Tag: magic realism

Review:  Stars Die (Caldryn Parliament Book 1) by Jenny Schwartz

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Jenny Schwartz is a new author for me but after this book she’s immediately on my must read list. Stars Die, the first book in the Caldryn Parliament series, is a fabulous read.  

The world building is layered and intriguing, yet so vivid and large that you can see how she will be exploring it further in the series. And even farther. 

The characters themselves are incredibly complex. Each has their own histories that are only partially revealed here, multiple agendas, and completely diverse backgrounds. 

This is magic, science fiction and realism all combined into a compelling narrative. 

And Schwartz has beautifully crafted even more fascinating storylines that work together to create a fascinating tale of dynastic power, intrigue, galactic politics, mystery and chaos. All with an overlay of magic. 

It begins with the incredible character of Vanda Kavanagh, whose powerful grandmother has recalled her from her duty on a frontier planet to become new Warden of Caldryn Parliament.

Such a simple sentence that is so powerful a statement of a woman’s heart and journey to her own path.  Vanda is an incredible character. And she is accompanied by a very special companion, Giddy. 

Giddy is part of the murder mystery that Vanda sets out to solve, as part of her plan and as part of a larger underlying problem. 

There’s an entire excellent cast of equally important and well defined characters. Many of which I expect to develop and expand as the series continues. 

This is a complex, emotional, exciting novel. There’s a potential for a romance but it’s not a romance story. It’s a political thriller, albeit one that is a magical science fiction novel. 

So highly recommended and I’m extremely excited for the next book to be released. 

And can I say how much I love these covers?

Caldryn Parliament:

Stars Die #1

Hexes Fly #2 – July 26, 2025

Rogues Lie #3 – November 29,2025

Buy link

        Stars Die (Caldryn Parliament Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Welcome to Caldryn Parliament. Golden Age mysteries in the Realm of science fiction and fantasy.

Recalled from the frontier, the new Warden of Caldryn Parliament is well aware she’s not a popular choice, but she never expected to portal into a murder scene.

Nor did she anticipate acquiring such a unique partner.

Now, Vanda Kavanagh must discover the truth of a politician’s death, unravel the mystery of her sabotaged wards, and survive her family.

***

Stars Die is a magic parliament mystery. If you’ve ever wished that Agatha Christie included magic or that Sherlock Holmes fought space pirates, this is the series for you!

  • Publication date: February 27, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 340 pages
  • Book 1 of 3: Caldryn Parliament

Review:  The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series Book 5) by Heather G. Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare

Rating:  5⭐️

In The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist authors take Bunny and her best friend, Sidnee outside of Portlock to the Alaska State Trooper training academy for training and certification. 

It’s a mixture of hidden paranormal cadets and normal human beings with all the same bigotry and prejudice that people face in social situations. Except that the paranormal recruits are expected to hide their abilities from their classmates and staff and still get their certificates. A difficulty in dealing with some bullying recruits.

I really loved this story and appreciated the many well developed storylines that further broadened the series arc mystery and allowed many of these characters to deepen their relationships and potential for their own powers. 

Bunny’s character is growing stronger with each case. She’s discovering new powers, allowing herself to become closer to the people she is now considering her “found family “, and her own powers are being expanded into a new level of magic.  Sidnee, the shifter whose friendship and trauma has been so much a part of Bunny’s story, is a big part of the story too. She’s struggling still with past events but trying hard to find her way through. 

Without specific details, Heather G. Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare use a poltergeist, a truly poignant piece of work here, to bring another bit of this series back into play. Outstanding storytelling!

And of course, I have to mention Fluffy and his own personal struggles with his transformation ability or lack thereof. Love Fluffy and that enigma Shadow. 

Another fantastic book! I’m so addicted to these characters and world.  

Highly recommended!

Cover design by Christian Bentulan. Published by Hellhound Press Limited.

The Portlock Paranormal Detective series:

The Vampire and the Case of her Dastardly Death, a prequel.

The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf, Book 1.

The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren, Book 2.

The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee, Book 3.

The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine, Book 4.

The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergiest, Book 5.

The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas, Book 5.5.

The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag #6

The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid #7 – July 3,2025

Buy link

        The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergeist: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series Book 5)

    

Blurb 

This academy’s secrets could get you killed – if the poltergeist doesn’t get you first…

I thought going back to school would be fun. After all, we’re adults now – no angst-ridden teen dramas here – and we’re all law-enforcement recruits training to become State Troopers. Surely we’ll work together like professionals, right? Wrong.

One of my fellow recruits has it in for me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I’d peed in his cereal or corrected his grammar in public, but I swear I’ve done nothing to deserve the daggers he’s throwing my way.

The problem is that he’s not the only one giving me grief.

The academy has a unique resident, a poltergeist who loves nothing more than causing havoc. What starts as harmless pranks quickly turns sinister and I’m left wondering just how far the spirit will go.

The deeper I dig the more I realise this academy isn’t just haunted, it’s hiding something far worse than ghosts and ghouls. And if I don’t uncover the truth soon, I might not make it to graduation…

Dive into this fast-paced urban fantasy series if you love mystery, humour, found family and a slow-burn romance.

  • Publisher: Hellhound Press Limited (December 6, 2024)
  • Publication date: December 6, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 257 pages

Review:  My Inherited House Might be Haunted by AJ Sherwood

Rating:  3.5🌈

My Inherited House Might be Haunted by AJ Sherwood is a cute, no angst paranormal romance.  It originally came about as a serialized story on the author’s Patreon site but has been updated and expanded. 

The characters are adorable, there’s a inherited haunted house, along with ghosts (a family of ghosts which we never meet unfortunately), brownies, witches everywhere!

There’s so many interesting elements here pack together for a short story. Especially the familiars , a cat and puppy, that these characters never get fully developed into their elements. They are familiars in name only because they’re recognized by others as such. But do they talk or do things that we think of as being something familiars do? No. They do things that our cats and dogs do just as adorably mostly. 

The romantic relationship is fast and the book length just doesn’t leave them much time for development of magical skills, new knowledge of how magic works, or other relationship areas.  But the characters, Rhett and Calix and Calix’s family are so interesting that this story makes me wish for a sequel or expanded version.

Read My Inherited House Might be Haunted by AJ Sherwood for a delightful instant love paranormal tale!

Copyright © 2025 by AJ Sherwood, originally published on Patreon 

Adorable Cover by Katie Griffin

Buy link

My Inherited House Might be Haunted4.6 out of 5 stars1854.6 out of 5 stars. 185 customer reviews.Kindle Edition$0.00or $3.99 to buy

Blurb 

Rhett’s inheritance of the gorgeous Victorian house was expected. What was not expected was:

  • Two familiars
  • A house full of ghosts
  • Magic powers?!
  • A new boyfriend, maybe, possibly, please and thank you

Now if he could just figure out how to handle everything, life would be peachy.

A MelanieM Review: Earnest Ink by Alex Hall

Rating:: 4.5 stars out of 5

While twenty-year-old FTM Hemingway is making an excellent living as a tattoo artist in a near-future version of Hell’s Kitchen, the rest of the country is splintered and struggling in the wake of a war gone on for too long. Technology has collapsed, borders rise and fall overnight, and magic has awakened without rhyme, reason, or rule, turning average unwitting citizens into wielders of strange and specific strands of magic.

Hemingway’s particular brand of magic has made him a household name. Not only is he a talented artist, but his work comes to life. Literally.

When NYC’s most infamous serial killer—the East River Ripper—abducts Hemingway’s best friend, Grace, he has only days to save her. Hemingway teams up with his stoic cop roommate to hunt for the killer and rescue Grace before she becomes the Ripper’s latest victim. But as the duo chase clues to the serial killer’s identity, Hemingway begins to fear the magic he and the Ripper share might eventually corrupt him too.

I am always enthusiastic about the stories that flow out of the mind of author Alex Hall because I know the tales will be imaginative, with twists and turns, marvelous characters with attention to details in personality and background, and as it demonstrated here, a fabulous ability to deliver a world of magic realism so very believable that i fell into it from the first page.

Earnest Ink by Alex Hall is a story that builds slowly as we get to know the characters and the world they now inhabit, one that changed drastically within their own lifetimes.  Changing their worlds and in some cases themselves fundamentally.  It’s a story revealed in pieces, pulled back in layers, as the current days events take place and our characters rush forward towards mysteries and crises that will have permanent impact on everyone.

The people encountered from the focal person of famous tattoo artist Hemingway are as incredibly complex as Hemingway is.. That extends to the roles they may play in Hemingway’s life, which may change direction or impact in a blink.  Who is trustworthy and who is not is always up for discussion.  Throw in the hunt for a gruesome killer, Jack the  Ripper, along with other mysteries, and you have a gripping thriller with tiny hints of a possible future  romance and an open ended future for all.

And that is the only thing that keeps this book from five stars.  The air of expectation for something more at the end.  A need for continuing on, that so much remains to be done or is left to be finished for everyone here.  I almost felt as though we were at 3/4 th of the story or perhaps that I should be able to sail quickly onto another book.  I was most not ready to leave this world and characters behind.

Love magic realism?  In need of a great new story to read?  I highly recommend Earnest Ink by Alex Hall.  I’m still thinking about the characters and their lives, and hoping that Hall will return to them once more for an update.

Cover art:  Natasha Snow.  A beautiful cover with a major element towards the ending.

Sales Links:    NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published October 14th 2019 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781951057121
Edition Language English

A MelanieM Review: Earnest Ink by Alex Hall

Rating:: 4.5 stars out of 5

While twenty-year-old FTM Hemingway is making an excellent living as a tattoo artist in a near-future version of Hell’s Kitchen, the rest of the country is splintered and struggling in the wake of a war gone on for too long. Technology has collapsed, borders rise and fall overnight, and magic has awakened without rhyme, reason, or rule, turning average unwitting citizens into wielders of strange and specific strands of magic.

Hemingway’s particular brand of magic has made him a household name. Not only is he a talented artist, but his work comes to life. Literally.

When NYC’s most infamous serial killer—the East River Ripper—abducts Hemingway’s best friend, Grace, he has only days to save her. Hemingway teams up with his stoic cop roommate to hunt for the killer and rescue Grace before she becomes the Ripper’s latest victim. But as the duo chase clues to the serial killer’s identity, Hemingway begins to fear the magic he and the Ripper share might eventually corrupt him too.

I am always enthusiastic about the stories that flow out of the mind of author Alex Hall because I know the tales will be imaginative, with twists and turns, marvelous characters with attention to details in personality and background, and as it demonstrated here, a fabulous ability to deliver a world of magic realism so very believable that i fell into it from the first page.

Earnest Ink by Alex Hall is a story that builds slowly as we get to know the characters and the world they now inhabit, one that changed drastically within their own lifetimes.  Changing their worlds and in some cases themselves fundamentally.  It’s a story revealed in pieces, pulled back in layers, as the current days events take place and our characters rush forward towards mysteries and crises that will have permanent impact on everyone.

The people encountered from the focal person of famous tattoo artist Hemingway are as incredibly complex as Hemingway is.. That extends to the roles they may play in Hemingway’s life, which may change direction or impact in a blink.  Who is trustworthy and who is not is always up for discussion.  Throw in the hunt for a gruesome killer, Jack the  Ripper, along with other mysteries, and you have a gripping thriller with tiny hints of a possible future  romance and an open ended future for all.

And that is the only thing that keeps this book from five stars.  The air of expectation for something more at the end.  A need for continuing on, that so much remains to be done or is left to be finished for everyone here.  I almost felt as though we were at 3/4 th of the story or perhaps that I should be able to sail quickly onto another book.  I was most not ready to leave this world and characters behind.

Love magic realism?  In need of a great new story to read?  I highly recommend Earnest Ink by Alex Hall.  I’m still thinking about the characters and their lives, and hoping that Hall will return to them once more for an update.

Cover art:  Natasha Snow.  A beautiful cover with a major element towards the ending.

Sales Links:    NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook
Published October 14th 2019 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781951057121
Edition Language English

A Free Dreamer Review: Olympia Knife by Alysia Constantine

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Born into a family of flying trapeze artists, Olympia Knife has one small problem: When her emotions rise, she becomes invisible. Everyone in the traveling circus has learned to live with this quirk; they banded together to raise Olympia in a loving environment when her parents vanished midair during their act, never to return. But the same fate befalls Arnold, the world’s shortest man, followed by one act after another, until the show is a crumbling mess of tattered tents and terrified troupers. Into this chaos walks Diamond the Danger Eater. Olympia and Diamond forge a friendship, then fall in love, and, together, resolve to stand the test of time, even as the world around them falls apart.

The first word that comes to my mind when I think about Olympia Knife is strange. Closely followed by sad. And kind of creepy. I’ve never read anything like this and I was a bit unsure whether I liked it or not. But it’s so unusual and memorable, I just had to give it the full five stars.

First things first: This is classified as literary/genre fiction and as such doesn’t have much of a love story and definitely not your run-of-the-mill HEA. The ending is very open and leaves many questions unanswered. I’m not always a fan of open ends, but in this case it fit the tone of the whole book perfectly.

I love circus settings, especially historical ones. They give you so many possibilities. It can be utterly magical and charming or it can be utterly terrifying and creepy. Olympia Knife was definitely more creepy than charming, though it did have a bit of a magical air.

People keep disappearing in the middle of their acts, Olympia keeps turning invisible and there are some other otherworldly things going on, so I guess this would qualify as Fantasy. The circus acts, especially those in the sideshow, are all fakes and don’t have any magical abilities. The correct genre correct is probably magic realism, combining reality with some fantastic elements. It’s an unusual genre and I really enjoyed it.

There isn’t all that much action but I didn’t mind. This was a very slow book and it was all about the atmosphere of the book. I was completely immersed into the world and it sometimes took a while for me to resurface.

At times, this book does get pretty brutal and very intense. It was a hard read and it really took a lot out of me. “Olympia Knife” is such a gritty, intense and heartbreaking read. It’s one of the most extraordinary books I’ve ever read.

If you’re looking for an easy, magical romance, this is definitely not the book for you. I think this is a case of love it or hate it. And I loved it. I’ll have to keep an eye out for future releases by this author. If you’re easily triggered, you might want to check out the content warnings on the publisher’s page.

The cover is utterly gorgeous. It’s the kind of cover that I’d love to have in my physical bookshelf, just to show it off.

Sales Links:  Interlude Press | Amazon

Book details: ebook, 212 pages

Published November 2nd 2017 by Interlude Press