Magic

REVIEW: My Forbidden Desire by Carolyn Jewel

Dear Ms. Jewel, It isn’t easy to summarize the plot of your newest book, the paranormal My Forbidden Desire, and doing so necessitates giving away some spoilers for the first book in the series, My Wicked Enemy. That’s because the series is set against a backdrop of a complex battle between paranormal beings known as(…)

REVIEW: Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

REVIEW: Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

Dear Ms. Andrews: It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of your writing. I was thrilled to beta read Magic Strikes about a year ago. I remember being very impressed by the quality of your manuscript and gave quite a bit of positive feedback. I was happy to discover that the changes made since(…)

REVIEW: The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

REVIEW: The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

Dear Ms. Bishop, While your other novels have been hit or miss (mostly miss) for me, I’m a longtime fan of your Black Jewel books. I discovered them at a time when I was about to give up on the fantasy genre and because they rekindled my love for a genre I’d become disenchanted with(…)

REVIEW: Dark Heart by Thom Lane

REVIEW: Dark Heart by Thom Lane

Dear Mr. Lane: I’ve coveted this book since I first saw it at Loose-Id. For one, the cover image is stunningly beautiful. For another, the blurb and excerpt intrigued me. Tam is a house slave for an inn in the Wayfarers Guild in Amaranth. As such, he is trained to serve ALL the body needs,(…)

REVIEW:  Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

REVIEW: Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk

Dear Ms. Monk: You are a new author edited by Anne Soward who happens to edit two of my favorite urban fantasy cross over writers, Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews. I’m always interested in new authors and their debut books. I do wonder if I would have enjoyed your book more had I read it(…)

REVIEW: King of Sword and Sky by C.L. Wilson

Dear Ms. Wilson: I’ll admit to being a little foolish. Ok, maybe more than a little. After finishing Lady of Light and Shadows and closing the book with a contented sigh, I thought to myself: “What could she possibly do next? Where could she go from here? How could this get any better?” What I(…)

REVIEW: Seduction of a Proper Gentleman by Victoria Alexander

Dear Ms. Alexander: One thing that continually frustrates me in romance is the idea that readers will only find one type of male heroic. To wit, that only the alpha male, stern and unyielding, can make the loins aquiver and her heart to pitter pat. This is why the Duke is such a popular role(…)

REVIEW: The Archer’s Heart by Astrid Amara

Dear Ms. Amara, There’s a continuing discussion among fantasy circles about non-Western settings and non-Caucasian characters in fantasy. Or more to the point, the lack thereof. I confess I count myself among their number. I realize many people take it as a given that a fantasy setting should be faux medieval Europe but these days,(…)

GUEST REVIEW: Double Enchantment by Kathryne Kennedy

We have asked loonigrrl, who did the fabulous hosting of our inaugural “If You Like” series, to come and guest review for the blog. We hope you enjoy her contributions. *** Dear Ms. Kennedy: I was very pleasantly surprised by Enchanting the Lady, the first book in the Relics of Merlin series. I found the(…)

REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Dear Ms. Briggs, Once in a while there comes a book that sweeps you off your feet, a book you fall in love with so completely that it is hard to do justice to that love in a review. Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf made me feel that way. Because of the way I(…)

REVIEW: Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey

Dear Ms. Carey, I loved the original Kushiel trilogy. I found the heroine Phèdre nó Delaunay, her story as a premier courtesan and the only anguisette in generations, and the Terre D’Ange setting fascinating and compelling. All those things were enough to keep me reading the second trilogy about her adopted son, Imriel, despite the(…)

REVIEW: Armed and Magical by Lisa Shearin

Dear Ms. Shearin: This may have been a case of mismatched expectations. The cover quotes and inside the book endorsements said that it was “fall out-of-your-chair funny” and that you had “mastered writing with humor.” I confess my reading experience was quite different. This is not to say that I didn’t find the narration pleasant,(…)

REVIEW: The Queen’s Bastard by C.E. Murphy

Dear Ms. Murphy, Your urban fantasy novels have failed to work for me in the past but I like giving authors second chances, especially when they expand into a favorite subgenre. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a political fantasy, and this book reminded me why I enjoy it. Set in an alternate(…)

REVIEW: Phantom Pleasures by Julie Leto

Dear Ms. Leto: I’ve been anxiously awaiting this new paranormal series of yours from Signet since you announced it over a year ago. I’m intrigued by the premise and I liked parts of the story but overall, I felt like I was missing something when I closed the story. Alexa Chandler is an heiress in(…)

REVIEW: Tangled Webs by Anne Bishop

Dear Ms. Bishop, Ten years ago, I went through a reading dry spell. Nothing within the fantasy genre appealed to me. I’d grown tired of ignorant farmboys discovering it was their destiny to save the world. I had yet to discover George R.R. Martin. It was still a few years before the urban fantasy subgenre(…)