I really enjoyed Under The Hat more than the first story. The author is really defining her characters and the unique universe of Calderon Hollow here so we get a real sense of the nature of the town, and the magical strength of the powers of the families who live there.
Blythe Fairfield has made her choice to live in the house, accepting the magic and learn her role, whatever it may be. But the unstable Veil and shifting perspectives of the townspeople make it hard for Blythe to get a better sense of them and her new community.
I really liked how the different relationships are evolving here, between Blythe and the magical family on the other side of the ancient power feud, and even more so, between her and the Sheriff who “knows” instinctively that there’s something about her and the town that he can’t see or be involved with but also realizing it’s no less true.
The details, the history behind the old feud, the darker aspects of the town, it’s slowly getting revealed.
Blythe Fairfield chose to stay in Cauldron Hollow. She’s not sure the town has chosen her back.
Her relationship with Sheriff Paine Wilder is in ruins. Her bank account is worse. The only job she can find is running a cash register at the local grocery store, where her boss is a conspiracy theorist, her customers include a woman who screams about paying for eggs, and the one friend who made it all bearable keeps talking her into things she shouldn’t do.
Then a reclusive prepper turns up dead on his rural property, and Blythe finds more than a body. Buried beneath the man’s unfinished root cellar is a book of spells that should not exist, magic that breaks every rule Blythe has been taught to follow. She can’t leave it for the police. She can’t destroy it. And she definitely can’t stop thinking about what’s inside.
Someone killed a man for this book. And Blythe just brought it home.
I love this author’s Haunted Ranch Mysteries series, so while I was waiting on the next book in that series to be released, I noticed that she had started another series, different location and perspective on a similar type of female character.
The author has a real fondness for older women starting over. I can get behind this.
The Haunted Ranch Mysteries series has the beauty of the Arizona desert and the unique nature that enhances the atmosphere and fantastic storytelling.
I’ve yet to find a similar surrounding landscape here that has the same feel or that is so striking that it acts as a compelling backdrop.
So it’s a nondescript setting that depends heavily on character development and storytelling. Luckily, it delivers on both accounts.
Where certain characters in other series are stereotypical personalities, here Bourgeous takes them outside of the usual configuration into something interesting.
The sheriff and townspeople all have characters that surprise the reader with their depth of personality and the growth they exhibit during the story. This continues throughout the series.
The overall magic system is one that is slowly evolving and being defined as each situation arises, and it’s an unusual one that envelops the entire town.
There’s an ancient witch family feud, a cat familiar, and of course, a sentient house, to go along with the main character of Blythe Fairfield, a woman who is restarting her life after divorce.
The language is one of someone quietly reviewing their past and present options, no panic but a sense of resolve to make things work. You immediately understand Blythe, the circumstances that brought her to Caldron Hollow, and the thought processes as each event comes her way. However, increasing wild each one is.
It ends with Blythe staying true to her values, at the beginning of her journey and a long way to understanding what’s ahead. The author has started to set much in motion but there is so much more that’s needs a foundation or exploration, especially with regard to the town and witch families.
I’m definitely going forward with the series. And recommending this. Great read!
Sometimes the worst day of your life is just the beginning.
Blythe Fairfield has officially failed at adulthood. Divorced. Fired. Broke. When she inherits Gallows Gate House in the small town of Cauldron Hollow from her allegedly unhinged great-aunt, she decides it’s a temporary stop. Renovate. Sell. Leave.
Then her cat starts talking.
Cauldron Hollow isn’t just quaint. It was founded by two rival witch families. The Stoneharts stayed. The Tallowmeres were driven out.
Guess which family Blythe belongs to.
Between a house that hums with old magic, a violet streak suddenly appearing in her hair, and a snarky familiar named Pippin who keeps saying “Obviously,” Blythe barely has time to process her new reality before she stumbles over a dead body behind Merlin’s Diner.
The victim made enemies. Unfortunately, Blythe just made the suspect list.
With the town’s frustratingly handsome sheriff watching her every move and a killer determined to protect their secrets, Blythe must decide whether she’s still running from her inheritance or finally ready to claim it.
Turns out, if the hat fits… you might have to wear it.
If the Hat Fits is the first book in the Wicked Witches of Cauldron Hollow cozy mystery series. Expect humor, heart, magic, and a clean read with no swearing or explicit content.
Cauldron Hollow is an alternate universe to Coventry. You’ll see hints and shadows of our original wicked witches, but this book and series can be read and enjoyed on their own.
Banshee Cries was originally released in an anthology and I’ve included the publisher/author’s notes about this below. It’s a good story with some interesting magical elements to this tale. However, its brevity also highlights some of the more irritating or worst aspects of the main character, Joanne Walker. She’s in her late thirties, but her personality is often more of a whiny juvenile, which she admits but does nothing to correct.
She’s a reluctant Shaman, a reluctant police officer, and really, a reluctant adult. And given all the mystical powers she’s empowered with and guidance by Coyote which she doesn’t follow through on, the serious lack of development in her character’s growth is slowly eroding any interest I have in her and the series.
There’s really terrific content here, a magical system that Jo decides her gateway into it is her love of car mechanics. So she envisions how her magic powers works the way most cars and their mechanical systems do. That’s exciting. And unique.
But then there’s the rest of the story. And the reader is left to deal with her waffling thoughts about her life, not wanting to admit she’s a shaman whose powers will “save the day” or whatever. This is only the second book and it’s tiresome.
I won’t even mention the ghost of the mother plot with ginormous holes in it.
So while I appreciate the potential here, and some of the other characters, as well as the unique magic system, the character herself is becoming progressively less interesting. On book 2. That’s an issue.
Haven’t decided yet whether I’m going forward or not. You can decide if you’re willing to chance it.
Like the covers.
Cover Art & Design: G&S Cover Design Studio
Cover Model: Marissa Turcotte
Author’s Note:
Banshee Cries was originally published in the anthology Winter Moon as ‘Book 1.5’ of the Walker Papers. With the reissuing of the series, it has been promoted to a full Book Two status, and the numbering of the books going forward will reflect that. Aside from the numbering, there are no changes from the original release of Banshee Cries to this one.
The last thing reluctant shaman Joanne Walker wants is to be assigned to a case of ritual murders. It’d be creepy enough all on its own, but her boss, already trusting her magic more than Jo does herself, suspects there’s more to it than just a serial killer. As Joanne is pulled more deeply into the bloody mire, she begins to realize this is a murderer with a deadline—the changing winter moon seems to be key to the power they’re building.
But Joanne’s not the only one entangled in the increasingly dangerous magic raised by the killer: she has a protector, someone who has already given up their life to keep Joanne safe…and who may be the only person able to stand between Joanne and a dark power far greater than she’s ready to handle….
Publisher’s Note: Banshee Cries was originally published as part of the Winter Moon anthology, and was fondly numbered ‘1.5 of the Walker Papers.’ With the reissue of the series, Banshee Cries has been elevated to book two, and the series numbering henceforth reflects that change.
Urban Shaman brought me not only another great book but a new prolific author and series to explore. Love it when this happens.
In Urban Shaman, Murphy introduces a mixed race (Cherokee and Irish ancestry) Seattle police mechanic Joanne Walker, who on a flight home from a funeral, discovers not only is there mystical layers to her world but she’s a shaman as well.
In trying to save a woman from a threats from a Celtic god and the mythical Wild Hunt, Jo has to accept that she’s got shaman powers she’s not even close to understanding. And she needs them in order to survive the gods and the threats they have brought into her world.
The author combines Seattle location, a mechanic’s love for her cars, a middling law enforcement presence and two different types of mythology, Celtic and a broader spectrum of The People to this urban fantasy novel.
There’s murder, a race to understand the mystery behind the what the Wild Hunt and gods are doing, and most of the time, it’s spent in a dream scape of a urban fantasy world where Jo and Coyote are trying to heal her and lead her to knowledge.
This aspect of the story is where some readers will find themselves having issues. The magic isn’t well defined, especially Jo’s powers and how she’s developing them. And that so much of the story isn’t set in the real world of Seattle where the drama is occurring.
Perhaps future books will change that.
Jo is a really good and traumatized character (there’s a very sad, past history revealed here). And her relationship with the cab driver and her boss in the SPD have potential.
Looking forward to reading more of the series.
A winner here with the potential for a great series.
Joanne Walker has no use for the mystical, and up until this morning, the mystical had no use for her.
But an ancient god has reared his head, and the all-too-real riders of the mythical Wild Hunt are menacing the streets of Seattle. Caught in the middle of an age-old grudge, Joanne is forced to choose between accepting an unexpected magical heritage and facing this immortal enemy, or…dying.
(Look, nobody said it was a good choice.)
Guided by a cryptic coyote who visits her dreams and armed with magic she doesn’t know how to use, Joanne is befriended by a nosy cab driver who wants to tag along for the adventure as she hangs on to the desperate hope that she might survive the next few days.
Joanne’s journey from police department mechanic to urban shaman begins here…whether she likes it or not!
Book 2, and my issues with this series and characters continue. Mostly due to the character of Lucy, but the lack of foundational knowledge about the world building is also a big part of the problem here.
Turns out there’s 4 different Other Realm series that have carryover characters and overlapping roles and storylines here. If you’re not familiar with them, then it’s a problem because Harris isn’t one of those writers who spends the necessary time in their stories filling in knowledge about their other work/universe. You either know or you don’t.
Which leaves any new readers lost or scrambling for information, a trying aspect of the book when there’s already several others to deal with.
The interesting elements here, such as the werewolves actually having two distinct personalities or beings within them, is a very good one. The wolves have names, personalities and in most instances, have been denied by their “human counterparts” , suppressed by werewolf history and pack mythology to a certain roles that had denied them their identity. Lucy and Esme are, currently, the only highly functional communicating pair.
This is a great storyline and it will be the one that carries me forward if I do so, into the series as I hopefully see it further expand and detailed.
I rated this novel higher because the main theme of kidnapped children and its investigation was suspenseful and kept me invested. It was especially due to the side story of the young werewolf and the gargoyles. The leader Bob and the youngest cub were east to relate to and feel emotionally attached to as well.
But, once again, that ending was not satisfying. The villain ended up as much a product of why this MF character is so problematic and the issues that continue to plague her. (“I didn’t feel so sorry for him anymore “). No words.
Just one more huge SMH moment and scenario.
I’m actually considering heading back to the Glimmer series, the first in the Other Realm universe to see if beginning with the main series will eliminate the world building issues and carryover problems.
Not sure Lucy had shown much development as a person yet so it’s hard for me to want to invest further time in reading her series.
Guardians of the Pack (The Other Wolf, #2) by Heather G. Harris is a bit of a mixed bag of narratively good elements and nicely executed storytelling threaded through with a questionable main character moments, and an unsatisfying ending.
I hate finding corpses. For some reason, my enemies think dead bodies work as a communication method. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer a letter.
When I find a pulverised gargoyle on my lawn, I can’t help but think things are about to get rocky. The gargoyles don’t expect me to look into the death, but who can ignore murder on their doorstep? Ex-soldier Greg Manners knows all about violence and he thinks that the ogres are involved. Deadly or not, I’ll go toe-to-toe with their lethal king if I need to. I’m determined to find justice – but just when I start investigating, one of the pack’s children is snatched.
I’m in a race against time to find him when it turns out that Bobby isn’t the first stolen child. I’ll have to navigate Other world politics to work out what the purloined children have in common. Maybe if I know why they’ve been taken, I’ll discover who took them. Because the clock is ticking and I am all out of suspects.
Esme and I have to work together to find the kids, before it’s too late…
Burn through this fun, fast-paced, laugh-out-loud mix of urban fantasy and mystery.
This is the second book in the Other Wolf series. Don’t miss this internationally best-selling series if you like humour, heart, a strong heroine and a slow burn fade-to-black romance.
I picked up this series and another because the authors are co-authoring an urban fantasy series that I’m absolutely in love with, and I thought I’d explore what each writer was doing separately.
At least, if this (and Jilleen Dolbeare’s Splintered Magic novel) are any indication, they are far stronger together than apart.
Heather G. Harris’ Protection of the Pack has some interesting ideas and promising elements but it’s derailed by its main female character , a surprise here, and a world building where its lack might be due to its many related series and overlapping characters, none of which are well explained in the story. It’s assumed that the reader has the foundation knowledge of this universe to understand the under explored elements.
But it’s mostly on the shoulders of a poorly conceived main female character that is unable to carry the weight of the story and a romantic relationship that had little to no chemistry between them that’s the issue here.
I’ll try to make it brief.
Lucy is was a regular person until her serial killer incubus boyfriend made her his next victim and put her into the ICU in the hospital. A quick bite from her werewolf bestie and she’s a werewolf and , in a plot from another story, a reluctant Alpha of an unhappy little pack. That’s the facts.
But Lucy? She’s another SMH character. Instead of trying to learn how to lead, focus on pack dynamics, etc. That girl’s gonna party. And whine about her problems.
There’s a good element of the werewolf or just wolf being a separate entity within her, complete with its own personality and goals. Esme, the wolf inside has hidden knowledge and history of pack rules and otherworldly creatures from the advice she offers to Lucy. Not that Lucy is willing to listen all that much.
Lucy is frankly written as an annoying person. That boyfriend is a serial killer, has basically killed her, murdered multiple women. Her stance? She feels sorry for him.
What is the author doing? Consistently, Lucy is running off, not informing anyone where she’s going, putting herself, the shaky pack leadership, and the pack itself in danger. Honestly, she’s a gorgeous twit.
Greg Manners, former dragon brethren, is an overlapping character from another series. His story is scribbled in briefly so maybe his background is described in another series. But his lack of one makes him very one dimensional here, especially as he’s seen as the main romantic character for Lucy. No chemistry and no real sense of connection.
That’s the issue here with the other characters. They seem to be carryover from other books and it’s assumed we know what their relationships and stories are. New readers will feel completely lost as very little information is given out about any of them.
This isn’t to say there’s not some intriguing plot lines or great characters. There are. Bob the gargoyle and his group. The Griffin assassin (from another series) is fascinating, if only for his stance on morality.
But the fact that the main characters are not the strongest characters in the series or are not as well crafted as to be able to keep me invested in her story is a big problem here.
It’s continues to be in book 2, but I’ll address that in my review later.
I’m actually very surprised that I didn’t like the story more. That Lucy wasn’t as good a character or as well constructed as I expected from having read the other co-authored series.
I’ve read book two and it’s more of the same. Honestly I’m debating on whether I should read all the books.
I have a wolf in my head. Her name is Esme, and she likes killing things.
I’m Lucy, a regular accountant turned alpha werewolf. A tryst with the wrong incubus ripped me from my ordinary life and sent me tumbling into a magical realm that I’d never even dreamed existed.
I was just adjusting to pack life when I was asked to mercy-kill the current alpha. I’m not a total bitch so I did what he asked, but it’s left me as alpha of a pack I don’t know, full of werewolves who resent that I still live and breathe while their old alpha doesn’t. If I’m to survive in this dog-eat-dog realm, I’m going to have to win my new pack over – and fast.
I’m still trying to find my way in this violent new world when my third in command, Mark, is brutally murdered right under my damn nose. To regain control of the pack, I need to find the killer and bring him to vigilante justice. Luckily, my wolf, Esme, is more than happy to get her paws dirty.
When the werewolf council show up to question me, things get a little dicey. Thank goodness I have the deadly Greg Manners, former dragon brethren and general ass-kicker, to back me up. Now I just need to unravel who’d want to kill Mark – and there’s a really long list of suspects because he was shadier than an oak tree.
I’m hip-deep in suspects, and I need to move swiftly – before the killer strikes again…
Burn through this fun, fast-paced, laugh-out-loud mix of urban fantasy and mystery.
This is the first book in the Other Wolf series. Don’t miss this internationally best-selling series if you like humour, heart, a strong heroine and a slow burn fade-to-black romance.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 