Hidden Gem Awards: Top 5

Without delay, here are my top 5. I'll spend the next month reading each of your books before choosing a winner,

1) Bloodline by Tara Ellis

By far the easiest choice. From chapter one, we have engaging, strong writing and a story that felt effortless. I want to know what will happen next, and I'm already attached to some of the characters. On to the next round!

2) The Scary Girls by J.D. Kaplan

A few lines in this made me chuckle. I love the narrator - why wouldn't I want to read on? It begins with two intriguing characters and a prose I could slip into. Another very easy choice.

3) Broken Dolls by B.R. Kingsolver

An interesting concept carried by a flawless prose. The ingenious use of asterisks to mark the telepathy made it clear and easy to follow. I'm very excited about this one!

4) Chains of Prophecy by Jason P. Crawford

The opening scene reminded me of Supernatural, and now I want to read on just to find out what was going on. There's a bit of awkwardness in the prose to start off with, but once it started to flow I didn't want to stop.

5) A Time Apart by Rebecca N. Caudill

There's something quirky about the prose that kept me reading. Not much has happened yet, but I'm still curious to read on. I found it easy to relate to the main character.

As I've only read the opening few chapters of each entry, I've had to be critical. I was looking for an engaging prose, clean writing, and signs of an intriguing main plot already unfolding.

If you didn't make it to the list, feel free to contact me and ask why. I'm more than happy to explain how I felt about your book and any issues I had with it as well as what I liked. There were a few that I struggled to part with. In particular, War of Destiny: Lost Soul by Theresa Van Spankeren is going on my reading list.

Cheers!

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