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The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen #2)

by Amanda Stevens (Goodreads Author)

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 2,120 ratings · 425 reviews

Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town...

My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I’ve been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I’m coming to think I have another purpose here.

Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I’ve...more

Kindle Edition, 1st Edition, 376 pages

Published March 27th 2012 by Mira (first published January 1st 2012)

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Feb 03, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-pnr-sci-fi-romance

"I always knew this place was tainted," she said. "I could feel it in the wind when I first came here. It got so I was afraid to go outside after dark, and I was never that way back home. But I knew something was out there...watching and waiting..."

With a new commission Amelia Gray leaves Charleston for a graveyard restoration at Asher Falls in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. Having left behind her love and her hopes for John Devlin, Amelia is thrust into more myster...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Rane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads-arcs-netgallery, urban-fantasy, keeper

The isolated kingdom surrounded by water- looms heavy over the town that once blossom, now cloaked by darkness and evil. And there underneath the water lays stone angels and the graves of those of the unrest as they walk among the living looking for peace and justice.

The Kingdom takes place a few months after the events of The Restorer, with the focus on a past unknown to even Amelia Gray. Amanda Stevens turns up the dial on the spooky and suspense level. First and foremost with The Restorer th...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Jenny Q rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley, best-of-2012

4.5 Stars. The Restorer was one of my favorite books of 2011 and I was anxiously awaiting it's sequel. The Kingdom did not disappoint. The spook factor begins on page one, as Amelia makes her way to the remote town of Asher Falls to restore the small town's cemetery. Amelia's grateful for the change in scenery. She needs a break from Charleston, from the events of the past few months, and she's running away from the man she loves, John Devlin, and the ghosts that haunt him.

But Asher Falls turns...more 4.5 Stars. The Restorer was one of my favorite books of 2011 and I was anxiously awaiting it's sequel. The Kingdom did not disappoint. The spook factor begins on page one, as Amelia makes her way to the remote town of Asher Falls to restore the small town's cemetery. Amelia's grateful for the change in scenery. She needs a break from Charleston, from the events of the past few months, and she's running away from the man she loves, John Devlin, and the ghosts that haunt him.

But Asher Falls turns out to be nothing like Amelia was expecting. From the moment she arrives she knows something is off. The town seems half-empty, and the folks that are around are strange, and not entirely welcoming. She soon learns who the major players are: an eccentric old millionaire, a disfigured sheriff with a chip on his shoulder, a coven of witches, and a smokin' hot playboy, Thane Asher. Amelia thinks his interest in her is easy to figure out: she's new and different and something for Thane to toy with to alleviate the boredom of being trapped in a small town life, as heir to a family legacy he doesn't even want. But Asher Falls starts having a powerful effect on Amelia, as the ghosts start to rise, the cemetery starts to reveal its secrets, and something evil stalks her from the woods, and Thane may be the only person who can protect her physically and mentally. Keeping her secret becomes difficult, as the ghosts she sees seem to have personal connections to her, and as the townspeople watch her as if waiting for a reaction. When she starts digging in to the town's mysteries and how she plays a role in them, someone--or something--becomes determined to stop her.

And that's where I'll stop to avoid spoilers. The plot is tight and twisted and deliciously spooky. The cemetery at the bottom of the lake aspect was creepy as hell, with ghosts rising like mist off the lake each twilight. The small town mentality, family secrets, witches, curses, sexy Thane Asher, and that thing in the woods all combine for a hair-raising good read. Aside from the difference in setting, this book has quite a different feel from the first book. But the story still had that power to suck me in and keep my spine tingling and on the edge of my seat all night long. And it is full of answers. Amelia finally learns who she really is and where she came from. I could not put it down. And though I loved it, I did really miss Charleston and John Devlin, but the last line of the book--what a way to end it!--promises plenty of both in the next installment of the series!(less)

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Feb 18, 2012 Madame X rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, paranormal-urban-fantasy, ghosts, sophomore-slump, romance-spans-multiple-books

The Restorer was one of those books that snuck up on me. It wasn't until I'd recommended it a couple of times to other people that I realized how much I'd liked it myself. I was eager to pick up the sequel and the first few pages brought me right back into Amelia Gray's world. I sank right into the book's vivid setting and gloriously creepy Southern Gothic atmosphere.

In THE KINGDOM, Amelia has been hired onto a new project. She's to restore Thorngate cemetery in isolated, decaying Asher Falls,...more The Restorer was one of those books that snuck up on me. It wasn't until I'd recommended it a couple of times to other people that I realized how much I'd liked it myself. I was eager to pick up the sequel and the first few pages brought me right back into Amelia Gray's world. I sank right into the book's vivid setting and gloriously creepy Southern Gothic atmosphere.

In THE KINGDOM, Amelia has been hired onto a new project. She's to restore Thorngate cemetery in isolated, decaying Asher Falls, a town where everyone and everything is as terrifying as possible. The arrogant statues in the cemetery seem to watch her. Her employer is a suspiciously beautiful witch whose apparent age changes from moment to moment by a factor of decades. The local patriarch is an evil old man in a wheelchair and even the schoolchildren have ulterior motives.

Amelia's first friend in Asher Falls is a stray dog. I like a good pet character and Amelia's kindness toward Angus reflects well on her, but Stevens repeatedly uses Angus to make Amelia do stupid things. Angus is supposed to be a guard dog, but he's always being nabbed or charging off into dangerous situations, then howling or whimpering for help.

The first time Amelia almost dies chasing after Angus, I was completely on board. She can't predict what's coming, she doesn't want the creature to suffer, so of course she's going to go after him. The third or fourth times, not so much. Angus may be sweet and loyal, but he's not a free pass for lazy plotting.

Unfortunately, this dog thing is symptomatic of how THE KINGDOM unravels. While Amelia is feeling out her new environment, the book is really strong. A lot of paranormal/UF books are about figuring out the rules of an alternate reality and then mastering them. In the Graveyard Queen books, the "other side" is too powerful, too overwhelming to ever understand or master. That's really powerful and chilling.

But as the threats Amelia faces grow more and more concrete, her reasons for sticking around to face them grow more and more vague. At first, the danger comes from (scary) ghosts and a (scary) "evil" atmosphere that hangs over the town, and Amelia is determined to finish a job she's contracted to do, for which she will be paid in cash money.

By the end, she is dodging pretty frequent murder attempts and sticks around because she has "feelings" - she gets a "feeling" that she needs to go to a certain place where a murderer is waiting with an axe, for example. MUCH harder to understand.

In short, THE KINGDOM is a wobbly second installment in the Graveyard Queen trilogy. I wavered between three and four stars on this one, because the book is on the weak side, but I'm curious to see whether or not Stevens will manage to stick the landing with THE PROPHET. So I'm rounding up to four, with my fingers crossed.(less)

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May 04, 2013 Lisa Kay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-a, authors-s, theme-ghosts, genre-mystery, well-narrated, animal-dog-in-story, xyzcover-graveyard, zzcover-red-orange, on-deck-for-challenges, m-audible-dot-com, 2013-rlftci-group-challenge, challenge-nbrc-tower, buddy-read-nbrc, setting-usa-south-carolina, xyzcover-statue, xyzcover-sea-lake-water, character-caring-for-sick-relative, all-time-favorites

The Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, North Carolina. One can see why these mountains got their name.

★★★★½ (This is a review of the audiobook.) Khristine Hvam continues the narration of Amanda Stevens’s eerie mystery series. She does an excellent job reading this in first person POV as Amelia Gray, a cemetery restorer. Her Southern accent is perfection, as well as her cadence, tone, inflection, enunciation, and her ability to different voices. There is a reason Ms. Hvam was on my Top Ten Audio...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Lynsey (The Demon Librarian) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: whodunnit, romantic-elements, received-for-review, netgalley, ghost-tastic, cracking-mystery

I'm beginning to notice a pattern with these books. They have a tendency to make me stay up until all sorts of ungodly hours of the night because I JUST SIMPLY CANNOT PUT THEM DOWN!

Even with my trepidation going into this one knowing that one of the characters I loved from book one wouldn't be in it at all, I was not in any way disappointed. I did miss the character, and I can't wait for them to show up in the next book, but I can totally see how it made sense plot-wise for Amelia to take this t...more I'm beginning to notice a pattern with these books. They have a tendency to make me stay up until all sorts of ungodly hours of the night because I JUST SIMPLY CANNOT PUT THEM DOWN!

Even with my trepidation going into this one knowing that one of the characters I loved from book one wouldn't be in it at all, I was not in any way disappointed. I did miss the character, and I can't wait for them to show up in the next book, but I can totally see how it made sense plot-wise for Amelia to take this time away from all that. To try and clear her head, and maybe even her heart. And throughout the book the character is referenced regularly as Amelia contemplates her situation.

But none of that really dulled my enjoyment of the story because it was just so gripping.

Amelia is contracted to a cemetery restoration out on the island town of Asher falls. A creepier town you have never come across. Have you ever seen those movies where the main character winds up in some small town in the middle of nowhere, and as an outsider notices that there's something just a little...off, about the town and its inhabitants? Well let me tell you, Asher Falls pretty much takes the cake on that one.

There's a new little clue and tidbit around every corner and it makes it nigh on impossible to put the book down until you find some answers. And we do get a lot of answers, eventually. Especially pertaining to some of the mystery surrounding Amelia herself. But I did feel that a couple of the unexplained happenings remained unexplained. There were no concrete answers on what exactly had happened on a couple of occasions, which was a little frustrating. I can't obviously give any examples as they would be humongous spoilers, but when you read it yourself you might notice the same things.

So, to sum up, if you enjoyed the first one and were intrigued by Amelia's character and her abilities, you will love this book too. And after the last line of the book there's simply no choice left to me. I'm heading straight onto reading The Prophet right now!

4 Stars! ★★★★
Review Copy: Received from the publisher for an honest review(less)

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Mar 19, 2012 MISS VAIN rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc

Never Acknowledge the Dead, Never stray far from hallowed ground, Never associate with the haunted, and never tempt fate.

The Kingdom begins a few months after the events that occurred in The Restorer. She has left Devlin behind, in the hopes of finally obeying her fathers wishes. She quickly emerges herself into her work to forget about the lovely and captivating Devlin. She has been hired to restore a cemetery in Asher Falls, and soon discovers that this town comes with ore secrets than Carter...more

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Feb 20, 2013 The Flooze rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy-paranormal, mystery, vanquished_2013

Written in somber first-person prose, The Kingdom is compelling reading.

This second installment fosters a stronger connection between Amelia and the reader. Though still reserved and practical, Amelia is plagued with curiosity about her gift and by her lingering feelings towards Devlin. The detective may have forced her to let the ghosts in, but their time together has also made her more emotionally accessible.

Amelia's longing for some restoration of self leads her to a new project. But her hop...more

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May 23, 2012 Alyson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: creepy, paranormal, romance

Meh. Amelia still doesn't have a believable voice, and this time, she does stupid, never-watched-a-horror-movie-in-her-life things ("I feel a foreboding about this place! Instead of leaving, I will continue on my merry way!"). There's just not a lot going on here: most of this is Amelia interacting with weird townspeople, trying to figure out why she feels a connection to Asher Falls, and playing a game of will-they-won't-they with Thane--who, by the way, is way more interesting and forthcoming...more

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May 09, 2012 Mika rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Kingdom picks up a few months later the events of The Restorer. Amelia has kept her distance from Devlin and before she succumbs to temptation, she accepts work at a remote location. She soon finds out that there is a dark secret in the little ghost town, a secret tied deeply to her.
I was surprised that Devlin is not in this novel, at all. But somehow you don't really miss him. Not because he is not a great character, but because Amanda was able to involve the reader without relying on the r...more

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Jun 02, 2012 BamaGal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-elements, mystery

After the serial murders and her close escape from death at the end of 'The Restorer'; Amelia has taken a cemetery restoring job in the small town of Asher Falls, South Carolina. She is looking for time away from Charleston to lick her wounds over her failed affair with Devlin, and the threat to her life.

What she finds is an almost deserted, Gothic little town presided over by Pell Asher, the most powerful man in the area. Her job is ostensibly to restore Thornbridge Cemetery; but she quickly fi...more

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May 01, 2012 Laura the Highland Hussy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read my review on Demon Lover's

In Asher Falls, the cemetery was flooded when the river was dammed up. Now the townsfolk are living with the aftermath.

"...around here we call it Bell Lake."
"Why?"
"In the old days, coffins were equipped with a warning system-a chain attached to a bell on the grave in case of a premature burial. They say at night, when the mist rolls in, you can hear those bells."

Amelia hears those bells. She hears them every time there is a mist, and with that mist is a spirit...more

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Oct 14, 2012 ❉Olivia ツ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, paperback

This was a great sequel to The Restorer. A ghost/mystery novel with the same slow pace that seems to work with the S Carolina setting. The story picks up right after the events of The Restorer. Amelia is so distraught and confused about Detective Devlin, breaking her father's rules and letting the others in that she decides to take up a restoration job in Asher Falls. This time there isn't as much technical cemetery restoration chat as there was in the first. The focus is more on the strange pul...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Kimba (Caffeinated Book Reviewer) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4.5 I am totally in love with the Graveyard Queen series! It has all of the elements I love in a good urban fantasy. We have excellent characters, a little paranormal woo-woo and lots of mystery and suspense. I totally want to be a cemetery restorer now! The Kingdom delivers a creepy-tasitc tale and is perfect for fall.

The tale picks up shortly after the Restorer ends and Amelia Gray has accepted a commission to restore Thorngate cemetery located in Asher Falls, South Carolina. She is happy for...more 4.5 I am totally in love with the Graveyard Queen series! It has all of the elements I love in a good urban fantasy. We have excellent characters, a little paranormal woo-woo and lots of mystery and suspense. I totally want to be a cemetery restorer now! The Kingdom delivers a creepy-tasitc tale and is perfect for fall.

The tale picks up shortly after the Restorer ends and Amelia Gray has accepted a commission to restore Thorngate cemetery located in Asher Falls, South Carolina. She is happy for the distance it puts between her and John Devlin. On the ferry ride over she learns some creepy things about Bell Lake from Thane Asher; grandson of the powerful family residing there. As soon as she arrives, the creepiness I have come to love from Stevens begins. The strange Realtor and the rental home on hollow ground, makes Amelia wonder who exactly requested she be given this job. The tale that unfolds is filled with suspense, mystery and things that go bump in the night! Amelia begins to feel a pull from this place and what she uncovers …Eep!

Steven’s has created some really unique characters with the residence of Asher Falls and I for one will never visit. Amelia is slowly dealing with her abilities and despite all the rules her father taught her; she takes chances and experiments. She is not without fear, but fearless in the face of danger. I love that she just does not run. I mean if all of this freaky stuff was happening to me, I think I would be on the next ferry out! She is inquisitive, pushes people’s buttons to gauge their reactions and does not like to be warned away. She gains a new friend in an injured dog, and he becomes her constant companion. Thane is handsome, broken and aids Amelia. There is a little romance that develops and it’s wrapped in a little woo-woo. Amelia struggles with feelings for Devlin and her attraction to Thane. While I like Thane and he was certainly swoon-worthy, I was never really sure if I trusted him. From the women Thane refers to as the “witches of Asher Falls” to the sociopath teen who has a crush on Thane these secondary characters add to the ominous feel of the town and its secrets.

Steven’s did a fantastic job of describing Asher Falls, its people and Thorngate cemetery. I became completely immersed in the tale and it felt so genuine that I had goosebumps. She provided just enough details about the townsfolk to que the creepy music in my head, and let my imagination run wild. The Asher’s, their home and the cemetery oozed with supernatural elements. If you are a Doctor Who fan like me the statues in the Asher family plot will have you running and shouting, “ Don't Blink.” We learned more about Amelia herself and I found the details fascinating. While Devlin did not make an appearance, his presence was felt. I was still left with a few unanswered questions and felt some things were rushed, but I cannot wait for book three. I am secretly hoping to see the CW pick this up as a series; to air right after Supernatural. I would totally watch it!
Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer (less)

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Apr 07, 2012 Justine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, ghosts, must-read-2012, suspense, paranormal

From the moment, I started reading The Restorer, the first book in the Graveyard Queen series I knew I was onto something stupendous. These are the type of book that you pick up, become immersed in and don’t put down until you read those last words!

This time Amelia travels out of Charleston to Asher Falls for her next cemetery restoration. A town, which is more than just creepy… It’s a town that holds secrets that will affect Amelia personally, secrets that will break her heart.

I love the fact...more

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Mar 14, 2012 AH rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-netgalley, dark, ghosts, horror, paranormal, zzread-jan-2012, witches, babr-reviews

I fell in love with this series after I read The Restorer. The second book in the series, The Kingdom continues Amelia Gray’s story. Amelia is a young woman who has an unlikely occupation: she restores old and abandoned cemeteries. The Kingdom finds Amelia commissioned to restore the Thorngate Cemetery in the town of Asher Falls, South Carolina.

Asher Falls is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is an isolated town and the population is eccentric. They seem friendly, but some...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-releases

*Review*

The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen #2) finds Amelia Gray accepting new job restoring Thorngate cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina. This comes nearly a month after the events of The Restorer where she was nearly a victim of a serial killer and broke every rule in avoiding ghosts at all costs.

Asher Falls is a town that is secluded and reachable only by ferry. The town’s people are a six pack short of a case and there is tension as well as a feeling of foreboding from the moment Amelia hits...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, audiobook-review

Second in the Graveyard Queen series, Amelia's story continues as dark secrets of who she is surface as she takes on a job to restore a cemetery in the isolated island town of Asher Falls. While there in this modern day ghost town, she meets a slew of people who are all creepy and different in their own way - except for Thane Asher, a tall, dark and handsome rakish type who may or may not be all that he seems. The narration for this book is very good, by Khristine Hvam, I love the way she does t...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: out-of-this-world-series, favorites

5+++++ Stars AN EXCELLENT SECOND INSTALLMENT TO A KICK BUTT AWESOME SERIES!!!

Dark and creepy...the stunning beauty of its Gothic atmosphere took my breath away!

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Jul 03, 2012 Louize rated it 4 of 5 stars

Those who have this book in their TBR should drop whatever they are currently reading to pick this up. As in NOW NA!

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May 11, 2012 Kylie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, favourite-series

omg, i couldn't put the book down, i think the first book, which was a little creepy, prepared me for this one, cause it was even more creepier. though it was an exciting book, i kind of had figured out where the story was going (i don't know how, and maybe things were less of a surprise), but it still got me really excited to get all the answers as Amelia finds out things, but the very last line of the book, makes we want to jump straight into the third book. and so off i go to start the prophe...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Meigan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quite different than the previous book, I was really surprised. Normally when I read series books, they always seem interchangeable to me. Same concept, just switch up the location and some details. Not so with this book. Stevens deftly told a story that was connected to the previous book by including important details and characters, but managed to keep the "formula" out of it.

Amelia travels to Asher Falls to restore another cemetary. She immediately notices the strange town, and the even stra...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Slavena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, favorite-heroine, fast-read, ghost, read-in-2013, young-adult, urban-fantasy, no-sex-between-h-h

I have read suspense books but nothing quite like the Graveyard Queen Series.
I inhaled the 3 books. I read them all in one day and getting to the end made me so frustrated that there isn't more. So many questions posed, some answered some still to come, I love the mystery

In book 1 we discover Amelia, she is a girl who can see ghosts but she is also a graveyard restorer. A murder victim is found out during one of her restorations in Charleston and she meets dark and dangerous detective Devlin who...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Majanka rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews-march-2013, fantasy, paranormal-mystery, supernatural, thriller, suspense

Review first appeared on my blog: http://www.iheartreading.net/book/boo...

Of all three books, The Kingdom is my favorite. It starts out with Amelia visiting Asher Falls, a small community in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. For Amelia it’s the perfect opportunity to get away from Charleston for a while, a welcome escape after the events that transpired in the previous book. She’s also eager to get away from Devlin, who is haunted by his own ghosts, something Amelia can’t have in her life...more Review first appeared on my blog: http://www.iheartreading.net/book/boo...

Of all three books, The Kingdom is my favorite. It starts out with Amelia visiting Asher Falls, a small community in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. For Amelia it’s the perfect opportunity to get away from Charleston for a while, a welcome escape after the events that transpired in the previous book. She’s also eager to get away from Devlin, who is haunted by his own ghosts, something Amelia can’t have in her life right now. She goes to Asher Falls to restore a cemetary, but the moment she arrives in the small town, she notices things aren’t what they seem around here. The lake at the edge of Asher Falls harbors an ancient cemetery and the old town, which flooded ages ago. There’s a grave hidden in the forest nearby the cemetery Amelia came to restore, a well-kept grave nobody seems to know about. Strange creatures follow Amelia around, and the dead are more active here than ever before. Whatever secret Asher Falls harbors, Amelia is stuck right in the middle of it.

Amelia shines here more than in the previous book. She’s become this interesting person who is so real and solid I can almost imagine her as a real person as opposed to a book character. Her emotions are more streamlined than they were before, and at the same time more conflicted. She’s unsure with the whole Devlin situation, and although she’s glad to get away from him and his ghosts for a while, she also misses him. When she meets Thane, the grandson of the famous Asher family patriarch, the most influential family of Asher Falls, she’s unsure about him at first. He seems like your regular “got it all, thinks he can get anything” type, but the more she gets to know him, the more she realizes he’s much more than that. Thane too has secrets, most of them going back way into his past. And when Amelia starts digging for answers, she comes across some of Thane’s secrets, which put him in another perspective. I have to be honest here and say that I actually liked Thane more than Devlin. He seemed more dependable. With Devlin there’s always the issue of his wife and daughter, who passed away, and Thane was free of any such burdens.

The Kingdom takes it up a notch from The Restorer – it goes beyond everything The Restorer is. Asher Falls has a Silent Hill vibe going on. The town is nearly deserted, there’s a sunken graveyard which I have to say is pretty darn awesome, and there are secrets piled up everywhere in town. Add the creepy monsters that followed Amelia to the cemetery, the appearance of a girl ghost who killed herself years ago but can’t seem to find peace, and the Asher’s secrets, and you’re in for one hell of a ride. This book is sinister and dark, and it mixes everything from romance to thriller to a paranormal mystery. Only a handful of authors really manage to impress me with their writing, and Amanda Stevens firmly earned her place amongst them with this book.(less)

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Mar 09, 2013 Dawn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-books, modern-gothic, mystery

The Kingdom picks up a few months after The Restorer. Amelia has a new job in a Asher Falls, SC and this time she is going to restore the Thornhill Cemetery. On the way to Asher Falls she soon learns that the town is named after a very rich and powerful family who has a need to atone for past sins that has caused for one cemetery to reside at the bottom of a lake and for the Asher’s to share their family cemetery with everyone else. But in the beginning of the restoration she finds herself drawn...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Cornerofmadness rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, urban-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the second in the series and while I did think the first book was 50/50 mystery and overwrought romance, I liked it. I didn’t dislike this one but it was even less a mystery than the first. It’s full on gothic paranormal with a little mystery.

Amelia, the Graveyard Queen, is a cemetery restorer and as a taphophile myself, I like the premise. In this case, Amelia isn’t staying around her native Charleston but has been called to the remote location of Asher Falls to restore its cemetery. Am...more This is the second in the series and while I did think the first book was 50/50 mystery and overwrought romance, I liked it. I didn’t dislike this one but it was even less a mystery than the first. It’s full on gothic paranormal with a little mystery.

Amelia, the Graveyard Queen, is a cemetery restorer and as a taphophile myself, I like the premise. In this case, Amelia isn’t staying around her native Charleston but has been called to the remote location of Asher Falls to restore its cemetery. Amelia wants a break after the nightmare with Devlin, a local detective and his ghosts. In this verse, ghosts are not benign things and being haunted has severe consequences. Amelia, like her father, can see them but following his strict rules, she never interacts with them. Until Devlin. Until that opened a door.

Asher Falls is so remote, it has to be approached by ferry. She meets a young man on the ferry who tells her the ghost story of the town, how the Asher family, kings of the island, managed to actually flood part of the town submerging the cemetery and were forced to open their own family graveyard to what was left of the town. That is the cemetery she’s restoring. And the young man is Thane Asher, the adopted grandson of Pell Asher, the man responsible for the misery. The town is dying and Amelia has no idea who has hired her. (And I’m thinking really if you’re going to hint at the Fall of the House of Usher maybe we should do more than change one letter)

Her contact is Luna, a realtor who has put her out in the sticks in a one-time church (hallowed ground so Amelia is okay with that, ghosts can’t get her) and told her that Tilly Pattershaw, the crazy old woman who lives nearby might help her with the brute work. Amelia quickly meets Sidra a young girl who can see ghosts but won’t admit it and Ivy, Sidra’s friend. Ivy has a crush on Thane and wants Amelia gone. Luna has two friends Bryn and Catrice and it’s early on hinted that they are witches.

The cemetery is creepy what little is described, i.e. The Asher mauseoluem and a grave that’s hidden in a laurel bald with the symbols indicating a mother and child dying together in childbirth, but much newer than the Victorian era when that would have been popular. The whole town feels oppressive and Amelia begins to realize that there is something bad going on with the very nature of the place and it has more going on than just the ghost haunting her, the ghost of Tilly’s daughter, Freya who died twenty-five years ago.

If it had just been the mystery of who killed Freya, it would probably have been a stronger story truth be told. But it goes haring off into the paranormal big time (which is okay. I LIKE paranormal stories) but it’s so melodramatically gothic horror that it doesn’t quite work for me. Demonic possessions and the secret of Amelia’s connection to the place were pretty blatantly obvious and at the same time such a stretch. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. The romance with her and Thane (with many many interludes about how she can’t be with Devlin but will love him forever) was frankly creepy (it might have meant to be though). At the end I wanted to slap her for doing stupid things (like going back into danger alone without taking her dad or Devlin or anything remotely like a weapon). I’ll probably be read the next one but this is the last I buy. It’s shifted to library rental (and was I ever right about that Fall of the House of Usher thing).
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Nov 26, 2012 Heidi Gonzalez rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I got hooked on this series when I read the first one which I received as an advanced readers copy. This installment of the series delves into Amelia's past and adds even more supernatural aspects to this story. Amelia has always seen ghosts but was warned about interacting with them. She followed those rules until recently and now it seems like she is drawing them to her.

Amelia accepts a job to help restore a cemetery on a remote island, that seems to be calling her. But is the island really c...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Cornelia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

They call Amelia Gray the graveyard queen, renowned for her amazing work at restoring old cemeteries. She also has a secret, she sees ghost. The book begins when she rides the ferry across to the small southern town of Asher Falls. A town she soon finds is full of dark Asher family secrets and something even more malicious, something from across the veil. She thinks she is going there to restore the Asher family cemetery.

She discovers there is deeper, darker purpose for which she has been summo...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: death-murder, demons-ghosts-zombie, horror, magic, mythology

I know there are haters out there but...

This book was by far better than the first one. And I loved The Restorer. It was creepy, not too predictable, and what was predictable kind of felt like it was supposed to be. This a romance novel not a classic mystery, it’s even written by an accomplished romance author. This book had all the right things to make me love it. Mystery, horror, ghosts, cemeteries, ancient evil, twisted small town hidden secrets and a couple of hot make out sessions.

I loved...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Veronica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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About Amanda Stevens

Amanda Stevens was born and raised in the foothills of the Ozarks, an area known for its folklore and superstition. She learned from an early age to fear black cats, ladders, and broken mirrors. A risk taker, she now resides with all three. She is also the mother of twins, a wannabe taphophile, and a collector of all things Alfred Hitchcock. When she’s not writing from her home in Houston, she lik...more

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“I think some weirdo with a little red wagon is the last thing you need to be worried about in these hills” — 2 people liked it

“I’ve heard people say that the hardest thing in the world is to live with someone you don’t love. But I’ve always thought it would be far more difficult to live with someone who doesn’t love you.” — 1 person liked it

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The Kingdom (Graveyard Queen #2)

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