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Unfamiliar Territory
When a shapeshifting jackal shows up with strange injuries at the zoo where Amy works, it starts her on a path that will teach her beautiful things about love, and why she has the ability to heal with her hands. Before she can stop to enjoy the wonder of her reunion with her soul mate, Jack, she must clear an enchanted haze of deception clouding her life. Jeopardizing their fate is a diabolical sorcerer, who threatens to take both of their lives in his quest for power. romance, thriller, suspense, witches, shapeshifter, paranormal romance, paranormal suspense, paranormal thriller, occult fiction, witchcraft.
- GenresParanormalFantasy
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 10, 2017
3 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Lucretia Stanhope
84 books115 followersLucretia Stanhope is a relentlessly optimistic crone who refuses to let her growing collection of rare illnesses steal her sparkle. She prefers to think of herself as medically fascinating as opposed to disabled. Seriously, half of these diseases sound less realistic than her most fanciful novels.
Powered by the support of an amazing husband and family, when she isn’t cuddling with her rescue chi-mixes, Thor and Moxie, she spends her days in creative pursuits that range from drawing and painting to crochet and writing.
This is the landing page for all the pen names that include solo and collaborative novels. Please note genres and content advisories as these novels range from YA friendly, to adult only romances and graphic horror, with a touch of everything in between.
Powered by the support of an amazing husband and family, when she isn’t cuddling with her rescue chi-mixes, Thor and Moxie, she spends her days in creative pursuits that range from drawing and painting to crochet and writing.
This is the landing page for all the pen names that include solo and collaborative novels. Please note genres and content advisories as these novels range from YA friendly, to adult only romances and graphic horror, with a touch of everything in between.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 8, 2017
I absolutely adored this story! Amy is a veterinarian who loves to heal animals. Her special gifts make her job especially easy…that is until she receives a wounded jackal. After healing him, she slowly begins to realize that her life is not what it seems. Her romantic interest, Greg, is not really into her and her best friend, Phil isn’t really her friend of all. Most important of all, the jackal isn’t just an animal but a shapeshifter…and her familiar at that.
Suspenseful and action-packed, Unfamiliar Territory will keep you reading as plot twist after plot twist unfolds. Definitely recommend this book for everyone who loves books about witches and magic!
Suspenseful and action-packed, Unfamiliar Territory will keep you reading as plot twist after plot twist unfolds. Definitely recommend this book for everyone who loves books about witches and magic!
September 26, 2017
A Story of Eternal Love
This story is about recognizing the potential we have inside ourselves as we live vicariously through the main character’s life as she traverses hardships in relationships while ultimately looking for her soul-mate. Even the title, Unfamiliar Territory, is a wonderful play on words which demonstrates how we navigate through life only seeing those things which we want to see. We can feel Amy’s pain as those around her are not always as they seem and watch her grow in confidence and begin trusting in her own feelings and instincts for the first time. This is a wonderfully written book!
This story is about recognizing the potential we have inside ourselves as we live vicariously through the main character’s life as she traverses hardships in relationships while ultimately looking for her soul-mate. Even the title, Unfamiliar Territory, is a wonderful play on words which demonstrates how we navigate through life only seeing those things which we want to see. We can feel Amy’s pain as those around her are not always as they seem and watch her grow in confidence and begin trusting in her own feelings and instincts for the first time. This is a wonderfully written book!
October 29, 2017
Amy has always felt a connection with nature. Over time she has even learned that she has a special gift, one she doesn’t quite understand or use very often – she can heal with her hands.
Working as a vet tech for a zoo, Amy uses her talent to heal an injured jackal shot with an arrow. The animal had been found outside of the zoo, a strange thing since that particular type of animal is not one that is found naturally in the area. Amy feels a connection with the jackal and after healing him, she affectionately calls him Jack. A couple of days later, when Amy returns to check on Jack, she finds her office door unlocked and the jackal missing.
Unfamiliar Territory is a well written story with few grammatical errors and an interesting plot. It is a bit slow to start but the pace picks up nicely after the first few chapters.
There is a lot mystery, magic, and surprises in this well told story, and I truly enjoyed it.
Working as a vet tech for a zoo, Amy uses her talent to heal an injured jackal shot with an arrow. The animal had been found outside of the zoo, a strange thing since that particular type of animal is not one that is found naturally in the area. Amy feels a connection with the jackal and after healing him, she affectionately calls him Jack. A couple of days later, when Amy returns to check on Jack, she finds her office door unlocked and the jackal missing.
Unfamiliar Territory is a well written story with few grammatical errors and an interesting plot. It is a bit slow to start but the pace picks up nicely after the first few chapters.
There is a lot mystery, magic, and surprises in this well told story, and I truly enjoyed it.
December 15, 2017
This is the first book I have read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It revolves around Amy, a veterinarian, who has the ability to heal the sick and injured. It isn't until an animal is brought into the zoo, where she works, that she starts to discover that she is more than just a healer, and the animal is a shape-shifter who has been attacked with a magical arrow. Amy's investigation soon uncovers darkness around her and a sorcerer intent on stealing both her and the jackal's power.
The story moves at a good pace and the main character is very likeable. I found myself rooting for her and the jackal. There is also a great love story woven into the book.
Well worth a read 5*
The story moves at a good pace and the main character is very likeable. I found myself rooting for her and the jackal. There is also a great love story woven into the book.
Well worth a read 5*
September 15, 2017
Unfamiliar Territory is not what I originally expected when I started reading it. It starts slow and builds really, really well. The pace is just right and it flows great.
As I read the story, I fell in love with Amy, she is kind, caring, crafty, devious, cunning and a loving individual. She’s strong willed and has a stubborn personality to match. I have but one issue that I didn’t like about how her character was written – her emotional state. Someone close to her dies – no details, I don’t want to spoil it – and she is understandably upset, however, that didn’t translate well on paper.
I got that she was upset, crying, etc, but she was easily distracted from her grieving state, so much so that I just couldn’t emotionally connect with her state. That put me off as a reader. I appreciated that she had a lot going on with the sorcerer and suddenly being surround by magic and that she was magical, but even so, if someone died who I was seriously close to, I would be in no fit mind or state to do anything for a while but to grieve.
Greg, I liked him in strange sort of way. He is the type of character that even though he’s the bad guy and he does some really evil stuff, especially to Amy and her friends, that you should hate him, but I can’t seem to find it in me to do so. If I was supposed to really despise this guy, then I believe the author needs to give him a more ‘hate-able’ nature.
Phil … what can I say. I didn’t see that coming; I should have but I didn’t. The guy is really quite likeable, even at the end … sort of. I’m not sure if this was intended by the author but he comes across quite … erm … camp, which I found worked in his characters favour. His character and personality were so well written, I honestly found him to be the star of the book. I loved how he wasn’t who you thought he was – sorry, but I’m not giving stuff away … you wanna know, better read it!
Now, let’s move on to the story – really enjoyable. I loved the plot, I thought it was quite originally – though I haven’t read every paranormal romance ever written. I thought the emotionally charged triangle relationship between Amy, Greg (the Sorcerer) and the Shifter, whom she named Jack to be really interesting. The characters seemed to gel well in the story and the love, conflict and tension between these characters really drives the plot.
I also enjoyed the fact that Amy was originally conflicted about her love interest – she wasn’t sure whether to be with Greg or Jack … that felt believable and made the read excitable. You wondered whether should would stay with Greg or break the spell cast upon her and end up with Jack … or, whether there was more involved that meets the eye. All good stuff.
On a more critical note, I thought the writing style was a little repetitive in places, and somewhat plain. As noted previously, there needs to be something done about the emotional connect to the reader from the characters. Lastly, I didn’t like that other character’s view points and thought came through whilst writing from Amy’s perspective. If view points and thoughts are going to change characters, then there needs to be a something to showcase a change in perspective otherwise I fell like the author is tell me what is happening rather than being shown by her characters – it’s more of personal note; as an author, I’ve had the same issue and wanted to point it out; however, it doesn’t detract from the story.
All in all, this book is a really great read and I enjoyed the story. To any and all readers of paranormal/shifter/romance, I would recommend this book.
As I read the story, I fell in love with Amy, she is kind, caring, crafty, devious, cunning and a loving individual. She’s strong willed and has a stubborn personality to match. I have but one issue that I didn’t like about how her character was written – her emotional state. Someone close to her dies – no details, I don’t want to spoil it – and she is understandably upset, however, that didn’t translate well on paper.
I got that she was upset, crying, etc, but she was easily distracted from her grieving state, so much so that I just couldn’t emotionally connect with her state. That put me off as a reader. I appreciated that she had a lot going on with the sorcerer and suddenly being surround by magic and that she was magical, but even so, if someone died who I was seriously close to, I would be in no fit mind or state to do anything for a while but to grieve.
Greg, I liked him in strange sort of way. He is the type of character that even though he’s the bad guy and he does some really evil stuff, especially to Amy and her friends, that you should hate him, but I can’t seem to find it in me to do so. If I was supposed to really despise this guy, then I believe the author needs to give him a more ‘hate-able’ nature.
Phil … what can I say. I didn’t see that coming; I should have but I didn’t. The guy is really quite likeable, even at the end … sort of. I’m not sure if this was intended by the author but he comes across quite … erm … camp, which I found worked in his characters favour. His character and personality were so well written, I honestly found him to be the star of the book. I loved how he wasn’t who you thought he was – sorry, but I’m not giving stuff away … you wanna know, better read it!
Now, let’s move on to the story – really enjoyable. I loved the plot, I thought it was quite originally – though I haven’t read every paranormal romance ever written. I thought the emotionally charged triangle relationship between Amy, Greg (the Sorcerer) and the Shifter, whom she named Jack to be really interesting. The characters seemed to gel well in the story and the love, conflict and tension between these characters really drives the plot.
I also enjoyed the fact that Amy was originally conflicted about her love interest – she wasn’t sure whether to be with Greg or Jack … that felt believable and made the read excitable. You wondered whether should would stay with Greg or break the spell cast upon her and end up with Jack … or, whether there was more involved that meets the eye. All good stuff.
On a more critical note, I thought the writing style was a little repetitive in places, and somewhat plain. As noted previously, there needs to be something done about the emotional connect to the reader from the characters. Lastly, I didn’t like that other character’s view points and thought came through whilst writing from Amy’s perspective. If view points and thoughts are going to change characters, then there needs to be a something to showcase a change in perspective otherwise I fell like the author is tell me what is happening rather than being shown by her characters – it’s more of personal note; as an author, I’ve had the same issue and wanted to point it out; however, it doesn’t detract from the story.
All in all, this book is a really great read and I enjoyed the story. To any and all readers of paranormal/shifter/romance, I would recommend this book.
April 3, 2018
Amy never suspected that a wounded jackal, unexpectedly appearing in her zoo, would soon change her ordinary life so drastically. The jackal manages to escape under mysterious circumstances, and the arrow, with which he was wounded, unwittingly causes her best friend’s violent death. Soon, a chain of strangest events starts taking place, where nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted anymore…
I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this particular story. The plot twist in the middle, where the sorcerer finally revealed himself, caught me by surprise, and that does not happen often. The sense of danger, lurking in the shadows, made me turn pages faster as I couldn’t help but root for Amy and Jack as the enemy was closing in. Fast-paced and imaginative, this story would be a great addition to all fans of the supernatural genre.
I really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this particular story. The plot twist in the middle, where the sorcerer finally revealed himself, caught me by surprise, and that does not happen often. The sense of danger, lurking in the shadows, made me turn pages faster as I couldn’t help but root for Amy and Jack as the enemy was closing in. Fast-paced and imaginative, this story would be a great addition to all fans of the supernatural genre.
February 6, 2019
This was a great story with magic, suspense, witch hunters, and soul mates. Amy thinks she's just healing an injured jackal, but looking into the arrow that pierced his neck shows Amy that the people close to her aren't who she thinks they are. Amy's boyfriend Greg is not all that great (He kind of creeped me out from the start) and the rest of her support system starts crumbling as well. There is a sorcerer after Amy's powers. The jackal is actually a shapeshifter and her soul mate, but for reason I won't spoil, can't help her just yet.
There is a lot of action, suspense, and sizzle in this story
There is a lot of action, suspense, and sizzle in this story
December 30, 2017
5-Stars for Shape-shifting, Magic, and a Great Plot!
As it started out, this book’s female protagonist Amy reminded me a little of the female lead (Rowan), and that was intrigue enough to keep me going. I loved this book and the story! Who doesn’t like shape-shifting creatures who turn into hot guys sent to protect you? And there’s magic! Plenty of that! On top of all this goodness the prose was well-crafted and the plot un-contrived and unexpected. I won’t give any spoilers – I’ll just encourage you to give it a shot (there’s a pun in there, read the book to find it!). 5 Stars!
As it started out, this book’s female protagonist Amy reminded me a little of the female lead (Rowan), and that was intrigue enough to keep me going. I loved this book and the story! Who doesn’t like shape-shifting creatures who turn into hot guys sent to protect you? And there’s magic! Plenty of that! On top of all this goodness the prose was well-crafted and the plot un-contrived and unexpected. I won’t give any spoilers – I’ll just encourage you to give it a shot (there’s a pun in there, read the book to find it!). 5 Stars!
January 14, 2018
So, I just finished Unfamiliar Territory and I have so many thoughts! This story was well though out and well written. I devoured this story so fast. I couldn’t help myself reading this extraordinary story within just a couple of days. I loved Amy and Jack so much. Their relationship was incredible to read, along with the turmoil they both faced as magical beings facing the dilemmas they were. If you love witches and magic, you will totally love this book! I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.
October 16, 2017
A witch's familiar, a witch who doesn't know she is a witch, and two demon witch hunters determined to steel her powers, come together to give the reader a real world fantasy that is an interesting take on the shifter genre. This is a gently unfolding witch/shifter story with a slight romance thread. Recommended for YA (even though the protagonist is a little older) and those that prefer clean, sweet romances.
September 16, 2017
I love the paranormal! This book doesn't disappoint, with shifters and magic running amuck! A perfect read for this time of year to get me in the Halloween mood. The story was interesting and held my attention from start to finish.
Amy found her soul mate, but forces are working against them. I loved the magic and originality of this tale! I can't wait to read more by this author.
Amy found her soul mate, but forces are working against them. I loved the magic and originality of this tale! I can't wait to read more by this author.
September 20, 2017
This book features a strong, caring female lead, an evil sorcerer, a shape shifter, and an imaginative, compelling story. The conflict and love interests between this trio of Amy, Greg, and Jack really builds up the anticipation, and the creativity with magic and the paranormal abilities also keeps the story exciting and the pages turning. Very entertaining, I will follow this author!
October 23, 2017
The author nailed it again with this romantic witch story. It’s an enjoyable read with a fair bit of suspense and action thrown in to keep you on the edge. Of course I also had fun trying to imagine how Jack looks like as a gorgeous man. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for a leisurely romantic read in bed after a long day at work.
March 11, 2019
Love this Author
However this was a hard read for me... honestly I had to re-read many parts and kept falling asleep. I knew AbigAil was way before the reveal. Listeria is one of my favorites but she has written better stories.... this one is a time filler in my humble opinion
However this was a hard read for me... honestly I had to re-read many parts and kept falling asleep. I knew AbigAil was way before the reveal. Listeria is one of my favorites but she has written better stories.... this one is a time filler in my humble opinion
July 16, 2017
Loved this book
This author has a way to draw the reader in and make them love her characters almost immediately! I hope she turns this into a series!
This author has a way to draw the reader in and make them love her characters almost immediately! I hope she turns this into a series!
December 17, 2017
Unfamiliar Territory
It was a good story, with a witch, her familiar, evil sorcerer and his apprentice and an ultimate fight for power. A bit predictable but still a good HEA.
It was a good story, with a witch, her familiar, evil sorcerer and his apprentice and an ultimate fight for power. A bit predictable but still a good HEA.
July 17, 2020
This book has the potential to be an engaging thriller.
Unfortunately, the writing style is a little lacking. The author spends a lot of time telling without much showing. I don't want to read a story where I'm told how the character feels. I want to feel what the character feels. If that is fixed, along with the mundane daily tasks and small talk included in the story, this will be a great story. There was an event near the end that I was disappointed that it was never explained.
Also, I love the cover, but it looks like paranormal romance and gives no hint of the thriller elements, so the story was not really what I was expecting.
Unfortunately, the writing style is a little lacking. The author spends a lot of time telling without much showing. I don't want to read a story where I'm told how the character feels. I want to feel what the character feels. If that is fixed, along with the mundane daily tasks and small talk included in the story, this will be a great story. There was an event near the end that I was disappointed that it was never explained.
Also, I love the cover, but it looks like paranormal romance and gives no hint of the thriller elements, so the story was not really what I was expecting.
December 9, 2017
I am thrilled to have stumbled across this great read. This is a story about a woman coming into her power with a little bit of help from her smokin' hot shape shifter familiar, Jack. To be honest I always go into reading supernatural books with a bit of trepidation, because there is so much of it out there. But Stanhope did not disappoint with this one.
The story jumps right in when Amy, a zoologist and dormant witch, finds a wounded Jackal in her care. I don't want to give too much away, but the adventure begins right away. What drew me in about this book was the richness of the characters. Each one, Amy, her librarian friend Joy, her sexually adventurous bestie Phil, and her dating-but-not-really friend Greg, all jumped off the page and I found myself caring about their journey. (After the first few chapters I even found myself yelling warnings at Amy to watch the heck out!)
The only real complaint I had was a few times I felt as if the plot happened around Amy rather than her being an active participant, but this occurred only here and there. I enjoyed this book immensely, and I am super excited to get to know more of Stanhope's works.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews