Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 156 - A Spoonful of Magic by Irene Redford, The Heart is A Universe by Sherry Thomas, Star-Begotten by James Gunn

A Spoonful of Magic by Irene Radford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There is magic in the world and Daphne "Daffy" Rose Wallace Descants is about to not only find out but be thrust into the middle of a very dangerous situation. Daffy is the central character in this story. She has always been very good at baking, in fact people call her creations magic. Turns out they are right. I liked how the story started with Daffy finding her husband has not been faithful. From there new characters are added, danger builds and Daffy grows into a very different person. The main danger is solved, a different world full of magic is built and the backstory for the main characters is revealed. A fun start to a new series.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.


The Heart Is a Universe by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sherry Thomas has the ability to write in many different worlds. This time it is a Science Fiction Romance with interesting characters and a surprise ending. Vitals is the current Chosen One to be sacrificed on her home world of Pax Cara. Eleian of Terra Illustrate has been fascinated with Vitals for years. How they meet, who they are and how they decide what to do drives the story. A interesting read with a unexpected ending. The story highlights Thomas's skill and ability to write.


Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction by James Gunn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reading James Gunn's life story is like reading a history of science fiction. A award winning author he has been published since the early days of pulp fiction. The added glances into his life from childhood to today mirror the changes in how we look at and react to the world we live in. A must read for science fiction fans and a great way to follow the changes in our world today.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews #73 - Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder, Close to Home by Lily Everett, Midnight Curse by Melissa F. Olson

Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yelena and Valek are still in danger and it just keeps getting worse and worse. This is the final book in the Soulfinders trilogy and a lot is wrapped up by the end of the book. All of the side characters play an important part in the story line. Some are out looking for information about the plants that are producing elements that affect people while others are in the cities gathering information. There are so many highs and lows in the book the review would be pages long to list them all. Just be aware that things often look very grim until the very end. I was a little disappointed by the ending. I felt it was a little anti-climatic but it worked. It was the reason for a four rating instead of a five. I received a free copy of Dawn Study in return for an honest review.


Close to Home by Lily Everett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tessa and John did not have much of a marriage so while John was working undercover Tessa went off to discover who she really was and she started a divorce proceeding thinking she would free John. Turns out John did not want to be free. This was a lot about learning about yourself and trusting your partner. Both Tessa and John had a lot to overcome and had to discover who the other really was. A nice romance with several premises that are unusual in romance stories. Both were wonderful characters who pulled at my heart strings and had me pulling for them from the very first page of the book. This was not my first visit to Sanctuary Island and it was good to be back. The next book is out soon and it was easy to see who the next two to find an HEA will be. I received a free copy of Close to Home in return for an honest review.

Midnight Curse by Melissa F. Olson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was great visiting with Scarlett, Molly, and Jesse again. What is even better is the fact that this is book one in a new series featuring Scarlett and her null power. This is a spin off from a previous series but it has enough information about the world where Scarlett lives to keep you from feeling lost. Molly is at the center of the mystery in Midnight Curse but Scarlett and Jesse are the two who have to work hard to keep things from going out of control. The story moves at at good pace. The side characters add to the story line. There is a satisfying ending with the hook for the next phase in Scarlett, Molly and Jesse's life.

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Burn for Me (A Hidden Legacy Novel) by Ilona Andrews

Urban Fantasy

From Goodreads:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews launches a brand new Hidden Legacy series, in which one woman must place her trust in a seductive, dangerous man who sets off an even more dangerous desire…

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.

Ilona Andrews new series is off to a very hot start, pun intended.  Look for a lot of heat in the form of fire and a lot of heat in the form of attraction.  All of it adds up to a great new series to follow.

World Building:  “In 1863, in a world much like our own, European scientist discovered Osiris serum, a concoction which brought out one;s magic talents.” That first sentence sets the stage for the action and the world building.  Burn for Me is set in Houston, Texas in a city that is somewhat like the Houston of our world but is divided up into section controlled by the Primes who have very strong magic.  Reading I would feel like I was very comfortable in a place I understood and them something would happen that would show how very different the world of Burn for Me was.  Magic is what sets the two worlds apart.

Characters:  Even early in the story the main characters are very well developed.  The family that owns The Baylor Investigative Agency are the characters at the heart of the story.  They are a family that sticks together no matter what.  Nevada is the oldest child in the family and the main investigator.  Her mother, grandmother and three younger siblings make up the rest of the family.  Mad Rogan comes into the picture when he and Nevada have to try to stop a Prime who has to power to burn Houston to the ground.  Lots of attraction between the two but Nevada is resisting.  This is the first book in the series so there is just Nevada resisting the attraction and Rogan confident that he will get her in the end. 

Plot:  There is more going on that what first appears.  Nevade starting thinking she just has to find Adam Pierce (a powerful fire Prime) and get him to return to his family.  As the story develops the danger just keeps increasing and the tension contines to ramp up.

Writing:  As always the husband and wife team of Ilona Andrews keeps everything going with writing that produces well though out action, dialog and tension. 

There is a sneak preview of the next book at the end of Burn For Me.  It looks like the beginning of another great story.

Avon published Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews in 2014.

I received an ARC of Burn For Me from Amazon Prime.

Radiant (Towers Trilogy #1) by Karina Sumner-Smith

Fantasy/ Dysopia/Science Fiction

From Goodreads:

Xhea has no magic. Born without the power that everyone else takes for granted, Xhea is an outcast—no way to earn a living, buy food, or change the life that fate has dealt her. Yet she has a unique talent: the ability to see ghosts and the tethers that bind them to the living world, which she uses to scratch out a bare existence in the ruins beneath the City’s floating Towers.

When a rich City man comes to her with a young woman’s ghost tethered to his chest, Xhea has no idea that this ghost will change everything. The ghost, Shai, is a Radiant, a rare person who generates so much power that the Towers use it to fuel their magic, heedless of the pain such use causes. Shai’s home Tower is desperate to get the ghost back and force her into a body—any body—so that it can regain its position, while the Tower’s rivals seek the ghost to use her magic for their own ends. Caught between a multitude of enemies and desperate to save Shai, Xhea thinks herself powerless—until a strange magic wakes within her. Magic dark and slow, like rising smoke, like seeping oil. A magic whose very touch brings death.

With two extremely strong female protagonists, Radiant is a story of fighting for what you believe in and finding strength that you never thought you had.

Radiant is a long twisted journey featuring two main characters.  Xhea, who thinks she has no magic but can see ghosts and Shai who is a ghost and has more magic than others.  Most of Radiant is back-story and world building.  All of that is done while following Xhea and Shai as they try to survive in a world that was destroyed some time in the past.  Magic is a big part of this world and those with little live in the ruins.  Those with a lot live in towers kept aloft with magic.  During the story Xhea and Shai spend time in both.

It is an easy story to fall into.  Radiant is well written.  The main characters are well defined.  The main plot is the only weakness.  Xhea and Shai never had a goal other than to stay out of the wrong hands.  Their journey is used to build the world and to tell the back story.    It is only in the Epilogue that there is a hint of where they are going and why. I still enjoyed the book and will pick up book two when it comes out.   I want to see what will happen to the two and where they will end up.

Talos published Radiant by  Karina Sumner-Smith in 2014.

I received an ARC of Radiant from Edelweiss in return for an honest review.

Teaser Tuesday August 13, 2013

Hunter and the turtle.  Who is teasing who?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:"

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser today if from Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal.  This is the second book in a mystery series set in a slightly different Regency Period.  Here there is magic and glamour which a talented person can use to make illusions that look and feel real.  Here is the teaser:

"Because!  You move your hands here"--she waved her hands in front of her in a pattern that could not have produced any sensible expression of glamour--"to create something over here!"  She hopped to the left, nearly toppling over with the movement of the ship."  page 66

I am enjoying the series.  The mystery builds slowly and each book adds to the world building and the character development.  Pick one up if you like what I call gently mysteries.

Spirit Dances, Book Six: The Walker papers by C. E. Murphy

Urban Fantasy

Spirit Dances is a free book I received from Amazon Vine.  It is the sixth book in the series and I was afraid I might be totally lost.  I have to give C.E. Murphy credit; she knows how to treat and catch new readers.  All the back-story I needed was inserted in small snippets in the first few pages.  I had no trouble jumping right into the story.

Joanne Walker is a Seattle detective who also has shamanic abilities.  She has survived her first challenges and is beginning to feel comfortable with her abilities. All of that changes when she is given free tickets to see a dance performance.  The troupe uses dance to trap into magic, magic that someone steals killing one of the lead performers.  Things just get stranger and stranger as Joanne faces another new and big challenge.

Spirit Dances hooked me to the series.  C. E. Murphy has created a wonderful world full of strange new things.  The characters are fun and inventive, and the plot is well constructed.  There is mystery, danger and romance all tangled in with the magic.  Now I am waiting for the next book.

Luna published Spirit Dances by C.E. Murphy in 2011.


Giving me a free book does not guarantee a recommendation.  I will not recommend a book if I do not like it.