Tag Archives: paranormal

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Book Review: Throwing Shade, by Deborah WIlde

I purchased a Supernatural Book Crate book box and a signed copy of Deborah Wilde‘s Throwing Shade was included as one of the featured books in the August box.

throwing shade deborah wilde

She’s ditching her shapewear, owning her hormones, and letting her magic fly free.
Underestimate her. That’ll be fun.

It’s official. Miriam Feldman is killing it in the midlife crisis department. She’s mastered boredom, aced invisibility, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in smiling and playing nice in her post-divorce life. But when a drink with a “good guy” goes sideways, Miriam snaps, and in a cold dark rage unleashes a rare and powerful shadow magic.

To make matters worse, her best friend goes missing and Miri is thrust into a world of hidden magic, vampires, and a legacy of hatred aimed directly at her. Hard to say which is more dangerous, this spiderweb of supernatural power plays, the grumpy French wolf shifter she’s teamed up with, or Miri herself, kicking butt and rediscovering the woman who got lost along the way.

But lines get blurred in the shadows, and if she’s not careful, she could lose everyone she loves. She’ll have to turn her invisibility into strength and pray they never see her coming.

Forty isn’t the new twenty. It’s better.

my review

I enjoyed this quite a bit. I had a funny moment when I was about halfway through where I was thinking, “Urban fantasy set in Canada with a Jewish heroine and paranormals from Jewish mythos, it reminds me a lot of Blood & Ash and The Unlikable Demon Hunter? Who wrote those again? Deb…Deborah….?” At about this time I walked by the book on the table and caught a glimpse of the author and went, “…Wilde. Deborah Wilde. No wonder it feels familiar. It’s the same author.” I amused my self.

I have to admit to liking this book more than either of the other two by her that I’ve read. Not necessarily because it’s a better book. I think I just like the older heroine more. I liked Miriam. I really liked Laurent and the banter between the two. I liked Miriam’s relationship with her daughter and the world Wilde has created here. Plus, I liked the 40-year-old woman finally learning the fine art of giving no fucks about convention. She lets the snark fly.

I’m not a huge fan of the cover though. I know this isn’t really relevant to the book review, and I don’t dislike it. I just don’t feel like it matches the tone of the book. Sure, there’s reference to Miriam taking her heals off after work as a legal librarian. But nothing about her character paints her as quite the fashionista who would wear stilettos to work.

All in all, I’m hoping to read book two and three in the series at some point.

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Other Reviews:

Book Review: Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde

Book Review: Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde

https://wonderfullyweird88.com/2021/04/09/throwing-shade-magic-after-midlife-1-by-deborah-wilde/

Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde

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Book Review: Saving the World and Other Bad Ideas, by Jayce Carter

I received a pre-publication ARC of Jayce Carter‘s Saving the World and Other Bad Ideas through the Totally Entwined Group. This is book three of the Grave Concerns series. You can find my review of book one and two here.
saving the world and other bad ideas

I finally get four hot men and the world’s going to end. Typical.

I’ve gone to hell, I’ve faced off against the devil and I’ve lost someone who meant the world to me. That’s usually the end of the story, but it seems the universe isn’t quite done with me yet.

Lilith is still out there, the end of the world is getting closer and only I can hope to stop it. The more I discover, the deeper I dig into the mystery of Lilith’s past and my own powers, the less sure I am that I can actually defeat her.

Still by my side are the four men I’ve fallen hopelessly in love with—leave it to me to get my romantic life in order just as the world falls apart. With all the questions, there are only two things I know for certain—I will face Lilith, and only one of us will walk away from it.

my review

I thought this wrapped the whole series up marvelously. I liked that the traumatic past of each male got some attention and we see the group really gelling nicely. I love the way Ava was so protective of them and was just adored and valued by each as they developed a respect for one another (even if there were still contentions). And, of course, the sex was hot.

As throughout the series, I still feel we never get to truly know the men beyond their particular caricatures. This is the stoic one, this is the joker, this is the irreverent one, this is the staid one, etc. And I understand the books would need to be significantly longer to allow for this. But since I liked each of them, I did miss getting the chance to really get to know them.

All in all, reverse harem isn’t my favorite erotic genre. But I enjoyed this series quite a bit.

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Book Review: Wolf Marked, by Harper A. Brooks

Here we are at last, reviewing the last Wolf Marked book in my Wolf Marked reading challenge. As a reminder, three different books titled Wolf Marked were promoed on Sadie’s Spotlight fairly close together.

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I was so amused by this that I decided to read and review all three. The whole thing took a little longer than I usually like challenges to, because I had to wait for the last Wolf Marked (this one by Harper A. Brooks) to actually become available. In fact, it doesn’t actually comes out until the end of this week. I got to it a little early as a for-review ARC through Lady Amber’s Reviews & PR.

Wolf-Marked harper brooks

The cycle of the moon can bring love… or death.

Time is running out for Astrid. If the wolf-shifter doesn’t find her soul’s mate before her twenty-fifth Blue Moon rises, the consequences will be fatal. With only three weeks left, things aren’t looking good… until Erec, a smooth-talking rogue wolf, lands at her feet.

The strange spark between them leaves Astrid wondering if this mysterious man could be the one meant to break her curse. But can she trust him?

From the moment Jerrick killed the only man Erec ever looked up to, Erec vowed to stop the crazed wolf. Partnering with the west-side pack seemed the logical move to accomplish that goal. But he never expected to fall for the alpha’s beautiful daughter, and now this lone wolf is wondering if she could be the one to save him from the curse.

With imminent dangers looming and the swirling patterns on their skin marking them for death, can Astrid and Erec save the west-side pack from the encroaching pack before their last Blue Moon rises in the sky?

my review

This wasn’t bad, if you like the kind of thing. I acknowledge that it’s competently written and edited and has a great cover. But I was only so-so on the book for personal preferences kind of reasons. Mostly, I consider a lot of the plot components low-hanging fruit in the storytelling department.

If you’re going to design a whole new fantasy world, but populate it with all the same mores, biases, and social norms as the real world, I consider it kind of lazy. And that’s what Brooks does here. One of primary tensions of the book is a woman who is always struggling to exist outside of men’s protective shadows. She’s considered amazing because she excels at some skills considered male. She (and other women eventually) want to prove themselves, so she convinces leadership to let women participate in some previously male-only activities and show themselves to be competent and useful. (There is no acknowledgement of the importance of female skills, only that women are equal because they too can do the things men do. But that’s another issue all together.)

Similarly, you see the big reveal (twist) coming about a mile off. It’s another plot device that’s frequently used. Having said all of that, both are tied into Brooks’ plot nicely and aren’t even overly ham-fisted. So, if you like this sort of story, I imagine you’ll like this one. It’s not badly done. It’s just been done and done and done again.

I will grant that Brooks’ claim “each book in the Shifters Unleashed series can be read as a standalone,” is proved true. I always distrust being told a book in a series can be read as a stand-alone. I’ve been burned so many times. But here it is 100% true. Other than sharing one origin myth, Wolf Marked and Tiger Claimed (which I also reviewed) have zero cross-over. They truly can be read as stand-alone books. I think whether you choose to and how much you’ll enjoy them will truly come down to a matter personal preferences.

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