Category: Fiction

Love At First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi

Fiction

I have never truly done spooky reads in the month of October, but this year I wanted to start making that a new tradition for myself. If you frequent my blog you will see that I did get a bit sidetracked this month, but I finally got around to reading a book that was on theme for the month. I don’t know if this genre is a large one, or if it even exists, but I am going to say that this book falls in the cozy, spooky, romance category. 

Rosemary can see and interact with ghosts, the gift runs in her family. Not many people know, just those closest to her, and her ability doesn’t have much of an effect on her daily life. Rosemary has become a successful writer, one of her books was picked up by a production studio and is being made into a movie. She agrees to go to England at the request of the production company so they can pick her brain while filming, but she mostly goes because she believes that the lead role has been miscast and she wants to see if there is anything she can do to change the director’s mind. Ellis, a world famous movie star, has a resume full of starring roles in action flicks, and personal life to match. Rosemary doesn’t think that the tall, tan, and handsome Ellis will be able to convincingly play the thin and reserved male character from her story. Rosemary’s ability to see ghosts does come into play later in the book.

I was anticipating the spice to be spicier since a major plot point is Rosemary going on and on about how badly she wants a man to dominate her. Ellis is honestly a very respectful and playful dom, which I appreciated. But with the way Rosemary reminisced about her disappointing doms of the past I was expecting the intimate moments between them to go a little bit harder, a lot harder actually. It was mostly verbal domination, making her follow his orders, and not so much the hardcore physical domination that I feel like most people would associate with the word. In other words, I feel like I was a little bit misled. I expected fire and I got an electric blanket that was on the lowest setting. 

So the book ended up being a cozy ghost story with romance on the side. I would read it again, it was pleasant enough. But now that I know that it is a little bit vanilla in the spice department I will only reach for it when I am in the mood for something that is lower in intensity. I would say that this is a good book for someone who is curious about the romance genre, I would call it introductory level in regards to spice. 

Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Fiction

I decided that I needed to read this book to see if it was appropriately hyped. I also felt like I had been missing a little bit of magic in my life lately. While I have been reading a lot of romantic fiction over the past few months, they have all been realistic romantic fiction, no magic, fae, witches, vampires, no other worldly creatures of any kind. I was missing stories that involved intertwining the supernatural with romance, with adventure and intrigue on the side, and I was hopeful that this would provide me with what I was longing for. It did.

Saeris lives in a ward called The Third in the city of Zilvaren. The planet is dry and hot, with two suns that never set, making water more valuable than gold. The people of The Third are expected to survive on a daily ration of the smallest portion of the filthiest water out of all the residents in the entire city. Life is hard, so much so that Saeris steals cleaner water from another ward, as well as other things, to ensure her and her younger brother’s survival. The story begins with her taking something that is a little bit too valuable, leading the queens guard to invade her ward, something they usually avoid at all costs due to rumors of The Third being full of disease. After being captured by the guards and interrogated by the queen, she is sentenced to death. But something strange happens after Saeris is stabbed, and after passing out from her wounds she wakes up cold for the first time in her life. 

Kingfisher, the fae male who arose from a pool of liquid silver as Saeris lay dying, returns to the kingdom of Yvelia after a decades long disappearance. Everyone has questions, where was he, why was he gone for so long, and why does he have a human female with him? But most importantly, how did he travel though the quicksilver pool when they have been sealed shut for over a thousand years? Saeris, it turns out, has the ability to unfreeze the pools, she just needs to learn how to do it with purpose rather than through a near death experience. Overnight, she becomes the most valuable being in the realm, an alchemist. Thought to have become extinct, she has the gift to activate the pools which makes travel between realms possible. And the fae of this realm desperately need to travel elsewhere to trade goods so that they can win and end the war that has been going on for centuries. 

This novel really had everything that I was looking for, and I am optimistic that it will end up turning out to be a very good series. There were mystical creatures, but not too many that it was overwhelming, conflict, war, excellent tension between Saeris and Kingfisher, which lead to amazing intimate scenes, and a good overall plot. I placed a lot of post its throughout the book to mark things that I thought were important or bits of information that I found a little tricky to understand and knew I would want to go back to. I found that the way the curse was described made it harder to understand than it should be and I ended up reading that passage a few times. There is also a lot of information about swords and the magic they used to have as well as who they belonged to versus who owns them now, it was a lot. 

I do appreciate that the author put a pronunciation guide for both people and places at the beginning of the book, but I found myself not caring so much about that as I did the map. Not all of the places mentioned in the novel are marked on the map, so you do have to try and estimate where they are based off of where the characters are coming from and where they are headed. I don’t know why, and I am sure I am not the only one, but I like to trace the path that the characters travel along. Even though we are only in Zilvaren for a short period of time, Saeris’ home city does not have a map at all. While I like to think that I have a very active imagination and was able to create a basic picture in my mind of what all the wards surrounding the central palace looked like, a map would have been nice. Maybe we will get one in the upcoming second book. An expanded or improved map of Yvelia and the rest of that realm would be nice too.

To bring this post to an end I just want to mention that I did originally buy the book in paperback, because it was less expensive. But after reading it and enjoying it I decided to buy the hardcover so that it will look nice next to the copy of Brimstone, which I preordered almost immediately after finishing Quicksilver. So I will say, if you enjoy fantasy, go ahead and buy the hardcover because you will enjoy this series and want to have a nice, matching set.

The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain

Banned, Fiction, Short Story

This was a very short story that I read during my lunch break one day. I am going to say it is a children’s book because it was a very easy read and it took a very short amount of time to finish it. It takes place in a small town in the country during an annual festival. An unusual man shows up, sets up his tent, and waits for those curious enough to see what he is all about. He says he grants wishes, any wish you want, so of course the majority of people don’t believe him. But four people do end up in his tent, and he promises that he will grant each of them one wish in exchange for a very low one time payment. They are all extremely skeptical, but when these characters all find themselves frustrated, they make their wish. None of them believe their wishes will happen, but they most certainly do, just not exactly in the ways they had hoped.

If you aren’t a big reader and want something simple to ease your way into it, this is something I might suggest. Or if you enjoy children’s stories, I would say this is right up your alley. And if you read this story and enjoy it I believe that the author has many more stories like it. I did originally buy this as part of my banned books collection, in an effort to protect stories that certain groups of people want to disappear. I am glad to have bought something that is forbidden in certain circles, but I was finding it really difficult to figure out why this short children’s story was even on some lists. 

I ended up having to do a quick online search to find out why this was a banned book because I really couldn’t see any obvious reason. The reason ended up having to do with what is written on the first two pages, the mention of witches, witchcraft, magic, and ‘creatures of the darkness’. Although magic is a big theme in this story, witches, witchcraft, and mystical creatures are never mentioned again. This very short book is basically a collection of stories that teach a lesson we have all heard before, be careful what you wish for. But apparently just those words, witch, witchcraft, and magic, are enough for some people to find offense. The story as a whole doesn’t have any witches performing witchcraft or magic. I find it silly that just the printed word alone can make certain groups want to keep this book out of schools or even public libraries.

God of Fury by Rina Kent

Fiction

This was my favorite book in the series. There was no virginal female being chased, stalked, or groomed by a much more sexually experienced and physically powerful man, and after reading four books that followed that script it was so refreshing. I loved that the love interests were on an equal footing, both physically and mentally. 

Brandon King, younger twin brother of Landon, has felt inadequate for his entire life. He has always felt like he was living in the shadow of his much more artistically talented brother. Lan creates sculptural masterpieces, and Bran feels like his landscapes aren’t even close to being in the same league, even though his family, friends, and professionals in the field tell him that his paintings are indeed very beautiful. Bran’s confidence has also taken major hits over the years as women have used him in order to try to get closer to Lan, making him question any woman who says she wants to be with him. Bran loves his brother deeply, but he also feels inadequate by comparison, for many reasons. He has created a very scheduled, organized, normal life in order to try to fit in and keep his inner demons at bay.

But when Bran receives an anonymous text stating that he needs to go to the Heathens initiation to save his brother, his love for his twin overrides his fear of confrontation and violence which is what is to be expected at the event. As he runs through the woods alongside actual hopefuls trying to become members of the exclusive club, he decides hiding is better than trying to reach the finish line. Unfortunately, the most unhinged of the Heathens finds him and takes a great interest in him.

Nikolai is an absolute menace. Future leader of the mafia that his parents are current leaders of, he enjoys fighting, drinking, and sex. He is covered in tattoos, loves to annoy people, and has serious anger issues. Nikolai only knows who Bran is because Lan is the head of the Heathens rival club. And even though he hates Lan, he finds himself absolutely enamored with Bran. Nikolai begins inserting himself into Bran’s perfectly organized life, which irritates him to no end not only because it disrupts his schedule, but because Bran insists that he is neither gay nor bisexual and has no interest in becoming Nikolai’s next one night stand. But Nikolai is annoyingly persistent, as he starts to insert himself into all areas of Bran’s life. 

From the beginning, we can tell that there is something disturbingly wrong with Bran. He seems to suffer from some kind of mental health issue, something very serious. He is hiding something, that’s why he has organized his life so strictly, he is trying to hide who he really is, but he also seems to have a secret beyond the fact that he is actually attracted to men. It takes the entirety of the book for that secret to come out, and it is a traumatizing event from his past. I definitely did not see that trauma coming, but I think it suited the story. 

This book may be the only one in this entire series that I ever read again. There was so much passion between Nikolai and Bran, I really enjoyed it. Their intimate scenes were also very spicy, they are quite vocal. And these two are the definition of opposites attracting. Bran is basically the definition of posh boy from a good, wealthy family, complete with a wardrobe of khakis, polo shirts and button downs, who spends his free time volunteering. Nikolai is basically an obnoxious, tattooed, mafia brat, wearing jeans and a leather jacket, when he does wear clothing, who enjoys his motorcycle and nights at the fight club. If it’s not obvious, I find this very cute. I’m hoping I can find more MM romances as good as this one in the future.

God of Ruin by Rina Kent

Fiction

Mia, one of the younger twin sisters of Jeremy, looks like goth Barbie, clad in head to toe black, with blue eyes, blonde hair, and blue ribbons in her hair. She doesn’t speak, not because she was born unable to, but because of a traumatic event in her past that resulted in her having a petrifying fear of speech. We see glimpses of Mia in God of Malice, Pain, and Wrath, and in God of Ruin we find out that she is not someone you want to cross. When Lan, head of the Elites, kidnapped her brother, it made her furious, and this story begins with her getting revenge. I liked seeing one of the female leads in this series take action, but my delight was short lived.

Lan is yet another overly aggressive, overly controlling, closed off man. He has more kinks than Killian, Creighton, and Jeremy combined, and they are all on the far end of the BDSM spectrum. This is the man that the author decides will make the perfect romantic interest for Mia, who just happens to be a virgin. Surprise, surprise, says my inner monologue with extreme sarcasm. 

I just wanted one female main character in this series to be on the same level as the male she was paired with. The imbalance of power, physically and politically, combined with the extremely sexually experienced males and virginal females, screamed of an author who is an advocate of erasing women’s rights. It was just too much for me to fully enjoy the first four novels in this series, the patriarchal themes were always in the back of my head, irritating me constantly. Yes, the intimate scenes are spicy and exciting. But that alone is not enough to hold my interest or make me consider recommending this novel and the rest to others. 

Besides getting sucked into a six book series in which five of the books focus around my least favorite trope, the reason behind Mia’s voluntary mutism makes absolutely no sense. Mia is a mafia daughter. Her parents and their associates are some of the most powerful and wealthy people in the country, if not the world. She could have bodyguards on her twenty four seven, she has no reason not to tell her parents or anyone else the identity of the person who caused her to go silent. She herself has admitted that she refuses to speak out of fear, and that the only way to let go of that fear would be to name the person or kill them, and yet she does nothing. She truly believes that the person who did this to her is unable to be found. I find that logic to be lacking. 

I am trying to be optimistic and stay excited for the fifth book in this series, God of Fury, which is the only male/male romance in this series. I am hoping that the two men that they pair together have at least somewhat of an equal footing.