Hell Gate

Neighborhood Watch #1

by Morgon Newquist

Emilia King has made an art of bad choices. Just ask her mother, she’ll tell you every single thing she’s done wrong for years.

When her latest bad choice changes the locks to their apartment and leaves all her stuff on the doorstep, Emilia can’t bear to hear “I told you so” one more time. So she moves in with her grandfather. Then she can have some space to figure out who…and what she wants to be, without her mother breathing down her neck.

What she finds there is anything but peace. Her grandfather battles invisible creatures in the dark. Neighbors torn apart by wild beasts.

Not to mention the moody, gorgeous man across the street with the motorcycle. The kind of man that’s her kryponite.

But when her grandfather falls ill, his position of head of the Neighborhood Watch falls to her. And in this neighborhood, it’s more than measuring grass height or catching petty thefts.

As she uncovers her grandfather’s double life, his mistakes are coming back to stalk the neighborhood in the form of a vicious, shapeshifting beast. Thrust into a world of magic and monsters, Emilia is out of her depth.

Can she save the neighborhood? And do it without falling for the fae across the street?

Morgon Newquist moves into Urban Fantasy with this fast paced, witty urban fantasy series about an unusual Neighborhood Watch. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Bella Forrest will love Hellgate’s female hero, handsome fae, and magical battles.

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 24, 2021

About the author

Morgon Newquist started life by causing an international incident in Central America, and has been marching to the beat of her own drummer ever since. She grew up in the Rocket City - Huntsville, Alabama. After a stint at the University of Georgia to study Latin, she has returned to the place of her upbringing where she wrangles two dogs, a cat, and four children daily.

She is an avid fan of fantasy, science fiction, gaming of all types and other nerdy pursuits.

Her current focus is an ongoing saga of sword and sorcery short stories called The School of Spells and War. The first novella, Down The Dragon Hole, is highly rated and continues to introduce many new fans to the series.

Morgon has worked as a freelance writer off and on since 2007, and written for video game mythologies, table top RpGs, online game guides, and blogs as well as her own short works. She has several published short stories and is currently working on several novels.

Reviews

[cleo ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I LOVED this. It has everything that makes me fall in love:

- a snarky MC with a penchant for asshole bikers
- said arrogant-yet-with-a-soft-side hot motorcycle-riding leather-clad half-fae
- supernatural creatures
- magic and fire
- ghosts
- tumultuous relationships with parents
- and sarcastic, witty, super fun writing that strikes a great balance between humorous and serious

A really great kickoff to the world and the series; in this, Emilia discovers the hidden world around her of supernatural creatures, and has to fight for her life while dealing with a mother who thinks of her as a screwup, a grandfather with dementia, and a really, REALLY hot half-fae neighbour named Kai (my new book boyfriend anybody?) Not only is there lots of action, but also soft moments and serious moments.

I think the characters were so well-developed, with potential to delve deeper in further books. There's mystery and intrigue surrounding each and their histories, and we barely scratch the surface here, though enough to pique our curiosities. I'd love to see more of Emilia's relationship with her grandfather and mother, and with HERSELF, Kai's own relationship with his parents and his half-blood lineage, and how Silas navigates the world being who he is, with a half-tread into each world at all times.

[Ken Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our main character, Emilia, seems to be normal young lady who moves in with her grandfather to look after him. However, little does she know, he's the neighborhood's local protector against the supernatural. When he falls ill and needs to be hospitalized, she is pulled into his supernatural world and ends up doing battle with a wolf-like creature with the help of her neighbors, Kai, who is half Faerie, and Silas, who can see and talk with ghosts.

The story moves a bit slowly at the beginning, but picks up pace quickly. There is lots of action mixed in with some explanations of how the supernatural world works without slowing down the story.

[Di Ketchup · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a bad breakup and in an attempt to avoid "I told you so" from her mother Emilia moves with her grandfather, hoping for some much needed quiet time. Boy, was she wrong. She finds herself in a middle of a war, magic and beasts are everywhere. There is also a good-looking, across the street neighbor with a secret of his own. There is much going on, dive into the world of Neighborhood Watch and see what happens.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Annalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emilia moves in with her grandfather so she can get a fresh start. Her neighborhood is crawling with monsters and her senile grandfather chases them. I am hooked on this series. The characters and the plot are really wonderful. I thought this book was exciting and mysterious. I can't wait for the next one to come out. It is thoroughly entertaining.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Bookworm52732 · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those with a low tolerance for self-centered, 23-going-on-14 airheads, take heart. Emilia matures, somewhat. Funny how the helicoptering mom never shows up...

Try to ignore the poor editing. The best (worst) was 'he titled his head' versus tilted. Missing words. Google docs would have highlighted this stuff.

That said, it's a good story. Very entertaining.

[tburbr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great start to a new series. The character work and story line were well written and kept me reading from beginning to end. I can't wait to see what happens next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[S.M. McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our heroine is relatable with her outsider/f*up of the family that no one trusts, but ends up being the only one available to help out her grandfather as his dementia worsens. Sure, she gets free room and board for her efforts, but she genuinely cares about the old coot, and feeling needed and helpful is a boost she was in serious need of after an unpleasant break up with her bad-boy ex. Motorcycles are her weakness, and guess who lives across the street but a hot neighbor with a bike, but the whole neighborhood is keeping a secret, and so is her grandfather as head of the neighborhood watch... When his illness worsens and their little community is next to a hell gate there are suspicious murders by something not human at all, and she may be next if she doesn't figure out a way to save her grandpa, and the neighborhood before the gates are opened. She doesn't have any powers, but she may be exactly what the neighborhood needed.