Reading Fanatic Reviews
ParanormalFirst Time’s a Charm by Laura Greenwood
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Smashwords, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
First Time's a Charm by Laura Greenwood*
Fun But Feels More Like a Prequel
On occasion, I read magical academy stories. This is the slightly more grown-up version, a magical university. The book was certainly humorous in parts, as the protagonist, Mona, is definitely having issues with her magic. She can’t get it to go right at all. What is she going to do with all the kittens she seems to magically conjure? I loved the references to Harry Potter; nothing was super overt (especially the first line), but if you know your Harry Potter, you will catch the references. I like the other characters in the story as well, and I am interested to see how the characters will continue to interact and evolve in the next installments of the series. While this is supposedly book one of the series, it felt more like a prequel, like it was introducing the story world with little true meat to the story. It is short and ends abruptly. I don’t like stories that feel like they stop in the middle of the action unless it is meant to be episodic. That said, I enjoyed the story about Mona, her current and potential men, and of course, the kittens!
Forest of the Fearless by various authors
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Forest of the Fearless*
Delightful Fantasy Collection
If you like tales of mythical creatures—like nymphs, seelies, and the other similar creatures–you will most likely enjoy this anthology containing stories of varying lengths from six different authors. I particularly like the ones by Nikki Landis and Laura Greenwood. I have read both authors before, and I generally like their books. Both authors are able to weave worlds that draw the reader right in and allow us to visualize and be a part of the world. I love that Thumbelina had a retelling of her story. I so enjoy modern redos of fairy tales. There were some issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage; this definitely varied by author and was sometimes distracting. All in all, a wonderful collection if you enjoy a good fantasy or paranormal read.
Manners and Monsters by Tilly Wallace
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Manners and Monsters*
Regency… and Zombies
Mercy, what a completely different read! Think Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies with a little bit of suspense, romance, and gothic and steampunk sensibilities. The women of high-society Britain have suffered from a nasty, zombie-making affliction since the close of the Napoleonic Wars; some nasty Frenchmen created an expensive face powder that made this happen. I liked the heroine; she is a strong and smart woman in an era when that is not appreciated. The hero feels relatively weak in comparison, but he is still a fascinating character to watch. I didn’t like the information dump at the start of the book. It’s a long enough novel that the author could have started with a nice impactful action scene and dribbled in the backstory of the world little by little. Since this is essentially a zombie novel, at times it gets a little too gory for me. I like the author’s writing style, which was at times quite humorous and quite fitting for the type of book. Even though I am not one who particularly enjoys zombie literature or movies, I found this to be a fun read.
Spirit Chasers: The Complete Series Box Set by Carrie Pulkinen
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Spirit Chasers Box Set*
Romantic and Spooky Reads
What a fun and spooky set of paranormal romances! I like how the heroes were often the ones in distress, especially in the first and second books. The author pulled me right in with the first book, and she set the second book up perfectly by having those two characters be an integral part of book one. There’s definitely suspense as well as romance in all the books; both sides of the couples had issues that needed to be worked through. The author does well describing the setting, not too much and not too little, and I felt like I was right there with the characters. The characters are relatable, even with all the magical and haunted-type of surroundings. Just a delightful set of books with wonderful couples.
Rule the Dark by Laura Greenwood and Skye MacKinnon
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, and Bol.de
Rule the Dark*
Fitting End to a Delightful Series
Holy wow! I have so enjoyed this steamy, mythological series. The entire series has been full of adventure, with lots of action both inside and outside the bedroom (so to speak, as not all amorous activities took place there). Throughout all of these books, so much has gone on, yet in this final book, the authors not only are able to give yet another story with lots of twists, turns, and action but is also able to wrap it all up neatly with a bow. We see all the familiar characters, Macey and her men, as well as friends and allies. There are some new people thrown into the mix, too. There were a lot of ends to tie up over the many books of this series, but again, the authors did an exceptional job at it while telling a story that gave all the feels. Even with the waffles! I really appreciate, too, that the authors include a little summary of the previous books before each book starts; I would love, love, love if other authors did the same! While I have read all of the series, at times there has been a good stretch of time between my reading of the novels, so it is good to have a little refresher without having to read the entire set of previous books in the series. (A great way, too, to not bog down the current story with a lot of backstory.) I actually was almost amused at this one because it was so danged long! I had forgotten some details of the earlier books, so it was good to be reminded. If you enjoy RH romance and series steeped in Celtic mythology, I heartily recommend that you start with book one, and enjoy the journey with Macey and her men.
Lost Magic by Alexandria Clarke
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Lost Magic*
Fascinating World But Not Enough Suspense
This is the first book that I read by this author, so I’m not familiar with the entire Witch Myth series or world. I appreciated that the author didn’t start off the book with a bunch of backstory to catch those of us up who aren’t familiar with this Yew Hollow. Instead, she allows the world to unfold through the eyes of Gwen, the first-person protagonist. The author has created a fascinating world of magic. You’ve gotta love a world with a magical tree! I didn’t feel like enough happened in the story, like there wasn’t enough of a plot. The author calls it a cozy mystery, but mystery or suspense didn’t really take center stage. It felt more like a character and community study than a full-blown novel. That said, I did enjoy the world, but I was just expecting more to happen.
Jinxerella by Cherie Marks
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Jinxerella*
Fascinating World But Some Annoying Flaws
I loved the adorable cover on this book and found that the name of the made-up town to be amusing (although I wonder if it is as funny to people from West Virginia), and as I love paranormal stories, I had high hopes for this one. While I did enjoy the story itself, the book had some serious flaws. There is a very wrong word choice on the very first page. The use of hyphens seems incorrect, and there were other issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. A huge info dump set up the entire premise of the story immediately; the backstory and premise were not rolled out slowly, as they should be. All these things annoy me in books. I actually did quite like the heroine’s character. It’s rare to see a shy protagonist. I like the world that the author has created, but those annoyances that I mentioned earlier were off-putting.
Trinity by Serena Ackeroyd
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Scribd, 24 Symbols, Thalia, Mondadori, Angus & Robertson, Indigo (Chapters), and Bol.de
Trinity*
Hit All the Wrong Buttons
I loved the book’s beautiful cover, and I find myself intrigued by RH books these days, so I thought I would give this book a try. I’m sorry I did. I will admit that I did not get very far because so many elements of it just turned me off so quickly. First, this book seems to assume that one has a lot of knowledge about alphas, betas, and pack structure. While I have read some shifter books, this book seems to expect more than I know from just casually reading a few books. Then there’s the swearing. I just I’m not a fan of all the profanity that seems to be in so many books these days. It’s an immediate turn off for me. Sometimes I can get past it if I believe it is necessary for characterization, but it’s a massive no-go otherwise. Then there was a talk of a lot of rapes going on. I read books for enjoyment and escape, not to be reminded how brutal life can be. Hard pass.
Hunting the Beast by Anna Santos and May Freighter
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Hunting the Beast*
Not the Best Retelling of Classic Tale
I am a sucker for retellings of fairy tales, and I particularly love the story of Beauty and the Beast. I fell in love with it when Disney came out with a cartoon movie in the last millennium. So I was anticipating this version of it, but unfortunately, I found it sadly lacking. The author gave Belle some potential strengths, but they weren’t really used. The character development that we see in the original fairytale was not truly seen here. Especially Drake, the Beast, as he came across as a cardboard character and certainly not one who grew and evolved. I felt the language in this book, too, was a bit strange. The language was very simplified, as if the book is meant to be a middle-grade story. I found that tedious to read. Some word choices for dialogue, too, seem far too modern. The book feels like it takes place in a fake medieval fantasy time, so modern terms feel out of place and are actually quite jarring when read. The level of the dialogue, too, seemed simplistic and childlike, not like real people talk. This story just missed the mark for me, which is too bad as I thought the premise had promise.
The Legacy by Amelia Shaw
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Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Legacy*
New Life at Magical Academy
This book begins a new series. I usually like magical academy types of stories, so I was drawn to read this one. 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. Unfortunately, she doesn’t even get to the academy until near the halfway point of the book. The first half is spent setting up her everyday life before her parents’ announcement upends it by telling her that she will be going away to a special academy for training. 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, and I would like to see where the author is going to take this next.
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