Paperback Princess: Vanish by Nicola Marsh {Author Interview + Review}

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Vanish by Nicola Marsh {Author Interview + Review}

3:30 pm | Posted by Unknown

Welcome to Nicola Marsh at Paperback Princess

Nicola is an Australian Adult and YA Author, and I am featuring her today for her YA series "The Soul Retriever". I was introduced to Nicola's writing when I participated in Banish's blog tour organised by Harlequin Teen, so it was just an automatic reaction for me to want to read Vanish, Banish's prequel, since I absolutely LOVED Banish, click here for my review.

I was lucky enough that Nicola was willing to do an Interview with me. Please read on as well for my thoughts on Vanish.

About The Author

Nicola Marsh

USA TODAY bestselling author Nicola Marsh writes flirty fiction with flair for adults and spooky, supernatural fiction for young adults.

She has published 53 books with Harlequin, Entangled Publishing and indie, and sold over 6 million copies worldwide.

Her first mainstream contemporary romance, BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD (Entangled Publishing) released to rave reviews, including a nomination for RWA's RBY, Romantic Book of the Year 2012. Her first indie-pubbed contemporary romance CRAZY LOVE released September 2012, is a Barnes & Noble bestseller, and was nominated for a 2012 ARRA award.

Her young adult debut, BANISH, a supernatural thriller featuring Wicca, spirits and murder, released August 2013 with Harlequin Teen. Her young adult fantasy SCION OF THE SUN (Month9Books) won the National Readers' Choice Award for Best YA novel 2014.

She's also a Waldenbooks, Bookscan and Barnes & Noble bestseller, a 2013 RBY and National Readers' Choice Award winner, is a multiple finalist for awards including the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, Booksellers' Best, Golden Quill, Laurel Wreath, More than Magic and has won several CataRomance Reviewers' Choice Awards.

~ Author Interview ~

Nicola, prior to writing Banish most of your books were Adult Romance, what made you decide to write a thriller and a Young Adult for that matter?

A few years ago I got hooked on YA books. Twilight kicked off my newfound desire for all things YA and I devoured as many YA books as I could in the following years. I’ve always loved thrillers (Lisa Gardner is brilliant!) so combining my two loves, YA and thrillers, seemed a natural progression.

And Nicola still reads YA books, she just finished Divergent by Veronica Roth.

I know that this isn't a very original question but I really wanted to know...where did you get the inspiration for Banish?

People are obsessed with watching YouTube clips. Followed by the usual ‘what if’ question that sparks most of my books…what if a girl saw something on a clip that she shouldn’t? What if she saw a murder? That’s how BANISH was born.

What made you write a prequel to Banish, Vanish?

When BANISH was published, I knew it would polarize readers. Alyssa is a very angry heroine. She has her reasons so I figured writing VANISH would bring those to the fore and explain a lot of her rationale.

Choosing a theme song for Banish, what would it be?

Considering the hero Ronan is a sexy geek saxophonist obsessed with jazz, it would have to be an old-time classic. Something by Miles Davis perhaps?

You used to be a Physiotherapist, what made you move from Physio to writer?

I’d been saying for many years ‘I want to write a book one day’ so after 13 years as a physio, I stopped saying it and actually did it. I was lucky to sell quite quickly. 54 books published and a decade later, it’s still my dream job!

You’re also a reader, do you prefer hardback, paperback or ebook?

Paperback and hardback are my first preferences. I’m a book- sniffer since I was a kid so I love holding a book and that new book smell.

I'm a fellow book sniffer, and many look at me like I'm going crazy when I tell them, glad I'm not the only one LOL

3 Books in Nicola's TBR

Nicola's MUST HAVES when writing

Mac Air, Notebook & Pen and Herbal Tea

Photo Sources: Discover Singing, PC Mag and Woolworths

You have had so many awards, what's next for Nicola Marsh?

Keep writing the books I love: contemporary romance and YA. And hope readers love them enough to keep buying. Awards are lovely but it’s sales that count to pay my bills.

Can you give us any sneak peak to what's coming for the Soul Retriever series?

Alyssa will finally confront her developing powers and embrace her role as a soul retriever. But with her grandmother AWOL, her mother enlists the help of Joel, the only guy who really understands what Alyssa is going through. He’s going to feature heavily in book 3 and will challenge Ronan for Alyssa’s affections.

Sequel to Banish will be released in 2016, so keep your eye out for it!

About The Book

Vanish

by Nicola Marsh

Series: The Soul Retriever # 0.5

Release Date: May 19, 2015
Source: Author

FREE for a limited time only

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords

Seventeen year old Alyssa Wood's life is turned upside down when her boyfriend kills himself the day after she dumps him. Blamed by the townsfolk of Broadwater and ostracised by her friends is bad enough. But the fallout from dealing with her mom's increasingly frequent psychotic episodes sends her fleeing to New York City to live with her aunt, a Wicca High Priestess.

Alyssa doesn't believe in magic, not any more.

She has a new life to lead: a new BFF in Seth and a major crush on Ronan, the sexy geek saxophonist who tutors music at her high school.

Can she leave her old life behind or will the ghosts of the past continue to haunt her?

Book Review

BANISH raised a lot of questions about Alyssa Wood, the seventeen year old heroine. Readers wanted to know what made Alyssa so cynical and angry. So it was inevitable I had to write VANISH, a prequel where we get to see why Alyssa is the way she is.he has faced some tough stuff in her past, particularly with her mother.

But there is so much more to their fraught relationship…we get to see some of it resolved in BANISH but I have a feeling there’s a lot more to Alyssa’s story…

I think that Nicola pretty much summed it up in the paragraph above. Vanish is a prequel of Banish and you know how much I loved Banish, check out my review here.

Vanish is timed after Noah passed away and before Alyssa moves to her Aunt Angie's house at New York City. It gives us more of an understanding on what happened, how her and her Mother interacted before she moved and what made her move.

As usual Nicola's writing was perfection, and although it was a short read I still enjoyed it as it gave me an insight and more understanding on why Alyssa was the way she was when she moved to her Aunt's. In my Banish review I mentioned that Alyssa was not a likeable character at the beginning but that opinion of Alyssa has definitely changed after reading Vanish.

Vanish is simply that, a prequel to Banish, to help readers fill in the blanks for the mystery that unfolded in Banish. I am very much looking forward to the 2nd book in the Soul Retriever series.