Undertow: Death's Twilight by Claudette Melanson

Undertow: Death’s Twilight

By Claudette Melanson

The cover art of this book is so beautiful, once I received my copy I just simply admired the artwork on the cover for a bit. There was a lot of work that went into that beautiful cover!

Personally, I have been a long time waiting for this book. Which let me add, if you haven’t read the first book, you might not be able to follow along as well as the rest of us. The two books flow together as “Forrest Gump” says: like “Peas and Carrots!”

Maura, thanks to her mother Caelyn, grew up with a big family secret. She is a Vampire and didn’t know it until she became a full grown adult and moved abroad, and finally met her Father, which she met only by what seemed to be by accident. However, her Mother planned on informing her and explaining everything and what not, but unfortunately Maura then, had an accident-so to speak.

But again, that is from the other book. Her Father Maxwell as you may notice was not in her life as a Child, and now they are attempting to make it as a family. They want to try to be the family they never were. But once they start working on their family unit, tragedy seems to follow. It’s like something always has to ruin the good things, you know?!

While still trying to work on her family, Maura is also trying still working on her love life with Ron. So she uses Christmas to reunite with him and bring her family in closer. 

Caelyn is still trying to deal with the Vampire lifestyle of her daughter. She truly hoped that this might not come to pass, you could just tell, deep down, she didn’t want it to be.

Thankfully, while everything is going up and down, and up and down, all these changes, Susie is here to listen and offer a listening ear. 

I found this story so … heart wrenching, I screamed in my twitter at Claudette. I have always been in love with Maura and Ron, no offense I have insider secrets, and Maura and Ron remind me of Claudette and her husband. And they just can’t fall apart. So I’m reading this, and I scream. My dogs look at me. I grab my cell and scream at the writer. No, this is not happening. THAT is all I am saying because I get in trouble for being a spoiler blower.

As for my review, I personally have a problem with Maura calling Maxwell “Dad.” The Dude wasn’t in her life, I mean, maybe it wasn’t all her fault, maybe it was also Caelyn’s but still. He wasn’t there. To call him Dad from the beginning bothered me. But that’s just me.

I also had a problem with her Mother keeping a secret like that from her. (The vampire part!) Yeah we keeps secrets from our Children like Santa and the tooth fairy, and where the presents are hid. But what about when she became a teen and you gave her the safe sex talk? Why not tell her then? 

But as we all know, this is the choice of the writer, and so be it...

I dearly loved both of the books, and how close they are. They are wonderful and you need to read them both. The first one was called: “Rising Tide: Dark Innocence” and it can also be found in this blog as well. (Search on the left side of the blog.)

This book, just like the last one, which is five stars. I truly enjoyed it. It pulled me in, making me feel everything. I cried, I screamed, and I wanted more, and I became involved. I could see and imagine the characters and their feelings. They are a wonderful family, and they deserve to work things out, all families do. And you want what is best for everyone, trust me. And you will want to read this, all the way through. And you will not be able to put it down. But make sure you read both books! They belong together! They are amazing! And you will be glad that you have read them, and you will be a fan of Claudette just like I am, trust me! I give this book five stars! Now go buy your copy!

My questions for Claudette:

1. Who designed the beautiful cover? Rachel Montreuil from Montreal, QC in Canada. The covers were hand painted. She can do anything! We are going to be working on a children's book together starring my Holland Lop, Butters, in the coming months. This is her Deviant Art page:  http://rasherusuzie.deviantart.com/ .

 2. Any pictures of Maura, Ron &/or Maxwell you can share or even describe how they look? Well, the Maura on the cover of the Rising Tide book is exactly how I've always pictured her in my head. I don't know how Rachel did that, lol. I do have a visual board on Pinterest that has pictures of how I see them:  http://bit.ly/1pTacsv

There is also a rendering Rachel did of Ron, and she is going to be doing all the characters:

This is a picture of the REAL Ron, my college boyfriend, who I originally based the character upon:

3. Will there be any more of these books?

Oh yes! The third book in this trilogy will be coming out early in the year. It’s half written now. I’ve discovered there is a lot more to Maura’s story than I thought, so there will actually be a series of trilogies focusing on a particular element. This current trilogy is about Maura’s transformation. I think the next will focus on her and Ron. I also plan to write the backstory for her parents meeting and even take it back to when Maxwell first turned, back in the 1600’s. There is much more of Maura to come J

 4. What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on Riptide, the third book in the Maura DeLuca trilogy. I’m also starting to put the bunny children’s book together. I also have a love gone wrong story and one about my time living with an utter psycho in Vancouver. I do a lot of editing for other authors and that has gotten so busy, I need to force time to write. I’ll be cutting back on that somewhat in the new year to make sure I have more time to work on my own books. My editing site can be found at: http://bit.ly/cmeditor .

5. You are the writer that has bunny rabbits running around the house like me, right?! How are they? (If not disregard- but I think you are lol)

The bunnies are very good. Getting ready for Christmas. We have two Holland Lops, Butters and Beckett. Beckett has some Lionhead in her, so she has interesting hairdos, haha. Tegan and Pepper are full-sized rabbits, English Spot mixes. They have their own room off our living room in our house and have more toys than you could even imagine. Very spoiled rabbits, but they deserve it, as most of them came from abusive homes or bad situations. They eat all organic, so I’m hoping all of them will be around a VERY long time.

6. How is hubbies band doing?

Hubby’s band is doing good. They didn’t get to play on the Fan Fridays for the Blue Jays this year—budget cutbacks. But they have a gig this Friday night (tomorrow, December 4^th) at the Linsmore Tavern in Toronto.

7. Tell us again how you came up with this/these great stories!

Well, I’ve always written everything that went on around me inside my head since I was a little kid. Maura I dreamed about so many times and the dreams started to put a whole story together in my head. It just grew and developed from there. A lot of things come from dreams or even real-life experiences. Or other books or shows will inspire an idea. I just LOVE stories and it’s never hard for one to come to life  inside my imagination J

8. Who are/is your favorite Author(s)?

My favorite author is Stephenie Meyers, and I am in love with the Twilight novels. I think everyone forgot how much they loved that story when those books came out after the horrible first movie, but they were truly magical for me. I grew up with Stephen King and Grimm’s Fairytales—the real ones that are more gruesome. Maybe that’s where my flair for the macabre comes from. I love the new wave of Indie Authors. TS Dann is fabulous. Adam Booth’s The End is so fresh and deep, especially for a zombie novel. Sherri Wingler and Tima Maria Lacoba rock. There are just too many to list! Oh and one more traditional book…if you haven’t read You by Caroline Kepnes, do…now! She is a phenomenal writer. That book was perfectly executed and I was overjoyed to find out there would be a sequel.

9. What do you suggest to someone wanting to write their first novella?

A novella is a good place to start. Develop your characters and hire an editor. The biggest problem with Indie books come from the ones that aren’t professionally edited. And keep writing. The only way you can fail is to give up.

10. Please provide for us your info to follow you & all your work:

Website: http://bit.ly/1DVaL7x (www.claudettemelanson.com)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cmelansonauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bella623

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7881896.Claudette_Melanson

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/claudemelanson/

Tsu: http://www.tsu.co/vampyauthor

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/authorcmelanson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmelansonauthor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=18797567&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Google Plus:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/104844624163397590666/104844624163397590666

Stumble Upon: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/cmelanson623

Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/cmamzauthor

Book Gorilla Author Page: http://bit.ly/1BfSp0L

11. Anything to add?

Thank you for doing this review! I really appreciate it. Best of luck to you and warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Spectacularly Happy New Year to you and all your readers!

Undertow: Death's Twilight by Claudette Melanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The cover art of this book is so beautiful, once I received my copy I just simply admired the artwork on the cover for a bit. There was a lot of work that went into that beautiful cover!

Personally, I have been a long time waiting for this book. Which let me add, if you haven’t read the first book, you might not be able to follow along as well as the rest of us. The two books flow together as “Forrest Gump” says: like “Peas and Carrots!”

Maura, thanks to her mother Caelyn, grew up with a big family secret. She is a Vampire and didn’t know it until she became a full grown adult and moved abroad, and finally met her Father, which she met only by what seemed to be by accident. However, her Mother planned on informing her and explaining everything and what not, but unfortunately Maura then, had an accident-so to speak.

But again, that is from the other book. Her Father Maxwell as you may notice was not in her life as a Child, and now they are attempting to make it as a family. They want to try to be the family they never were. But once they start working on their family unit, tragedy seems to follow. It’s like something always has to ruin the good things, you know?!

While still trying to work on her family, Maura is also trying still working on her love life with Ron. So she uses Christmas to reunite with him and bring her family in closer.

Caelyn is still trying to deal with the Vampire lifestyle of her daughter. She truly hoped that this might not come to pass, you could just tell, deep down, she didn’t want it to be.

Thankfully, while everything is going up and down, and up and down, all these changes, Susie is here to listen and offer a listening ear.

I found this story so … heart wrenching, I screamed in my twitter at Claudette. I have always been in love with Maura and Ron, no offense I have insider secrets, and Maura and Ron remind me of Claudette and her husband. And they just can’t fall apart. So I’m reading this, and I scream. My dogs look at me. I grab my cell and scream at the writer. No, this is not happening. THAT is all I am saying because I get in trouble for being a spoiler blower.

As for my review, I personally have a problem with Maura calling Maxwell “Dad.” The Dude wasn’t in her life, I mean, maybe it wasn’t all her fault, maybe it was also Caelyn’s but still. He wasn’t there. To call him Dad from the beginning bothered me. But that’s just me.

I also had a problem with her Mother keeping a secret like that from her. Yeah we keeps secrets from our Children like Santa and the tooth fairy, and where the presents are hid. But what about when she became a teen and you gave her the safe sex talk? Why not tell her then?

I dearly loved both of the books, and how close they are. They are wonderful and you need to read them both. The first one was called: “Rising Tide: Dark Innocence” and it can also be found in this blog as well.

This book, just like the last one, is five stars. I truly enjoyed it. It pulled me in, making me feel everything. I cried, I screamed, and I wanted more, and I became involved. I could see and imagine the characters and their feelings. They are a wonderful family, and they deserve to work things out, all families do. And you want what is best for everyone, trust me.

And you will want to read this, all the way through. And you will not be able to put it down. But make sure you read both books! They belong together! They are amazing! And you will be glad that you have read them, and you will be a fan of Claudette just like I am, trust me! I give this book five stars! Now go buy your copy!



View all my reviews