Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: Andrea Murray

The BOOKMINDER by M.K. Wiseman – Fantasy, Coming of Age, Magic

More than anything, Liara just wants to belong. As an orphan “fey” child in the seventeenth century, Liara has been a ward of the Church for ten of her sixteen years. Grateful to be taken in and cared for by Father Phenlick, she knows most of the villagers want her gone.

The product of a rape by a magical creature, Liara is imbued with magic and in many ways is magic itself. The powerful wizard who created the creatures responsible for the attack during the attack on the valley, knows nothing of her existence. Father Phenlick enlisted the help of Nagareth, the wizard of the woods, to shield Liara and the village from further assaults all while outlawing the very power he is secretly trusting.

At St. Sophia, Liara is safe until she steals from the village busybody. When Liara’s extensive hidden stash is discovered in a “magicked” hollow tree, the Venetian soldiers who protect the valley force Father Phenlick to ostracize Liara. Abandoned by even her friends, Liara is taken in by Nagareth, who promises Phenlick that he will not teacher Liara his craft. Liara begs Nagareth for magical instruction, but he only allows her to care for his extensive magical library. Gradually, Nagareth sees great potential in his new ward, but when everyone in Dvigard is killed by a mysterious plague, he begins to fear that he can’t protect her from her powerful creator who will want her powers for his own if she is discovered.

Liara cannot see the danger around her, and as her own magical knowledge grows through her maintenance of Nagareth’s books, her only goal is to exact revenge against her father. As her abilities grow so does her anger and confusion at the only person standing between her and her destruction.

Liara is a complex, dynamic character. Her history gives her more than normal teenage problems. Liara’s mother was driven crazy by the rape and was never able to truly care for or love Liara, leaving Liara to the cruelty of the villagers. Without Father Phenlick, Liara would never have survived, and though he tries to give her a home, he isn’t able to fill the emptiness deep within her. Liara desperately needs something and somewhere of her own, which is why she steals–to fill her life with things that are her own. In creating her hollow-tree hiding place, she creates that place where she isn’t afraid to be herself. Though she is unaware of her own magic, it is as much a part of her as her history.

In the beginning, all Liara wants is to grow that power. She desires the very thing others accuse her of having to give her what she has never had, but it’s a double-edged sword. She is hated for her supposed abilities even before she shows evidence of magic, but when she finds the magic she wants so badly, it will define her. She wants others to see she has feelings and dreams, but in the very thing she wants most, this undeniable power, people will see only that. She limits herself to this magical creature, and that drive quickly becomes an obsession. Only too late does she see Nagarath’s minimal use of magic isn’t a waste. She almost allows her prejudiced idea that magic should be grandiose to cloud the important lesson she learns about living simply, living for love and not power. As she grows through her relationship with Nagareth, she learns what magic should truly be.

The evolving bond between Liara and Nagareth is a beautiful story. Only nine years Liara’s senior, Nagareth sees Liara as a child in the beginning, but over the novel’s development, he begins to see Liara as a true companion. The joy she brings to his life, the peace she makes him feel, even though she annoyingly begs him to teach her magic, becomes invaluable to the lonely wizard.

He wants to make sure she has a life of stability, not fear. As he opens himself up more and more, he becomes her friend. He realizes she has given him more than he has returned and relents in his promise not to teach her. Nagareth grows as much as his precious ward.

The Bookminder won 1^st Place in the CIBA 2017 OZMA Awards for Fantasy Fiction.

October 18, 2019
LUSTFUL SINS (Bounty Hunter Book One) by Robert Wright, Jr. – Paranormal Romance, Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban Fantasy

Humans have been overthrown by supernatural beings for nearly destroying Mother Earth. The hierarchy of supers has created a planet where humans are commodities to be used as slaves and food, but Queen Velocity, a vicious and cruel fairy, doesn’t just want to enforce her will on humans. She hates any creature – orc, vamp, were, or goblin – who undermines her authority, and the best way to bring these beings to heel is Sin, the toughest bounty hunter on the planet.

Sin wants gold, as much as she can get. Besides pride, it’s the only thing dragons like her value. Her kind are rare in the “fae” world, but they are the strongest and toughest creatures in the kingdom, and even though she hates the queen, she is well paid for her unique skill set. Being a dragon, she has enough strength in her tiny, humanlike body to do serious damage to most supers, but her newest bounty may prove too much even for her.

A mysterious, vanishing creature has killed an alpha Were and the king of the vamps after stealing the very essence of her victims. Even with the help of her partner Sebastian, an imp with advanced magical skill, Sin fears she’ll disappoint the queen, a typically lethal predicament. Being paired with Queen Velocity’s super-hot son Fallon is not helping her concentration, and the closer they get to the killer, Sin realizes she must risk her life to face the creature who turns dreams to nightmares.

Lustful Sin is the first in a new supernatural series with exceptional world-building. It combines the common conventions of crypto creatures like vampires and werewolves but shows them in a new light. In this world, humans are–or were–the monsters, and the traditional monsters are now minding the store. All human conveniences like cars and electricity have been banished, and in their place are magic and might. Even the gun Sin carries is a monitored commodity given only by special permission of the Fairy Council. Darkened cities ruled by orcs and goblins create an apocalyptic world different than those typically seen in an “end of times” novel and create a frightening, intense mood lightened by the comic interaction of Sebastian and Sin.

Sin’s fortitude and determination are stars of the novel. Though Sin is a powerful, rare super, she must bow to the will of the fairies, who look down on all other supers. This ruling-class has created many enemies, including the creature who is murdering other supers for revenge. In spite of the crushing power of the fairies, however, Sin refuses to be anything less than herself. Ruled by her love of gold and her dragon pride, she usually does as she pleases, much to the disapproval of her partner and her great-grandfather (many times over) Igmun who is an advisor to the queen.

Pride won’t let her give up on seemingly impossible challenges even an ancient vamp on a kamikaze mission. Though she knows her pride will probably be her downfall, she won’t allow any creature to insult her dragon heritage and live to tell about it. This pride also keeps her from becoming Fallon’s mistress though it would mean a cushy existence “out of the gutter” that is her current life. But this hard-as-nails attitude hides a much softer heart. Sin saves Sadie, a half-breed fairy who is the forced pet of the vamps, from her life of perpetual servitude. She also often retaliates against supers who hurt humans, leading to a bounty on Sin’s own life, and when she has the choice to join the human resistance against the tyrannical fairy rule, she realizes it is her destiny no matter the cost.

This highly erotic adventure features a strong female protagonist with a warm heart and an HBIC attitude. Lovers of all things supernatural and sizzling will not be able to put it down. [Editor’s Note: This is a five-alarm adult read. This is not a YA read.]

September 6, 2019
The QUEEN and KNIGHTS of NOR: Legends of Nor Book 1 by R.L. Stelzer – Children’s Fantasy, Sorcery/Magic, Epic Fantasy Series

Micha, Princess of Nor, can’t wait for her twenty-second birthday celebration. She wants to laugh with her sister, Olive, and their best friend and cousin, Dillip, and perhaps spend time with Percival, a prince from the nearby Mur. But her celebration is cut short when a messenger arrives at the manor with news that all of the inhabitants of the city of Valde, including her parents, have been enchanted by an evil witch Draka, who has escaped from her centuries-old mountain prison.

Though she has trained her entire life to pick up the mantel of a ruler, Micha isn’t ready to command armies and save her people; however, when Draka allies with the southern dragons and eastern goblins, she has no choice but to take up arms and defend her land. Micha soon enlists the help of Susa, a strange old woman of the forest who is more than she appears. With Susa’s wisdom and the bravery of their father’s captain, Demetrius, Micha and Olive pursue Draka’s horde.

There is one problem, they quickly learn that Draka can only be killed by a sword imbued with the blood of a great conqueror and wielded by his direct descendent. As the sacrifices pile up, Micha questions her ability to rule and wonders if anything will remain of the home she loves.

The world of Nor is an enchanted land where birds and bears offer much-needed help to the worthy, and giants roam the land. It is a place where goblins attack heroes, pirates plague coastal cities, and talking rats the size of horses walk upright. In all of this fantastical world-building, heroes still ride in on valiant steeds, and goodwill defeat evil no matter the cost.

Of these heroes, Micha is supreme. Her uncertainty in her abilities makes her a very human character. She doesn’t step into challenges knowing victory is certain. Micha questions her knowledge and sometimes feels the pull of Percival’s insistence that she shouldn’t have to shoulder all of the burdens that have been thrust upon her. She readily admits her fatigue and uncertainty but never shirks from her responsibilities.

Percival’s fun-loving ways are a direct foil to Micha’s dynamic character growth. With a father who ousted giants and a mother who quelled a pirate rebellion, Micha has big shoes to fill; yet, even in youth, her wisdom shines. She also has the good sense to know her limitations. Often, she turns to Demetrius for help, and in a sense, they become partners who find their strength in each other. Putting the kingdom above herself, Micha willingly sacrifices whatever is needed to defeat the greedy hubris of Draka.

Though Micha sacrifices much, many of the characters make similar sacrifices. Willing to die doing what’s right rather than live with the consequences of not fighting, these characters add to the righteousness of the novel’s message. Abbott, a half-breed giant, risks his life in warning Micha and then again by going to his giant family who ostracized him. Dillip suffers a significant loss when he fights the oldest dragon in Nor. Demetrius willingly faces off against Draka herself. All who see Micha’s bravery readily defend her and the kingdom, choosing action over complacency.

Middle-grade students and those who love fantasy will quickly fall in love with the land of Nor and its heroic queen.

The Queen and Knights of Nor won 1st Place in the CIBA 2017 Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle-Grade Fiction.

August 24, 2019
FEAST of SORROW by Crystal King – Ancient Rome, Biographical, Family Saga

In the twenty-sixth year of Augustus Caesar’s reign, Marcus Gavius Apicius purchased nineteen-year-old Thrasius for twenty thousand denarii, enough money to buy more than sixty normal slaves, but Thrasius is more than the typical slave. Born to a slave woman who died in childbirth and whose name he never knew, Thrasius has trained for seven years as a cook in the kitchens of Flavius Maximus, a man known for his unforgettable dinners, and Apicius hopes the young coquus will lead him to the ultimate culinary fame, gastronomic advisor to Caesar himself.

Grateful to be saved from the cruelty of the slave trader, Thrasius throws himself headlong into the new role and proves tremendously successful, but an ominous prophecy given to Apicius on the day he purchased Thrasius looms over every achievement. As Apicius climbs higher and higher in the Roman political world, Thrasius becomes an ever-growing asset eventually becoming more advisor than cook and feels the pressure of helping Apicius accomplish his fame at any cost, even his family and friends. His chase for fame becomes both consuming and destructive. Though Apicius refuses to see the price of his obsession, Thrasius knows a reckoning is coming and prays the gods can save him from the man who controls his life.

This masterful thirty-year tale rejuvenates life in ancient Rome, a place where favors become life-changing, where people are bought and sold, and where death could reside in a glass of wine or in a snake-filled box. The complex, rich storyline, entwines real Romans with endearing fictional characters. Readers will recognize historical figures like Pliny and Ovid, who burst to life on the pages of this novel. Though perhaps not as well-known as some of the other characters, Marcus Gavius Apicius, an overly ambitious man who bankrupted his vast fortunes with his sumptuous cenas and expensive gifts, is credited with the first cookbook and a cooking school. Readers will see the rise and fall of this man who desired fame over everything. His single-minded ambition is contrasted with Thrasius, his fictional foil in many respects. Where Apicius wants his recipes in every Roman kitchen and his name spoken in jealous whispers, Thrasius seeks only to create good food and safe life for his love, Passia.

Fate plays a major role in the lives of the characters and poses important philosophical questions throughout the novel. From the opening pages, the importance Romans placed on omens, fortunes, and premonitions is evident. Apicius, a man who refuses to acknowledge the undesirable part of his sinister fortune, often with acts with dire consequences, begging the question is fate fixed, or do men create their own? In taking charge of his destiny, does he, in essence, destroy himself?

Even when he is told that he will have “as much sadness as there is success,” he continues to connive and conspire until he loses everything. He finally gains his coveted position but at the expense of a man’s life and a debt which will take everyone he loves.

In his blindness to everything but fame, he turns this prophecy into truth, bringing about the “greater failures [clustered] to the sides” of each success. Even the wholesome Thrasius isn’t immune to the question of fate versus free will when he curses Sejanus, a cruel, unscrupulous man. Though his curse takes twenty-five years to come to fruition, Thrasius wonders how much blood is on his hands when the culmination of the curse also results in the death of people Thrasius loves. Has he doomed himself by fiddling with fate? In taking fate into their own hands, both Apicius and Thrasius pay enormous costs.

Obscene wealth and devastating poverty. The height of fame and the desolation of obscurity. On the backs of many, one man builds his legacy while another prays for freedom. Feast of Sorrow creates a world where curses are feared, blessings hinge on blood sacrifice, and history becomes real.

Feast of Sorrow by Crystal King won 1st Place in the CIBA 2017 Chaucer Awards for Early Historical Fiction.

July 17, 2019
SAXXONS in WITHERSTON: Witherston Murder Mystery by Betty Jean Craige – Cozy Mystery, Women Sleuths, Multiculturalism/Family Drama

In 1968, Tyrone Lewis was murdered by KKK members for daring to love Allie Camhurst, a white preacher’s daughter. Tyrone and Allie had secretly been dating for months, and when Allie discovered she was pregnant, the two planned to elope when four men in white robes and hoods stabbed Tyrone and raped Allie. Fearing for her life, Allie escaped her hometown of Witherston, Georgia, and began a new life with a new identity.

Fifty years later, Witherston is again the scene of what appears to be a racially-motivated murder, but this time Crockett Wood, a member of a white supremacist group known as the Saxxons, has been shot to death. The killing comes hard on the heels of a controversial decision by the Witherston town council which recently voted to make Witherston a sanctuary city, taking in and aiding illegal aliens by refusing to cooperate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and drawing criticism both within and without. This small town becomes split along racial lines, and tensions boil over as the past and the present collide when Dr. Charlotte “Lottie” Byrd, a retired college professor, opens her own investigation into Tyrone’s case and finds its twisted connection to Wood’s recent murder.

The fictional town of Witherston, Georgia, is an American patchwork quilt of diversity, and racism plays a prominent role. From a native Cherokee village to same-sex couples who call the small town home, Witherston is a celebration of heterogeneity, a microcosm for modern America. Though the majority of citizens feel their community is advanced and forward-thinking, it becomes clear that prejudice is not dead when the Saxxons threaten the town – mirroring events occurring in America in recent times. As the threats become more vicious, the Witherstonians must decide whether to let the hate of some overwhelm the lives of all. A clear message emerges in the attitude of characters like Lottie, Beau Lodge, and the Arroyo twins. Despite the hate-spewing white supremacists, the townspeople band together and choose happiness and unity over fear and factions.

Lottie’s nephews, Jaime, and Jorge Arroyo, and their friend Beau Lodge are the true champions of the novel both literally and figuratively. As biracial millennials, these seventeen-year-olds represent all that is good in ignoring racial distinctions and, instead, celebrating those differences. The boys are smart and clever and most importantly, courageous in the face of prejudice. It is through that bravery that the culminating events occur.

Saxxons in Witherston is sure to find its audience among those who enjoy history, as the author has done her research, and fans of the Witherston Murder Mystery series.

June 20, 2019
WISSAHICKON SOULS: A Wissahickon Creek Story (Vol. 1) by PJ Devlin – U.S. Historical Fiction, African American Fiction, African American Romance

Claire Penniman, a free black born in the Germantown section of Philadelphia in the early 1800s, is only six years old when she’s indentured to Raymond and Anna Williams, white landowners who have known her family for years. Elizabeth and Moses, Claire’s parents, have already indentured their older son, Samuel, to the Williams in hopes that both children will learn reading, writing, and arithmetic as well as valuable life skills in exchange for working the land and tending the animals.

Wissahickon Farm quickly becomes part of Claire. She immediately befriends five-year-old Lawrence, the youngest Williams son. As Claire and Lawrence grow older, so does their bond. Anna agonizes over her son’s attachment to the black girl, and her relationship with Claire suffers. Near the end of her twelve-year indenture, Claire and Lawrence’s love leads to pregnancy. The teenagers marry and run away to Haiti, a newly independent country of liberated slaves, to live together in peace as man and wife. Over time, however, hardship and disaster chip away at their love, and Lawrence struggles to find his place in a country where he’s called, the blanc.

Set in the early 19th century when trains are new and steamboats rule, Wissahickon Souls spans thirty years in the life of Claire Penniman. She grows from an impetuous, daring little girl to a strong, independent woman. Claire’s journey, both physically and mentally, showcases the trials of African Americans in the 1800s. Though Claire’s family has a long history of living in freedom in a Northern city, they are far from free. Prejudice lurks around every bend in Germantown and Philadelphia, and the Penniman family keeps a dangerous secret – the family “business.”

For decades, the Penniman family has helped runaway slaves find safe havens by delivering hundreds of “packages” farther north, giving permanent refuge to some of the runaways they save. Through the fictional Penniman family, Devlin shows the commitment and courage of people who risked much in the cause of freedom.

An important motif of Wissahickon Souls revolves around sewing. Claire’s sewing skills become the tie that binds and the fix for broken things. She learns her craft from her mother and grandmother, just as she learns to help slaves to freedom from her father. Claire not only sews clothing to support her family, but she’s also adept at stitching together wounded flesh. Respect for her skill leads to repeated calls for help. Her excellent hand proves racial division can be transcended.

Lawrence and Claire’s love story is a tragedy reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. The innocence of their first love becomes victim to profoundly rooted racism, including the subtle but soul-sapping racism of Lawrence’s righteous mother. From vicious white men to a raging flash flood, Lawrence repeatedly saves Claire but is unable to stand beside her in public.

In childhood, Claire’s spirit and friendship blind Lawrence to their racial differences. Her pregnancy forces him to confess their love to his parents, who refuse to accept the relationship. After marrying and traveling to Haiti, the teenage couple faces unimaginable daily hardships – made worse by Haitians acceptance of Claire while mocking Lawrence as the blanc.

Lawrence’s increasing alienation drives him to drink and gamble, and he loses Claire’s respect. During ten years of exile, they and their two children struggle to find their place, and their love falters. The death of Lawrence’s father, Raymond, provides the impetus to return to Philadelphia and separate lives – Lawrence to Wissahickon Farm; Claire and the children to her family home.

Though this is Claire’s story, Lawrence’s mother, Anna, plays a crucial role. Despite her recognition of Claire’s intelligence and savvy, Anna’s world is ruled by the impregnable boundaries of cultural presumptions about the African race. The theme of Wissahickon Souls plays out fully through Anna’s soul searching and her ultimate decision.

Even in graphic scenes depicting racism’s horror, Devlin’s writing is beautiful and professional. The historical setting is authentic. Readers will walk alongside Claire on her sprawling journey as a freeborn black in the early 19th century when slavery was the rule of the land.

June 10, 2019
PERSUADING LUCY by Tammy Mannersly – Contemporary Romance, Australia, New Adult & Coming of Age Romance

Lucy Spencer has everything, a successful career in advertising, good friends, and a quiet life. For fourteen years, she’s pushed aside her feelings for a childhood friend, Callum Hawthorne, and become a strong, independent woman, burying her hurt over his betrayal and creating her own life free of the drama of Cal’s womanizing ways–that is until he saunters back into her life.

Callum Hawthorne only wants one thing, to reconnect with his former best friend, Lucy. Cal has done everything he can think of to worm his way back into his Lucy’s life even enlisting the help of one of their mutual friends, but he can’t get Lucy to agree to meet him. With no idea what he did to create the rift between them, Cal doesn’t know how to make amends, but he does know one thing for sure: His life will never be complete without Lucy.

When his father’s first acquisition, a failing resort on the Gold Coast, is threatened, Cal hires Insight Marketing to help him save the crippled business. Lucy has no idea who the new, ultra-rich client is until she sees Callum. With no choice but to do the job she was hired to do, Lucy must find a way to put aside her old hurt and work with Cal, who hopes his high school crush can evolve into a grown-up relationship.

Friendship is an endearing theme in this well-written, fast-paced novel. It exists in every form, long-time friends, new friends, the kind of friends who will help drown your sorrows in wine, and the kind who will literally and figuratively rescue you from yourself. Lucy’s friends often ride to her defense. From Madison’s refusal to divulge Lucy’s whereabouts to Mia and Steph showing up at her door, pizza and booze in hand. Lucy’s female friends make a strong nexus, but the entire premise is based upon the friendship of Lucy and Cal, a lasting friendship that holds both love and hate.

Cal is the typical hot, rich protagonist (yes this is a familiar trope), but his friendship with Lucy sets him apart from the norm. He realizes quickly that he must win her back through that friendship. In order to win her, he must set aside the fiery passion he feels every time they are together and re-establish their friendship. He vows to gain her friendship, then her love, a love for which he’s pined most of his life. In fact, his surface philandering began as his way to preserve their friendship, fearing that admitting his feelings in high school would push her away.

Lucy quickly realizes she can’t just give up on Cal’s friendship again. He was once her closest confidant and letting that go proved to be a huge mistake. Nearly every happy memory she has includes the delectable Cal, and her traitorous heart refuses to release him without trying to be what they once were (and maybe more). They both have to take a headlong plunge into something that could prove heart wrenching and disastrous, but isn’t that the duality of this crazy emotion called love? The ability to heal and kill all in one.

With only one month to save their childhood memories and to resurrect a dead friendship, Cal and Lucy will take the reader on a face-paced, romantic adventure.

Persuading Lucy won 1^st Place in the 2018 CIBA in the Chatelaine Awards for Contemporary Romance.

May 17, 2019
NOWEVER by Kristina Bak – YA. Coming of Age, Paranormal/Magic

When 17-year-old high school student, Stevie Wales, suddenly blossoms, she and her best friend, the ever-popular Winter, have some adjusting to do. Sometimes, however, adjusting to new information between friends isn’t possible.

In their case, Stevie winds up alienated from Winter and the group in her Puget Sound Island community. She decides to become what she believes they all see – the weird girl. As her oddity status rises, so does her anger. When she takes a job at an equine therapy ranch, tending the horses used in the program, she discovers her unusual ability to take away pain in both animals and humans.

As she begins to feel needed, she lets go of some of that anger, but then, an accident with one of the horses leaves Stevie seriously injured. Her life becomes a twisted version of an already blurry existence as she struggles to find “normal” again.

Stevie embarks on a journey to find her father, a man the world believes dead. She convinces her mother and therapist that she needs to go to Australia, the place where the wreckage of her father’s boat washed ashore. Her search takes her to a strange continent, and though this exploration becomes much, much more, she may find a truth she isn’t ready to accept.

Despite being set in a not-so-distant future, Stevie’s teenage world isn’t so different from now. Mean girls are still mean girls, and the smart, shy students often feel like they don’t belong. So many teenagers, both male and female, may find Stevie’s (partially self-imposed) alienation relatable. Her artistic talents and her empathy for others are endearing traits that help bring Stevie to a culminating awareness. Both of these carry Stevie full-circle to find her version of normal, her definition – not the world’s. Seeing Stevie evolve into a confident young woman through her efforts is nothing short of inspirational.

While Stevie can take away the pain of others, she struggles to keep her gift and the consequences of using it a secret. However, it is only when she stops trying to keep it under wraps, is she able to heal herself as well as those around her.

One of the most engaging parts of the novel is Stevie’s time in Australia. This exotic, culturally diverse continent becomes a character unto itself, drawing Stevie into the adventure of a lifetime while giving her the closure she desperately needs. Pulled into the mysterious murder of a boy she meets, Stevie encounters others who inspire and help her find her father. She learns true contentment by assisting the family of the dead boy all while searching for her own history. Ironically, amid death, she finds life as she navigates a land as wild as her emotions.

May 6, 2019
CRYPTIC SPACES Book Three: DARK EDGE RISING by Deen Ferrell – Young Adult, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Action/Adventure

Seventeen-year-old mathematical genius Willoughby has the weight of the world on his shoulders ─ literally. As part of a secret time travel organization known as Observations, Inc., Willoughby and his team, usually silent observers in their travels, are tasked with keeping the balance between control and chaos.

Yet after the murder of their friend and mentor H.S. a year ago, Willoughby and his team have sought answers to questions they don’t even know how to ask. Everyone on the team has suffered, and Willoughby can’t help but feel he could have done more to help H.S. and more to keep his team, namely his girlfriend and musical prodigy Sydney, safe.

Willoughby can “see” time code and take advantage of time junctions, he has a natural connection with time and can sometimes even track people throughout the time grid, a skill his nemesis, a man-like creature known as Beelzebub, takes credit for. Unfortunately for the Observations, Inc. crew, Beelzebub can also manipulate time but in a much more advanced way.

Hellbent on finding the Prime Hole Facility, a time hub created by Earth’s historians the otherworldly Atlanteans, Beelzebub wants to recreate history, restructure mankind’s past, and plunge the planet into chaos. He and his Dark Edge Brotherhood will stop at nothing, having already killed Willoughby’s boss and mentor since Willoughby is the key to unlocking a gateway of power, unleashing unlimited control over man. Before he can harness his full potential, he and his team will have to solve millennia old clues while searching for a lost ancient princess and steering clear of the Dark Edge, but very soon, both Willoughby and Sydney will learn the real cost of his power.

A prevailing idea within the novel is self-discovery. The characters often delve deep within themselves to find that hidden spark, that “push a little harder” mentality to solve the issues thrown at them by forces that want nothing more than to drown creativity, thus ridding the world of enlightenment and plunging it back into darkness. The characters have to stop fear’s subjugation and free themselves enough to look inside for the answers that are quietly waiting for daylight. Through that self-discovery comes growth but only when the characters stop looking to the world to define themselves (a lesson most people need). Only by genuinely finding the power within can Willoughby save humanity, but he can’t do that alone.

The bond between the characters is not only the key to survival in this high-stakes time game but is also a strength of the novel. Since Dark Edge Rising is the third in the Cryptic Spaces series, the Observations, Inc. team is firmly established; however, this pre-established bond will not keep the reader from enjoying the character interactions. Each team member has their own unique ability or place on the team in this something-for-everyone narrative. Despite their individualism, the characters’ friendship dominates. Repeatedly, the theme of unity saves the day and keeps the plot rolling steadily along. Each member brings something new to the story, and the alternating point of view keeps the story fresh and the reader engaged.

Cryptic Spaces, Book Three: Dark Edge Rising won First Place in the 2017 CIBAs in the Dante Rossetti Awards for Young Adult novels.

April 29, 2019
Magic of the Pentacle by Diane Wylie – Paranormal Romance, Fantasy Romance, Historical Romance

Richard Blackstone, aka The Mesmerist, is a successful magician working in San Francisco, but in the city of millions, he is truly alone because Richard has a secret. He is immortal. Centuries ago, as a medieval knight in King Edward’s service, Richard’s life changed when he met a traveling magician and stole an enchanted amulet that granted him immortality, magical abilities, and the power to sense others’ emotions. But magic comes with a price.

After an enemy kills his wife and sons, he sees how miserable his long existence will be and gradually becomes determined to never love again rather than feel the heartbreak of loss; but following on overnight stay in a psychiatric hospital for an incident in a bar, Richard meets a woman who challenges his long-held beliefs.

What began as a bargain to help a patient becomes so much more for Dr. Juliana Nelson. After agreeing to attend one of Richard’s magic shows, Juliana can’t keep her mind or her hands off the sexy magician who is as mysterious as his magic show, but when she learns his secret, she is uncertain whether she can believe the tale. If it is untrue, Richard should be committed, but if she allows herself to believe it, she should be committed. If he is immortal, Julianna will inevitably be forced to give him up, and she is left to wonder if love can conquer time.

One strength of the novel is the paradoxical irony of Richard and Juliana’s relationship. After spending five hundred lonely years, he has now found his love redemption with Juliana, but in order to fully immerse himself, he must let go of the family he watched die in the fifteenth century. If Richard ever wants to find happiness in his present life, he has to free himself from his past life, and Juliana may be the key to his freedom.

But can this new couple’s found love balance a future of pain and loss?

A mixture of romance, the paranormal, and historical fiction, this novel has something for everyone. Romance lovers get their literal knight in shining armor. History fans will get to experience a fifteenth-century battle in a video game style quest, and paranormal buffs will love the power of the amulet. All in all, a fine read.

March 22, 2019