Title: Headlines and Hydras (Terra Haven Chronicles Book Two)
Publisher: Mind Your Muse
Author: Rebecca Chastain
Pages: 418pp
Price: $14.99 / $4.99
Kylie Grayson has been living a lie. Well, not exactly a lie. A daughter of privilege, she is determined to make it on her own as a journalist in Terra Haven. Unfortunately, a jealous co-worker has exposed her secret in print; now her boss, her co-workers, and even her closest friends don’t trust her. On top of that, the vile harpy Zipporah is calling in Kylie’s life debt, her parents are being investigated for fraud and theft, deadly illegal spells are missing and potentially on the loose in Terra Haven, and … oh yeah … Grant Monaghan kissed her ….
I fell in love with the world of Terra Haven when I read Chastain’s Gargoyle Guardian Chronicles, and I was thrilled when she continued the series with the Terra Haven Chronicles. This is a wonderfully-conceived world of elemental magic, fantastical creatures, and heroes who will do whatever it takes to save the day and the people they love.
That right there is the biggest selling point for me. I can’t do anti-heroes. I can’t root for horrible people. I need heroes in my fiction, and there are plenty of those in the Terra Haven Chronicles. Not just Kylie, but Grant Monaghan and his entire team of full-spectrum elemental federal agents; and Quinn the gargoyle; and Kylie’s mother Charlotte; and even her crusty old landlady.
Not that they are perfect, of course; they all have their flaws. Kylie is stubborn and impulsive. Grant risks himself too much and too willingly to save others. Quinn has absolute faith in both Kylie and Grant; so much so that he follows them anywhere, into every sort of danger. And Kylie’s mother Charlotte is far too good at lying to protect her company and her reputation; she obviously loves her daughter, but those lies are putting Kylie in danger.
Each of Chastain’s books has at least one awesome action sequence, and Headlines and Hydras is no exception. Without too many spoilers, it involves the aforementioned hydras, plus pissed off thunderbirds, plus a storm of epic proportions, plus — nope. That’s enough. If you want to know the rest, you have to read the book.
The second volume in the Terra Haven Chronicles was a treat. Fun and exciting, it kept me deeply invested in the fates of the characters right up until the end. Now I just have to wait until November to see how things ultimately turn out!
Highly recommended to fans of Chastain’s other series, as well as fans of RJ Blain’s Vigilante Magical Librarians series, Lindsey Buroker’s Death Before Dragons series, the Sonoma Witches books by Gretchen Galway, Burning Bright by Melissa McShane, and The Malykant Mysteries by Charlotte E. English.
[Reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan.]
