The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black, is a fantasy YA with romance elements. I’m a huge Holly Black fan – she’s been a major force in urban fantasy and her books are always gorgeous to read. This book had some problems, and the romance is pretty tacked on, but it’s excellent in terms of plot and dark fantasy atmosphere. Here’s the plot as described by the publisher: Hazel lives with her brother, … Continue reading The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black →
Blood Price is the first novel in the Blood Books series by Tanya Huff. The concept behind the book was better than the actual execution but it was enjoyable and is guaranteed to be somebody’s catnip. It’s not a romance novel but the first book has a romance thread that I believe intensifies as the series progresses (I’ve only read the first book). The concept behind this book is pure genius – Henry Fitzroy, the … Continue reading Blood Price by Tanya Huff →
I’m a huge fan of Seanan McGuire, so I was thrilled when an ARC of Half-Off Ragnorak showed up on my front porch. It was like Christmas, y’all. This installment of the InCryptid series switches gears, leaving Verity, the heroine of the first two books, off in the big city while Alex, her brother, takes center stage. Alex is a member of the Price family. The Prices are a family of people who study cryptids. … Continue reading Review: Half-Off Ragnarok By Seanan McGuire →
Full disclosure: I got this ARC from the hands of Seanan herself. She was in Boston for a convention, and she is good friends with a good friend of mine (and she’d been a guest on my podcast last summer) so we tested to see if the Geek Social Fallacyof the Transitive Properties of Friendship worked (it seemed to). I have, however, been a fan of this series before all that happened, so while I … Continue reading Review: Half Off Ragnarok by Seanan Maguire →
Charming is a paranormal urban fantasy with strong romantic elements and a good sense of both fun and drama. I liked the main character, I adored the supporting characters, and I enjoyed the book as a standalone although I’m also looking forward to more from the series. Charming is not a Romance Novel but it does have a solid romance at its core. Here’s the publisher’s summation of the premise: John Charming isn't your average … Continue reading Charming by Elliott James →
Dead Letter Day is the most recent installment of the Messenger Series by Eileen Rendahl. This is an urban fantasy/paranormal series which is vastly entertaining and which does just enough new things with tropes to feel fresh. I'm horribly biased when it comes to Eileen Rendahl, because I met her at a library fundraiser and now we're Facebook friends, dont'cha know. So I was nervous about reviewing her books, because if I hated them it … Continue reading Dead Letter Day by Eileen Rendhal →
Once upon a time I reviewed the first book in the InCrytpid series, Discount Armageddon. I liked it, though it seemed like the kind of series where the romance aspect would drag on in an unresolved way for many, many books, which always irritates me. But behold, in Book Two, Midnight Blue-Light Special, Verity and Dominic actually get to have a complete story arc! The next books are going to be about Verity’s brother, which … Continue reading Midnight Blue-Light Special, by Seanan McGuire →
This book is the perfect example of a well-done, bittersweet story. It's not a romance in a happy ever after sense, but despite the pain in the story, it left me feeling uplifted, not depressed, and it left me with a wonderful image of truly selfless love. Above is about a teenager, named Matthew, who lives in an underground, secret settlement of people who have strange mutations (the place is called 'Safe'). He has a … Continue reading Above by Leah Bobet →
This book has a plot like a Jack Russell Terrier on crack jellybeans. Bounce bounce bounce! It zooms from event to event, gory bloody scene to battle to a shower at home to more action. ZOOM! BOUNCE! It's kind of manic. But it also has guffaw-moments of silly, goofy humor. The silly humor of the prose fits the story in a way that made me laugh hard at some scenes. It might give you whiplash, … Continue reading Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson →
In honor of Halloween, I'm reviewing a couple of monster-iffic books this month. If you'll allow an incredibly hackneyed Halloween analogy, Monster In My Closet looked like a treat at first but turned out to be more of a trick – the kind that is gross and depressing, like having your car egged. It starts off as a fun and quirky urban fantasy but then the villain appears and suddenly there are all these long, … Continue reading Monster In My Closet by R.L. Naquin: A Guest Review by CarrieS →
Seanan McGuire is fantastically cool – and not just because she sets some of her books in or near where I live. As Seanan McGuire, she writes the October Daye urban fantasy series. She also has several geek-tastic CDs and is notable for, among other things, setting a scene from Firefly to music (“My laugh is an evil, laugh, ha, ha, ha, ha, die”). Finally, she writes the highly acclaimed Newsflesh series under the name … Continue reading Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire - A Guest Review by CarrieS →
