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Book Review: Throwing Shade, by Deborah WIlde

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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

Throwing Shade (Magic After Midlife, #1) by Deborah Wilde

Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde

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Book Review: Forty, Fabulous and…Fae?, by Melinda Chase

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I borrowed an audio version of Melinda Chase‘s Forty, Fabulous and…Fae? through Hoopla.

forty fabulous fae melinda chase

No one expects their happily-ever-after to end at forty—but here I am one Prince Charming short of a fairytale.

Living back at Mom’s place with her and Gram is not how this ex district attorney intended to start the next chapter of her life, but I shouldn’t be surprised it’s where I ended up.

You see, my family is cursed. Literally.

At least that’s what both Gram and Mom claim. I’ve never given much thought to their ridiculous superstitions, but when three local patrons from my mom’s occult shop end up dead, even I’m a bit unnerved.

So, I decide to dive right into the crazy headfirst. And what I thought would be the end of my journey…may only be the beginning.

my review

Meh, this wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fabulous either. I think it just needed another 100 pages—taking it from a novella to a novel—to carry it off. As it is, everything feels a little sketched out, none of the characters feel particularly well-fleshed, and the plot barely starts before the book ends on a cliffhanger.

I liked Shanna well enough, but she’s the only character you get to know, and barely even her. And notably, since this is supposed to be PWF, nothing about her or her situation feels 40+ years old. She could have been 25 and the book would have felt exactly the same. Her being a DA is literally extraneous to the plot. What’s more, I think given the lack of age-defining characteristics, mid-twenties would have fit the plot better. (I always wonder in such scenarios if the author just aged the character up to catch the PWF wave, but of course I don’t actually know.) Everyone else is either just a name or a card-board cutout not worth mentioning.

The writing is quite readable, though, the narrative has an appreciable tone, and the audiobook narrator (Traci Odom) did a good job. But I’m still pretty meh on the whole thing. I don’t think I’d bother with the next book. I’m just not invested enough to really care what happens.

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midlife in mosswood

Book Reviews: New Witch on the Block AND Jealousy’s Witch, by Louisa West

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I borrowed audio versions of New Witch on the Block and Jealousy’s a Witch (Midlife in Mosswood #1 & 2), by Louisa West through Hoopla.

New Witch on the Block

She thought she was running away from her past, not catching up with it.

Rosemary Bell just wants to live a quiet, happy life and raise her daughter as far away from her toxic ex-husband as she can get. But when they move into a decrepit cottage in the woods of Mosswood, Georgia, Rosie realises her life will never be simple.

A gang of meddling neighborhood do-gooders want to run her out of town. The vicious laundromat machines keep eating her spare change. Not to mention her buff Irish stalker who insists that he’s a Witch King and that it’s her royal destiny to be his Queen.

And to top it all off, strange things keep happening around Rosie when she least expects it…

She could deal with it all, but her ex won’t rest until he tracks her down. When her ability to protect her daughter is threatened, Rosie shows them all that nobody messes with the new witch on the block.

my review

I generally liked this. I appreciated a heroine who had made mistakes because of youth and inexperience, but had grown and gotten herself out of a difficult situation. I like that the love interest is sexy to her, but isn’t described as uber handsome.

The plot is fairly simple and it takes a while for the magic to be introduced, but it’s enjoyable. I did think being the ‘Witch Queen’ as opposed to just a witch, even a powerful witch, was too much. It felt like the author just had to make her that extra little bit special.

The writing is perfectly readable and, as far as I could tell in audio (it is well narrated) the editing is clean. However, the book ends very abruptly with nothing concluded or wrapped up.

jealousy's a witch

She thought that her life couldn’t get any stranger. Boy, was she wrong.

Rosemary Bell’s ex-husband is now a turtle, she’s suddenly witch royalty, her daughter Maggie’s new best friend is an imaginary kangaroo hopping around the forests of Mosswood, Georgia, and her Witch King, Declan, isn’t making her life or her couch’s throw pillows any cushier.

Just as she’s starting to fall for Declan, a shocking confession leaves her reeling and Rosie wonders whether she is really meant to be the queen of anything. When a sexy bombshell arrives in town with her eyes set on Rosie’s King and crown, she will have to decide for herself what her destiny is – and soon.

Struggling between caring for Declan and caring for herself and Maggie, Rosie does her best to rise above the woman’s provocation. But when Maggie is kidnapped on All Hallow’s Eve, Rosie has no choice but to trust Declan and work together to get her daughter back. After an intense magical ritual brings her new powers full circle, Rosie finds out that jealousy’s a witch – literally!

my review

I still liked Rosie here in Jealousy’s a Witch, and I liked the addition of Maggie as a character. But I didn’t like this plot as much as the previous book. I think the jealous ex girlfriend/wife/etc as the villain is super over-used and cliched.

I respected the heck out of Maggie for immediately taking action when she saw red flags, but also her ability to not overreact (or maybe West’s willingness to not over-blow all the  emotions). I also appreciate that West subverted the ‘overheard conversation causes a misunderstanding’ trope by allowing an overheard conversation to smooth over a misunderstanding.

All in all, I’m enjoying the series and will likely continue it at some point. But I think I’ve had enough for the moment.

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Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Flora’s Musings