Review: A Nest of Magic

A Nest of Magic by Kate Moseman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“If everything is magic, then nothing is magic.” 

Nest of Magic was a perfect cozy magical realism story about coming out of your shell and meeting your person. Corinthia is a librarian in Shadow Ridge who's a little bit uptight and stuck in her routine but luckily has a bestfriend, Stevie, who pushes her to chase her feelings for Rosemary, a new woman who entranced her as soon as she walked into the library. Rosemary comes off ethereal and maybe a little, airy, but Corinthia can't help but want to leave her ridged world and connect with her. 

But just as she could not resist turning pages to find out what happened next, she could not resist knowing what might lie behind that door. 

When Corinthia loses a bet with Stevie, she has to take a walk in the Refuge, a protected park in the scrublands of Florida, connected to their town. When she has an unexplained experience, ended up in a part she's never seen before, her eyes start to get opened to the possibility of magic and she starts to wonder if Rosemary is somehow connected. This was mostly told from Corinthia's point-of-view but we get a Rosemary Interlude that let the reader in on Rosemary's story and why she is acting the way she is, even when she also shares feelings for Corinthia. 

 “We are all secretive about certain things.” 

Along with Corinthia and Rosemary trusting and finding their way to each other, there was a secondary romance, grounded more in realism, between bestfriend Stevie and Drew, who owns a food truck and is the local handywoman. If you're not into the spooky side of the Halloween season but want to embrace the magic, this would be a perfect pickup. This was low-stakes, cozy, sweet, and all about loving who the person is, no matter their form. The ending gave us a fun and sweet Corinthia's dog Beaufort's Interlude with a happily ever after.

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Review: The Library of Fates

The Library of Fates by Margot Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

The Book of Dark Nights was gone. 

I devoured The Library of Fates in the beginning as I found the magical realism world where an 18th century book created by a witch for Voltaire acts as a sort of Ouija board and powers a library. The lore created about and around this book was fascinating, you're supposed to write in the book a true confession, shut the book, and then open it to read what the book has written in answer to you. Only the writer can read their confession and the tell you something about your future answer. Told in dual time-line and povs from our two leads, more story about the book's origins and purpose gets revealed as you read on. 

To him the touch meant nothing, while for her it roused far too many memories. 

As the story goes back and forth between Now (2019) and Then (1995) we get the story, mostly, from Eleanor, a college student and then eventual librarian of The Library of Fates, and Daniel, the professor's son, who introduces them to The Book of Dark Nights, and eventual former flame of Eleanor's. We start off with Daniel's mother having died and Eleanor discovering that The Book of Dark Nights is missing from the library. As the book gives the library it's power and makes Eleanor feel special because she's one of the few who the book “talks” to by directing her to select the exact book a person needs at that time and place in their life, she's devastated and worried. Daniel comes into the picture as he's showing up for the first time back at Harvard, where the library is, in twenty-four years, and realizes his mother's will states that he doesn't get his inheritance if the Book is not in the library by the time of his mother's wake. When it becomes obvious that Eleanor's mentor and Daniel's mother hid the book and left them clues, we have them going on a scavenger hunt for the Book in the current time-line as the Then time-line goes back and shows us how Eleanor and Daniel met in his mother's special Book class and the events that lead up to their separation. 

“You protected the Book, Eleanor. You've been protecting it all this time, haven't you? What if I said I think we should destroy it?” 

From Eleanor's pov, it's clear there was a lot to her and Daniel's relationship, readers get to see it in the Then sections, but Daniel doesn't seem to remember Eleanor at all in the Now. There's a slow build to that reveal as they search for the Book and secondary characters come into the picture, others from the special Book class and Daniel's father. As I mentioned, the plot about the Book immediately drew me in but when we got towards the ending with reveals and tying the characters and plot together, I couldn't help feel some disappointment, it all felt messy and somewhat underdeveloped. There was a henchman that came out of nowhere, and some secondary character usage that had them staying off-screen too much to suddenly come in and make the impact they were supposed to. 

What if, when you confessed, a sliver of your soul stayed in the Book? 

The second chance romance stays a thread throughout the story but it didn't encompass enough to be a strong genre element. I thought the dual timelines of furthering the plot while going back and showing how the foundation of it was built worked but I can't help feeling the climax felt like a whiff. I'd definitely recommend for some cool magical realism as The Book of Dark Nights plot will definitely fascinate (witches! Voltaire! confessions!) and textual potential shenanigans that give fun shout-outs to literature of yore, but just be prepared for a little bit of a messy letdown on the wrap-up.

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Review: The Anatomy of Magic

The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“I spelled my heart.”

Second in the Estrada Family series, The Anatomy of Magic is about Lily, the youngest sister. If you read the first (The Enchanted Hacienda) you'll know that generations ago, an Estrada woman made a desperate deal with the Aztec goddess Mayahuel. The deal was for every female descendant to be blessed with their own brand of magic that is enhanced by plants and flowers. Lily's magic is memory and when a patient's son utters a line from her past, she is shocked into a distant memory and then tragically loses for the first time a patient on the operating table. This causes her to go home to her family flower farm in Mexico and face the consequences of the intensified memory spell she put on herself to try and forget her first love Sam.

“It’s because something else is taking up space in your heart, and you have to heal that.”

Told all from Lily's point-of-view this was a more sedate moving story about how not dealing with past pains can bubble up and impact you when you least expect it. It's a magical realism setting with the flower magic and a family generational story, even though each book takes turns focusing on a different Estrada woman. There's the love interest Sam, who doesn't appear until around the 25% mark, but his character isn't so much there for his story to be told but in service of showing how Lily is the way she is today and how she has to work through that. The love thread is a second chance romance as the two were childhood sweethearts and then eleven years ago when they were nineteen, Sam out of nowhere says he doesn't love her anymore, giving no other explanation. This causes Lily to spell her heart to try and forget their years long love but also works to deaden her emotionally somewhat. The story was more about Lily discovering she should feel again and how she could go about it than showing Lily and Sam working together to resolve their past pain. A little later into the second half, Sam tells Lily why he broke up with her and Lily pretty much forgives him right away. The romance arc was more working through Lily's pain, hearing the reason she always wondered about, and then immediately moving on to we're in love.

“Azalea came to me in a dream,” I say.
“And?”
“She told me to go back to the beginning.”

The ending has some family and magical drama from a decision Lily makes but we get a resolving of that for no cliff-hangers, also an epilogue to deliver what looks like a Lily and Sam worked out happily ever after. I enjoyed the continued magical realism aspects and Estrada family relationships that were laid out in the first, you could pick this up as a standalone as there's enough relaying to clue new readers in, but the pace got a little slow for me as Lily glummed around. I also missed the romance thread being stronger and having more working through to give the second chance more impact. This wasn't the strongest installment for me but I'm still entranced by the Estrada women and their flower farm and will be looking out for the next one to fall in love.

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Review: Les Normaux

Les Normaux by Janine Janssen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

Les Normaux was a Webtoon series turned graphic novel about late twenty something characters trying to find their place in the world. Centered on human, but has the magical capabilities of a wizard, Sébastien has just moved to magical Paris and meets vampire Elia. They're both taking a moment in a hidden alcove in a club when instant chemistry hits them and they're making out, only for Sébastien to call a halt to things and run off. Which would have been less embarrassing if Sébastien didn't run into Elia the very next morning, as they both live in the same building now.

   

The story started off immediately with them meeting and readers are thrown into the world without a lot of context. Later in the the book, we get a little nugget of worldbuilding when it's relayed that a wizard created, built this magical Paris parallel to the human Paris, as a haven for supernatural beings that may feel lost. We do get some backstory on Sébastien and Elia as we get to know they're characters separately. Sébastien's parents tried to get him to suppress his magical abilities as the magical gene skipped them, this, along with being gay in an environment he thought he had to hide it, has left Sébastien having some social anxiety, being an overthinker, and just wanting to run away when things feel overwhelming. His first step to independence is him moving to magical Paris, his aunt and uncle who do have magical abilities are there to support him, and attending university, where he'll study and learn about his wizard magic. Elia seems to come from a storied, wealthy family where he helps with their fashion line business. We don't get as much about his background but he seems to feel immense pressure from his family and this causes him to dissociate when he gets overwhelmed.

   

Along with our main couple's story, we get some secondary character side-story lines from Elia's three girl friends, with a focus on Ronnie's budding romance, and an introduction to two male friends that Sébastien meets at university. There's also a few side-story inserts about Sébastien's bunny Pierre (a normal rabbit that was given infused magically by Sébastien's grandmother) and how he seems to be about world domination. It was cute but not fully making sense to me.

   

The jump from scenes sometimes didn't feel smooth, I was left questioning how much time had passed between scenes but the artwork added to the characterization and world, giving it a more inclusive and lively reading experience. This was volume one and that was felt in it's more introductory feeling, I do wish world-building had been laid out a bit more. If you're looking for a different kind of reading experience than you're usual written novel, this graphic novel had magic, budding romances, friendships, familial and personal issues working through, and a bunny bent on world domination.

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Review: The Kiss of the Nightingale

The Kiss of the Nightingale by Adi Denner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“I need you to become my thief.” 

In a magical realism late 1800s France, The Kiss of the Nightingale was a story of what you're willing to give up for the life you think you want. Told in first person, present tense, Cleo is a nineteen year old who is trying to keep her father's tailoring business going while caring for her sick younger sister. In this world, Talents mean everything. Centuries ago, gems infused with magic that greatly enhanced a person's gifted talent, were mined and then distributed among the population. A few decades ago, the mines dried up and Talents became impossible to get, unless you inherited them from your family. This has created increasingly lopsided economic statuses, especially when Elite Talents are horded by the aristocracy. Cleo's father was supposed to pass on his Tailoring Talent but after his emotional spiral downward after Cleo's mother's death, his body was found drowned in the river, with the Talent gem missing from his ring. Knowing that Cleo doesn't have a Talent, customers abandon her father's once flourishing business, leaving Cleo and her sister to poverty. 

In our relationship, I'm the dangerous one. 

Desperate to find a way to pay for a doctor for her sister has Cleo attempting to rob an aristocrat, but she's found, kidnapped and brought to Lady Sibille, better known as Dahlia and the Queen of the underworld that deals with stolen Talents. Cleo is seduced by Dahlia, physically and emotionally, and ends up agreeing to become a thief and steal Vicomte Nuriel Lenoir's Mathematical Talent in exchange for Dahlia gifting Cleo with a singing Talent and becoming Lady Adley. Unfortunately for Cleo, she feels drawn to the arrogant Nuriel and starts to develop feelings for him, leading her to feel guilty for her subterfuge and how she's going to betray him. 

But Cleo, it's not worth it if it keeps you from home. 

The beginning was interesting with the magical realism world set-up and obvious in it's message of resource hoarding, social status hierarchies, and what you should want out of life. However, the middle really sagged for me as Cleo did a lot of rinse and repeat of feeling guilty and battling enjoying her riches full new life with missing her sister. Since we're only in Cleo's head, the stagnate wishy-washy gave no escape and slowed the momentum of the story for me. The scenes with Cleo and Nuriel had some banter that you could feel and believe in their budding relationship but not quite enough depth to really delve into their romance. With the inclusion of magic, it felt obvious that Cleo's feelings were probably being manipulated by Dahlia in some way, so even though there seemed to be flashes of conveyed realness, I didn't quite feel the tormented pull Cleo was supposed to be in. Dahlia seemed like a very interesting secondary character that I would have loved to have seen more of, but again, all in Cleo's head, we only get those flashes. 

Light and darkness. Safety and danger. Integrity and deceit. But under it all is desire. And the realization that, deep inside, I'm torn. 

The ending worked to draw me back in when Cleo finally has to make a decision regarding who's side she's going to be on and what she wants out of life and we get some action. The world-building was adequate, I could have used a little more in regards to the magical Talents but it was magical realism intriguing enough. The secondary characters were plentiful and each brought something to the table; I can see Cleo's sister possibly getting her own romance. The romance, between Cleo and Dahlia and Cleo and Nuriel was there but lacked romance genre depth for me. Where this excelled the most for me was in it's underlining message of how resource hoarding hurts not only individuals but holds back societies as a whole and how talents can come from anyone and all corners of the world. This had a, mostly, wrapped up ending, but some characters were left in the wind and while some relationships were getting started, there is definitely room to add to character journeys. At points intriguing, meandering, left me wanting more depth, and thought-provoking.

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Review: The Legend of Meneka

The Legend of Meneka by Kritika H. Rao
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Seduction is all I've ever known. I am made for it. I have destroyed lives with it. I never wanted to. 

The Legend of Meneka is a reimagining of Hindu mythology where much is told about Sage Vishwamitra, Kaushika in this tale, but not his famous love Meneka, giving the author room to breath new life into the story. I went into this having heard of celestial dancers and the name apsara but definitely not a solid base of Hindu mythology. I think this helped in making it a brand new, fresh interesting story and hurt with me having to take it slower as there was a good amount of new terminology and ideology for me to take in. There was a glossary of terms in the beginning that was helpful to refer back to but I think the first half pace may have felt slower to me because of my lack of knowledge. 

This place, this mission---never have I been so vulnerable, so powerless. 

We come into the story as aspara Meneka is seducing her mark, a queen that has been slowly moving away from worshiping Lord Indra. He's the deva (diety) of Amaravati (heaven) and needs worshipers to fuel his strength. When someone threatens that resource of power in the mortal world, he sends one of his immortal asparas to seduce and negate. Meneka is an immortal but very young, early twenties, and is emotionally tired of having to seduce, she wants to stay in Amaravati, to be near Indra, who she is devoted to but also Rambha, an aspara who was able to gain some freedom, doesn't have to go to the mortal realm to seduce, and that Meneka thinks she is in love with. Meneka makes the mistake of asking Indra for her freedom, he punishes her by sending her on a mission to seduce a sage gaining major power, Kaushika, and which three other asparas have failed. Thinking she'll get her freedom to stay in Amaravati and be with Rambha, Meneka portals to the mortal world to seduce Kaushika. 

“That's what you have been taught,” Kaushika says. “But what do you think? For yourself?” 

Once in the mortal world, Meneka discovers all is not what it seems and while trying to prove herself worthy to stay and study with Kaushika, in order to seduce him, she begins to question if everything she was taught in Amaravati is really true. This was a lot about self-discovery with religious questioning, what it means to be devout and to the whos, whats, and whys in the Hinduism world. This is all told from Meneka's point-of-view and why it feels more like a self-discovery story but there's also the friction with Kaushika. Friction because he's going against her lord, which will in turn destroy her home city, with her friends who are family, but also she finds that she is feeling seduced when she is the one supposed to be doing the seducing. The first half doesn't have Meneka and Kaushika really circling each other a lot in a romance way, he's off doing sage things and she's trying to tap into her own magic. When they start spending time together more, it was more lust between the two, with some emotion that could be said coming from Meneka for how Kaushika is trying to get her to realize her own power but while Meneka does get Kaushika to question and teach him some things, I'm not sure their romance felt moved beyond those lust feelings. 

We are two opposites bound to each other in this game of mark and seducer, each of us taking either role, unknowing, unaware. 

The ending gives us some reveals, with some surprising character desires/motivations, Kaushika's background and why he's on his mission to bring about Indra's doom, and brings in a climatic scene with the ultimate clashing between the mortals and immortals. As this is a duology, there wasn't a concrete ending but the story did deliver on how Meneka and Kaushika could have become intertwined, filling in the original legend. There was just a lot of Meneka self-discovery journey to wade through that I thought hurt the pace a lot, and the romance didn't quite shine through as much as I would have liked. If you're new to Hindu terms, mythology, just be ready to take this slower but you'll get a fresh story for your efforts, if albeit a bit slower going.

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Review: Deja Brew

Deja Brew by Celestine Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

For the first time in years, Sirena allowed herself to make a request from the universe. “I wish I had a second chance,” she said. 

Sirena has had the worst October ever, she's lost one of her jobs and did horribly at an interview for a chef position she's been trying to get back into ever since she left her job to take care of her grandmother. When a special tea grants her wish for a second chance, Sirena finds herself living October all over again and this time, she's determined to change all those mishaps into successes. Deja Brew is third in a series, but I haven't read the first two and didn't have much of a problem jumping in here. It's set in Freya Grove, a magical realism world where every kind of supernatural is present. Sirena's a witch, specifically a kitchen witch, and has lost her ability to cook. She's currently living alone in her family home, her two sisters seem to have moved on in life while Sirena's stuck. This second chance at October has Sirena making changes, taking the opportunity to have fun and find her spark again. 

These feelings he had for Sirena weren’t a simple crush, it was something more. Something exciting. 

While Freya Grove is Sirena's hometown, Gus moved there a few years ago and while they've danced around in each other's orbit, they've never really got to know one another. On the night of Halloween, Sirena had a moment with Gus and when she gets her second chance, she remembers him. Gus moved to Freya Grove to slow down and recuperate, he was tired of being the “Good-time Gus” magician on his family's reality tv show and when he gets his heart broken on tv, his marriage of convenience started to feel real to him only to have his wife serve him divorce papers, he needs to reevaluate. He works at the historical society now and can't believe how much it suits him. While he's a little apprehensive when Sirena comes to him to teach her how to have a good time, he doesn't want to just be about fun anymore, but he can't escape the feeling of deja vu and finds himself wanting to be around her. They strike a deal that he'll help Sirena have fun and she'll help him decipher a cook/spell book the historical society was just donated. 

“There are some things you don’t leave up to fate,” he said. 

If you're looking for something that felt very low angst with Fall festive vibes, this would definitely be it. I really loved the beginning of this, with learning about Sirena and her world, then the anticipation of her and Gus getting to know one another in a Fall setting. While they do get some open bedroom scenes, this was still more along the lines of sedate, almost too low angst for me. I really liked the first half of this but the second half seemed to drag on too long, there just wasn't enough happening for me, Sirena drags her feet way too much and for way too long on finally acknowledging and accepting that her and Gus belong together. After I thought both sides accepted being together we got a, nope not yet, and the story dragged from October into November and December. I think readers of the series might enjoy where the story meander to more, as past characters feature more in these later chapters but I couldn't help just tapping my watch and wanting Sirena and Gus to wrap it up. 

“My soul has found yours across lifetimes and oceans. We tempted fate, and we’ve played with fire. We are destined for each other.” 

Wanting them to wrap it up doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them together, I liked how they both felt stuck in life and were trying to find who they wanted to be and find their place in the world but there just wasn't enough tension to keep me locked in, this should have been a shorter story. I enjoyed the fun the two got to have together, game playing, but I missed some delicious tension at the end. However, if you're looking for something more lowkey with Fall additives, pumpkin spice, apple cider, candy corn coffee(!?!), set in a magical world, and a sweet couple that clearly belong together, this would be a great seasonal pickup.

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Review: A Sorceress Comes to Call

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.4 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

No one noticed that Cordelia moved in unison with her mother. No one ever did. 

When a Sorceress Comes to Call was a historical magical realism story about a coming of age girl gaining the strength to fight back against her mother. Cordelia is fourteen years old and having stopped attending school years ago, only gains a sense of normalcy when a local girl Ellen can randomly meet up with her on one of her rides. Cordelia begins to realize that having a mother that is so controlling, not only of her thoughts but through what Cordelia calls “obedience”, where her mother actually controls her body, is not normal. It's when Cordelia gets a painful realization of betrayal that the only other friend she thought she had, her mother's horse Falada, tells her mother everything as her familiar and her mother does something that shines the light on what a true monster she is, that Cordelia begins to fight back, with some help. 

Fear took her suddenly by the throat, a formless dread with no name, no shape, only a sense that something was wrong, something terrible was coming this way. 

I thought this was a little less eerie than What Moves the Dead but you'll still find gruesome animal body horror, magic, supernatural elements, and thriller aspects. This was mainly told through Cordelia's eyes and the creepy tension and fear she feels from her mother was woven in strongly throughout the book. Once of the most powerful scenes for me was when Cordelia learned of Falada's betrayal. At this point, he's been her rock and the only one that seems to give Cordelia strength and when she lost that I hurt so bad for her and felt the numbness this gave her. (I must have some residual horse girl leftover from childhood because I refused to stop thinking that Falada wasn't on the side I wanted them to be for an embarrassing long time) We get a different pov when Cordelia's mom decides it's time to get a new benefactor, after she deals with her old one in a gruesome manner, and sets her sights on a squire a few towns over to marry. The squire's spinster sister Hester comes into the picture and with a little bit of magic herself, she senses right away that this new woman is “Doom”. 

My mother is a sorcerer. 

Around the midway point, Cordelia confides into Hester her fears of what her mother is and that she needs to be stopped; after what Hester has felt and seen, she doesn't need much convincing. The second half brings in more characters with friends of Hester that she writes to, under the guise of a house party, but really she's calling for reinforcements. Along with friends, she invites Richard, her old lover and the man that once asked her to marry him. Through them we get a little tiny romance thread that I enjoyed with their second chance romance and Hester finally mature enough to decide love is more important than letting the glare of societal expectations rule the day. Hester's more mature pov paired with Cordelia's youth, delivered a well rounded hitting all those emotions story. 

And part of her— a tiny part that she had never quite lost— wanted to be there and wanted it all to be true so that her mother would love her and maybe things would change. 

The ending delivered a, kind of quick, magical explanation (hitting the right “notes”??), along with the story's continued message of “water, wine, salt, and holy ground” dramatic end. There were winners, losers, and probably a lifetime of trauma from what was witnessed. The story was an enjoyable ride with it's really likable characters, a great seasonal read to pick up.

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Review: The Story Collector

The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘this is what following your heart feels like.’ 

The Story Collector was a story of finding your way after you've lost it, with tales of fairies and loads of charm. The story opens with some tension as Sarah and her husband have obviously decided to split and it's time to have that first Christmas now apart. Sarah's at the airport when a ceramic sheep and newspaper article about locals saving a fairy tree about to be cut down, all lead to Sarah changing her ticket from home to Boston, to Ireland. There, what could be considered little puckish intervenes, lead to Sarah staying in Thornwood village, where she'll heal, find herself again, and maybe find love again. 

Her mother and her sister Meghan were the practical ones, but Sarah and her father were the dreamers. Or at least she used to be. All of the magic seemed to seep out of her after The Big Bad Thing. Maybe Ireland was the place to find it again? 

It's obvious that something traumatic happened to snap Sarah out of the routine of slowing losing herself in her marriage over the five years they were together (it gets revealed later in the story what this was, but it's fairly obvious it was a miscarriage). Sarah's dealing with grief and a bit fogged from it when she arrives in Ireland but gets led to Thornwood. There, she ends up staying in a cottage and finding a diary of a young girl named Anna that lived there in 1910. The diary tells the story of an American coming to Thornwood and Anna becoming his assistant as she leads him around the village to listen and record people's stories of “The Good People”. The story then alternates between Sarah's timeline and Anna's and we get fairy stories with Anna and the American and Sarah learning to heal and meeting the owner of the cottage she's staying at. 

Even a broken heart still feels. 

Grief and loss, along with good and evil stories of fairies are throughout the book but they're never explicitly dived down into, more touched on to keep a lighter tone to the story. The first meeting between Sarah and the cottage owner where she's picking flowers in a field and he's the tall conservation officer who reprimands her for picking the flowers, he has his own grief tied into he doesn't want her picking the flowers, will have a little zing hit you, as you feel the promised magic between them (especially when his little yappy dog clues Sarah into what a softie he is). There was also a little building romance in Anna's timeline as her and the American slowly grow to know one another, but like the grief and frightening tales of fairies, the romance is more touched on, than delved into. 

I greatly enjoyed the charm of this one but thought for the taking it's measured time pace for most of the story, the ending felt very rushed. Anna's story has some ending drama and a wrap-up that may leave some left wanting and while Sarah's story has her healing and becoming herself again, her happily ever after came abruptly in a way that I didn't feel I got to sit and enjoy the ending ride, it went too fast. Regardless of the rushed ending though, this story will have you feeling the magic and I recommend if you're wanting something that acknowledges the struggles of grief but doesn't completely darken the tone, tells tales of the fairy folk, and will overall charm you.

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Review: A Novel Love Story

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars 

I had a great time reading this with Wanda, for thoughts and comments: Novel Love Story Buddy Read 

A woman trying to get over heartache ends up in her favorite romance series 

Loved the magical realism aspect of winding up in your favorite romance series town and seeing the characters in their element. 

Loved the highlighting of romance tropes and the commentary on why romance books are special to readers but also how it's important to keep perspective on real and fictionalized. 

This definitely has romance but at times it's in that lit fiction vein and probably not first or second for what I loved about this the most. Ending has a little bit of rushed feeling but really enjoyed reading this one.

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Review: The Second Chance Year

The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

And suddenly the room is spinning. Because though it's January first, just like I expected...It's January first, twelve months ago. The entire last year of my life is---gone. 

Gone. 

Just like I wished for. 

Sadie has had a year, she lost her job as a pastry chef when she stood up to her boss again about his dictator way of running the restaurant, lost her boyfriend when he broke up with her because she made a scene again at one of his work events over sexist comments, and lost her apartment when her savings ran out. She's now living in a spare bedroom in the apartment of Jacob, her brother Owen's bestfriend. Depressed she works as a barista after her boss got her blackballed, she hardly leaves the couch. The only good thing is that she's starting to see that Jacob isn't so much standoffish and judgmental of her but really shy. When her bestfriend Kasumi invites her to a New Year's Eve party she doesn't want to go but it turns out to the be the best thing to ever happen to her. 

And then he stands up from the couch. 

Crosses the room. 

Sinks down on the bed next to me. 

Slides one hand behind my head. 

And he kisses me. 

The Second Chance Year was a chik-lit story told all from Sadie's point-of-view that took a good look at what it means to go along to get along and staying true to yourself, with a little romance. At the NYE's party, Sadie meets a fortune teller and makes the wish to get a second chance at the horrible year she just had. With some magical realism, she gets that chance and wakes up in her old apartment with her ex Alex and late to work at the restaurant she was fired at. Getting back all the things she lost has her taking a second look at how she reacted to things and trying a different route to get a different outcome. Instead of yelling at her chef boss, when he's unfairly yelling at employees or asking her to work the front of the restaurant, she bites her tongue and sees that he starts to treat her nicer and even dangle the promotion she wanted in front of her. Sadie also doesn't attack Alex's co-workers when they make sexist comments and instead talks to Alex first about it, which he had asked her to do. This has him inviting her to more work events, buying her expensive designer clothes to help her fit in, and even act like he could be ready to propose. Sadie starts to think this might be the chance she needed to get everything she wanted, if it didn't feel like she was also losing herself and the friendships she made in her awful year. 

If I could go back, I'd do it all differently. I'd never let him walk out thinking everything that happened between us was a mistake. 

Sadie sees that not only do things change for her when she acts different, things change for the people around her. She loses her bestfriend Kasumi instead of her job when she acts different at work and that awful year that lead to her knowing Jacob more and ended with them having a NYE's kiss, which now didn't happen, has him slowly hanging out with a neighbor that Sadie had set up with someone else. I greatly enjoyed how the book explored and showed how people who say others are too “abrasive” with what they say, is really how it isn't how you say it but that you're saying it at all, with it's looks at sexism in the workplace. Sadie struggled with this and how her college professor parents constantly belittled her pastry chef occupation and heaped loads of praise and love on her younger brother Owen because of his college degree and high powered job in robotics. As Sadie opened up more to the people around her, it was nice for her to see how the people who really cared for her, admired the things about her she thought she needed to change to succeed. 

So, this is what it's like to be loved by someone who appreciates who I am, not just who I could be or should be. Not just who they want me to be. 

During her second chance year, things don't quite work out the way she thought they would if she tried changing herself and gets a dose of maybe things happen for a reason. Sadie's journey is the focus of the story but, while we don't fully get to know Jacob, he's around a good amount and the way Sadie starts to see him different and the way he gets to be there for her does provide a sweet romance thread (not genre romance and no open doors) with a scene delivering happily for now that will probably get a few eyes watering. This was self-affirming, frustrating look at the systems allowed to exist in workplaces, a look at how sexism breaks people down emotionally, and a great look at how whittling yourself away to fit others never works. If you've ever wondered what a second chance could look like, this delivers all the ways it could go wrong and right, with a little tender romance.

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Review: Not Your Crush's Cauldron

Not Your Crush's Cauldron by April Asher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Everything had changed. Everyone evolved. Except her. 

If you've been reading the Supernatural Singles series, you've probably been waiting for Maxwell sister Olive and Guardian Angel Bax to finally cut the tension between them and kiss already. If you're new to the series, I'm not sure I'd recommend jumping into this third installment, you'd miss a lot of worldbuilding and character relationships. In this New York City world, a Supernatural reveal has happened and the witches, vampires, demons, shifters, angels, and any other supernatural creature you can think of exists out in the open with humans. The series has, so far, focused on triplet witches, the Maxwell sisters. With her two other sisters already finding love, Olive is feeling stagnate in her job as a professor and in her social life, and when her roommate goes on a campaign of sleeping with every strange man she meets, Bax, her “just a” friend offers up his apartment for her to move into. This brings her into close quarters with the angel and puts strain on keeping her less than friendly thoughts about him to herself, especially when he decides to join in and help her with a Dare I Docket list. 

To date, he’d now broken two of the three central—and most important—GAA Rules of Conduct. The first: Don’t tell your Assignment that you’re their designated Guardian. The second: Don’t get your Assignment killed. The third, which he’d yet to break and had no intention of doing so: Don’t fall in love with your Assignment. 

Bax has his own feelings about Olive he's trying to fight and when he gets her as a Guardian Angel assignment, she becomes even more off limits. A huge disappointment to his Warrior father, Bax doesn't want to fail at being a Guardian angel but he also hates keeping it a secret that he's been assigned to be Olive's protector as she decides to check off her Dare I list of activities. These two did have some cute chemistry between them but this was a story that seemed to have a lot of little additives that ultimately ended up stealing some of their spotlight for me. Olive's sister is dealing with becoming the next Prima (head witch) and the issues and drama surrounding that, especially when their grandmother and former Prima goes off on her own, kind of butted into the story. Characters showing up that normally I would feel connected our two mains to the existing world ended up annoying me; Harper's (demon friend of theirs) constant focus on turning anything and everything into a sexual innuendo or making it about sex just really got old for me. 

“You’re gorgeous,” she heard herself blurt out. “I mean . . . your wings are gorgeous. They’re beautiful.” 

His lips twitched in enjoyment of the moment. “Just my wings?” 

“Please. You know you could grace the cover of any angel romance book and light imaginations across the globe.” 

“Do I light up your imagination?” 

 Along with Olive trying to learn to be less rigid, Bax had to work out how he was going to live his life on his own terms, instead of thinking about what his father might want. It gets revealed that he's a talented artist and him learning to embrace that side of himself and chose what he wants out of life was his journey to make. Coming to this decision for Bax, and Olive thinking she needs to take more chances in life, felt more like the character emotional journeys we went on, more than the romance. There was a good amount of open door bedroom scenes in this in the second half and dirty talk but while the words were on the page, I again, missed the charm and intimacy of the emotion and relationship development. 

It wasn’t what you did that moved you forward the most, but the people who stood by your side when you did it. It was your family—your found family. The ones you chose to surround yourself with because them not being part of your life wasn’t a possibility you wanted to think about. 

The last twenty percent has our leads dealing with the eventual fallout you know is about to happen when Olive learns and thinks that Bax has only been spending time with her because he was assigned to be her Guardian Angel. The resolution felt natural to the characters with nothing being dragged out or ignored smoothed over and you get a happily ever after. Some of the little additives started to feel disorganized and about nothing while at the same time taking up too much of the spotlight, taking away from the romance. It's great that romance wants to give us two fully formed characters but I miss the focus on having our leads actually together and focusing on developing the romance because in a romance genre book, that's what I'm here for. This did have cute and steamy moments, and if you're looking for a lighter read for Halloween, this is a pretty fun world to immerse yourself in for a while.

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Review: Breath and Starshine: Medicus Corpus Book Two

Breath and Starshine: Medicus Corpus Book Two by Kami King Larsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

Breath and Starshine is second in the Medicus Corpus series and while I saw some mentioning you could start the series here, it was better to read book one first. I'm here to say it is better, BETTER to start with book one and not two like I did. This one seems to pick up right after the first ended and I was totally lost and struggled to connect with the characters and world; y'all, I was downright wishing for an info-dump. Told in three alternating povs from characters Aurelia, Roe, and Hale, it probably took until around forty percent before I felt like I could understand some whos, whys, whats, and hows and then try and get into the story. 

Medicus Corpus was my new family. Devil's Meadows my new home. 

This seems to be set in a post-apocalyptic world with the settlement of Devil's Meadows being somewhere around the Hoover Dam (I'm guessing that was the big dam they visited in the story). I feel like it was the current contemporary world when wars started and then a veering into fiction when the author writes that The Grand Divagation happened. The Divagation was when some form of leaders got together and decided to shut-off modern conveniences (electricity, travel, plumbing, wifi (HORRORS), etc.) and cut-off, stop distribution of medicines. After the chaos and numerous deaths this causes, a new group of leaders create the Medicus Corpus, an institution that seems to run how hospitals, medicine, and healthcare are run and provided. This story is pretty focused on the hospital and healthcare aspect of this world and we don't get much outside of it as our three pov characters all work in the hospital. Maybe more of background world setting was giving in the first but after I got to the halfway point I thought I had enough to have a good enough understanding of the setting I was in. 

This had a YA feel to it, unless I missed it, our main characters ages were never given. Book one obviously had them going through an adventure that started with Aurelia and Roe, paired to work together by the Medicus Corpus and became bestfriends, and then brought in Roe's brother Hale, who has a very barely there romance with Aurelia in this one, and other side characters like Holdan, who has a mysterious magical(?) healing gift like Aurelia that he has been helping her learn to control but must be kept secret because the Medicus Corpus would jail(?) them for it, and a married couple who seem to be protectors/guards for the hospital workers, Geneva and Asher. Their friend and relationship dynamics are already set in this one and I missed some of that development. 

I would call this mostly a slice of life story as it seems done with the first book's adventure, they start on a new one with mysterious deaths of young women are happening in their settlement and a new character, Campbell, comes into the picture alluding that he is from a not well known other settlement and is on the trail of an almost, energy vampire illness struck person, an illness that befalls men at random from where he comes from. There's a lot of following our characters to the hospital and back, with Aurelia getting attacked and then having to be protected, and an ending bait set-up that ended that storyline pretty abruptly. 

That was the first night I slept on the ground outside Aurelia's door. 

I did have problems at times trying to distinguish the different voices of our povs and for Hale supposed to be a big part of Aurelia's life, he was very absent. The end did give a scene where, I guess, they decide they're dating and have a couple kisses that leads to a firmly shut-door scene. The magic aspect of Aurelia's “wonder-working” is the obvious thread that will keep going (the ending definitely alludes to at least a book three) and while I can see the path of keeping it going through the serious, I would have liked more of it worked into the world-building, again, could have been developed more in the first. This did read quick but not having read the first in the series had me lost for most of the first half and the second half fell a little short in the plot momentum, somewhat stagnated and time jumping abrupt at that same time and fell a lot short in the romance aspect. 

This did read quick and if looking for a post apocalyptic slice of life this is the adventure they have to get through in this book, some medical jargon, and with a YA tone, this maybe is one of the few out there to fit that particular bill.

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Review: The Thorns Remain

The Thorns Remain by J.J.A. Harwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

The figure extended a graceful hand. 'Join the dance.' 

It's 1919 and while the War has ended, the danger and threat of the Spanish Flu still lingers. Moira Jean's little village in Scotland keeps dwindling as boys and men were lost to the war and others to the lure of more opportunities in the cities. Moira Jean and her six friends toil as tenets to a rich family that hasn't even visited their estate in years and always with the threat of eviction hovering. When they decide to let off some steam in the woods, drinking and carrying on, a new danger reveals itself. Now Moira Jean must deal against The Dreamer, trying to get her friends back and keep herself and the rest of the village safe. 

'Careful, Moira Jean. You are safe if you are ignorant. Do not stray too close to that which you do not understand.' 

The Thorns Remains was a magical realism and fantasy story that brought back all the reasons why people line their windows and doorways with iron. I loved how all the different kinds of fae folk were added in, kelpie, brownies, changelings, glaistig, etc and The Lord of Land Under the Hill, a.ka. The Dreamer, didn't sparkle so much as be painful to look upon because of his beauty that bordered on and could shift to grotesque. 

Dying from the flu as he was trying to make his way back home, Angus, Moira Jean's fiance, has her weighed down with grief and wearing his Victory Medal. A medal that has just enough iron in it to keep her from completely falling under The Dreamer's spell when he starts the music up, after he catches her and her friends in the woods. Moira Jean sees the creatures for what they are, antlers coming out of eye sockets, vines coming out of mouths, and refuses to keep dancing and follow everyone to The Dreamer's halls. She wakes up in the morning at home with an awful hangover and no one in the village missing the six friends as they're under a spell thinking their kids are just somewhere else. This leaves Moira Jean to return to the woods and make deals with The Dreamer to get her friends back. 

'Of course we are equals,' he said, his voice low, 'but that does not make you any less mine.' 

The Dreamer is just intrigued enough with Moira Jean to bargain with her and the story starts to get a Tam Lin essence to it, until Moira Jean reads the actual story to The Dreamer and then we spin a different direction. Moira Jean bargains one of her letters from Angus to The Dreamer for one of her friend's return and we see The Dreamer be fascinated with human emotion. The story then has The Dreamer acting as if he is starting to feel love for Moira Jean and this could have easily spun into a romance but I loved the direction this took with instead having Moira Jean eventually recognizing all the ways The Dreamer had been manipulating her and how it was selfish, obsession, and controlling and not love The Dreamer was feeling for her. 

Brudonnock was alive with unseen things, and she could see them all. 

While I enjoyed how we got to know the townspeople and Moira Jean's relationship with her mother, so we could get a feel for the community Moira Jean was living in, this story was four hundred pages and a good chunk of her working, doing chores (so much laundry washing!) could have been edited out, it dragged the middle and beginning second half down so much. There is a deadline to the bargains Moira Jean is making with The Dreamer, Beltane, and that is six weeks away. Instead of a steady pace of her trying to come up with ways to get her friends back, the pace slows and feels meandering as she has to do chores. I don't think streamlining this would have cut out any feelings and instead would have vastly improved the pace and therefore story. 

She stepped into the Land Under the Hill. 

The latter second half speeds up as Moira Jean stands up to the The Dreamer and his warnings of a “tithe” and The Queen come to fruition. We get fascinating fantasy scenes in The Dreamer's world and danger from The Queen. This was told in five parts, no chapters, with a writing style that pulled me into the story and if Moira Jean had focused a little more on getting her friends back with less scenes showing her doing her chores, the return to fae being something to fear would have this a favorite read of the year, but I still did enjoy the places this went. 

He wanted her afraid, uncertain – it was how he'd always wanted her. But she had finished giving him what he wanted. 

The exploring of Moira Jean's grief, touching on how culture can be stripped from a people (Mrs. Iverach), economic opportunities, and how all love isn't good love were themes all explored in this magical realism world. The ending could easily be the last we see of Moira Jean but I can't help thinking that her last glance at the dock could lead to a sequel and I'd definitely sign up for more from the woman with iron in her soul.

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Review: The Enchanted Hacienda

The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

It’s seven fifteen on a Thursday, and I’ve lost my dream job, and an unworthy boyfriend, and the apartment that comes along with him, and worst of all, maybe even myself along the way. 

Harlow was just let go from her job as a book editor due to cut backs and when she overhears her boyfriend saying a snide remark about her, she throws her drink in his face and decides it’s time to leave New York City and go home to the Estrada family farm in Mexico. For four generations the Estrada women have been running the flower farm, using the magic gifted to them from the Aztec goddess Mayahuel to infuse the flowers with magic. Each woman in Harlow’s family has their own brand of magic, except for her, the only one not named for a flower. Back home, she gets left with the responsibility of the farm, meets a man that finally has her feeling alive, and starts to think that she might just have her own brand of magic. 

“I want to find the better and truer way,” I whisper. 

Told all in Harlow’s first person pov, The Enchanted Hacienda was a story of coming from a loving family but still feeling like an outsider, finding and learning to believe in yourself, and trusting in love. A lot of have compared this to Encanto (Disney movie) but I haven’t seen it, I will say this had some Practical Magic movie vibes. Harlow, coming home and helped by her mother, tía, two sisters, and cousins in the beginning created a warm loving atmosphere but halfway through they leave the immediate picture and Harlow has to work things out on her own, while Ben comes into the picture. A chance meeting at a café has Harlow and Ben sparking off each other and then it’s clear, with their other chance meetings, that the universe and magic are invested in getting these two together. 

For once I don’t want to choose safe. It always leads to the same outcome: a belief that good is enough. 

While this is mostly Harlow’s story of finding herself, Ben plays a big part of that in the second half and we get more of a romance plot than I was expecting. They were are turns cute and sparking with their shy approaching and flirting. It was clear that Ben liked Harlow but without his point-of-view, the romance was more lopsided with it being more about Harlow. As they grow closer together, the angst comes in the latter second half when Harlow discovers that magic may be playing a conniving part in their relationship and her trust issues has her fearing their feelings might not be completely real. However, as Harlow comes into her magic and self, trust builds and we get a sweet ending HEA. 

With a half sigh, half groan, he presses his forehead to mine. “Truth?” 

I nod. 

“I think I’m in a lot of trouble.” 

This wasn’t quite an ensemble story, Harlow is always front and center, but the author brings readers into a world full of characters that they are going to love and want to get their own stories. There will always be the grounding spot, foundation of the Estrada family flower farm with Harlow’s mother and tía and I can see Harlow’s two sisters, Camilla and Lily, her cousins Dahlia and Lantana, and her bestfriend Laini visiting and then starting off the journey to their own books. This was more character driven, the magical realism world was contained to flowers and bouquets infused with magic and spell that played, for the most part, to the side. I liked how through Harlow’s journey to find herself we get the history of how the Estrada family has this magic, giving some world-setting. With the world set and the other women having lived with their magic longer, I can see their books having more magic in them.

It was all magic. 

Harlow’s journey to finding and believing in herself, coming into her own magic, and learning to trust in her love with Ben, will sweep you away with its sweet and spark. If you like to make midnight margaritas, then you need to visit the Estrada family farm.

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