Flight into Fantasy

Title: Secret Society Girl
Author: Diana Peterfreund
Genre: Chick lit? YA? Some combination of the two, at any rate.
Reason for Reading: I really can’t remember now who brought this book to my attention, but it was definitely a blogger.
Synopsis:

In a fabulous blend of the bestselling traditions of Prep and The Devil Wears Prada, Secret Society Girl takes us into the heart of the Ivy League’s ultraexclusive secret societies when a young woman is invited to join as one of their first female members. Elite Eli University junior Amy Haskel never expected to be tapped into Rose & Grave, the country’s most powerful–and notorious–secret society. She isn’t rich, politically connected, or … well, male. So when Amy receives the distinctive black-lined invitation with the Rose & Grave seal, she’s blown away. Could they really mean her? Whisked off into an initiation rite that’s a blend of Harry Potter and Alfred Hitchcock, Amy awakens the next day to a new reality and a whole new set of “friends”–from the gorgeous son of a conservative governor to an Afrocentric lesbian activist whose society name is Thorndike. And that’s when Amy starts to discover the truth about getting what you wish for. Because Rose & Grave is quickly taking her away from her familiar world of classes and keggers, fueling a feud, and undermining a very promising friendship with benefits. And that’s before Amy finds out that her first duty as a member of Rose & Grave is to take on a conspiracy of money and power that could, quite possibly, ruin her whole life. A smart, sexy introduction to the life and times of a young woman in way over her head, Secret Society Girl is a charming and witty debut from a writer who knows her turf–and isn’t afraid to tell all….

Other Thoughts:

• Bookshelves of Doom

• Angieville
• Teen Book Review

My Thoughts: This is not a particularly deep book, but then, most of what I read wouldn’t be described that way. What it is is immensely entertaining, with interesting and likeable characters.

The one thing I was worried about going into this book was that the “poor little rich girl” trope usually doesn’t work for me. I was thinking that if I had to read about the troubles of some well-off suburban white kids I’d be rolling my eyes a lot. Thankfully, that is not the case. I found Amy quite likeable. She’s got the snarky first-person tone of most chick lit heroines down, but I especially liked that she wasn’t so much a raving bitch, and the book is written as if she’s looking back on her life, and she makes plenty of self-depricating asides. I liked her so much better for it.

I was drawn into Amy’s story from the beginning, and found myself wishing my college days had been a bit more like Amy’s. The world of secret societies was fascinating, and even if I don’t think I would have taken the whole thing as seriously as she does, for a brief moment I wished a secret society would come tap me.

There is the requisite love triangle in these stories, with Amy drawn to the bad boy Rose and Grave member, George Harrison Prescott, while still trying to have a friends with benefits relationship with Brandon, the assistant editor of the school’s literary magazine. I didn’t like either of the guys particularly, and I thought Amy was stupid about both of them. Thankfully, she acknowledges this about herself as well.

The secondary characters, aside from the love interests, are great. Naturally, anyone who knows me well knows I was all about Thorndike, the black lesbian activist, but the other female members of the latest Rose and Grave class were great as well.

The plot was fast-paced, and kept me riveted throughout, even though there were lots of digressions into society shenanigans and lots of Amy having to fight to keep everything secret from her best friend, Lydia, and from Brandon. I loved the climax, and everything wraps up well at the end, with plenty of room for more secret society shenanigans.

Final Thoughts: this book is fun, funny and entertaining. I’ve already started the second book, Under the Rose , and I have a feeling this will be one of my favorite series of the year.

final Grade: B+

Title: Pure Blood (Nocturn City, Book 2)

Author: Caitlin Kittredge

Genre: Paranormal romance

Reason for Reading: I read the first book for Bookshare. I enjoyed it and decided to grab the second one to see just what was happening in Nocturn City.

Synopsis:

In the shadows of Nocturne City, witches lurk and demons prowl, and homicide detective Luna Wilder must keep the peace—while living life as a werewolf. Now bodies are turning up all over town, the brutal murders linked by a cryptic message: We see with empty eyes…
To make matters worse for Luna, she can’t get wolfishly handsome Dmitri Sandovsky out of her mind. The last time he helped her with a case, Dmitri suffered a demon bite that infected him with a mysterious illness…and now his pack elders have forbidden him from associating with Luna. But she’ll need his help when high-level witches start turning up slaughtered. Because a war is brewing between rival clans of blood witches and caster witches—a magical gang war with the power to burn Nocturne City to the ground.

Other Opinions

Coffee Quill

My Thoughts:

There’s a darker edge to Luna’s world, one that gives this series a sense of being more authentic than some. Relationships aren’t always rosy, and people’s interactions with one another feel authentic, even if they don’t always show everyone in the best light. Dmitri, for instance, is living a life that his pack has forced on him, sharing his bed with a woman that meets with the pack’s approval. And why? Because it’s easier to accept that fate than to fight against it. That doesn’t make him noble, but it feels appropriate for the character we met in the first book. He chose his pack, and feels comfortable with the weight of their traditions. At one point he accuses Luna of failing to understand, because she has forsaken the pack concept, and I can definitely see his point.

Luna, on the other hand, rails against the pack, her grandmother, the new police captain, in essence because she feels unloved and unlovable. She receives some unwelcome feedback about herself from a surprising source, and gradually she begins to realize that she is inflicting many of her woes on herself because she actively pushes people away. Brief glimpses of others’ reactions to her suggest that our narrator’s perceptions may not be entirely reliable when it comes to herself and her relationships

At points, I felt that Luna’s internal turmoil overshadowed the rest of the book. There is a case to be resolved surrounding the battle for possession of an ancient magical artifact with some interesting history behind it. And Luna, who has always worked alone, receives a new partner, Barbie Cop. It would be easy to write Barbie off, and Luna tries, but her partner proves herself on at least a few occasions, and it was amusing to have to watch Luna come to terms with that realization.

Irina, Dmitri’s new girlfriend, proved entertaining. She did what every red-blooded woman or were would do when confronted with the “other woman.” She fought back. And when her own efforts were in doubt, she enlisted others to help her.

This book afforded us a glimpse into Luna’s past from two different perspectives. Through her new partner, Shelby, she can study a reflection of herself, one that allows her to do some introspection. While confronting her past in another form, she begins to question who she has become, and takes a few tentative steps to change it. It’s too early to tell whether she’s on the right path, but I certainly hope she is, because I would like to spend more time with the plot when we next visit Nocturn City.

Luna also reaches a realization about her magical abilities; in essence, she is a witch after all, but her powers don’t manifest in the usual way. She is a “path”, a witch that absorbs magical energy instead of casting it outward. This is likely why she never could learn from her grandmother’s lessons, because she was trying to send magic outward instead of drawing it to her. This will either be the beginning of the “new power every book” scenario, or an opportunity to explore how this nuance of magic makes her different and special. I’m betting on Kittredge to make this another opportunity for an enjoyable tale.

The book was a fast-paced enjoyable read, and once I immersed myself in it I didn’t put it down. Ms. Kittredge knows how to tell a story, and once she draws you in, it’s hard to get free again.

Final Thoughts:

There was just a little too much internal conflict and whining in this book for my tastes. In a few places, I think that the central mystery got lost in Luna’s struggle to understand herself. Nonetheless, when we got down to it, I did like the story and the bits of world building that were done. I enjoyed the final showdown between Luna and her adversary, and feel that I have a better sense of Nocturn City and its struggles to fit magic into the world we live in, a world already full of crime and mayhem. At the end of the story, we’re left with new plot strands to explore, and I’m definitely eager to see where they lead us. A third book is already out, Second Skin, and a fourth book is due out on September 1, called Witch Craft. By all means pick up this series. I’d recommend that you clear your calendar, because once you start, you won’t want to put it down.

Final Grade: B

Title: Pure Blood (Nocturn City, Book 2)

Author: Caitlin Kittredge

Genre: Paranormal romance

Reason for Reading: I read the first book for Bookshare. I enjoyed it and decided to grab the second one to see just what was happening in Nocturn City.

Synopsis:

In the shadows of Nocturne City, witches lurk and demons prowl, and homicide detective Luna Wilder must keep the peace—while living life as a werewolf. Now bodies are turning up all over town, the brutal murders linked by a cryptic message: We see with empty eyes…
To make matters worse for Luna, she can’t get wolfishly handsome Dmitri Sandovsky out of her mind. The last time he helped her with a case, Dmitri suffered a demon bite that infected him with a mysterious illness…and now his pack elders have forbidden him from associating with Luna. But she’ll need his help when high-level witches start turning up slaughtered. Because a war is brewing between rival clans of blood witches and caster witches—a magical gang war with the power to burn Nocturne City to the ground.

Other Opinions

Coffee Quill

My Thoughts:

There’s a darker edge to Luna’s world, one that gives this series a sense of being more authentic than some. Relationships aren’t always rosy, and people’s interactions with one another feel authentic, even if they don’t always show everyone in the best light. Dmitri, for instance, is living a life that his pack has forced on him, sharing his bed with a woman that meets with the pack’s approval. And why? Because it’s easier to accept that fate than to fight against it. That doesn’t make him noble, but it feels appropriate for the character we met in the first book. He chose his pack, and feels comfortable with the weight of their traditions. At one point he accuses Luna of failing to understand, because she has forsaken the pack concept, and I can definitely see his point.

Luna, on the other hand, rails against the pack, her grandmother, the new police captain, in essence because she feels unloved and unlovable. She receives some unwelcome feedback about herself from a surprising source, and gradually she begins to realize that she is inflicting many of her woes on herself because she actively pushes people away. Brief glimpses of others’ reactions to her suggest that our narrator’s perceptions may not be entirely reliable when it comes to herself and her relationships

At points, I felt that Luna’s internal turmoil overshadowed the rest of the book. There is a case to be resolved surrounding the battle for possession of an ancient magical artifact with some interesting history behind it. And Luna, who has always worked alone, receives a new partner, Barbie Cop. It would be easy to write Barbie off, and Luna tries, but her partner proves herself on at least a few occasions, and it was amusing to have to watch Luna come to terms with that realization.

Irina, Dmitri’s new girlfriend, proved entertaining. She did what every red-blooded woman or were would do when confronted with the “other woman.” She fought back. And when her own efforts were in doubt, she enlisted others to help her.

This book afforded us a glimpse into Luna’s past from two different perspectives. Through her new partner, Shelby, she can study a reflection of herself, one that allows her to do some introspection. While confronting her past in another form, she begins to question who she has become, and takes a few tentative steps to change it. It’s too early to tell whether she’s on the right path, but I certainly hope she is, because I would like to spend more time with the plot when we next visit Nocturn City.

Luna also reaches a realization about her magical abilities; in essence, she is a witch after all, but her powers don’t manifest in the usual way. She is a “path”, a witch that absorbs magical energy instead of casting it outward. This is likely why she never could learn from her grandmother’s lessons, because she was trying to send magic outward instead of drawing it to her. This will either be the beginning of the “new power every book” scenario, or an opportunity to explore how this nuance of magic makes her different and special. I’m betting on Kittredge to make this another opportunity for an enjoyable tale.

The book was a fast-paced enjoyable read, and once I immersed myself in it I didn’t put it down. Ms. Kittredge knows how to tell a story, and once she draws you in, it’s hard to get free again.

Final Thoughts:

There was just a little too much internal conflict and whining in this book for my tastes. In a few places, I think that the central mystery got lost in Luna’s struggle to understand herself. Nonetheless, when we got down to it, I did like the story and the bits of world building that were done. I enjoyed the final showdown between Luna and her adversary, and feel that I have a better sense of Nocturn City and its struggles to fit magic into the world we live in, a world already full of crime and mayhem. At the end of the story, we’re left with new plot strands to explore, and I’m definitely eager to see where they lead us. A third book is already out, Second Skin, and a fourth book is due out on September 1, called Witch Craft. By all means pick up this series. I’d recommend that you clear your calendar, because once you start, you won’t want to put it down.

Final Grade: B

Title: Bo Crusoe
Author: Carla Kelly
Genre: historical romance
Reason for Reading: It’s time once again for Avid Reader’s TBR challenge The theme for this month was tortured heroes and heroines, and this fit the bill beautifully.

Synopsis:

Shipwrecked!

Stranded alone on a desert island, he had lived to tell the tale. A triumphant return to the ton saw James Trevenen hailed as Beau Crusoe—a gentleman of spirit, verve and action. But only he knew the true cost of his survival! Scandalous!

Susannah Park had been shunned by Society. She lived content with her calm existence—until Beau Crusoe determinedly cut up her peace! The beautiful widow wanted to help him heal the wounds of the past—but what secrets was this glorious man hiding?

Other Thoughts:

• All About Romance

• Janine at Dear Author
• Jayne at Dear Author

My Thoughts: Carla Kelly is an author that a lot of romance fans have sited as doing amazing stuff with the Regency time period. This is the first book of hers that I’ve read, and if they’re all this good, it certainly won’t be the last.

I love the premise, which fits the tortured hero aspect of the TBR challenge perfectly. They don’t come any more tormented than James, who has not had an easy life. I liked the fact that, though he went through some pretty hellish experiences, he was still capable of joking around, having fun, and in other ways not wallowing in his own inner torment. It seemed to me that Ms. Kelly really thought through what the consequences of life on an uninhabited island would be, such as James’s need for basic human contact, and the visions that he still saw.

I really liked Susannah as well, and I totally bought their romance. Susannah is also a refreshing historical heroine. She’s not a virgin, she knows about sex, and she has more than two brain cells to rub together. She was furthermore exactly what James needed. Sure, she was extremely maternal, but I kind of liked that about her, and I could see her being a tempering influence on James over the years ahead of the couple. I also adored that Susannah had such a good relationship with her son, Noah. Noah comes across as a real kid here, and not overly precious.

Some of the other characters don’t fare quite as well. Loisa, Susannah’s bitter older sister, who blames Susannah for Loisa’s own lack of marriage prospects, comes around far too quickly to be entirely believable. Sir Percival, a fop who James lets believe was saved from a fire, was not nearly as funny as Ms. Kelly clearly thought he was, and Lady Audley… well… Can we please just take the evil slut ex-girlfriend romance trope outside and shoot it?

I loved the details about James’s life at sea, and his adventures on the island. Some of the stuff that happens to him is quite gruesome, but I have a strong stomach, and as some of the things that James went through shaped the person he became after the island, I thought they were completely necessary.

I don’t think the end of the book works for me, exactly. After such a promising three quarters of the story, I was hoping for something a little less tidy. But still, this book earns my complete seal of approval, as I was in an area where I had both good wireless Internet connection and the book, and the book won out over the Internet.

Final Thoughts: This is yet more proof that Harlequin doesn’t have to equal horribly cheesy romance. Highly recommended.

Grade: B+

Title: the Moon by Night
Author: Madeleine L’Engle
Genre: Young adult
Reason for Reading: Madeleine L’Engle is one of my favorite authors of all time. I’m trying to make sure I’ve read all of her children’s books at least once, if not more often, and I never had read this one.
Synopsis: This book chronicles the close-knit Austen family as they make a cross-country trip prior to their move to New York. Told in first-person by fourteen-year-old Vicky, who is going through a difficult adolescence, the book chronicles Vicky’s first tentative forays into the world of boys, as well as her own uncertainty about where she is going in life.

Other Opinions: Couldn’t actually find any other reviews. If you’ve written one and want to give me the link, I’ll add it.

My thoughts: While this is not my favorite L’Engle book–A Wrinkle in Time will always have that title–it is another excellent offering. L’Engle, for me, is a comfort author, and this book was no exception. I immediately fell in love with the Austen family, whose closeness and love for each other are obvious even when, as all families do, they have problems. I also like, every once in a while, reading a book where the fate of the world isn’t necessarily at stake, and I love that one of the most powerful things about L’Engle’s writing is that the climaxes focus on the characters overcoming or coming to terms with something about themselves that they don’t like. It happened to Meg in A Wrinkle in Time, and it happens to Vicky here.

To bring this review back down to the shallow end of the spectrum of discourse, one of the main reasons I read it was because this is the book where we first meet Zachary Gray, who is one of L’Engle’s most complex and interesting characters. We don’t see inside his own head, but the glimpses we get of him from Vicky, who is alterntely attracted by and repelled by him, make him fascinating. he’s a spoiled rich kid with a medical condition, who has never been told no in his life, nor has he experienced much in the way of love, so he acts out in ways designed to put as much risk to himself as possible. I have a feeling if this book had been written 40 years later, Zachary would have been addicted to something. Anyway, Zachary isn’t terribly likable, but, like Vicky, I was fascinated by him all the same.

Vicky herself is another great L’Engle heroine. She’s smart, she’s resourceful, and her voice feels authentic–or at least as authentic as any voice of a teenager can be from a book written 40 years ago. I also think that the things she goes through–feeling like everyone around her has it way more together than she does, experiencing those first adolescent crushes, occasionally needing time by herself even amid a loving family–are things that are still very relatable. And, as I said, Vicky’s story ends with her coming to terms with herself and growing more mature in the process.

As a travelogue, this book doesn’t work as well, but then, it’s not supposed to. What fascinated me about the road trip aspect of the story was that, despite some things that were clearly dated–a family of six could not spend $10 a day these days on a similar trip–a lot of it wasn’t. The camping advice the family learns along the way still seems sensible, and some of the people they meet along the way seem like the sorts you could still meet if you took road trips across the country.

Final Thoughts: I have no idea if this book is actually relevant to today’s teens. But I always enjoy L’Engle, and this was no exception.

Final Grade: B+

Yay for blog memes. I love them to distraction, and I always end up doing them, even if some seem too boring to post.

This one I got from Jen B.

1. What thing is nearest to you? An empty glass which used to contain Kool-aid.
2. What is your ringtone? It’s actually one of the presets on my phone. It sounds vaguely musical, but it’s not any particular tune.
3. What was the last message in your inbox? I think at the moment it’s an RP tag. (Yes, yes, I am a nerd. This should not surprise you.)
4. Who is your best friend? I think I’m going to copy Jen and confess I don’t really have one. I have several close friends, but I don’t want to rank them. That might make them sad.
5. What is the brand of your TV? I’m one of those people normal folks hate. I don’t own a TV. I don’t really miss its lack, except for when I want to glom a TV show, and that’s why God invented DVD’s, which I can play on my computer.
6. What schools did you attend? This question sort of skeeves me out. Why don’t I just say I’ve attended the school of hard knocks and be done with it?

7. Do you own a MP4? Um… Given that I don’t know what that is, I’m assuming that’s a no.

8. What song are you listening to now? I am so lame. I had a random Internet radio stream on in the background, but loaded my music just to see what would show up on shuffle. It turns out to be “I want a Man” by Nancy Moran, a folk singer/songwriter I adore.

9. Did you kiss anybody in the past 2 days? No. *sadface*

10. Have you ever kissed someone you met in the blogosphere? Actually… Yes. Though we didn’t really meet in what I think of as the blogosphere, since LJ is kind of its own microcosm. It’s a long story, though, and, while the person in question is still someone I very much like, I prefer not to dwell on the year that brought me in contact with him.
11. What would you want to call yourself if you didn’t have your current name? When I was growing up, I was disappointed that I wasn’t given a name that ended with an a. Now… Shannon is actually a fairly unique name.
12. Would you be happy if you had everything? Nope. I’d probably want more of everything.
13. Are you always thinking of someone special? Well, you know, I am pretty damn special, and I think about myself a lot during the course of a day.

14. Tell us of your most desperate dream? Desperate, huh? Well, apparently it involves sexy people with Scottish accents doing unspeakable things to my person.

15. When did you last laugh till you cried? I never laugh that hard, because it takes a lot to make me cry. But… probably last Saturday.

16. If you had a crush, would you tell them you love him/her now? Sadly, no crushes. Lately, all the ones I develop end in tragedy. (Either they’re married, they’re a creeper, or they’re a married creeper.) On the other hand, I have friends I adore to distraction who I would go live in sin with if only the idea of actually moving anywhere farther away than about three blocks away didn’t give me the heebie jeebies.

17. If you could be anywhere in the world now, where would you want to be? A beach somewhere. There would be cabana boys involved, and they would be serving me drinks and rubbing my back.

18. When was your heart last broken? If it counts… It was the end of a book I read recently, which should have featured one of the characters getting together with the man she fell in love with. But noooo. That’s not what happened. I sniffled.

19. Whose birthday(s) is/are coming up? My brother’s is in August. I’m thinking that’s the next birthday I have to remember.

20. How many email accounts do you have? Um… four. Five if you count the school email account, which gets forwarded to my main email address.

Title: Sea Witch: Children of the Sea, book 1
Author: Virginia Kantra
Genre: Paranormal romance
Reason for Reading: My friend and mutual book enabler, Bree recced this book with its unconventional heroine. I like unconventional heroines, so I was all over it like white on rice.
Synopsis:

First in the new The Children of the Sea series from the USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR. Margred is a Selkie, a legendary being of the sea, able to shapeshift into seductive human form. And she has found a human she desires … Burned out from the big city, Caleb Hunter becomes police chief on the peaceful Maine island of World’s End. Then he meets a woman who’s everything he’s ever dreamed of. Their passion is undeniable, irresistible and it may change the fate of humankind.

Other Opinions:

• Dear Author

• Limecello at The Good, the Bad and the Unread
• Sci Fi Guy

My thoughts: This is a really interesting take on the paranormal romance, and I liked it. I’d never read anything by Ms. Kantra, but I was impressed with her storytelling ability. I liked that the heroine, in this case, was the paranormal creature in question, and I really appreciated that some of the tropes I’ve begun to hate in paranormals were blessedly absent here. There are no destined mates, no uber alpha men struggling mightily not to fall in love with the heroine. This is, instead, a story about the real world with only a bit of the paranormal.

The one note that rang sour about this book was the character of Margred. I understood that, as a selkie, she was used to being a solitary creature, and she was centuries old, so the idea of living a human life was daunting, but I didn’t really like her. Given how much those humans she disdained were trying to do for her, she could have been a little nicer to them. That said, I did like that she was the experienced one, as I said before, and it was nice to read about a heroine who was the seducer for a change.

Caleb, the hero, was another matter entirely. I love broken heroes in my romance, and Caleb fits the mold well. He was very sweet, and I love that he was principled. Other girls may like bad boys, but give me a knight in shining armor, especially one that’s a little broken, and I will swoon.

The plot moves along steadily, building to a finish I really liked. Again, Ms. Kantra avoids the worst of the romance tropes. A big secret I thought would be revealed late in the book is handled quite early on. The sequel baiting was not nearly as obvious as it could have been, and the climax was absolutely gripping.

Final Thoughts: If you like paranormal romance and are looking for something a little bit different from the vampires and werewolves that are so prevalent, this is a good book to check out, especially if you like broken heroes. If only the heroine hadn’t been so hard to like, this book would have rated a much higher grade. As it is, it’s still a good story.

Grade: B

Title: Fool
Author: Christopher Moore
Genre: Humor, historical fiction?
Reason for Reading: I wanted something light and funny, and I know that Moore delivers quite well.
Synopsis:

Christopher Moore, much beloved scrivener and peerless literary jester, now takes on no less than the legendary Bard himself (with the utmost humility and respect) with a twisted and insanely funny tale of a moronic monarch and his deceitful daughters, as seen through the eyes of a man wearing a codpiece and bells on his head.

Pocket has been Lear’s cherished fool for years. So naturally Pocket is at his brainless, elderly liege’s side when Lear demands that his kids swear to him their undying love and devotion. Of course Goneril and Regan are only too happy to brownnose Dad. But Cordelia believes that her father’s request is kind of…well…stupid, and her blunt honesty ends up costing her her rightful share of the kingdom and earns her a banishment to boot.

Well now the bangers and mash have really hit the fan. And the only person who can possibly make things right . . . is Pocket. Now he’s going to have do some very fancy maneuvering: cast some spells, start a war or two – the usual stuff – to get Cordelia back into Daddy Lear’s good graces, to derail the fiendish power plays of Cordelia’s twisted sisters, and to shag every lusciously shaggable wench who’s amenable to shagging along the way.

Pocket may be a fool…but he’s definitely not an idiot.

Other Thoughts:

Title: Magic in the Blood (Allie Beckstrom, Book 2)

Author: Devon Monk

Genre: Urban fantasy

Reason for Reading: As with many other books, I began by validating the first book for Bookshare. Having enjoyed the first book, I laid claim to the second book when it was submitted for validation, too.

Synopsis:

Working as a Hound—tracing illegal spells back to their casters—has taken its toll on Allison Beckstrom. But even though magic has given her migraines and stolen her recent memory, Allie isn’t about to quit. Then the police’s magic enforcement division asks her to consult on a missing persons case. But what seems to be a straightforward job turns out to be anything but, as Allie finds herself drawn into the underworld of criminals, ghosts, and blood magic.

Other Opinions

Enchanted by Books

CA Reviews

My Thoughts:

If you haven’t read Magic to the Bone, the first book in this series, please proceed with caution. I don’t want to ruin anything for you.

I read the first book in this series, Magic to the Bone, because I was intrigued by the premise behind the use of magic. Magic exacts a price for every spell you cast; it may take its toll in the form of lost memories, a serious bout of the flu, or even a coma. In Magic to the Bone we learned that some spellcasters offload this cost on someone else. There are those who make their living by serving as the target of this magical price, but when the cost is too high, such as that exacted by death magic, an unwilling target may be found. Allie is a hound, investigating such criminal off-loading, and in Magic to the Bone, she investigates her father because his magical signature links him to just such a criminal act. I found the first book interesting, though I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the romance between Allie and Zayvion. Looking back, though, I suspect it was because Allie forgets Zayvion at the end of the first book, which made it all feel futile; yet this is exactly the danger that she brings upon herself whenever she casts magic.

This second foray into Allie Beckstrom’s world absorbed me from beginning to end. It felt as though the setting, the characters, the plot all grew up from one book to the next. The world felt more fully fleshed-out. We learned, for instance, that there’s a magical grid to supply power for electricity when the main grid goes down. Organizations such as the Magical Enforcement Response Corps, a branch of the police department, and the Authority, a somewhat shadowy organization that Allie’s father belonged to, have each taken it upon themselves to monitor the use of magic, and respond appropriately to magical threats. And Lon Trager, the kingpin of drugs and blood magic, has just been released from jail after serving only three years of a thirty-year sentence.

The characters we encounter are also much more fully realized. We begin to see how Allie copes with the price of being a magical practitioner. She must maintain a journal of the daily events in her life, because both large and small events can be swept clean from her memory by spellcasting. We witness the impact as she encounters friends she has forgotten, and as she struggles to rediscover the love she felt for Zayvion, a love she has no recollection of now. Watching Zayvion suffer with the knowledge that Allie can’t remember the love they shared and the experiences they underwent together, and how he responds to that loss, gives him a depth and sympathetic side that made him much more enjoyable for me this time around. We also meet several more hounds, and we learn that each of them has developed some form of addictive behavior to help them cope with the impacts of magic on their lives. Finally, we learn a bit more about Daniel Beckstrom, Allie’s father, and those revelations make him a much more complex and interesting character. His motives become more complicated, and it is decidedly uncertain what his intentions are toward his daughter.

One of the most interesting additions to the magical landscape are the “watercolor people.” These ghostly images haunt Allie whenever she attempts to cast spells, leeching her magical energy from her with a touch. I won’t tell you what we learned about them, but I found the discovery fascinating, a welcome addition to Ms. Monk’s already fairly original interpretation of magic.

I enjoyed the way the plot unfolded. Allie is run ragged by the press of events, affording us a real glimpse of how she practices her art, what a hound must know and do in order to survive in this dangerous world. And the final magical confrontation was well-choreographed and delightfully diabolical; it was well worth the journey.

The end of the tale makes it clear that there is more to come, and the creepy implications of it all left me eager for the next installment.

Final Thoughts:

I’m still struggling with the distinction between paranormal romance and urban fantasy. For me, this novel feels more like urban fantasy. Although romance was present, we were also gifted with a fair bit of world building and character development that made this book enjoyable on several levels. It was a bit bloodier than the first story, and if there was any failing in the plotting, it seems to me that Allie really didn’t address how she felt about some of the things she had to do in order to survive the threats she faced. Regardless, I have the sense that there is still time to address this and many other aspects of her character and the world, so I can be patient. I definitely recommend this series to anyone, whether you lean toward urban fantasy or paranormal romance. The next book, Magic in the Shadows, will be released on November 3, and I look forward to it.

Final Grade: A

It’s time to play another game of “what weird search terms show up on the blog?”

• “a “fan” of samantha sommersby commented
  (Riiight. Not buying that she was a real fan. I’ve been on the Internet too long for that to work. But hey, she was my first troll, so (I think she’s cute.)

• ass cominant
  (Nope, still got the wrong blog.)

• historical romance book heroine kick ass
  (Can I recommend Jessica from Loretta chase’s Lord of Scoundrels? )

• women who think fat men are sexy
  (They are out there. But I don’t have any to introduce you to at the moment, sadly.)

• face farting slave fantacy
  (I have learned entirely too much about someone else’s fettish. I feel… kind of dirty about that.)

• vikings gaybear
  (I don’t know what that is, but it does sound kinda hot.)

Please feel free not to share your slave face farting fantasies in the comments!

Title: You Slay Me (Aisling Grey, Guardian, Book 1)
Author: Katie MacAlister

Genre: Paranormal romance

Reason for Reading: Once again, I was seduced by Christina, who thought I would enjoy reading it. This time she was right, so I read it while validating for Bookshare.

Synopsis:

We’ve seen the essence of this story before. A young woman living in the modern world, Aisling Grey, oblivious to the magical forces that lurk around every corner, finds herself abruptly thrust into the supernatural maelstrom without a clue as to what is going on or what she can do about it. It all begins with a seemingly straightforward courier mission: deliver an aquamanile to a woman in Paris. This simple task becomes far more complicated when she arrives at her destination to find the woman slain, and herself as the most likely suspect in her murder. Shortly thereafter, the aquamanile is stolen, and the action begins. The next 300 pages are a madcap run through the streets of Paris, trying to solve the murder and get her statue back. She is accompanied by a demon dog, and finds herself both tempted and thwarted by Drake Vireo, alternately a love interest and another murder suspect. As the story unfolds, she is accused of being a wyvern’s mate, a guardian, and a demon lord. The story concludes with numerous revelations, some hard decisions, and the knowledge that Aisling’s story is just beginning.

Other Opinions