'A Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift' Highland Pleasures #4.5 by Jennifer Ashley

From the BLURB:

The Mackenzies gather for a clan Christmas and New Year's in Scotland. In the chaos of preparations for the celebration--the first of Hart and Eleanor's married life--one of Ian's Ming bowls gets broken, and the family scrambles to save the day. Daniel busily runs a betting ring for everything from the time Eleanor's baby will arrive to whether Mac's former-pugilist valet can win a boxing match to who will be the first of the many guests to be caught under the mistletoe. Ian begins a new obsession, and Beth fears the loss of one of his precious bowls has made him withdraw once more into his private world. 

Everyone is descending on Kilmorgan for Christmas festivities, followed by the all-important Hogmanay (New Year) celebrations to be enjoyed by the Mackenzie clan.

And, indeed, the clan has expanded in the last few years. Present at Kilmorgan this year is troubled but brilliant brother, Ian, his wife Beth and their two young children. Famous painter Mac Mackenzie  is in tow with his wife Isabella and their three children. Then there’s Cam Mackenzie  with his wife Ainsley and their mischievous one-year-old daughter, with Cam’s grown son, Daniel, arriving later in the week. And, finally, recently married Duke of Kilmorgan, Hart Mackenzie , is in a rare state as his wife Eleanor is soon to give birth to their first child and future heir.

Everyone is descending on Kilmorgan, and the estate is overcrowded with love and happiness; something the Mackenzie  men haven’t had enough of in their troubled, turbulent lives.

‘A Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift’ is part of Jennifer Ahsley’s ‘Highland Pleasures’ series, instalment #4.5, before fifth book ‘The Seduction of Elliot McBride’ is released on December 31.

I’ll admit, I needed this spectacularly delicious ‘Highland Pleasures’ instalment to relieve some of the sting after Hart’s disappointing book, ‘The Duke’s Perfect Wife’. His was my most-anticipated Mackenzie  novel, and I wasn’t alone in my bitter disappointment. But Ashley somewhat makes up for that lacklustre offering with this Christmas special, which gives each Mackenzie  brother a starring role and also offers up some delicious possibilities for future instalments. . .

Ian Mackenzie  has everyone walking on eggshells after a disaster with a Ming bowl. Meanwhile, Beth is beside herself and trying to find the perfect opportunity to tell Ian that their family will be expanding once again.

Cam and Ainsley are sent into a whirlwind when their curious daughter, Gavina, goes wandering and sends the family into panic-mode. Meanwhile, Cam is reflecting on the fact that his son, Daniel, is now full-grown and becoming more independent each day.

Mac is hiding a delicious surprise from Isabella, while trying to steer clear of Nanny Westlock and her forbidding rules.

Hart, meanwhile, is beside himself with worry as Eleanor’s due date draws near – he remembers his deceased fist wife, who he lost during childbirth and his first baby with her.

Also joining the Mackenzie ’s for Christmas celebrations is Isabella’s little sister, Louisa, who has a curious announcement to make to her sister. Also tagging along is bastard Mackenzie , Inspector Fellows, whose last encounter with Miss Louisa has his blood heating in remembrance. Ainsley’s brothers are also in tow – widower Sinclair McBride with his two wayward children, Elliott McBride with his wife Juliana, eldest brother Patrick McBride, with his wife and Steven McBride, dressed in his regimentals and an instant hit with the ladies.

Hart has also invited David Fleming – old friend, forever in love with Eleanor Ramsay and soon to be recruited in a special Christmas surprise for Ian.

It’s wonderful that Jennifer Ashley lets fans catch-up with the goings-on of the Mackenzie  clan – particularly the likes of Cam and Ian, whose stories and romances with their wives have so far been the best instalments of the series. Ashley also redeems herself somewhat with Hart and Eleanor’s appearance in this book, both excited and nervous for their child to be born. Here is the sweet romance that seemed to be dulled in their actual instalment.

The others raised glasses once more. 

Ian put his arm around Beth and sank into her warmth, hefting his daughter in one arm, while his son sat happily at his mother’s. This time next year, their little family would be larger, and Ian’s happiness would expand yet again. 

“They change you,” Ian said to Hart. “We’re not the same now.” 

“Bloody good thing,” Cameron rumbled. 

“Aye,” Hart said. He leaned to his wife. “Thank you, El, for saving my life.” 

Eleanor winked at Ian as she moved to kiss Hart’s lips. “You are most welcome, love.” 

With this Christmas special, Ashley is also teasing fans for upcoming instalments in the ‘Highland Pleasures’ series. Daniel remains a favourite, and his rambunctious goings-on in ‘Mackenzie Family Christmas’ will whet fan’s appetites for his book, due October 2013. But Ashley has also planted stories for Fellows and Louisa, and their instalment will be #5.5 ‘The Untamed Mackenzie’, due out August 2013. Ashley has also announced that Ainsley’s brother, Sinclair, will get a book called ‘Rules for a Proper Governess’ – we spend some time with Sinclair in this Christmas story, and he’s beautifully set up as a rather tragic hero with a broken heart.

For what it’s worth, I’m also crossing my fingers that David Fleming gets a book or novella at some point – since his love for Eleanor is still strong and unwavering, I think he needs someone new to occupy his heart.

All in all, ‘Mackenzie Family Christmas’ is a perfect little treat for fans of the ‘Highland Pleasures’ series. We get to revisit old favourites, and have our interest piqued concerning a few future heroes. Lovely, all round.

5/5

Interview with Eileen Wilks, 'World of the Lupi' author

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It would appear that Christmas is still rolling on for me – because today I received an email in my inbox from one of my all-time-favourite urban fantasy authors, Eileen Wilks! 

I have loved her ‘World of the Lupi’ series since I first read Lily and Rule’s short story ‘Only Human’ years and years ago. 

Now the series is nine book deep (with ‘Ritual Magic’ set for release in August 2013) and the World of the Lupi is one that still captivates and fascinates. Lily and Rule are one of the urban fantasy coupes du jour and Eileen Wilks surely has to be on every paranormal lovers ‘must read’ list. 

Getting to ask some questions of one of my favourite authors was certainly a gift to me, and I hope you’re as tickled by this treat as I am - Enjoy!

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Q: Are you a plotter or a ‘pantser’? – That is, do you meticulously plot your novel before writing, or do you ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ and let the story evolve naturally?

I'm mostly panster.  I do some plotting ahead of time, but in a loosey-goosey kind of way.  I send my editor what I call a (cough, cough) synopsis (parenthetical expression included.)  I like to know a couple of the major Turning Points before starting, but often find in the course of writing a story that they change in ways major or minor.  For example, In the current work-in-progress (Ritual Magic), I've kept one of the Turning Points I envisioned, but it's going to work at the Climax instead of the Midpoint Crisis.  The villain has changed since I wrote the (cough, cough) synopsis, and at this moment I'm not at all sure how to resolve that climax, but I'm pretty clear on what the final scene will be.

Q: Where do story ideas generally start for you? Do you first think of the character, theme, ending? Or is it just a free-fall?

Writing a series is different from writing stand-alone books.  There are always trailing ends from the previous book waiting for me to snatch them and launch into the next one.  Sometimes I know as I finish one book where the next one will start and what it will deal with. Often I don't, but I do have those trailing threads to play with, tangle and untangle . . . for me like Lily) it's all about the questions.  What question left hanging from a previous book won't let me go until I begin digging into it?

I can say one thing about my process definitively: I never think in terms of theme.  Not before I start a book.  Not while writing it.  Not after I finish.  For me, themes are like ideas: they emerge from Great Cosmic Swamp, surprising beasts dripping gobs of primordial ooze.

Q: Lily and Rule first appeared in the short story ‘Only Human’ for the 2003 ‘Lover Beware’ anthology. You then made ‘Only Human’ into the longer novel ‘Tempting Danger’. And now we’re at nine books in the ‘World of the Lupi’ series, with a tenth due out next year. Did you ever envision that Lily and Rule would come this far? What was it about the ‘Only Human’ short that you couldn’t let go of, and knew had series potential?

Something about Lily and Rule and the world they lived in had ideas popping and bursting in me.  The possibilities fizzed and churned and would not let me go--making that one a short story was terribly painful, so I was enormously relieved when my editor said I could turn it into a book, the start of a series.  And gave me a contract so I could make it so.  What was it about them and their world that set up such a firestorm in my creativity?  I think because they tapped into all sorts of ideas and thoughts I'd been daydreaming and thinking about for years . . . questions that wouldn't let me go.

Q: Your series has really become one of the hallmarks of the ‘Urban Fantasy’ scene – I wonder if you were always fascinated by werewolves and witchcraft before you started writing ‘World of the Lupi’, and what so intrigued you about werewolves in the first place?

Werewolves intrigued me because they're such an interesting vantage point to look at what makes us human . . . and what makes us monsters. Being human means carrying the potential for monstrous behavior within us--and isn't that how most people think of werewolves?  As a man/beast or man/monster hybrid . . . but animal half is not where monsters are birthed, is it? 

Q: Lily Yu has been such a fascinating protagonist. She has a very sad past, but is such a strong character. She’s certainly no damsel in distress, and she holds her own in this dangerous supernatural world. Why was it important to you to write such a strong female protagonist?

I'm not sure how to write any other kind.   There are all sorts of strength, however. I consider Arjenie one of the strongest characters I've written, yet she is the opposite of Lily in many ways.  The two women have some things in common, though. Both know themselves well enough to understand their limits--then push beyond them when they have to.

Q: Cullen Seaborne has many fans – and his unconventional marriage to Cynna pleased many of them. And their daughter, Ryder, is a really fascinating new edition to the universe. Will we see Ryder grow up and if yes, would you ever consider writing a young adult series based around her?

One of the things that bothers me is that I may not have the chance to write about Ryder as she comes into adulthood--and she would be such a great character to write.  All I can say is that we'll see.  I surely don't know.

Q: I loved book seven, ‘Blood Challenge’, partly because Benedict and Arjenie’s romance was absolutely delicious. You also wrote a short story for them in the ‘Tied with a Bow’ Christmas anthology. Do you have more short stories planned for these two – or perhaps another ‘World of the Lupi’ book that focuses on them as ‘Blood Challenge’ did? Would you ever consider a spin-off series for them?

I'd love to write more about Benedict and Arjenie, but don't think I could base a whole series on them.  Another novella or even a book that focusses on them--that's a real possibility, though I don't have a story like that in mind right now.

Q: What’s next after ‘Ritual Magic’ is released in 2013? How many ‘World of the Lupi’ books do you have planned?

Um . . . a bunch?  I don't plan ahead enough to put a number to this.

Q: In your ‘World of the Lupi’ FAQ, you answer the question of “will Lily and Rule ever have a baby?”

I used to answer this question by saying, I don't know.  Now I do . . . but I'm not telling.  

Q: Favourite book(s) of all time

No answer possible for this, but I love to reread favorites.  I recently reread several of Jim Butcher's Dresden books.  Before that, I reread some of Laurie King's.  After watching the Hobbit in 3-D  I'm thinking it may be time to revisit Tolkien.

Q: What advice do you have for budding young writers?

Write, write, write.  Writing is a practice.  Baseball players don't learn how to connect bat with ball by reading "how to hit a home run" books.  Be patient with yourself.  You won't know what you're doing most of the time.  Do it anyway.  Give yourself permission to do it wrong.  When you sit down to write, set aside your hopes and dreams.  Those are all about you, not about the story, and bringing them into your practice gets in the way.  Write a bad book.  Write two or three, and learn from them.  You start where you are, not where you hope to someday be.

Merry Christmas

Darling Readers,

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

I hope you eat lots, unwrap bookish presents, stay safe and be fantastically merry this festive season. 

❤

'Christmas in Lucky Harbor' Lucky Harbor #1 and #2 by Jill Shalvis

From the BLURB:

Love awaits you in Lucky Harbor . . .

Simply Irresistible

After losing her boyfriend and her job, Maddie leaves L.A. to claim her inheritance-a ramshackle inn nestled in the little town of Lucky Harbor, Washington. She sees the potential for a new home and a new career-if she can give the inn the makeover it needs. Enter Jax, a tall, handsome contractor who knows exactly what Maddie needs...

The Sweetest Thing

Helping her sister set up the family inn is just the thing to make Tara forget her ex-husband and focus on her new life. Until she meets a sexy, green-eyed sailor determined to keep her hot, bothered, and in his bed. When her ex reappears, Tara must confront her past and decide what she really wants.

If the sisters are lucky, they might just find that everything their hearts desire is right here in Lucky Harbor.

Phoebe Traeger died the same week that Maddie Moore finally got away from her abusive boyfriend and lost her job. Maddie really isn’t all that surprised – bad luck seems to follow her around like a plague. But if there’s a silver lining in the whole sad situation, it’s perhaps that although Maddie didn’t get to know her mother in life, after dying Phoebe left her three daughters with property inheritance in Lucky Harbor, Washington. Jobless, homeless and somewhat aimless, this may very well be the fresh start Maddie needs to cancel out her bad luck curse – and it might mean that her mother is giving her in death what she never could in life – stability and family.

Maddie’s older sister, Tara, and younger sister, Chloe, are also making the trek out to Lucky Harbor. But while Maddie is coming to Phoebe Traeger’s run-down hotel in the hopes of rebuilding it and starting a life there, Tara and Chloe are coming to settle their mother’s will and hopefully sell the property.

Phoebe’s three daughters all have different fathers, and were raised separately. While Chloe and Tara sometimes spent time together in their childhood, and are somewhat familiar with Lucky Harbor, the sleepy Washington town is all new to Maddie. And while Tara and Chloe were acquainted with their mother, Phoebe was a virtual stranger to Maddie.

But Lucky Harbor is not the saving grace Maddie was hoping for – it’s more of a demolition job than a fixer-upper, and her sisters will take a lot of convincing to stick around and make a go of the place.

But right when Maddie is at her lowest point, she meets Jax. Town mayor and local heartthrob with a few secrets regarding Phoebe Traeger – he’s also instantly attracted to Maddie and desperate to keep her in Lucky Harbor.

But as much as Jax and Maddie want to stay in the idyllic harbour town, oldest sister Tara is desperate to leave. Tara spent a summer in Lucky Harbor when she was a teenager; it’s the place where she fell in love, made the biggest mistake of her life, and likewise felt the biggest regret. 

Ford Walker remembers Tara, and the summer they spent together. He can’t quite believe that she’s back, or that she still feels so hurt over what happened to them all those years ago. . .  but Ford isn’t surprised to discover that they still have spark and longing between them, because some things are forever.

‘Christmas in Lucky Harbor’ is a compilation book of the first two instalments in Jill Shalvis’s ‘Lucky Harbor’ series. ‘Simply Irresistible’ is the first book and concentrates on Maddie’s story, second novel is ‘The Sweetest Thing’ and follows Tara.

I have heard so much about the infamous ‘Lucky Harbor’ series. These are the books that have come most highly recommended to me since the series began in 2010. But it wasn’t until I stumbled across this convenient combo book at one of my favourite Melbourne bookshops, Rendezvous Books that I decided it was high time I travelled to Lucky Harbor, Washington. . . 

Jill Shalvis’s ‘Lucky Harbor’ is really the best kind of over-arching contemporary series – it hits all the right notes. There’s a solid setting in Lucky Harbor, Washington, that’s populated with well-meaning busy-bodies, colourful locals and hunky bachelors. But the backbone of the series so far is really the daughters of Phoebe Traeger – all with different fathers who have never had the opportunity for sisterly bonding, until their wayward hippie mother dies and leaves them all with an estate to rebuild. There’s definitely a long-game involved, in that Shalvis sets up future romances in each book – Tara and Ford’s chemistry was palpably mysterious in ‘Simply Irresistible’, and throughout ‘The Sweetest Thing’ youngest wild-child sister Chloe is circling the stoic local cop, Sawyer. The setting, character history and delicious hints all make for a really compelling contemporary series.

Then there’s the fact that Jill Shalvis just writes darn good romances, with flawed but compelling characters. Take, for instance, Maddie and Jax’s romance. It’s a case of attraction at first sight, but both Maddie and Jax come with so much baggage and history that turns their ho-hum idyllic insta-romance into something really fascinating. Maddie has just come out of an abusive relationship, now she’s getting to know her estranged sisters and by extension her absentee mother. Jax, meanwhile, is hiding some family secrets from Maddie that could change everything. Shalvis plays these complications beautifully, which balances their spontaneous romance with real-life hurdles; 

His eyes were heavy lidded now and locked on her mouth. Beneath her hands, he was warm and hard with strength, and she tightened her grip. To keep him at arm’s length, she told herself. “You don’t want chemistry with me,” she said. “I have. . . faults.”
“Like you can’t hold your liquor?”
“Ha. And no. I mean. . . ” She searched for something suitably off-putting. “I’m twenty-nine, and I keep a flashlight on me, just in case I need to hold the closet monsters at bay. I can’t let foods touch on my plate, everything has to be in its own quadrant. And my go-to movies is ‘The Sound of Music’. I can sing every song.”
There. Didn’t get more embarrassing than that. But just in case, she added one more. “I can also burp the alphabet. I won an award for it in college, and sometimes when I’m alone, I practice in the mirror.”
“The whole alphabet?”
“Yeah, so it’s for the best that we don’t . . . you know.”
“You’re right. That ‘Sound of Music’ thing is totally a dealbreaker. Thankfully, we have no chemistry at all.”
He was teasing her, but when she met his gaze, he wasn’t smiling. Nope. His eyes were lit with something else entirely, and it wasn’t humour.
And she knew something else, too. She hadn’t scared him off. Not even a little.  

—‘Simply Irresistible’ 

Then there’s Tara and Ford. They have as much tangled history as they do combustible chemistry – and for them it’s a war between who they were and what they’ve become, and how old wounds are still healing; 

Outside the night was gorgeous, and inside there was this man, also gorgeous. She shook her head and closed her eyes. “How is it that we still feel the pull?” 

Ford stepped into her, letting her feel exactly how much he still felt it. 

“I mean, it shouldn’t still be here,” Tara whispered against his throat as his arms came around her. “I shouldn’t. . . ”  

Ache for you . . .  

“Some things just are,” he said softly against her hair. “Day turns to night. The ocean tide drifts in and out. And I want you, Tara. Damn you, but I do. I always have.”  

— ‘The Sweetest Thing’ 

I was really surprised after finishing these first two ‘Lucky Harbor’ books, to discover that the series is currently seven books deep, with #8 and #9 coming in 2013 and 2014. By ‘The Sweetest Thing’ I was really excited for Chloe and Sawyer’s story (so wonderfully teased out in the second book) but I thought this would be a trilogy that ended with the third sister getting her man. So imagine my surprised delight to discover that Shalvis continues this series – with the backbone shifting from a family-based story to a setting-based one. This makes perfect sense, as with each book Lucky Harbor sets down roots in the heart of the reader. 

I love this series and now I’m impatiently waiting for books 3—7 to arrive for me to dig into. It took me a long time to finally read this series, but it was well worth the wait and now I’m excited to spend much more time in Lucky Harbor. 

5/5 

Reading Matters 2013

Christmas has most definitely come early for Australian fans of young adult literature.

Reading Matters is an event held by the State Library of Victoria’s wonderful Centre for Youth Literature (CYL) whose sole purpose is to promote reading for all young people. And in 2013, the CYL team have concocted quite a treat with Reading Matters – in which they bring beloved young adult authors to Melbourne for an event that celebrates all things YA.

 “Reading Matters is a Melbourne-based celebration of everything that’s unique and exciting in the world of youth literature: From storytelling impresarios to graphic novelists, insights into the narratives of games to debating the politics of YA fiction, this program is as diverse as the teen readers themselves.”   

So, have I piqued your interest? Well, hold on to your spectacles fellow bibliophiles – because yesterday the CYL team made the first of three announcements, revealing the author line-up for Reading Matters next year, and it’s a wee bit fantastic.

From the CYL website:

 

Gayle Forman is a Brooklyn based, award winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in Seventeen, Cosmopolitan and Elle. She burst onto the scene with the bestselling, contemporary titles If I Stay and Where She Went, books that are infused with passion, music and memorable characters.  

Libba Bray is the New York Times bestselling author of The Gemma Doyle trilogy; the Printz Award-winning Going Bovine; Beauty Queens; and The Diviners series. She is originally from Texas but makes her home in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, son, and two sociopathic cats.  

Andrew McGahan debuted on the literary scene with The AustralianVogel Literary Award-winning Praise. In 2004 he won the Miles Franklin Literary Award for The White Earth. The Coming of the Whirlpool was the first title in his move into youth literature –the beginning of a swashbuckling series full of action and adventure.

Alison Croggon has published award-winning poetry, plays and an opera or two. She started writing fantasy in the late 90s, was nominated for two Aurealis awards in 2002, and reimagined the spooky moors of Brontë in her 2012 YA release Black Spring.  

Myke Bartlett was born in Perth, and spent his first twenty years trying to escape. A trained journalist, Bartlett writes on politics, movies, pop culture and rock music for Australia’s best known cultural publications. His debut young adult novel Fire in the Sea won the 2011 Text Prize.

I am so, so, so excited by each and every one of these authors (and I'm crossing my fingers that Libba Bray attends at least one event in her infamous cow suit!). They represent some of the best that young adult has to offer – from the Miles Franklin-nominated to Printz-winners – covering a range of genres; from contemporary, fantasy, historic and everything in between.

These are some of the current Rock Stars of young adult literature – and if you don’t believe me, check out this post, in which Persnickety Snark recounts her American trip to the YA Lit Symposium & YALLFest last month, and includes a ridonkulously cool photo of the signing queues Gayle Forman attracts!

I am so excited for Reading Matters. Nothing compares to meeting your favourite authors face-to-face, waiting in line with a mixture of thrilling anticipation and crippling nerves for the chance to present a well-worn and beloved copy of their book for signing. To get a couple of seconds with them just to say; “Hey, you write like you’re in my head and while that’s sometimes unsettling it’s also unparalleled in its awesomeness. So, thank you.” And to also hear our favourite authors speak, at length, about what makes them and their characters tick, how they hone their craft and what else they have in store for us. 

Reading Matters is to young adult readers what Woodstock was to hippies and music-lovers, if you will. It's going to be an extraordinary opportunity to congregate with fellow fans and YA-worshippers, meet your literary idols and take your reading to the next level.

I. Can’t. Wait!

This is the current schedule for Reading Matters:

Tickets are on sale now, so hurry up and book your place for the young adult Rock-Fest of the year!

'Tiger Lily' by Jodi Lynn Anderson

From the BLURB:

Before Peter Pan belonged to Wendy, he belonged to the girl with the crow feather in her hair. . . .

Fifteen-year-old Tiger Lily doesn't believe in love stories or happy endings. Then she meets the alluring teenage Peter Pan in the forbidden woods of Neverland and immediately falls under his spell.

Peter is unlike anyone she's ever known. Impetuous and brave, he both scares and enthralls her. As the leader of the Lost Boys, the most fearsome of Neverland's inhabitants, Peter is an unthinkable match for Tiger Lily. Soon, she is risking everything—her family, her future—to be with him. When she is faced with marriage to a terrible man in her own tribe, she must choose between the life she's always known and running away to an uncertain future with Peter.

With enemies threatening to tear them apart, the lovers seem doomed. But it's the arrival of Wendy Darling, an English girl who's everything Tiger Lily is not, that leads Tiger Lily to discover that the most dangerous enemies can live inside even the most loyal and loving heart.

Neverland is a dangerous place, tucked away in the farthest corners of the world and home to some of the most dangerous creatures … there are rules and order amidst the chaos of Neverland. Captain Hook’s pirates promise not to bother the indigenous Sky Eaters tribe so long as they likewise promise no violence against the pirates. And the pirates, in turn, are known to always be on the hunt for the Lost Boys and their leader, forever-young Peter Pan. Likewise, everyone on the island knows that the Lost Boys will just as soon kill you as look at you – and Peter Pan has no mercy.

Young Tiger Lily, of the Sky Eaters, is at once constrained and reliant on the orders of Neverland and her tribe. On the one hand, tribe is family, and that means a lot to Tiger Lily who was found abandoned as a baby, hidden underneath the flower of her name … found by medicine man, Tik Tok, who took her in and raised her as his own daughter. Tiger Lily has grown up trying to adhere to the rules of her tribe. The rules that say she shouldn’t go swimming with her best friend, the boy Pine Sap, and she shouldn’t hit his cruel mother upside the head when she degrades and belittles him. Rules that say she should enjoy weaving and shucking and other activities that require her to stay still and chat with the other women of the tribe. And the rules that say she should not help a stranded Englishman when his ship his torn apart by the rocks, and he the only survivor … resulting in a new rule that says Tiger Lily must marry the oafish man, Giant, by the end of the season or else be thrown out of the tribe.

While trying to bow down to the latest round of rules that has Tiger Lily’s wild heart thumping and skin itching, she takes to the forest … only to run into Peter Pan, who introduces her to the Lost Boys, a taste of love and a whole new set of rules to break.

‘Tiger Lily’ is a young adult book inspired by J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of Peter Pan, and reimagined by Jodi Lynn Anderson.

The faerie, Tinkerbell, is narrator in Anderson’s wickedly beautiful tale, and early on she warns readers that; “This is a love story, but not like you’ve heard.” So begins a tale which at once flips Barrie’s story on its head and adds delicious layers to Neverland and the boy who never grew up, Peter Pan.

Tink is explained as a rather ingenious narrator, a perpetually curious faerie who witnessed Tiger Lily’s tormented childhood in the tribe of Sky Eaters … tormented, that is, until she found a sure-fire way to stop other children from teasing her hurting her. Tink was enamoured with Tiger Lily from the first, and has taken it upon herself to be the girl’s perpetual companion, whether she knows it or not. Tink watches over Tiger Lily as she hunts, tries to find her place among the tribe’s women, is tormented by her future mother-in-law, eventually breaks the rules by rescuing a stranded Englishman and then risks it all by falling in love with Peter Pan. 

But it’s when Tiger Lily, and Tink, meet Peter that the story really takes flight – and Tiger Lily is torn between what she knows and loves, and the secrets of her heart that only Peter seems to ignite. Likewise, while Tinkerbell cares deeply for Tiger Lily and is forever fascinated by her, it’s Peter who owns her little faerie heart; 

A faerie heart is different from a human heart. Human hearts are elastic. They have room for all sorts of passions, and they can break and heal and love again and again. Faerie hearts are evolutionarily less sophisticated. They are small and hard, like tiny grains of sand. Our hearts are too small to love more than one person in a lifetime. Aside from rare instances, like in the case of my father, we are built to mate for life. I went back to the burrow many nights, and watched Peter. I tried to talk sense in to my hard little heart. But it had landed on Peter, a creature two hundred times my size and barely aware of me, and there was no prying it loose.

Anderson’s tale is so beautifully woven, with small intricacies and lovely odes to Barrie’s original story. Take, for instance, her describing the suspended time in Neverland – where people don’t grow old. Anderson explains that age is just another aspect of people on the island, like hair-colour or eye-colour. It’s rumoured that people stop growing after a momentous moment in their lives, so Tiger Lily’s guardian, the medicine man Tik Tok seemed to stop aging once he discovered Tiger Lily and took her in as his own. The Lost Boys also care for a baby (called simply ‘baby’), which they discovered, and who appears to have stunted growth as an infant since being taken in by the Boys. Likewise, Tiger Lily’s future husband, Giant, is in his 40’s and seemed to stop aging after the death of his brother. It’s these little tid-bits that Anderson adds as delicious flourishes to an already endearing tale. 

Likewise, she has improved some aspects of Barrie’s story. Her background story for Captain Hook is pure, Dickensian, genius. One drunken night, Hook confesses to first-mate (and psychopathic killer) Smee, that he never lost his hand to Peter Pan in a sword fight – the truth is, he once worked on a shoe assembly line, in London. He was paying his way through school, until one day he wasn’t paying attention and his hand got caught in the machine. It’s truly wonderful that Anderson brings a rather Dickensian theme to Hook’s story, suggesting that he left industrialized London in search of a land that’s closer to nature and promised an intangible fountain of youth. 

Anderson also brings in themes of colonialism and examines Puritan ideals with the story of an Englishman bought into the Sky Eaters. It’s only when this man enters the village, and starts teaching them about his God and the way one should live so as to get into heaven that things start to go awry for the tribe. Take, for instance, Tik Tok, who dresses in women’s clothing but is a man – his tribe simply accept that he was born to both and that’s the way it is. But the God-fearing Englishman sees things differently, and his distaste starts to influence the rest of the tribe. This was a case of Anderson bringing a touch of harsh reality and historic context to Barrie’s story, and it definitely resonates in a powerful way. 

Peter is also painted in far more complex layers. He’s at once a selfish and brattish young man, with a big heart for his lost boys, but no tolerance for Tiger Lily’s competitive streak (which often beats out Peter’s stubbornness). He’s quite a conundrum in this book, where he boasts of his prowess with women, but seems entirely fascinated by Tiger Lily and her duelling femininity and Tom Boyish behaviour. Peter is made all the more fascinating for being an imperfect character, as both Tiger Lily and Tinkerbell accept about him. But it’s also that he shows them his soft side, what he fears and what he regrets in his life, it all goes a long way to painting a rather fascinating picture of the infamous boy who never grew up; 

Peter sighed into the water, and his breath sent a small circle of it into tiny ripples. “It seems cowardly, getting old. Don’t you think?” 

She rolled onto her side to look at him, pillowing her ear with her right arm, and letting her fingers dangle in the water beyond her head. “How is it cowardly?”  

Peter kept his eyes on his reflection. “You just curl up around yourself, and sit by the fire, and try to be comfortable. When you get old, you just get smaller inside, and you try not to pay attention to anything but your blankets and your food and your bed.” 

“Being comfortable isn’t a bad thing.” 

Peter shrugged and turned his head to look at her as if it was a matter of fact. “Of course it is. Old people lock out all the scary, wild things. It’s like they don’t exist.” 

Tinkerbell is recounting Tiger Lily and Peter’s love story with a sense of catharsis and awe. You see, Tinkerbell mentions many a time that her faerie father left her and her mother for a nymph he now lives with, and Tink hasn’t seen him since (though she keeps her eyes peeled for him, out of habit). This might go some way to understanding why Tink feels no jealousy about Peter’s love for Tiger Lily – she seems to be searching for a real love story, as proof against her father’s abandonment (which just goes to show – even Anderson’s Tinkerbell is given a more well-rounded character arc!).

Wendy does appear towards the end of this book, but her presence really just goes to show how she pales in comparison to the fiery and fascinating Tiger Lily, as a character. Definitely, after reading Anderson’s fuller reimagining, you’ll wonder why anyone ever thought that pale, gown-clad Wendy was the heroine to Peter’s hero in Barrie’s story. She doesn’t hold a candle to the vicious Tiger Lily. 

Jodi Lynn Anderson’s book is beautiful and haunting; at once a rich character examination, but still with the flights of fantasy readers love about J.M. Barrie’s original. This is a favourite book of 2012 for me; from Anderson’s lush writing, to her piercing characterizations and highly original reimagining of a much-loved classic, this is one book that will never get old.

5/5