Scars of War by Hazel B. West: Blog Tour, Review, & Giveaway!

It’s here! Today kicks off the blog tour for Scars of War, Hazel B. West’s latest Modern Tales of Na Fianna novel! 🙂 There’s all sorts of fun going on, as well as a giveaway, so be sure to visit the Tour Home post on Hazel’s website, where you can see the schedule, giveaway, and other links!

I’m sharing a review for this awesome book — and there’s giveaway information at the end so don’t miss out. 😀

First Two Books: Free and Discount

You can get Blood Ties (book one) for FREE, for the duration of the tour, on Smashword! Simply go to the book’s page on Smashwords HERE and at checkout enter the following code to download it for free in your preferred format. 🙂 Code: EJ57R

And book two, An Earthly King, will be marked down to 99 cents on Amazon Kindle during the tour as well. 🙂

(Click the covers for my reviews)

Ask Eamon and Killian

Also! There’s a fun thing the author is running on her blog: there’s going to be an Askbox live during the whole tour where you can ask Eamon (High King in the book) and Killian (his Captain of the Guard) questions, so check it out! 😀 (They’re such fun characters. XD)

Book Info And Review

About Scars of War

After the events on Samhain Eve things have calmed down for High King Eamon and his Fianna. The Unseelie Court is under new rule, and Eamon is happily married—and with an heir on the way! But just when it seems like things couldn’t be better, reports of changelings keep coming into BPAFF (Bureau of Protection Against Fair Folk). With the risk of children being changed out in their cribs, especially when a royal heir is weeks from being born, Eamon enlists the help of Aeden Mac Cool, Commander of Na Fianna, and Cassandra Whalen, Director of BPAFF, to deal with the threat before it escalates. Riots, Faerie rebels, and road trips with the King of the Unseelie—it’s just a typical day, right?

Purchase Links

Smashwords • Amazon Kindle • Paperback

About the Author

Hazel West lives in Purgatory, er, Florida, with her books and her hedgehog Horatio. When she’s not writing, she’s reading other people’s books, studying folklore, or binge-watching something on Netflix—drinking coffee is also a given.

Find the Author Online

Blog • Twitter: @artfulscribbler • Pinterest • Goodreads

Other Links

Add Scars of War on Goodreads • Blood Ties Book Trailer • Book 1: Blood Ties on Amazon • Book 2: An Earthly King on Amazon

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Title: Scars of War (Modern Tales of Na Fianna, Book Three)

Author: Hazel B. West

• Date read: September 7, 2017
• Rating: 5 stars
• Genre: Urban Fantasy / Mythology/Folklore
• Age: YA
• Year pub: 2017
• Pages: 350 (ebook)
• Series: Modern Tales of Na Fianna, #3
• Fave character: Aeden and Oberon
• Source: The author
• Notes: I received a free e-copy of this book from the author (thank you!). These opinions are entirely my own.

What a rollick of a book! We’ve got a nefarious changeling plot, cute Faerie children, awesome warriors, snark and humor, and of course an epic and amusing road trip. 😀 MY FAVORITE. I had a splendid amount of fun reading this book. 😀 As with any third-book-in-a-series, some things are hard to discuss without spoilers, but I shall do my best to be careful…

I love how each of these books has been so different so far. I mean, they’re all in the same world and have similar stuff going on in a way, with the snarky characters and the fun and the danger and all, but they’re all unique and surprise me! Blood Ties features lots of questing in the Fae Lands, while An Earthly King is primarily centered around Tara Hall. In Scars of War, we get to explore the southern parts of Ireland, which was neat, mixing the modern and old feels and Faeries into the mix. I love it!

There are two main parts to the story: stuff going on at Tara Hall with High King Eamon, and Ciran and his company—not as much with them; I might have liked more, but I suppose this is Cass’s story—and various troubles there on top of getting ready for Eamon’s heir to be born. Which factors into the changeling plot… leading to the second, and main, part of the story: Cass, Director of BPAFF (Bureau of Protection Against Fair Folk) is setting out to stop the outbreak of changeling incidents in order to keep the future heir safe. Joining her is Aeden, Commander of the Na Fianna (yay!) and, inviting himself along, Oberon, King of the Unseelie—and these three head out on a road trip of all road trips. Let the fun ensue!

I was so excited when I found out this would be about Cass and Aeden! The first book is all in Ciran’s POV, while the second is a delightful mix of several POVs, so for some reason I guess I wasn’t expecting nearly the whole book to be in Cass’s head? I wasn’t as much of a fan of that since I didn’t need to spend an ENTIRE book with her and might have wanted more Aeden; BUT I do like Cass and once I got used to it, it was fine. What we did get of Aeden was fantastic, even if that didn’t get going as soon as I might have liked. XD He’s awesome and precious. ❤ Both he and Cass are great, and I loved getting more of them and their stories. ^_^ (We got some of Eamon’s POV to see what was going on over there as well.)

AND THEN THERE’S OBERON. I may like Aeden more, but Oberon is absolutely hilarious and one of my favorites. He’s the fabulous King of the Unseelie and he makes sure you know it, and is vain and purposefully rather petty at times, and loves to annoy them and gripe about things, but he has many unexpected hidden talents too, and a heart of gold underneath, even if he doesn’t let on. His dialog is my favorite. XD He’s the annoying third-wheel and it’s glorious. 😀

The changeling plot was fascinating. There’s also mystery-type elements, and danger and peril, and it’s very exciting. The character arcs as they deal with various things were well done too. I guess I’m trying to say that while the fun elements are what stand out to me when I review, there’s plenty of epicness, action, and depth to go with that. 🙂

The roadtrip was one of my favorite things! I mean, you have the no-nonsense Director of BPAFF (essentially like a cool FBI for dealing with magical-creatures or Faerie problems), the Commander of the elite super warriors Na Fianna, and the King of the Unseelie Fae, who is… erm… high-maintenance and snarky. Put them together in a Land Rover and have them driving around Ireland chasing a mystery, running into Faeries, having fights or car chases or peril, bantering, stopping for coffee at gas stations, and all the while Oberon is snarking away, complaining about being hungry, or that his suit is getting ruined, or they have the wrong music on, or not wanting to eat the Meat Stix (a running joke which was awesome), annoying Cass and Aeden so much… XD I JUST LOVE IT. Those three + roadtrip = best. ever. ❤

There also mayyy or may not be a bit of a romance on the side WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVED AND THE CUTENESS KNOWS NO BOUNDS. Ahem. I love it and approve and ship them very much. 😀 Most of the other characters are kind of shipping them too, which makes more hilarity. XD *zips lips* I WILL SAY NO MORE.

There may have been a couple things I wasn’t sure if I liked, and I did see through what the bad characters were planning near the end and thought that the heroes should have SEEN THROUGH IT ALL TOO, buuut then I suppose there might not be a story… *cough* So other than a few minor issues like that and some typos/errors, I overall enjoyed it a ton! 😀

The characters, humorous snarky dialog, and details, totally made this book. The little details though! I LOVED the presence of a Claddagh ring! ❤ The food references were hilarious. XD (I now want to eat Meat Stix and find some Elf Eaties—whatever they are—and go eat a sundae at Dippity Aye. XD The Dippity Aye subplot was HILARIOUS and I will not spoil it. Just read the book. Also, I now want there to be Oberon’s King of the Unseelie Foodie Blog, please. XD) And I just love this WORLD, with all the mix of old/new/Ireland/folklore/Fae things/modern technology. It makes me happy and I want to live there. ❤

Also, please note that the image of Cass, Aedan, and a Faerie king all sitting on the floor in a circle with little Faerie kids IS ADORABLE.

Point of interest: there’s an awesome mini-short-story included at the end which tells the saga of what a few of the characters were doing at one point off screen that I’d wondered at, and it’s fabulous. XD

Overall, it was a fun and exciting adventure, and my only question is WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOK? Because I could read these things forever! ^_^ If you haven’t, I highly suggest checking out Blood Ties (and then An Earthly King… and then Scars of War…) because you need these modern Irish warrior books in your life. ❤

Some Favorite Quotes

(I say some; all of them and we’d be here all day. I know most of these are Oberon—sorry, he’s just hilarious, is all. XD)

***

“You have got to be joking,” Oberon complained. “Meat Stix—with an X? How do I know this is even real meat? Never trust products where they purposefully misspell a word.”

***

“Hope you don’t mind more pub grub, your majesty.”

Oberon sighed like a martyr. “At least I will be able to rate and review every pub and inn in the south of Ireland by the time we’re done with this little road trip. I should start my own foodie blog.”

***

“Just do what you Fianna do best,” I added unbuckling as I turned around in the seat to face Oberon and grab my crossbow. “Drive fast.”

“Yes, Director,” Aeden said with a grin.

***

“Oberon, your things are in the barn.”

He looked at me indignantly. “I do have to question the benefits of a peace treaty with your people if all you do is shove me in the back of your car and then house me with the cows.”

***

Imagine the surprise when we came in and I saw Oberon in the kitchen, standing at the stove and making sausage and eggs and pancakes, flipping them happily and whistling to himself as he wore a “Kiss Me I’m Fae” apron that might have been glamoured, or might just be something he carried in his copious bags. It was hard to tell.

***

“Fae magic does cell service no favors.”

Giveaway

Don’t forget that there’s a giveaway! Hazel is giving away a paperback of Scars of War and a BPAFF shamrock necklace! 😀 Rafflecopter hates WordPress, so I shall direct you to Hazel’s post where you can enter! ^_^

What do you think, my Roadlings? Have you read any of these? Does the series intrigue you? Thanks so much for reading! 🙂