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How to Talk to a Goddess
How to Talk to a Goddess and Other Lessons in Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker. Semrland Books Four years ago I read the first book in this series and fell in love with it. Since then I’ve reread it a few times and still go back and read passages I particularly enjoyed. As the book had been released four years earlier, I think it’s fortunate I didn’t have to wait quite so long as the first readers to find out the next part of the story. Earlier this year the audiobook was released and I managed to get a review copy of it. But being new to audiobooks, I…
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Servant Mage
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott MacMillan-Tor/Forge Due to the takeover by the Liberationists, Fellion has become an indentured servant mage with little prospect of another life until she is freed by a group of Monarchists. They need her fire skills and there's a possibility of a real future. Along the way, their priority shifts so they are saving a very special baby from being killed before moving on to the original mission. I must point out this is a novella rather than a full-length novel. I found this to be a super-easy and engaging read, finishing it in under three hours. The world-building is quite good and there are some…
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The Accidental Gatekeeper
The Accidental Gatekeeper: The Accidental Midlife Trilogy Book 1 by Carla Rehse BooksGoSocial Everly Popa is a middle-aged mom of one who has informed the FBI on her husband and, for safety for herself and daughter, has returned to her hometown, Crossing Shadows. This town isn’t the usual sort of home town, but a border between other worlds and the earthly one. And Everly is from one of three families who are marked and who alternately act as gatekeepers between the worlds in order to keep the balance. Currently, it’s another family that is slated to take over the job but when Everly arrives it seems all hell has broken…
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Wish Hunter
Wish Hunter: (The Savannah River Series Book 1) by Jordan Riley Swan and Hero Bowen. Story Garden Nadia Kaminski is a wish thief, using her position as a marriage counsellor to steal wishes from her clients. She comes from a family of wish hunters and they currently owe a huge debt of wishes. But Nadia has never used her own wishes and wants to use one of her own to resurrect her murdered husband. In order to do that, she needs to steal an untracked wish to find a way to clear the debt. An opportunity that fulfills this requirement happens along and she steals a wish from Miles, a…
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The Witness for the Dead
Thara Celehar is a witness for the dead, a sort of cleric who provides services for those who have died and for their families. A witness for the dead also has the ability to communicate with the deceased and is often asked to investigate, particularly if the death is suspicious. It’s not a particularly well-regarded or well-paid position but he is dedicated to doing his work as long as he is capable of continuing. This story is a meandering story where we follow Celehar as he goes about his work. He never rushes and he takes meticulous care to do his job properly, whether he is investigating a death or…
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Hunting the Wren
As Bennet is completing his training as a master astrologer, his esteemed mentor dies leaving him a book spelling out predictions about what’s going to happen next in his life. Christa Wren comes into his life through a client who is murdered. She has no place to go and the establishment needs someone to help out with household duties. The two soon become a pair of sorts and end up in all sorts of intrigue related to the murder and to other occurrences in the town. This turned out to be a pleasant enough read although there are parts that were a bit hard to fathom. I just don’t feel…
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Court of Bitter Thorn
Elora is getting married. Her family is in some financial strife so it’s her job to help them out and marry a rich guy. She’s not terribly enthusiastic as the man is much older and there’s nothing that draws her towards him. Tragedy strikes and Elora’s marriage needs to come sooner so that she can look after her sisters. That’s if they don’t starve before then. It’s in her efforts to ensure they can eat that she meets Prince Brannick of the Fae world and is tricked into a bargain that takes her into the world of Fae. This is fairly standard fare in the world of young adult fantasy.…
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A Grimoire for Gamblers
Elizabeth, has been on leave from her job as an assistant to the mayor of her small town. A couple of weeks earlier her father had committed suicide, leaving her quite adrift, mentally. As she returns to work, she is approached by a stranger who hands over a file with news articles about several local suicides with a curious pattern. She soon realises she’s not quite ready to be back at work and takes further leave. Meanwhile, while going through the attic of her childhood home, she discovers a side of her father totally unknown to her, magic. It’s not long before she has learned a bit of it herself…
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Vasilisa
It’s 1919 and Vasilisa is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Edenfall, Pennsylvania. The Great War has ended but her father is missing, presumed dead, and the family life is not quite normal. Vasilisa’s mother is being “courted” by an ogre in disguise and her Babka, also named Vasilisa, is not well. Meanwhile, Ivan has travelled to Edenfall in order to fulfil the wish of his father to look after Vasilisa and her grandmother. These two young people will work together to reach Old Rus and to deal with Baba Yaga in her three forms and also with old Koschei, the ogre. This is a gentle story with an adventure to…
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The Blacktongue Thief
“I was about to die. Worse, I was about to die with bastards.” These first words of The Blacktongue Thief provide a pretty good idea of the nature of this wonderful book. Kinch Na Shannack is the speaker of these words and he’s the narrator of this tale. He’s a Galt thief, who owes a massive debt to the Takers Guild. He also has a bit of magic, which isn’t exactly common knowledge. Kinch is offered an opportunity to reduce his debt and is asked to either accompany or follow Galva, a Spanth he and his associates attempted to rob earlier. The task is supposed to take him to Oustrim…