J. A. ArmitageRecensioni

My second read from author J.A. Armitage. I have to be honest, I don’t care much for re-written fairy tales and when I picked up Charm I thought “Another retread fairy tale”. I was wrong! This is a different take on the Cinderella theme and was so well-written I found I couldn’t put it down. Captivating characters set in modern time with social issues, terrorism & a surprise twist ending and this, the second book in the trilogy, the story continues seamlessly from Charm. I’ll have to read more from J.A. Armitage, including Charmed, the conclusion of the trilogy.

My third read from author J.A. Armitage. I have to be honest, I don’t care much for re-written fairy tales and when I picked up Charm I thought “Another retread fairy tale”. I was wrong! This is a different take on the Cinderella theme and was so well-written I found I couldn’t put it down. Captivating characters set in modern time with social issues, terrorism & a *spoiler* HEA ending. This, the concluding book in the trilogy, the story continues seamlessly from the first two books. I’ll be reading more from J.A. Armitage.

This is the start of an urban fantasy trilogy. Faerie has announced itself but getting into the fae lands isn't easy. That is why Jacqueline Cunningham decides that her best chance to find out what happened when her sister disappeared into faerie lands is to join the Faerie Trial - a reality TV show that pairs a human with one of the fae and sends them into the faerie land to perform feats. The winners will get fame, fortune, and their greatest wish granted.

Jacq has been working as a gofer in Hollywood but she really wants to be a stuntwoman. At first she's denied the opportunity to try out for the Faerie Trial but a daring rescue gives her a chance. She can do the physical stuff easily enough. But performing magic? Not so much.

She does manage to get into the trial by squeaking in. She's in last place. That means she is left with the one fae partner she didn't want. He's dark, brooding, and doesn't want her as a partner either. However, she and her partner will have to work together if they want to survive. Because the other teams would like to see them dead.

There are lots of quests, lots of handsome boys who may or may not be working in Jacq's best interests, and there is a hidden agenda that is just barely revealed in this episode.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding. I liked the characters especially Jacq and her partner. My only complaint is that there were lots of loose ends left at the end of this episode which makes reading the rest required to find out what happens.

I have been waiting for The Unicorn Quest, seeing that the series does not stand alone. Have to keep reading to know the ending, and there is more to come.

I love unicorns and dragons, so this is a perfect fit for me. I’m back with some familiar friends, humans, unicorns and dragon shifters, and a couple of pixies.

Freya and River have become more than friends. Their romance is a slow burn and I love that they take their time, getting to know each other.

I am curious about River’s mom. Is it good? Bad? Why does he not want Freya to meet her?

The gang is off on a new adventure when Jet, a unicorn shifter that holds a key, is kidnapped. They know the why, but who has taken him? And where?

They travel through mountains, cities, on a river in their quest to find their unicorn friend and protect the world from the evil that wants to bring it down.

Danger, betrayal and treachery come from known and unknown sources as they search for the pendants that can keep the world safe.

We do find time for love and romance and new friends.

They had one success and one failure on their mission and that leaves us with another story. Unicorns, dragons, witches, some familiar and some new supernatural beings, making me question, who is friend and who is foe?

I enjoyed the fact that I didn’t know all that would happen and the end was not known until I got there. The writing is great and the storyline is one I enjoy. I didn’t feel that, I can’t put it down feeling, an urgency to race through the pages. Is it because it wasn’t aimed at me, but teens and young adults? Is it because I have been devouring books and want that shock factor? Either way, I enjoyed the story and look forward to finding all the answers and saving the world.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of The Unicorn Quest by J A Culican

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This is a modern retelling of Cinderella.

Princess Charmaine is the second daughter of King Aaron of Silverwood, with no worries about ever being the heir and eventually the queen. At least, not until her elder sister, Grace, dies suddenly of an unsuspected heart defect. Quite abruptly, she's thrust into the plans made for her sister, which include a large ball in just a few weeks, at which she will meet one hundred eligible men.

And from those eligible men, she must select five to stay and "date" her, with the goal of selecting one to be her bridegroom, at the already-planned wedding which will take place in just six months. Some young women might welcome this as terribly romantic. Charmaine is horrified, even apart from her grief for her sister and the fact that she'd rather not be queen.

Her choices from the chosen eligibles include a local carpenter who works in his father's very successful furniture company, a Silverwood philanthropist, the second son of the royal house of a neighboring kingdom (chosen mostly because he's the kind of candidate her father would obviously approve), and the fourth is essentially a random pick. She's stuck on who to make her fifth choice, and her father jumps in and suggests the very handsome Xavier, who seems rather oddly lacking in any very detailed background.

Meanwhile, as the preparations for the ball went on, including teaching Charmaine how to eat soup without spilling it on a ball gown worth many thousands of dollars, she's met one of the kitchen staff, a young man named Cynder.

Cynder is one of the Magi, a despised minority of magic wielders. They're heavily discriminated against in Silverwood, and ordinary humans fear that if they got more rights and freedom, they'd seek to take over Silverwood and oppress those without magic. With about half the palace staff being Magi, and her own movements outside the palace grounds being tightly restricted as a technically minor daughter of the king, Charmaine has been largely unaware of this discrimination, and to the extent she is aware of it, it's just how things are.

Talking to Cynder is an eye-opener.

They also fall in love.

During the ball, a bomb explodes, and Cynder happens to be near the spot of the explosion, though not near enough to be killed. The Magi are instantly blamed, and Cynder flees for his life.

But while Cynder is hunted and Magi are banned from the palace and driven from the kingdom over the next several months, the rest of the plan goes on. One of the chosen men leaves, but Charmaine still has to date the other four, and choose one. Xavier, of course, is not the one who leaves.

Charmaine is intelligent, but she's also inexperienced, naive, and trusting of her father. When the time comes for the first elimination, she chooses to eliminate Xavier. She still knows almost nothing about him, and he's made little attempt to charm her beyond his stunning build.

She's shocked when her father overrules her choice, and insists she choose someone else to send home. They compromise on agreeing to send no one home this time. It's the first chink in her perfect trust in her father

Charmaine starts to really get to know her suitors, or at least three of them, and sees advantages in all of them. Xavier continues to apparently offer nothing but a gorgeous body and her father's inexplicable support.

What's going on here?

What's going on is an old scandal, and the reemergence of a temporarily submerged bigotry, and Charmaine, the daughter who never wanted to be queen, has to grow up in a hurry and tackle a bigger problem than she ever imagined.

I can't really call this a Ruritanian fantasy, because there are no hints of the real Europe anywhere. This does seem to be a modern world with modern technology all around. It starts out seeming simple and superficial, but gets much more interesting, as do Charmaine and her suitors, as the story progresses. I'm glad I read it.

Recommended if you enjoy modern fairy tale retellings.

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Thir13en Ghosts meets Cube in The Labyrinthians.

Okay, so let me just say that it’s been so long since I put this book in my queue that I started reading without knowing exactly what the whole thing was about. Honestly, with the beginning (and not knowing what I was reading), I first thought it was just horror. I mean, it had the introduction of one…

Horror Checklist
The Haunted House
- Poor family in need of money.
- Said poor family finds out they had a relative they never heard of.
- Said relative leaves them their mansion.
- Family is told that they aren't the only ones to have inherited said mansion, but the others mysteriously disappeared.

I mean, that definitely all points to a sliver of horror-esque type of writing, yes?

But then, 10% in, I realize I was wrong and honestly, I'm happy about it. Now it also has a hint of Indiana Jones and Uncharted (which, to me, is better). This is the first Adventure-type book I'm reading since coming back from the long hiatus. After reading more than half of the book, I came to a decision that... (click the logo for the full review)

humor, snarky, murder, vampire, law-enforcement, romance, england, family-dynamics, relationships
Read on October 23, 2016

What fun! Clueless Emma relocates to beautiful York to fill in for her sister who is co-owner of The Bite Cafe which has a great lunch crowd and is something else in the evening. Then comes the first murder, the detective, her mother's lunacy, a real threat to a group of friends, and so much more. The writing is great, the smilies are a hoot, the characters are so real, and it is snarky and twisty. What more could you want?!