I don’t like romance novels; they’re just not my thing. Unless the love story is mixed in with something else. In the case of Witchmark, that something else is a rather steam-punk/gas-lamp setting medical/political mystery. It’s Edwardian England sort of, and post some kind of nasty war effort that the protagonist Dr. Miles Singer had some role in. Because of his war experience he decided to work as a psychiatrist at a local hospital where he apparently specializes in treating veterans. The hospital is being […]
An April Fool’s Joke come true
4.5 stars While this is technically the first book in a new series, which can be read on its own, this book fits into the larger framework of the Kate Daniels universe (where this book is book 9.5 out of 10). So there’s quite a bit of back story you’re missing out on if you’ve not read the other books first. While the first book is rough, the series as a whole is my favourite paranormal/urban fantasy series, probably ever, so if you like the genre and […]
Dark horse favorite YA ‘verse
Something about the original Grisha trilogy has really stuck with me. At the time that I finished Ruin and Rising, the third book in that series, my passion and protectiveness of the main character Alina inspired a ranty, off-topic diatribe of a review about shipping wherein I was basically mad that other readers didn’t appreciate the book and the ending of the trilogy because they were mad their ship didn’t become canon. It’s a silly thing to become incensed about, but clearly something in the […]
A Short-Story Novel Hybrid
The world and the characters in Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings are so much fun that it really annoys me how short the stories and the book are. To some extent, the two main characters are pretty standard. Lily is bookish, socially awkward, and talented with magic; she’s a wizard. Sebastian is friendly, good looking, a troublemaker, and has little magic talent, but he is a witch. This to me is a tradition buddy mystery-solving/adventure team. What makes them fun is their dynamic and […]

