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Book Review: Gypsy Magic, by H.P. Mallory & J.R. Rain

I picked up a freebie copy of H.P. Mallory and J.R. Rain‘s Gypsy Magic. It’s been sitting in my cloud for a while until I found time to dedicate to an audiobook. Luckily, I’ve started walking on the treadmill in the mornings, and I’m giving myself permission to listen to audiobooks as I walk. I started with this one.

@seesadieread They say #sittingisthenewsmoking and I #sitallday. So, I’ve committed to #walkingeveryday. This is #day2 ????. #im listening to #gypsymagic by #hpmallory. The title is giving me canniptions, the fact that it is a slur is even addressed in the book. So the author can’t claim ignorance ????. Anyhow, here hoping there is a day 3. #walking #lowimpactworkout #walkingisgoodforyou #fyp #walkingisgood ♬ i want it i got it – Official Sound Studio


The book:

Gypsy Magic cover

Welcome to Haven Hollow, a town of monsters…

After dating a string of losers and banishing a poltergeist, I packed up my Los Angeles life and my eleven-year-old son, and moved… to a town in Oregon with a population of 680. Well, 682 now.

Culture shock anyone? Ahem, never mind that… New starts can happen anywhere, right?

I hope so because I need to start the next chapter of my forty-three year life pronto. So, why Haven Hollow? For one reason—there aren’t any witches here. And a witch can make a gypsy’s life… complicated.

Oh, right, I’ve put the cart before the horse…

Hi, I’m Poppy Morton and I come from a long line of Scottish gypsies—gypsies who possess magic and make potions to treat any and all ailments. It’s been my dream to open my own potions store and I’m finally going to do it—in the picturesque and small town of Haven Hollow.

Once my son, Finn, and I get settled in our two-story ramshackle, decrepit and rickety farmhouse (that happens to be bordering a cemetery), the nightmares start. And they won’t stop. Almost every night, I find myself face to face with a shadow monster—and its victim. And I’m fairly sure it’s the victim sending me the night terrors, wanting me to figure out the mystery of who or what murdered him.

But, I’m not really sure I want to get involved. Between facing a huge remodel of the above mentioned “house,” getting my son situated in his new school, opening my potions store and dealing with one of the ghosts from my last house who somehow thumbed a ride to this one, I’ve got my hands full. Actually, more than full.

Good thing I’ve got a few handsome neighbors to call on—Marty Zach, a self-professed ghost exorcist who just happens to have the sexiest smile, and Roy Osbourne, a bear of a man who looks like he alone coined the word ‘lumberjack.’

While I’m taken by Marty’s charm and Roy’s really-really-really broad shoulders, I can’t help but feel like this whole town is hiding a secret… and that’s the mystery I mostly want to solve, ghost visions be damned.

my review

Overall, this was a cute read, though it felt like a prologue to the larger series. The meeting and making fast friends was a little unbelievable, and I had trouble accepting some of the basic premises of the plot, though. Poppy has strong magic and has apparently been educated in how to use it well enough to open a shop and make a living with it. But there are some HUGE gaps in her knowledge, most notably that other supernaturals exist. It made no sense that she could be ignorant of this fact, and she maintained this ignorance FAR longer than was believable throughout the book. Similarly, if a town has 680 people in it, I do not believe anyone who grew up there remained ignorant of the supernaturals in their small community. Unfortunately, considering the importance of these points to the plot, this compromised much of my enjoyment.

Pair that with the frankly, galling use of Gypsy in the title and throughout the book. The word is gypsy magic photoa slur. The authors know this. It is addressed in the book. So, I know that they know it. Given that it is still used liberally, I take it as a purposeful statement on their part, perhaps something along the lines of “We refuse to cave to the woke crowd” or some BS like that. The point is the pointed use and incorporation of a word known to be offensive to the people it describes is a choice with a message. Especially since Poppy herself is not a Traveler of any sort, she has no tie to the culture beyond inheriting magic from a Traveler ancestor.

The narrator, Kelley Huston, did a nice job. Her accent for Lorken wasn’t great. But everything else was well done.


Other Reviews:

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Book Review: Syndicate Princess, by Kira Stanley

I picked up a copy of Kira Stanley‘s Syndicate Princess as an Amazon freebie.

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Being a vampire boss’s daughter was a lot of work. Being the only girl heir from the five families, I’ve always had to work harder, fight dirtier, care less. It made me into the woman I am today, causing fear in my enemies and a bloody trail for those who betray us.

Then my dad sprung on me that the other bosses and their sons were coming into town. That they wanted us heirs to all meet, to bond with each other.

To top it all off, my dad shocked the hell out of me by throwing out a challenge to the other heirs. Whoever could keep me in their possession, by force or choice, for twenty-four hours, would win the right for my hand in marriage.

The other bosses are all for it, wanting to get their man whoring, untamable, or workaholic sons to settle down finally, but I was not some prize to be won.

I was Rayla Desmond, a force all her own. A Syndicate princess that was not to be messed with, so these boys better be ready for me because I’m coming in for blood.

my review

I really wanted to like this, but I just couldn’t. I get that it is probably intended to have a certain humor element, but it just felt over-the-top ridiculous to me. As in, I just kept thinking, “This is so stupid” the whole time I was reading it.

The fathers are caricatures. Rayla and her men are all supposed to be in the 27-28-year-old range (which I was initially happy about), but they literally act like children. But more importantly, they are treated like children. Considering there is relatively little actual sex in the book, I don’t see why Stanley didn’t just make them teens or new adults, at most, to match what she wrote. Plus, while I like a morally grey character, Rayla has the overblown emotional capacity of a toddler.

Other than the whole thing just being roll your eyes and cringe ridiculous, my main complaint is that the three men don’t come together until late into the book. This means that Rayla does everything three times. She escapes each man. She goes and sees each father. Then, she goes and does each challenge. Then she goes and seduces each man. (Then they talk about it all). Everything was done in triplicate, and I was bored.

Literally, the only things in the whole book I cared about were Cosmo and Lex, and neither of them gets much play here. But I’m not interested enough to read the next book to see how things work out. Plus, it could use a little more editing, both copy edits, and to catch the occasional consistency issue.

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Other Reviews:

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Book Review: Bleeding Hearts, by Emma Hamm

I bought a copy of Emma Hamm‘s Bleeding Hearts, way back in late 2021.

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Find the Duke. Prove he’s a vampire. And kill him.

Maeve Winchester is out of the vampire hunting game. She’s killed enough of them, and risked her life for long enough. Working for the Holy Brotherhood didn’t make that easy, however. Especially when she has witch blood. Regardless of her past, the Inquisition agrees to release her and her magical sisters, under one circumstance.

She has to complete one more job.

Through the moors and mire, she travels to the illusive Castra Nocte. Home of the Carmine Duke. His gothic castle has stood for centuries with a single rule. If you enter, you will never leave. It is here Maeve makes her last stand. She must prove the Duke is a vampire and then kill him as she has so many others.

When she enters the castle, not all is as it seems. The Duke is charming. The castle grounds clean. His words tantalizing. She will have to keep her wits about her if she is to save her sisters… and her heart.

my review

This was entertaining enough. I generally enjoyed it. I didn’t quite feel Maeve’s transition from enemy to lover, though. It was too abrupt and required she show a level of trust and naivete that everything up to that point suggested she would not do. I also felt that she was seduced as much (if not more) by the glitz, glamour, and wealth that the Duke could provide her as by the man himself, and that didn’t feel very romantic. I did appreciate that he fell first in a truly obsessive way. It felt a little like love-bombing. But I also thought the banter between him and his butler provided the levity the plot needed.

I liked the world Hamm created, though it’s only lightly sketched out and doesn’t stray far from ‘the church’ as we are all familiar with it as the villain. However, the side characters that are in the future books look fun. I’ll probably read their books.

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Other Reviews:

Myth and Magic Bookclub: Bleeding Hearts, by Emma Hamm