The Book of Wands - Press Release

A five-star YA fantasy debut from cyber security manager turned author Lauren Louise Hazel, launching a new series where tarot magic meets rivalry.

BRISTOL, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM, July 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Author Lauren Louise Hazelhas released The Book of Wands, the first novel in her new young-adult fantasy series, The Tarot Series. Available now to readers in the United States and United Kingdom, the debut has already earned a five-star review from Self-Publishing Review, which called it "a dramatic and deftly penned piece of YA fiction."

Blending boarding-school rivalry, coming-of-age drama, and supernatural mystery, The Book of Wands introduces readers to Olivia Pembroke — a fiercely ambitious final-year student at Chester College — and the mysterious tarot deck that begins to reshape everything she thought she knew about her future.

A Final Test, a Grandmother's Legacy, and a Deck That Sees Everything

Olivia is preparing for the Final Evaluation, the ultimate test of Intelligence, Strength, Creativity, and Courage that determines whether she — or her friends and rivals — will emerge as Chester College's next great graduate. The Evaluation is designed by Rasmus, an enigmatic figure wrapped in secrets, and Olivia has no doubt she will win, claiming victory and pride for her family.

Then her grandmother dies.She leaves Olivia a tarot deck — a deck her grandmother swore could see the past, the present, and the future. As Olivia's certainty begins to unravel, the cards start to reveal secrets she isn't sure she wants to know, drawing her into a mystery that threatens everything she has been working toward.

Early Acclaim for a New Voice in YA Fantasy

The Book of Wands has already been recognized by Self-Publishing Review with a five-star rating. The publication praised the novel as "thoughtful and unpredictable," noting that it stands apart in a crowded YA fantasy market through its distinctive attention to character, setting, and suspense — laying an enchanting foundation for the wider Tarot Series to come.

Cyber Security by Day, Fantasy by Night

Lauren Louise Hazel's path to publication is as unusual as her heroine's. A Cyber Security Manager by profession, Hazel writes YA fantasy in her off-hours, drawing on a lifelong love of coming-of-age storytelling, magical systems, and the shadowy world of secrets and symbols. That double life — logic and code by day, tarot and prophecy by night — infuses The Book of Wands with both its meticulously constructed world and its sense of unfolding mystery.

Available on Amazon now.

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