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Fractured Stars – Book Review

It is summer and that means I have time to read! Welcome to my book review. Today we will look at Fractured Stars by Lindsay Buroker. Note: there may be spoilers, but they are pretty mild I think.

Fractured Stars follows McCall Richter and Arjun “Dash” Deshmukh. McCall finds things, criminals, missing shipments, that sort of thing. She is not really a bounty hunter, as she will call the law enforcement to collect any of the bad guys she does find. But she is successful, owns her own ship and has two big secrets. First, she helped to liberate an android – it is not stealing if the android didn’t want to stay with its previous owner. Second, she is autistic – high functioning, but definitely struggles with people. There is surgery in this futuristic world that would correct McCall’s autism, but she doesn’t want to have it done. Especially after living her whole life this way.

The book cover for Fractured Stars from the internet.

Dash is a weak Starseer, a former bounty hunter and currently a spy for the Alliance. Working as a deputy with a cyborg sheriff, Dash recognizes McCall from his earlier life as a bounty hunter. He knows she is good at her work and that she has scooped a bounty from him on more than one occasion. He is also enough of a Starseer to realize that McCall is hiding secrets.

Their adventure is set before the events of Lindsay Buroker’s Fallen Empire series. Set in a future of teraformed planets with high tech cyborgs and magic starseers, this is a fun space opera adventure. The empire has not fallen, but it is not loved either. And the Alliance is growing. While McCall and Dash have different goals, they do work together to escape a prison, recover a ship and hide their secrets for the people around them – as best they can.

Lindsay Buroker has a great world set in space. It is rich, complex and full of stories. This book is both very different from and very similar to her Fallen Empire series. They are both set in the same world and both feature strong female characters owning their own ships. These are people who want to live between the stars, not bound to one single planet. Romance does happen. Does that mean the characters are any less strong? No, I really don’t think it does.

Further strength comes in different ways. Yes, both Alisa (from Fallen Empire) and McCall are problem solvers. But where Alisa will dive head first into a fight or sweet-talking another, McCall will take a different approach. For McCall people are more of a problem.

This short story prequel tells the story of how McCall acquired her four-legged companion, Junkyard. It is a cute story and really shows off how the character thinks and looks at the world.

One of the setting aspects I really like is the conflict between the Empire and Alliance. Buroker does a really good job discussing the benefits and drawbacks of both systems of governance over her series. I really like that the Empire, while generally described as the bad guys also has its strong, well-reasoned supporters.

Fractured stars is a romance adventure – a space opera. It is well written with thoughtful and engaging characters. It is a great book. And I am deeply torn. I love that it is currently a stand-alone. However, I also really want to read more about McCall and Dash.

5 stars out of 5 – it was a really good read.

Happy Canada Day!

Secrets Bound by Sand – Book Review

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I feel like I have been sharing only the good books I have read of late – mostly because I have only been sharing the good books I have read of late. There have been other books. Some that don’t deserve mention and others that I have nothing interesting to write about because they were not so bad as to be comment worthy (or they are later books in a series I have already talked about).

Book Cover for Secrets Bound by Sand – book 4 in the Dragon Ridden series.

However, today I am going to discuss Secrets Bound by Sand by T. A. White. This is also found in a series. Secrets Bound by Sand is book four in the Dragon-Ridden series by T. A. White. And after thinking about it for a couple of days I would give the book a 2 out of 5 stars. Which is low I know. First, I want to say that I like this series, especially book one – Dragon Ridden. Second, it is possible the author could salvage the series, so even though this book is ranked low, I would still likely try a fifth book if one was written.

The important question becomes, why such a low rating if I like the series? Well, I didn’t like this book is the short answer.

Book Cover of the third book in the Dragon Ridden series.

The book spent too much time with the main character, Tate, internally monologuing. Not only was much of the book internal thoughts, but they were rather boring thoughts of would she or wouldn’t she hook up with Ryu. It was a dumb point to try and create tension around, because T. A. White has spent the previous three books setting up this relationship. It was hardly a surprise. And the multiple monologues about Tate feeling anxiety about trusting Ryu seemed more forced. They have already been through some intense situations. Trust has already been built – or as much as was going to be built before these two hooked up. All this indecision seemed pointless and meandering. But this was not the biggest complaint I have for the book.

Book cover of the second book in the Dragon Ridden series.

My key criticism stems from the big reveal at the end of the story. In a pre-recorded message from a former friend, Tate finally learns … some of her background. Finally, this is what we, the audience, have been waiting. This is what the previous three books have teased. This is also where things start to come apart, because now we are faced with some significant inconsistencies.

So, in book four, we learn that Tate was betrayed into becoming a sleeper. Meaning, through a betrayal of those she held as friends, Tate was forced/coerced into a thousand year (or more) cryogenic sleep. Only, this does not seem to mesh with the flashback in book one, where Tate, enters the room with the put-you-to-sleep tube when she goes to rescue a dragon. A dragon that she holds in her arms and becomes a tattoo by the time she awakens a couple thousand years later. Unless Ilith was also in her own body, this seems highly inconsistent with what we know of the dragon-ridden. Besides, the whole going-to-sleep-thing supposedly happened because the building Tate was in was attacked.

Book cover for the first book in the Dragon Ridden series.

And then we learn that Tate has been genetically manipulated – while she remained in her stasis-sleep in an isolated area of the world. This manipulation supposedly has made her into the ultimate weapon. I am already struggling with the level of magic in a world that is supposed to be explained through advanced science. For me, there are just too many things that don’t seem to add up. And that was extremely disappointing. However, to be fair, there are some ways the author could explain these discrepancies. So, maybe this series can be saved. But I a little worried things are starting to roll sideways and I am not a fan.

So in summary, while I enjoyed the first three books in the series I found Secrets Bound by Sand to be a rambling mess with an unsatisfactory conclusion. The blend of magic and science-tech is leaning too far to the magic and the science-tech is making far less sense than I would like to see.

The Benighted – Book Review

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The Benighted by A. M. Dunnewin is already six years old and the sequel, which is promised in the subtitle “The Benighted Saga – Book 1” has yet to be released. Needless to say, I will only be reviewing the first book in this series.

Book cover for The Benighted, book 1 in the Benighted Saga – image from the internet.

The Benighted is about the Royal Princess of Correnth, Skylar Mandolyn. As we learn in the opening chapter, Skylar has been imprisoned. The story is told through a series of flashbacks covering the events that have lead to her current abuse and torture. Memories of her family, court ladies and of course her personal knight, are interspersed with the dark, cold cell, the beatings and pressure to sign a mysterious document.

I really appreciated the out of order telling of Skylar’s life from her brother’s death, meeting Sir Harlin Brien (her personal guard), through the estrangement with her father, the mecanations of the evil court advisor Cross Lutherus, to Skylar eventually being locked in the prison tower. I think the tension that was woven through this tail of reflection would have been lost if everything had been presented chronologically.

It also keeps some of the surprises, those important dangling threads needed for any sequels, nicely hidden until the end of the book. The reader can than look back over the course of events leading to our protagonist being locked up and start to understand some of the rational used to come to this point.

The other aspect that I liked was the level of technology. The world is not deeply discussed in the book. Really, it sits there as a backdrop, more obscured, as Skylar is focussed on her personal grief than the welfare of the Kingdom. Established early on, Skylar’s brother was heir to the throne before his death. And many of her first revealed memories circle around the sense of loss she feels because of her brother’s absence.

Book cover for The Illusory, book 2 in the Benighted Saga – image from the internet.

While sword wielding knights exist in this world – as is epitomized by Sir Brien’s summoning to court to become Skylar’s personal guard – they also have guns! And steamships. So, the feel of the world is not medieval, though not actually modern either. There is electricity and firearms. There are large metal boats in the harbour and by the end of the novel this is the promise of a threat from a more advanced enemy. However, shortswords are still heavily used in the book. And guns are accepted to be in constant danger of exploding (if not well cared for).

The caste of named characters is also small. Again, we meet Skylar as she is grieving (and locked up). Her thoughts focus on those incidents most relevant to her current imprisoned situation so there is not a lot of names to learn in the story. I suppose in many ways it is more of a character study with its very tight focus on our heroine.

While we learn the actual time of the book spans only a few days, the memories span months. Time is easily distorted in this format.

Overall, I thought it was an interesting read and I would give this book a solid 4 (maybe even a 4.5) out of 5 stars. That said, I have a difficult time imagining how the series can continue forward. Yes, there is a world you could explore. But the real draw of this book was that personal story of a deeply wounded character fighting for sanity in a time when her life was descending into madness. The same format would not work a second time. So the story will have to move in a completely different direction, but to what success? I suppose the only way to know would be to read the sequel – if it ever releases.

An Ancient Peace – Book Review

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Yes, I realize that my reading list is far from recent.

I have read many of Tanya Huff’s fantasy novels, but this was my first of her science fiction. An Ancient Peace by Tanya Huff is the first novel in the Peacekeeper Trilogy.

My first impressions of this book was that it was dense. It felt like pretty heavy reading, as I was dumped into a complex science fiction world filled with multiple alien races, a crew with deep relationships and a general feeling of history. It wasn’t until I reached the end of the book and looked it up I discovered this is the second series starring the same main character: Gunnery Sargent Torin Kerr. Good news, I have lots more reading to look forward to. Bad news, it makes the start of the book rather challenging to get into.

While I still feel a little like I am missing something, it helped that most of the narrative focused around Torin. Grounded by the Gunnery Sargent, I was able to navigate the rest of the book. I found the story compelling enough I want to read the sequels. I like the strength of the main protagonist; Torin is a strong and respected individual. She is legendary within the military circles of the Corps. While Torin certainly kicks butt throughout the book, she also has an attitude and force of personality that make for a very strong character.

The technology and science fiction elements were interesting, particularly the concept of an evil, manipulative organic plastic. There are multiple alien races. They are not variations on humans either. In fact, some of the races are very different indeed, with at least one being described like a group of sentient giant spiders. More than different appearances the races have different common characteristics. This is often reflected in the dialogue. Huff uses different speech patterns and occasionally an invented phrase to help convey this information. For me the most interesting was the use of zi and zer as unique pronouns for one particular race.

The rest of the crew, a mix of different species and skills, was also interesting. There are five others in Torin’s current crew; three of them are also ex-military while two are civilians. I found Torin’s distinction between military personal and civilian personal interesting. She certainly has a sense that those who have been to war are expected to deal with violence, while civilians should be protected. This really helps to forward some of the conversation about the horror of war.

There are a lot of poignant moments, scenes that discuss the impact of war, discuss racism and deal with preconceptions. It is a strongly written science fiction story, not a light read, but certainly a good one. Easily worth a rating of 5/5 stars.

The Custard Protocol – Book Review

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Continuing my review of series…

The Custard Protocol by Gail Carriger includes three novels: Prudence, Imprudence, and Competent. These stories continue in the steampunk world that starred Alexia Tarabotti as a preternatural in Victorian London. Only this time we are following Alexia’s daughter, Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama. Rue is taking her best friend Primrose and Prim’s twin brother, Percy along with Quesnel in her dirigible as she causes havoc around the world.

The books are filled with Gail Carriger’s characteristic quirky writing style. There is an abundance of dirigible hijinks, werewolves, vampires and cleverly colourful characters. Carriger has an engaging, highly entertaining writing style. Her cast of characters are well conceived, colourfully described and largely diverse. These are great books, which I thoroughly enjoyed – once I got in them.

My biggest difficulty was the transition at the start of the series. It reads very strongly as a continuation of an earlier story. And this makes it a little difficult to engage, especially if you are new to the world. I struggled as Alexia Tarrabotti was the first of Carriger’s characters I met and knew. Not unreasonably, Rue has a different relationship with her mother and so Alexia is written differently than when I was reading the Parasol Protectorate. It took a while for me to warm to Rue. In fact I think I enjoyed the third book more, though not the cover. Competence featured the twins, Primrose and Percy, instead of Prudence. As such it featured less of the metanatural form-stealing and more the skills of those who were raised by a vampire queen. I didn’t mind the constant comments on the silliness of Ivy’s choice in hats.

That said, I think Carriger handled the diversity of gay, lesbian and transgendered individuals more openly and beautifully in this series than in her earlier work. While her manner of writing might be what first drew me to her work, Carriger’s diverse and honest characters are certainly what keeps one reading.

I might have thought the brightly coloured covers seemed to target a younger audience, I would still place the main audience closer to adult than younger teen.

Overall: these are excellently written books whose author has a fun, distinctive voice. 4.5/5 stars.

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Just realized that there is in fact a fourth book in the series that focuses on Percy in Japan – Reticence. I suppose this means this is not a complete series review. However, it will have to do for now as Reticence doesn’t release until August 6th.

Highland Magic – Book Review

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It is finally summer and my goal is to read – at least for the first couple of weeks.

The Highland Magic Series by Helen Harper includes all four books: Gifted Thief, Honour Bound, Veiled Threat and Last Wish. The series stars Integrity Taylor Adair a thief reluctantly pulled back into the politics of the Sidhe courts. Over the course of the four books Integrity is going to have to learn the truth about her parents, the motivations of the Fomori across the veil and her own inner strength.

Highland Magic is an urban fantasy set in the highlands of Scotland. This northern section of Scotland has been separated from the lowlands by a magical barrier originally designed to separate the Sidhe clans from the barbarous Fomori. While Sidhe might claim to be the honourable group, their racist, bickering, manipulative and violent actions really call into question who the true demons are.

Joining Integrity on her journey are her adopted father (human) and close friends (merman, pixie, and wizard). Oh, and then there is Ben, the jinni of the letter opener whose wishes all come with unwanted consequences. The motley crew makes for some entertaining hijinks and discussions of what family means – is it blood or those you choose to be around?

The distinctly Scottish setting is filled with obvious landmarks – Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Obin. At least these are the names of places that jumped out at me. The collection of magical creatures felt more Scottish than American, with a greater emphasis on the Sidhe, Trolls, Pixies and several species I am not familiar with. There were no vampires or werewolves in this story.

But the thing I liked most about this series was Integrity’s perspective on violence – she is a pacifists. This is not an excuse for our heroine to be a damsel in distress. Integrity is very much the type of character to charge, well sneak, forward to get things done. She does question her own non-violence policy throughout the series but in the end she is able to find a way around the various problems in a non-violent manner. I like that we are given a strong female lead whose strength does not rely on her ability to fist punch the problem into submission.

With quick, witty writing and a distinctly Scottish setting I really enjoyed this atypical urban fantasy. I thought it was another successful series by Helen Harper – who also wrote The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic series (and many other things I haven’t yet read).

A solid 4.5 stars out of 5!

Rules of Redemption – Book Review

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Title: Rules of Redemption

Series: The Firebird Chronicles

Author: TA White

I really liked this book. So much so, that I finished reading it once and two days later started re-reading the entire book again. More importantly, I my second read-through was intentionally slower. I was reading for all the little details I missed I hurried through my first read too caught up in the action and adventure of the story to be bothered with the little things.

As far as I can tell, speed reading is just a means of skimming through pages. I am not terrible at scanning and following stories as so many of them follow very familiar and predictable paths. And generally, I still get enough enjoyment out of my material to not feel the need of changing. But every so often a story resonates with me. Those are the ones that I want to read a second (or third or …) time. And this was one of those stories.

Book cover for Rules of Redemption by TA White. Image from the internet.

Rules of Redemption is a space-fantasy. There are lots of starships, space bases, aliens, laser weapons and intergalactic wars. There are also alien-wizards, who could be more advanced or just magical. As has been stated before: advanced tech is indistinguishable from magic.

Kira is a fantastically strong and perfectly flawed lead character. Once she lead one of humanity’s most effect military groups in fighting the dastardly Tsavitee aileen race bent on universal domination and destruction. Nicknamed Pheonix, Kira was a powerful fighter and leader until she abandoned that life for the quiet solitude of a salvager. But of course fate will not leave such an interesting character alone. Docked at a space station for repairs, Kira will draw unwanted attention for both the human military leaders and visiting Tuann ambassadors. This will lead to some uncomfortable truths about her own origins as Kira is swept away to a home she doesn’t remember and family she doesn’t want. Though the feeling is mutual, as her family is reluctant to welcome her back into the fold.

With plenty of action, future tech and alien creatures it is a fun read. There is also some interesting characters with deep histories and just a hint of romance to keep me properly engaged. So much is learned in this first book of the series, but there are also many unanswered questions. Such that I wish I had a bookclub with whom I could discuss this book.

Note: incase it needs to be stated, spoilers will follow

Some things that drew my attention: Odin, the experimental base, the source of the Tsavitee and Greydon.

Who is Odin? Is he (or she – it doesn’t specify, but for now I will use male pronouns) really the genius out to help Kira or does he have another motive? Could odin be a Tsavitee in hiding? Could Odin be part of the human political network, the consortium? Have we met this character going by another name? Because if that is the cause I could make a guess at who it really is. Does the author even know who Odin is? There are so many questions, mostly stemming from the fact that Odin knows both that Kira is on that space station and she is being followed. Sure he could have hacked the stations cameras, but he could also have been present on the station. My gut feeling though, is that Odin is going to be the cause of betrayal in the next book. Either he will directly betray Kira, or cause Kira to do something that has her betraying her new friends/family.

Despite my second read through, I cannot remember if the location of the evil research facility that held Kira when she was growing up was in human space or not. It is mentioned that the scientists working at the facility were Tsavitee, does this explain how she knows the language? But were humans also present? Because that would only spike the tensions between Tuann and humanity. Did anyone else escape from the centre?

Where do the Tsavitee come from? It is discussed that they look very different, but are genetically similar. Did they create themselves or were they created by someone else? Is there a greater link between the Tsavitee and say the Tuann than anyone realizes? And why would they keep a human hostage for over a decade?

Greydon, the Emperor’s Face, is from the House Roake. Is he also a primus? Because he doesn’t shift, but certainly acts like he would be strong enough to do so. And exactly does Kira fit into that House? Though I am guessing that her father was the previous Overlord, so she is likely going to be tested for that potential. This I think is where the second book will pick up. But will Kira take responsibility for a House when she has a personal mission to infiltrate and free those captured by the Tsavitee?

There are so many exciting and unanswered questions with brings me to the biggest complaint. Why do I have to wait so long for the sequel?

Final Rating: 5/5 stars

Kill the Queen – Book Review

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Title: Kill the Queen

Author: Jennifer Estep

Kill the Queen was an engaging read. Everleigh, Evie, Saffira Winter Blair had a strong voice. And the author, Jennifer Estep, did a pretty good job explaining how Evie went from low status royal family member, seventeenth in line to the throne, to challenging her cousin in a duel for the crown. Sure the training sequence was a little rushed, but waiting years and years for Evie to develop the skills would have been less exciting to read about.

Besides, Bellona is a land of magic mixed with a gladiator tradition. It was interesting setting for the story. I of course liked the strong female presence running through the entire world. Here men and women are treated equally. The rich and the poor are not.

There was political intrigue with the neighbouring courts of Morta, Andvari and Unger. There were fierce fights between skilled gladiators, pageantry with the gladiator shows (feeling more like a circus with their acrobats and food sales) and of course there was a crown up for grabs by the strongest and most cunning of the Blair family line.

In many ways this was a story about family, a large and dysfunctional family that was massacred by one of its one in the first chapter. So, perhaps it is better to say this was a story about surviving ones dysfunctional and very deadly family.

Escaping the castle and its bloody court, Evie joins a gladiator troop where she puts some of her random skills to work and befriends a number of the prominent people in the group. One of the weak points for me was her keeping the secret of her identity for so long. Mostly because the Queen’s final words before dying words were to find the Black Swan gladiator group and seek help from their illustrious leader. It is not like Evie didn’t have a number of opportunities to come clean about who she really was.

Book cover for the sequel to Kill a Queen. Image from the internet.

That aside, I liked that Evie was an older heroine (~ 28), understandably skilled in a number of random areas like cooking, dancing and small talk. That she was a strong character, who had learned the value of silence. The magic in the world was interesting. The politics were thoughtful. The overall word was detailed.

I lament the way that we equate strength to the physical prowess needed to destroy another person. There are more ways to solving a problem rather than just running a sharp blade through its heart, but that is a general comment on trends in writing and society.

Importantly this was a fun read and I look forward to the next book, which just might address a very important aspect of these power plays. It is one thing to kill the queen, but how do you keep the throne (and stabilize your country). Killing and ruling are not the same skill set, at least not entirely.

Final Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Heartstone – Book Review

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Title: Heartstone

Author: Elle Katharine White

“Pride & Prejudice meets Dragons”

Much like Pride, Prejudice and Zombies the Elle Katharine White is tweaking Jane Austen’s classic romance by adding more fantastical elements to the well worn narrative. One of the biggest differences, and greatest strengths of Heartstone was the author’s choice to create their own world. It is not Hertfordshire with some dragons roaming about. Rather, the story of of Pride and Prejudice has been reskinned with new character names and a world of fantastical creatures. But don’t worry, you will not have any problem connecting Aliza Bentaine with Elizabeth Bennet.

My first question upon completing the Heartstone was: Why? Why did the author restrict herself to following the plot points of Pride & Prejudice, when she so clearly struggled to contain her own voice within these narrow confines? The greatest failing, in my mind was the fact Heartstone mirrored Pride & Prejudice. Granted, there are some obvious differences, one of the Bentaine sisters is dead. Their family lives and belongs to the great house in the neighbourhood. THere are dragons that act as elite cavalry units in hunting and killing dangerous creatures of myth and legend. I could go on. But the differences pale in comparison to the similarities. The overall plot, the arch of the narrative is undeniably P&P.

This meant that I knew from the second paragraph what would help, at least in broad strokes. There was no great surprise at the inevitable betrayal. Not great victory when Aliza and Alastair Daired acknowledge their mutual attraction. To me it felt like the author sacrificed the potentially interesting world, filled with magic and manners, for something people already recognized. This was disappointing. The story could have been great. It could even have started as a mirror of P&P, but it should have been allowed to grow and flourish on its own terms, not someone else’s.

Before you write off my complaints as those of a person who hates everything. I didn’t hate everything. I like dragon riding warriors. I like fantastical worlds of magic and dangerous creatures merged with regency-flavoured societies. I like the tensions that arise between the snobbish upper-upper crust and those who are on the lower rungs (but still part of Society). The setting worked. It had potential. But there was not mystery, because the story was so obviously Pride and Prejudice.

Book covers for the first too books in the Heartstone series. Image from the internet.

What I would have loved instead, was for the story to feel reminiscent of P&P without following the events like a paint-by-numbers drawing. The movie, Age of Adaline, feels as though it was inspired by Sleeping Beauty. But the authors did not have a princess prick her finger and fall asleep. Instead they explored a different form of agelessness and what happens when someone comes into your life talking about love.

Heartstone could have been heavily inspired by Jane Austen’s work, without copying it so closely. This would have been amazing, instead of mediocre. But then this brings up another important question: Would I have chosen to read the book without the blatant reference to Jane Austen? I would like to say the answer would have been yes. But it is just as likely I would have skipped over this story, as I have skipped over many others in my search for a really good read. So instead, I will ponder my third question: Do I bother to read the sequel?

Final Rating: 3/5 stars

Modern Magic – Enchanted, Inc. and Vampires Drink Tomato Juice

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Book cover for Enchanted, Inc. Image from the internet.

Title: Enchanted, Inc.

Series: Enchanted, Inc.: Hex and the City

Author: Shanna Swendson

Tags: Urban-Fantasy, Comedy, Fairy-Tales, Magic

Title: Vampires Drink Tomato Juice: A Chicago Urban Fantasy

Series: The Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center

Author: K.M. Shea

Tags: Urban-Fantasy, Comedy, Magic

Between binge watching the Olympic games and working, I have managed to read a couple of books. Recently, I have been sucked into two worlds that share a number of delightful similarities.

Both series take place in urban settings, though neither book is the dark urban fantasy that has been very popular recently. Shanna Swendson’s magical New York city is filled with frog-princes, winged fairies, gargoyle security guards and Magic, Spells and Illusions, Inc. It is a world where magic is mostly hidden as the lives of wizards and other magical beings runs side-by-side with the corporate business world. K.M. Shea has integrated the more classic urban-fantasy species of vampires and werewolves into her Chicago setting. But again, they remain hidden from the eyes of the average human.

Book Cover for Vampires Drink Tomato Juice. Image from the internet.

I know nothing about either city, having not visited or lived in either New York or Chicago. So, I cannot comment on the authenticity of the settings. They seemed interesting enough. New York felt more like a bustling city while Chicago setting seemed to have less of an impact on the story. However, I thought that the species of Swendson’s New York leaned more towards classic fairy tales – with a twist. There were fairies with wings and elves with pointed ears, but both species are placed in a corporate business setting. Shea seems to prefer the more popular collection of vampires, werewolves and elves. Though she also gave her mythical species a unique spin to make them a little more interesting. Mostly by making them less like their most popular examples. The vampires are not all ruggedly handsome and sparkle in the sun. She also expands the usual collection of creatures to include some goblins, that are seen more like mafia than small dirty individuals.

Book Cover for Once Upon Stilettos, book 2 in the Enchanted, Inc. series. Image from the internet.

Both books are comedies. These are light-hearted books about friends, friendship and even a little romance. The bad guys are more devious in Swendson’s book, as he does want to take over the world – through business. Actually, the kidnapping at the end of Shea’s novel also revolves around a business transaction. Cooperations are dangerous business it seems.

Swendson’s main character is a grown career woman, with schooling, smarts, and a sweet Texas drawl. Katie Chandler was perfectly adorable in her down-to-earth attitude, and complete normalcy. Her change in job leads her to the MSI – Magic, Spells and Illusions, Inc. As an executive assistant, Katie works for the CEO of this interesting downtown business.

Sixteen year old Morgan Fae hails from the suburbs of Chicago. Still attending, high school, Morgan finds herself employed by the Magical Beings Rehabilitation Centre. Here she mostly teaches the magical creatures of this hidden world about being human – at least a human teenager. Can any student really be considered normal? Certainly Morgan makes a good effort at being as practical as possible for a high schooler.

Book covers for the Enchanted Inc. series. Image from the internet.

The quirky style of both plots, the solidly built characters and the entertaining secondary characters works to draw in the reader for both series. While, my leanings might be for the older, business women in Swendson’s Enchanted, Inc., there is no denying the appeal of Shea’s Magical Rehab Centre. Certainly, both books are filled with enough magic and modern mayhem to entertain any reader. The stories are built up competently, the pacing is solid and character development makes sense. These authors know how to pepper their writing with just the right number of clues that the big twist at the end fits internally with the story. I have enjoyed other books by both Shanna Swendson and K.M. Shea and these stories did not disappoint.

Full marks for both Enchanted, Inc. and Vampires Drink Tomato Juice. I will certainly be reading more in both series.