Becca Andre was an author I heard of from another author, Lindsay Buroker. It always pays to look up other authors your favourite authors, Ms. Buroker, reads. What made Becca Andre’s books timely is I found out about them when I was vacationing on the Rhine River in Germany.
A cargo boat on the Rhine River
The first book I read was the Ferromancer, as seen above, takes place on the Ohio & Erie Canals, where Captain Briar runs cargo for the family business. Her life is perfect until her cousin decides to sell the family business to invest in the new transportation, the railway. Not willing to give up her family’s legacy, Briar snoops into her cousin’s business partner’s plans and realizes he is a Ferromancer.
She is determined to reveal her suspicions when her plans go sideways and she ends up kidnapping the very man she intended to reveal to the world. If she can prove he is using Ferromancy, she can save her and her friends way of life.
Briar is a gutsy, impulsive captain, who is used to managing a rowdy cargo boat team. She is not above getting her own justice through sneaky tactics, and plans on using those tactics to prove the use of Ferromancy. She ends up with the enemy on her boat and needs to keep it moving to prevent her cousin from selling it while she comes up with a new plan.
The characters are fun and full of life. I could feel what it was like to live on the boat and run the river. Already being on another cargo river run, it inspired me to research the boating life and changes of the Rhine River. From there I created my River Run Series.
Unlike Ms. Andre’s, my series takes part partially in the present and between two realms. But the love of the boating lifestyle and how generations of families stick with it intrigued me. And unlike her protagonist Briar, Ally does not want to continue that life and instead is trying to create a life of her own on shore.
A castle and village seen from my boat ride down the Rhine River
Her latest novella, Iron Tears, came out on my birthday, July 19th! I have yet to read it, but it had been moved high in my to-be-read pile. The protagonist, Kali, is another strong, bar-brawling woman. Her newly deceased mother is accused of being a witch, which puts Kali in confrontation with those who believe the rumour. The filigree-covered tear catcher she inherits from her mom puts her in confrontation with a cloaked man and the stranger, Perseus, who insists she is only have human.
Released July 19, 2020
I finally realized I should be using Goodreads to maintain my bookshelf of to-be-read (TBR) books, so I stop falling behind the writing of authors I enjoy. You can find her book series at: Becca Andre
If you want to explore one of Becca’s Andre’s book series, The Final Formula, Book 1 is currently free at Amazon. Happy reading!
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