A Job from Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

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Author(s)

Jayde Scott

Publisher

Smashwords

Genre(s)

Paranormal

Age Range

14+

Release Date

April 30, 2011

ISBN

B004YTI17M

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In a world of love bonds, rituals, dark magic, ancient enemies and immortals, nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. Seventeen-year-old Amber enters the paranormal world by chance when her brother, Dallas, sets her up with a summer job in Scotland. Dallas has spied something in the woods he thinks could make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. But instead of finding riches, Amber unknowingly enters a paranormal race—and promptly wins the first prize—a prize for which many would kill. Soon, she discovers her new boss, Aidan, didn’t employ her for her astounding housekeeping skills and he isn't who he claims to be either. As the dark forces slowly conspire against Amber, her naivety and love for Aidan catapults her into a calamitous series of otherworldly events. With every immortal creature hunting for her, whom can she trust with her life?

In a world of love bonds, rituals, dark magic, ancient enemies and immortals, nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted.

Seventeen-year-old Amber enters the paranormal world by chance when her brother, Dallas, sets her up with a summer job in Scotland. Dallas has spied something in the woods he thinks could make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. But instead of finding riches, Amber unknowingly enters a paranormal race—and promptly wins the first prize—a prize for which many would kill. Soon, she discovers her new boss, Aidan, didn’t employ her for her astounding housekeeping skills and he isn't who he claims to be either.

As the dark forces slowly conspire against Amber, her naivety and love for Aidan catapults her into a calamitous series of otherworldly events. With every immortal creature hunting for her, whom can she trust with her life?

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The best young adult paranormal book ever

May 11, 2011 (Updated: June 24, 2026)

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by Misha

Every now and then comes a book I wish it would never end. This was one of them. It was very funny, I've no idea how many times I actually laughed, but it was a lot.
Seventeen-year-old Amber's forced to take a work placement in Scotland as a housekeeper during the summer holidays before she starts college. She needs the money and the job pays well.
The house is eerie, dead. Its inhabitants, sexy Aidan, his brother Kieran and beautiful Clare, are hardly ever there, always arriving at night, if ever. Amber hates the job; she has higher aspirations but lacks the money. Her brother, Dallas, persuades her to break into a shed in the woods in the middle of the night because he claims to have spied valuable gemstones through the window. The ploy goes well, until Dallas disappears and Amber's forced to find her way through the pitch black alone while being followed by a blue light.
She finds the gemstones, but someone's after her after she's just unknowingly entered a paranormal race and scooped up the first prize. Days later, strange things start to happen, like seeing people no one else can see. Aidan's suddenly starting to spend time with her, making her fall in love with him. Soon, she's exposed to an immortal world she never knew existed: a world of love bonds spun by fate, a world where demi goddesses, succubi and demon children reign, one where Shadows and vampires have been fighting to find an ancient spell book for centuries. By winning the prize, Amber's now the only one that can travel to the otherworld to retrieve the legendary book of secrets. But she's mortal, and no mortal has ever survived that journey. Who can she trust to bring her back from the dead? Sexy vampire, Aidan, who wants the book so badly but claims to have a bond with her? The Shadows, whose demon child queen feeds from her own people? Or the devil's daughter and chaos angel, Cassandra, who keeps helping Amber for no apparent reason?
I'll stop here so as not to give away too much of the plot. Let's just say a lot more's going on with various subplots that intertwine at the end very nicely.
The writing was absolutely beautiful, the strong voices, mostly Amber but a few times we get Aidan's perspective, drew me in straight away. Amber's not a whiny girl, she's fierce but also vulnerable. Aidan, her love interest, was sexy as hell. Each character suited their purpose with plenty of hidden layers to them. No one was truly good and truly bad. I liked how the author showed their emotions, motivations and what drove them to act the way they did. A very original plot, the twists kept coming with plenty of cliffhangers. But what I liked best was the voice because it really spoke to me. From the the plot, to the characters and beautiful writing, everything drew me in and kept my attention. I was also surprised to see such good editing with no grammar or spelling mistakes in an indie book, but given that Ms Scott is also a published non-fiction author this might not come as a surprise. I hope the second book in the series will be out soon.

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Very funny!

May 11, 2011 (Updated: June 24, 2026)

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Reader reviewed by Ms Reviewer

This book truly stands out from the crowd and was one of the most entertaining, action packed and funny books I've read in a long time. I'm not going to sum up the plot because others have done it before me. Here's what I liked and what I didn't like so much.

To begin with, the punctuation is British English. This is a long book, think 430-450 print pages, with plenty of action. At less than a dollar, it was a bargain. I expected it to slow down in the middle, but instead, the pace picked up even more. There's so much plot, most authors would probably have turned this into three books. Even still, it doesn't read rushed. The world building is very well done. The characters are enticing, diverse and likeable. The plot kept me on edge. By chapter three, I was completely pulled in and couldn't stop reading.

+ excellent writing with an intrinsic plot and description

+ good editing with no grammar or spelling issues

+ the main character, Amber, wasn't your usual whiny heroine. She actually had a backbone. That's commendable nowadays when every book seems to feature someone who keeps moaning, whining, complaining and so forth

+ a very original plot with many new paranormal elements that haven't been done before. Yes, we had vampires already, but it's not all about them. We also have Shadows (a group of immortal warriors), succubi, a demi goddess, demons, ghosts, a fallen angel in the form of Lucifer's daughter.

+ it can be read as a stand alone novel because the story per se is rounded up and complete, with a few elements left open for further exploration in future books

+ it was one of the most hilarious books I've ever read, if not the most hilarious one

+ on the cover you see a girl in the middle of nowhere, lost, scared, but going on, still fighting. It suits the main character seventeen year old Amber. In a time when covers are often chosen for the sake of attracting readers rather than to tell the story of the book, this cover is a breath of fresh air.

- it's advertised as grade 8 and up. At times, the language was advanced, so I'm thinking more grade 9 and up.

- don't get me wrong, I liked Amber, but I felt Cass stole the show. I can't wait to read more about her.

Even though I usually reserve 5 stars for the classics out there, it really deserves 5, no question about that. Thoroughly recommended!

Guest

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