≡ PDF Free The Restorer The Graveyard Queen Amanda Stevens 9780778329817 Books

The Restorer The Graveyard Queen Amanda Stevens 9780778329817 Books

Download As PDF : The Restorer The Graveyard Queen Amanda Stevens 9780778329817 Books

The Restorer The Graveyard Queen Amanda Stevens 9780778329817 Books

This is the first book in the Graveyard Queen series. I really enjoyed it!

Amelia Gray is a wonderful character. I really liked her. She is a grave restorer with a secret. She can see ghosts. However, she has rules that she lives by: Never acknowledge them, speak to them or let them sense your fear. Never stray too far from hallowed ground. Keep away from those who are haunted and never tempt fate. When she stumbles across the body of a young woman in a cemetery, her life is turned upside down. As danger threatens she finds herself attracted to Detective John Devlin, the policeman leading the investigation. Unfortunately, he has his own ghosts haunting him.

I have a passion for ghost stories and when this book was recommended to me by Amazon way back in 2011, I added it to my wish list. It was only in 2014 that I managed to purchase a copy but, due to my large reading list, I hadn't been able to read it until recently.

I started to read this book and didn't put it down until I had finished it. I found myself intrigued with Amelia's career choice. Restoring old cemeteries takes patience and dedication. (I know of a few cemeteries near me that could do with some TLC come to think of it). Adding to her career choice is her ability to see ghosts. This makes her life a little harder and turns her into a bit of a loner, as she is afraid of accidentally attracting the ghosts into her life and harming the ones she loves.

I enjoyed getting to know John Devlin a lot more, as he has a past that is tragic. But, I think that both Amelia and Devlin make a wonderful couple, even if he is haunted by his dead wife and daughter.

This story is a mix of mystery, thriller, police procedural, supernatural ghost story and romance. I found myself holding my breath on occasion as the mystery, suspense and danger had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It is thrilling in places and scary (think spiders and rats and dark places) in others. I also found myself on a roller coaster ride of emotion as the story unfolded. I had tears running down my face during certain scenes. However, I was a little disappointed at the ending even though I knew it was the first book in the series. There were a few loose ends not tied up and, even though it didn't end in a cliffhanger, the ending left me feeling unsatisfied, which, as a reader, I hate. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to continuing this series and reading the next book, The Kingdom, as soon as I can.

Amanda Stevens has written a wonderful start to a series. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow of the story is wonderful. Her characters seem realistic and come alive on the page. I would definitely consider reading more of her books in the future.

Due to some scenes of violence and some gore, I do not recommend this book to younger readers. However, I highly recommend this book if you love horror/mysteries/thrillers/police procedural's/supernatural ghost stories or paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton


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The Restorer The Graveyard Queen Amanda Stevens 9780778329817 Books Reviews

Wow. This one gave me chills. It has been a long time since I have read a ghost story, and I have to say, that this one was one of a kind. It is the 1st in a series. There is a resolution of sorts, but not a HEA. That, I assume, comes in one of the later books, which I will definitely be looking up.

I really like the setting. There is some rich history there, but not too much that it distracts from the story. I wasn't positive who the bad guy was until the end. I thought of him, but it never occurred to me why he was doing it. That totally surprised me because the author has you going in one direction and then another. I am hoping that one of the directions will be further explored in coming books.

Amelia has a rich history of her own. She is adopted, but I was never quite sure if her papa was her real father or not. It was clearly stated that her mama was not her real mother. We know her papa loves her more than anything in the world, including her mama, at least according to mama, but we don't know much about mama's feelings. Seeing ghosts and the whole set of rules she was told to follow by papa, was a new twist on the ghost story. Amelia's history is not clearly defined in this book. Again, I am hoping that in future books it will become clearer.

John Devlin is a complicated man. He has a past that is haunting him. Really haunting him. I wasn't quite sure if his haunts were malevolent or not. Some of the ghosts, you could tell right away that they were bad news.

All in all, I do recommend this story. Just be prepared to get the next book.
I was so excited to read this book! It sounded like just my cup of tea but the execution just didn't do it for me. I couldn't connect with the main character which is a bad sign. I thought Amelia would be a stronger, braver, more interesting character. The fact that she wasn't kind of killed the book for me. Her infatuation with John Devlin was frankly annoying. I found nothing endearing about him. I have no idea why she likes him so much. There was no chemistry. No indication that at some future point he may have started to like her back. Nothing! There interactions were so professional and vanilla, so where was all this obsession on her part coming from! Another bad sign was that I found myself forgetting who the other characters were, they kind of blended together and I got to the point where I no longer really cared who the murderer was. But I will say that I did enjoy parts of the book. I enjoyed learning about restoring graveyards and all her vocational tricks and skills and the ghost aspects were interesting. I would have liked more resolution on that front however since I am not sure I liked it well enough to continue with the series, which makes me sad to say since I was so certain it was going to be a win.
This is a well-written, modern day, southern gothic, suspense story. Amanda Stevens is an accomplished writer and develops her characters and plot smoothly, albeit a bit slowly, which is why I took off half a star. However there were several things I really enjoyed about this novel. To begin with, the research Stevens must of put into graveyard restoration to create her protagonist Amelia Gray. I actually learned interesting tidbits about graveyard symbolism and customs by the end of the this novel. Furthermore, I really liked that Amelia was both reserved and intelligent. These character traits made her interest in Devlin more tangible and passionate as she wasn't some vapid female. Yes, the plot developed a bit slow, but it still held my interest and I have currently moved onto book #2 in the series.
This is the first book in the Graveyard Queen series. I really enjoyed it!

Amelia Gray is a wonderful character. I really liked her. She is a grave restorer with a secret. She can see ghosts. However, she has rules that she lives by Never acknowledge them, speak to them or let them sense your fear. Never stray too far from hallowed ground. Keep away from those who are haunted and never tempt fate. When she stumbles across the body of a young woman in a cemetery, her life is turned upside down. As danger threatens she finds herself attracted to Detective John Devlin, the policeman leading the investigation. Unfortunately, he has his own ghosts haunting him.

I have a passion for ghost stories and when this book was recommended to me by way back in 2011, I added it to my wish list. It was only in 2014 that I managed to purchase a copy but, due to my large reading list, I hadn't been able to read it until recently.

I started to read this book and didn't put it down until I had finished it. I found myself intrigued with Amelia's career choice. Restoring old cemeteries takes patience and dedication. (I know of a few cemeteries near me that could do with some TLC come to think of it). Adding to her career choice is her ability to see ghosts. This makes her life a little harder and turns her into a bit of a loner, as she is afraid of accidentally attracting the ghosts into her life and harming the ones she loves.

I enjoyed getting to know John Devlin a lot more, as he has a past that is tragic. But, I think that both Amelia and Devlin make a wonderful couple, even if he is haunted by his dead wife and daughter.

This story is a mix of mystery, thriller, police procedural, supernatural ghost story and romance. I found myself holding my breath on occasion as the mystery, suspense and danger had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It is thrilling in places and scary (think spiders and rats and dark places) in others. I also found myself on a roller coaster ride of emotion as the story unfolded. I had tears running down my face during certain scenes. However, I was a little disappointed at the ending even though I knew it was the first book in the series. There were a few loose ends not tied up and, even though it didn't end in a cliffhanger, the ending left me feeling unsatisfied, which, as a reader, I hate. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to continuing this series and reading the next book, The Kingdom, as soon as I can.

Amanda Stevens has written a wonderful start to a series. I love her fast paced writing style and the flow of the story is wonderful. Her characters seem realistic and come alive on the page. I would definitely consider reading more of her books in the future.

Due to some scenes of violence and some gore, I do not recommend this book to younger readers. However, I highly recommend this book if you love horror/mysteries/thrillers/police procedural's/supernatural ghost stories or paranormal romances. - Lynn Worton