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In November, Alys Arden released her debut novel, The Casquette Girls, with Skyscape, an imprint of Amazon. The book gives us an insider’s view of New Orleans while weaving in the supernatural world of witches, vampires and shapeshifters for a magical story that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
Adele is a teenage girl returning to a devastated New Orleans with her father after a powerful hurricane. She briefly and reluctantly attended boarding school in Paris, where her mother lived while waiting to come home. While distraught over the state of her city, she is happy to be home.
Adele soon discovers she has hidden telekinetic powers, inherited from an ancestor witch, whose journal she finds in the attic. As she translates it, she finds that there’s a world of paranormal creatures all around her and that the recent murders in New Orleans may not have been caused by human hands. Worse yet, she may have unleashed these creatures on her city. Can she and her newfound friends, with talents of their own, stop the bloody rampage and bind the vampires like their ancestors did in the 1700s?
Arden’s story starts off slowly, but draws you in. She describes New Orleans as only a native who loves their city could. The scenes set in the 1700s and those in 2015 are equally interesting and story-building. The romance is clean, but has depth, making it enjoyable for readers of all ages. While the page count might be daunting, the story will keep you coming back. If you enjoy Young Adult paranormal novels, this is a unique story that parents and teens can read together.