Mistletoe and Magic is, as you can imagine, an anthology that mixes Christmas with paranormal elements. Whether each story is successful depends on how subtle the writer’s touch is, and how characters react when faced with the supernatural.
Lindsey McCullough is a paraplegic who works in a museum, cleaning and arranging priceless ancient artifacts. She comes across a copper jar from a “Treasures of Arabia” exhibit, which emits a jinni when she polishes it. At first she is skeptical, but he soon convinces her of his powers by vaporizing her telephone. Kasim offers…
Once Upon a Dream remains true to its title; each of the four stories presented here is woven around the concept of a dream, whether it’s an actual dream that may hold a clue to real love or just the feeling of being in a dream. It remains, however, the typical mixed-bag that I have…
NOTE: This book has been republished as Phantom Bride Of Midnight Born is an intimate, cozy paranormal, and I found it quite delightful. Solid characterization and well-integrated humor rest securely on the crumbling foundation of a haunted castle. In 1350, Serena Clerenbold and her brother are the only members of their family to survive the Black…
Julie Kenner tackles a modern-day, urbanized version of “The Little Mermaid” in The Cat’s Fancy. Maggie is a black cat with ambition. She loves her owner Nicholas Goodman so much that she’s willing to transform into a human to save him from the biggest mistake of his life: marrying Angela Palmer, the coldest Ice Queen…
This is an angel romance, complete with bumbling angel and cute child, yet it avoids being too sweet. After all, the plot involves a master criminal who operates from afar; a heroine who is running a corporation and searching for her missing husband; and a hero with amnesia who is afraid that he was once…
Bedazzled has an original idea and one cute scene. And that’s it. The rest of the book, from start to finish, is poorly written. Awkward phrasing, tissue-thin characterization, and an unbelievable plot make this a difficult read. For reasons she doesn’t understand, Ashley Douglas feels compelled to buy an unusual bowl in an antique shop….
Do you sometimes feel like you’re in a romance rut? Are you yearning for a story that steps away from that same old plot? Have I got a book for you! In Forbidden Garden, Tracy Fobes gives us the story of a young widow, Anne Sherwood, who works as a botanical illustrator for Kew Gardens…
Heir to the Shadows, the continuation of the Black Jewels trilogy that started with Daughter of the Blood, took me through a full range of emotions. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It surprised me. But, most importantly, it made me think, a factor missing in so many books. This book doesn’t just…
My Loving Familiar has an enticing blurb. It mentions a magical cat and a struggling, self-sufficient but wacky heroine that sucked me right in. What the blurb fails to mention, however, is that the hero is a bit of a dud and that the gist of the plot hinges on the heroine’s attempt to seduce…
End of content
End of content