Reading Fanatic Reviews
All Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Paranormal Reviews
Rolf’s Quest by Aubrey Wynne
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Rolf's Quest*
Fact and Fantasy in a Delightful Mix
I have read some other works by this author, and I found this one to be a particular delight. It is a slow-moving character piece for the most part, so if you are expecting some kind of massive action and drama, you will need to adjust your expectations. The author has artfully combined the real history of Henry II with a magical, fantastical storyline involving a direct male descendant of the wizard Merlin. In fact, Rolf is trying desperately to break a curse that involves both Merlin and the men in his line. Merlin is still alive, after a fashion, but living trapped in a rowan tree, cursed by a former lover. This woman in the distant past cursed not only Merlin but also men directly descended from him, especially the first-born sons. I won’t go into any more detail about the curse, but suffice to say that Rolf is Merlin’s last hope. His success hinges upon whether or not he can get the woman he loves through non-magical means. He has seen this woman in his dreams, so he knows who she is. However, when he meets the lady, she is on her way to meet the man she has been betrothed to since she was a child.
The book is actually a fascinating look at medieval times, including courtly life and the role of women. The heroine of the novel is rarely given any choice in anything, from who she is to marry to which kirtle she should wear. I enjoyed watching the slow unfolding of the story and that the heroine truly seemed to be a product of her times. I did find myself curious how this young woman was going to react when her heart led her one way but duty—which seemed truly ingrained in her character—required another. She is definitely different from most heroines in historical romance, where authors tend to give them almost more modern ways of thinking and acting. I appreciated that the author took the harder road for this one. This is an excellent story. If you like historical romance that includes true history mixed with a little magic and fantasy, you will most likely enjoy this book.
By Love Reclaimed by Amberlyn Holland
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
By Love Reclaimed*
Confusing
I will admit, when I first read the book blurb, I thought that this book’s romance set-up seemed like the regencies I read. This is a second-chance romance as well as a chance to save the heroine’s land from an evil sorcerer. I’ll admit that I had a hard time getting into the story. The author just throws us into it, with a big cast of characters with odd names (as is typical in fantasy). It would have been nice if she had a cast of characters’ page (or two) at the beginning so the reader would easily know who is who and what their relationships are. Also, since we’re being thrown right into the mix without any explanation or subtle clues, a brief summary and introduction to the world would have eased reading. Just recently I read another fantasy book where the author wrote the text in such a way that someone unfamiliar with the world and its characters would have no trouble understanding the worldview and character relationships right from the start; I love it when authors do that. If they don’t like that or don’t want to do that for some reason, they should at least do the mini summary and list of characters as I mentioned above.
As you can tell from what I’ve written, I wouldn’t consider this to be a stand-alone book. If the series interests you, I recommend starting at the beginning. If you plan to take any time off at all between books, take notes!
Death’s Choice by Laura Greenwood
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Death's Choice*
Fast, Action-Packed Read
Wow, that was a quick and busy ride! The author gets you right into the action, showing us exactly what Kali does for a living. Then her assignments get changed up, and she is thrust into a completely different world. She discovers court intrigue, a little mystery, and romance—also discovering her soulmates. Just when she’s getting comfortable with this idea, another monkey wrench is thrown into the works. Like all books by Ms. Greenwood, the action is tight, and the characters are well-defined. You’ll be turning the pages fast to figure out what is going on. An enjoyable, fast read.
Stone and Blood by Marie Robinson
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Stone and Blood*
Book Two with New Twists, and a Spotlight on Caliban
The first book of the series was actually one of the first books that I read as a new Booksprout member earlier this year. So I was glad when the author put all of the books back on the service, as I hadn’t yet read the other three in the series. To warm up before this second book, I reread the first, and I was reminded how much I enjoyed this complex world that the author has created. I love Maeve as a character. In the first book, I loved how she was dogged in her pursuit of knowledge, trying to unlock her magic. In a lot of the books I read (regency romance), women with intellectual pursuits are often looked down upon by other characters. But the dragons in that first book did not look down upon her for this. Of course, I loved the dragons in the previous book, both their dragon forms and their only under-a-full-moon human form.
But enough about book one. Book two picks up where book one leaves off. With Maeve having access now to her magical power, she is able to unwind, but not wholly remove, the curse from the dragon men. They have been cursed to be dragons for so long that the curse is bound up with their life force, and to wholly remove it could be deadly. But Maeve is able to make it so they can choose when to be dragons. It is actually quite fascinating to watch her work with her magic because, unlike other books, it is not inherent within her. Rather, she sees it as something separate with which she works to attain a goal. The only one for whom the curse separation didn’t work well was Caliban. He struggles mightily with who he is and makes it difficult for himself.
After the ceremony, the team splits up. Caliban and Maeve go to the fae realm, Septimus stays at the tower, and Trystan and Gwayne go to Caledonia to try to figure out if the new queen, Fergus’s wife, is the same queen who cursed them centuries ago. Enough of this summary. If you want to find out more, you will have to read the book. It does have some surprising twists and turns and ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. This book is definitely steamier than book one. Caliban is an interesting character to follow because he truly is at war with himself, and like Maeve, you will want to help him heal and appreciate himself.
If you enjoyed book one, book two ramps up the action on several fronts. If you haven’t yet read book one, definitely read it first so you can understand the full context of this book. The author does provide a little prologue that sums up book one, but book one is so well done, that you won’t want to miss it. Looking forward to books three and four!
The Mountain’s Shadow by Cecilia Dominic
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Mondadori, and Angus & Robertson
The Mountain's Shadow*
Pacing Off But Better Toward End
This is a quirky combination of paranormal urban fantasy and medical thriller. I felt like the pacing was a bit off. It started too slowly, spending much time on revealing background and slice-of-life moments rather than some good, gripping action. There is a lot going on in this book, so much so at times that it was difficult to keep everything and everybody straight. I particularly liked the science aspects of the story. While taking place in a fantastical setting, it still seems realistic. I thought that perhaps there was a little too much exposition, even though it was well done. I kept wanting more to happen in the first half, which is never good in a thriller. Still, I stuck with it, and I am glad I did as the pacing and action did pick up in the second half of the story.
Empire of Dragons box set by K. N. Lee
Available at Amazon only
NOT with Kindle Unlimited
Empire of Dragons*
Nice Fantasy Box Set
I so enjoy when authors put books of a series together in one volume so you can go from one to the next without having to purchase a separate book or wait. I don’t want to give away too much in talking about this since there are three books in this set. The first book did draw me in right away, both with what happened with Father Marduk and Amalia. Soon, her whole world shifted, and she was thrust into a world she wasn’t truly prepared for. The author set the stage for an epic fantasy series with all the required characters and then some: mages, dragons, wolves, and even gods who walk the Earth. I enjoyed the Norse mythology aspects of the story. For big-stage fantasy, these books are surprisingly short, but much happens in them to keep you turning the pages. It is such a fascinating world, though, that I found myself wishing for longer individual books. The pacing is good for the most part in all the books, although I did find the abrupt time shifts at times to be a bit jarring. All in all, though, I found this an engaging fantasy read.
Nixie and the Healer by Ellen M. Bard
Available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Nixie and the Healer*
Good Installment of Excellent Series
There are so many things to like about this series. I’ve read and enjoyed every book so far. Because the author has woven such a complex world with its own codes and laws, the books are really best read in order so that you can fully understand what is going on.
As a longtime student of the chakras, I absolutely adore how the author has incorporated the concept into this series. She’s made the bedrock for much in this world. But it makes so much sense in the way that she has ordered it, and it gives structure to both the characters and the plot. I love how this series, unlike others, really weaves in the characters from the previous books even though each book focuses on a new couple. The overarching ongoing plot regarding the prophecy, which is slowly being revealed, and all that must be done truly lays at the heart of each book. I love seeing more about how the lives of those characters already known are progressing and how they impact the next part of the story.
In terms of the two main characters in this installment, they are just about as opposite as they can be. However, that makes them complimentary. It was fascinating to watch Jeb grapple with his energies, especially the one that he did not identify with. Nixie was a hard character to like at first as she comes across as a bit shallow and only interested in superficial pursuits. But the author has done a fantastic job of creating a growth arc for her. She grows and changes so much in this book that in the end you cannot help but appreciate her growing strengths and core goodness, even if she is still somewhat immature. I look forward to finding out about the next couple and the next steps in this amazing journey.
Alexandra’s Riddle by Elisa Keyston
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Alexandra's Riddle*
Several Riddles in Riddle
I live in Oregon, so I am always drawn to any fictional books that take place in my state. I love that the author actually chose a real town, Riddle, though it has been somewhat fictionalized for the story. I live just a couple counties away, so I loved hearing some somewhat local references in the book. This novel has a lot going for it: romance, mystery, and the paranormal (including the fae and brownies) as well as themes about responsibilities to self vs. others and keeping small-town life as it should be. The author actually did an excellent job of making the paranormal aspect seem just as much a part of the fabric of life in the area as the “real” human aspect. That’s not easy to do, I think. I liked the main character as well as the quirky people who made up the community. A thoroughly enjoyable book. If you like paranormal stories with a touch of romance in a fair amount of mystery, you may very well enjoy this book.
Slayer Academy Books 1-3 by Amelia Shaw
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Slayer Academy Books 1 to 3*
Nice to Have Series in One Place!
I quite enjoyed this series about a nerdy young woman who was believed to be destined to be great in the magical realm as others were before her in her family. Her family, though, could have never known the twists her life would take! She did, in fact, become great and powerful, but not in the expected ways. I like books about magical academies and the paranormal world–yup, a Harry Potter fan–so I was intrigued by the potentials set up by this author. I felt that the pacing was a bit uneven in all the books, but that did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the books.
Let me tell you a little more about books one and two…
Book 1: The Legacy: I was particularly intrigued by the idea that the heroine considers herself to be a nerdy bookworm, and she is suddenly thrust into a magical world that she had no idea existed. In this world, she is to be trained to be a fae slayer, as her family has been such for four generations. I thought this was a little slow to get started, as, she doesn’t even get to the academy until near the halfway point of the book. While we do see a few interesting scenes at the academy, the author chose to flash forward through much of her time there, focusing on a couple of key scenes instead. I would have liked to have seen more of her regular daily life at the academy and her adjustments to this world and her role in it. That said, even though this book felt a little slow at times, I think it does a good job setting up this magical world.
Book 2: Fae Hunter: The blurb of the book makes you think that the bulk of it will take place in the Fae realm, but after a brief visit there, we stay stuck in the human world at the Academy until around the 50% mark. The book felt slow in the beginning and through much of the middle, but then really sped up–and the end was at lightning speed. The book has a little more profanity than I am comfortable with. I thought some sensual scenes, as well as regular ones, had elements that were slightly cringe-worthy. The heroine learned a lot more about herself, the Fae realm, and the Academy, much of which will come as a surprise to the readers of the first book. Not everyone is who or what they seem. The end of the book is a bit shocking, with a nail-biting cliffhanger at the end… so if you’re not a fan of those, be glad that you have all the books in one volume! While this book did have shortcomings, I am curious to see the resolution to the cliffhanger as well as what happens in the heroine’s evolving relationships with Fae princes.
I’ll let you discover book three for yourself!
Magic & Mayhem series by Erica Ridley
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Magic & Mayhem series*
Early Works Not As Good As Current Ones
I am a big fan of Erica Ridley’s Regency romances. In those, she is able to craft well-done novellas and novels that are definitely a cut above the typical Regency because of her attention to period detail and her research into sometimes rather strange aspects of the time, like one book that had a heroine who was very interested in weights and measures. So I was curious about this trilogy of hers that was not Regency. I was interested to see how this delightful author would do with a more fantastical topic like magic. Apparently, these three books were written earlier in Erica’s career and have been rewritten, enhanced, and otherwise changed from their originals. I am sorry to say that these three books did not quite live up to my expectations of the author. You can tell that they are early career works; I will admit that I found it fascinating to get a glimpse into the author’s evolution as a writer. She doesn’t come across as wholly comfortable working in the world of magic as she does in Regency, which she wears like a second skin. Compared to Ms. Ridley’s recent works, the plotting was as tight—her Regency novellas are is super tight and well done for a short form—and the characterization wasn’t as well defined as her current novels. As works of magical fantasy, of which I am a voracious reader, I found the novellas and novel in this collection to fall short of the mark expected these days by modern readers. If you are already an Erica Ridley fan, you may well enjoy this collection of books just to see how her early books read and look at her venture into magical fantasy. Others may prefer to find better books in this sub-subgenre.
NOTE: I received this as a box set, so that is the way that I reviewed it… as a series whole. But the series is not available commercially as a box set. So the link to Amazon and the preview are for the first book of the series.
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