so there!) The Write Reads in conjunction with BBNYA. if you want to know more about the BBNYA, there is a description of the competition ant the bottom of the page.
So, Let's get to it then.
If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective. Just maybe not this one.
It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.
When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.
To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.
May Day is the first book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England.
Book Info for May Day
Publisher: Silver Sun Books
Length: 392 Pages
Date Published: July 9, 2020
Amazon:
Author Website: https://www.josiejaffrey.com/
So dear reader, I am going to employ the device of honesty when I am talking about this book, and I beg that you stay with me until we get to the end. There may be a twist, something that you don’t expect, but there will be an end. There may be a few revelations along the way, but I beg you please stay with me.
Right, let’s sit in the pulpit and confess everything conspiratorially. You see, when I came to May Day on my TBR. I wasn’t sure that I was going to fancy it to be honest. You see, reading the blurb it started my internal reader alarm bells ringing. There was quite a few ticks registering on my internal checklist that generally sends me scooting off in the opposite direction. You see, when I read the blurb, the first thing that I noticed was THE ROMANCE! When I see this, my inner ten year old pops his head up and says with a euchh face ‘Is there kissing in it?’ ‘Well, what do you think?’ I said to him.
He just went off and sulked muttering something about swords and dragons.
Then to my horror of horrors, there was a love triangle!
Right, no way! This is a step too far! I don’t do love triangles. I mean love triangles mean that we are building a romance bleeding sandwich doesn’t it?
And I can’t say that I am really bothered about Vampires, unless they are done well and they surprise me. You see after *mumble mumble* amount of years watching every vampire film and reading goodness knows how many books, I didn’t think that there was anything that would surprise me. And, when it comes to crime fiction and urban fantasy, I am a little so – so. In fact, my Mrs bans me from watching any sort of crime fiction due to the fact that I sit there annoyingly convicting everyone (even the budgerigar) of the murder, shouting out at regular intervals that he did it, she did it and that it might have been the horse, aggrieved for not get a scrumptious apple that morning who had then gone into the kitchen drawer and stolen its owners favourite vegetable knife and savagely offed its owner.
So you see, it was not on my top fancy list.
So there we have it! By the end of this, you will be thinking ‘why the heck did you read this book then?’
Weeeelllll. I was having a bit of trouble with my last book so I thought I would be brave and have a look inside.
Aaaand as soon as I read the line ‘Let me tell you the problem with university students: they’re stupid as f*@k’ my inner snark meter was hitting eleventy stupid and I was hooked!
I literally inhaled this book and finished it in two days, not being able to put it down until I got right to the very end.
I was intrigued by the murder mystery. I loved Jack Valentine and the rest of the characters.
I oohed and aahed at the developing romance between Jack and Tabitha (even though jack did have some pretty naughty thoughts towards Tabitha). I smacked my hand on my forehead when there was all those shenanigans with Killian Drake, the Baron of Oxford. I really liked the stuff that Josie Jaffrey brought with the vampires, the lore and the vampire police force.
One of the things that kept me interested was Josie Jaffrey’s writing, with its snappy dialogue, and the fast pace that she maintained all the way through the book.
In fact, this book was the perfect breath of fresh air that I didn’t know that I needed.
(Told you there would be a twist at the end, didn’t I?)
And yes, I did blame the horse (and don’t tell me there isn’t one in there coz I know there was one in there! It was hiding in the pantry waiting for its chance to strike with its trusty vegetable knife!)
About the Author
She is currently working on a range of fantasy and historical fiction projects (both adult and YA). Ultimately, she hopes to be a hybrid author, both traditionally- and self-published.
After finishing her degree in Literae Humaniores (Classics) at the University of Oxford, Josie wasn't sure what to do with her life.
She slogged through a brief stint working for an investment bank in London during the 2008 credit crunch, then converted to law and qualified as a solicitor specialising in intellectual property. She worked at a law firm for five years before moving to a UK-based international publisher in 2016. Whilst she loved law, in the end she didn't love it quite as much as writing, which she now does almost full time.
Josie lives in Oxford with her husband and two cats (Sparky and Gussie), who graciously permit human cohabitation in return for regular feeding and cuddles. The resulting cat fluff makes it difficult for Josie to wear black, which is largely why she gave up being a goth. Although the cats are definitely worth it, she still misses her old wardrobe.
BBNYA (Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award) is a yearly competition where Book Bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors. If you are an author and wish to learn more about the BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website http://www.bbnya.com or Twitter @bbnya_official.
It is run by The Folio Sociaty (yes them of the very pretty books!) & The Write Reads
The
sign-ups will soon be open for the 2022 BBNYA competition, be it for
authors to enter their books, or for bloggers wanting to be part of the
new panel, so keep your eyes peeled!!
Comments
Post a Comment