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Shelby Mahurin Books In Order

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Publication Order of Serpent & Dove Books

Serpent & Dove (2019)Description / Buy at Amazon
Blood & Honey (2020)Description / Buy at Amazon
Gods & Monsters (2021)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of The Scarlet Veil Books

The Scarlet Veil (2023)Description / Buy at Amazon

Shelby Mahurin is an American young adult fantasy author from Indiana. She made her name with the publication of “Serpent & Dove,” a swoony and gorgeous young adult fantasy in 2019. Mahurin is an Indiana native and was brought up on a small farm where she pretended cows became dragons and sticks became wands. She kept her fertile imagination well into adulthood and now uses it to write enthralling novels about humans rather than cows. She still lives in Indiana with her husband, two toddlers, a cat, and two dogs. When she is not writing her bestselling novels she loves to obsess over her Twitter feed or binge-watch reruns of “The Office.”

Shelby got interested in writing from a very early age and wrote a few poems. Most of the poetry was nonsense as she was infatuated with never growing up hence she wrote a lot about Neverland. However, some of it was moving, in particular, a poem about grief she titled “When I’m Gone.” It was quite a poignant piece of writing for a child especially one that had never lost any close friend or family member. The poetry resonated with enough people that an editor included it in a small anthology that he published. When her grandmother died her poem “When I’m Gone” was read at the funeral and she still chokes up just thinking about it. As she grew older she started reading more novels and asserts that Lloyd Alexander’s “The Arkadians” had a significant influence on her. It had everything to titillate the senses including the immersive world-building, fantasy, powerful women, humor and a lead character with paranormal powers. It was the novel that gave the first taste of forbidden romance and she would later incorporate all these elements in her writings. She also read other novels that included J.K Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels, Naomi Novik’s “Uprooted,” Gail Carson Levine’s “Ella Enchanted,” Sarah J. Maas’s “A Court of Mist and Fury,” and Libba Bray’s “The Diviners” among others.

Shelby Mahurin’s debut novel “Serpent & Dove” is an enchanting novel about magic, deception, love, and betrayal in a world divided between a mysterious cabal of witches and a dictatorial theocratic government. Lou a witch finds herself married to Reid a witch hunter and the man is none the wiser. Louise is hiding from someone badder and bigger than her husband and she cannot afford to get caught given that the kingdom’s fate is intertwined with hers. The townsfolk think Lou is a monster and they do not like that she has got into an alliance with Reid Diggory their witch hunter. The setting of the story is set an in an atmospheric world with a background in French folklore and culture.

Speaking in an interview, Mahurin asserted that she wanted to conceptualize Lou differently from the usual young adult fantasy trope where a best friend is often the quirky type. Lou comes across as the best friend personality with a crude sense of humor Lou is developed an antithesis which makes for an interesting enemies to lovers romance between her and Reid. In the novel, there is no clear definition of black and white or good and evil as Shelby believes that the novel is set in an incredibly polarizing world. The kingdom of Belterra is just as stark as our contemporary world where the lines are not so clearly demarcated. She got some of the inspiration from the fact that she loves in a rural area where she often disagrees with her neighbors but still has to practice the values of human connection, tolerance and empathy. She therefore writes a story that is equal parts terrifying, hopeful, heart wrenching and ultimately beautiful. Shelby did assert that he wrote the novel as pure entertainment but that it does distill a lot of the social and political landscape in our contemporary world.

“Serpent & Dove” is the first novel of the stunning Serpent and Dove duology. It is a story of forbidden love and witchcraft similar to the works of Sara Holland and Kendare Blake. Louise Blanc had fled the warmth of her coven and fled to the city of Cesarine, where she subsists on stealing anything she could find. In the city, witches are feared, hunted and burned and hence Lou has reason to be very afraid. On the other hand is Reid Diggory a hunter commissioned by the church who has sworn to suffer no witches. But the Lou cunningly pulls a stunt that forces them into a marriage. Lou cannot change who she is and her feelings for Reid are growing every day. Love is making a fool of her and she needs to make a choice soon given that she is living in a very dangerous situation. It is set in a world of off the charts romance, dark magic and powerful women that will leave readers wanting more.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Shelby Mahurin

2 Responses to “Shelby Mahurin”

  1. Brenda J Kelly: 2 years ago

    Is Gods & Monsters currently available in paperback? Amazon says it has been since July 2021; bookstores I have checked say it will not be in paperback until July 2022. Thanks

    Reply
    • Graeme: 2 years ago

      It looks like it won’t be until July 2022. The Amazon listing has a couple of companies from outside of Amazon stating they are selling the paperback but that could just be an error on their part and they meant to list it under hardcover.

      Reply

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