Reader's Review: "An Unexpected Brew" by J. E. Mueller

Synopsis from Amazon:

A modern magical retelling of the classic Cinderella tale. After years of working at the family coffee shop under her step-mom's rule, Arnessa longs for something more. She dreams of leaving her small town to attend a bigger college where she can really learn her magic. As hope slowly seems to fade, a charming stranger offers to help her with her studies, and turns her fears into a reason to stand up for herself. 

>>>>>>>>

My Review:

What a cute story! I went in expecting a fun and sweet contemporary fairy tale adaptation. I’d read some of Mueller’s other fantasy works and enjoyed her sweet style. She definitely does family dynamics very well.

An Unexpected Brew is, of course, the tale of Cinderella. All the beats and references are there: Young woman under the care of an overbearing step-mother who doesn't really care about her at all, preferential treatment for the step-mom's own daughter, and a prom/ball situation that is the key event of the story. What I didn’t quite expect was the world-building. Arnessa is a smart and capable young woman, forced to put up with an overbearing step-mom and step-sister Diamond who constantly perceive Arnessa as an inconvenience and sometimes actually go out of their way to remind her of that on a daily basis. 

I loved the casual role of magic in this urban fantasy world. Arnessa uses spells to enchant the teas she brews at the cafe where she works (much like another urban fantasy heroine I enjoy very much!) and she’s taking magic classes to improve her skills at illusions. Along comes the handsome and talented Vincent, and suddenly Arnessa has someone besides her best friend Callie who makes her feel like she’s actually worth something in the world. But will it be enough, or will her step-mother’s bullying overwhelm her?

Of course, knowing the story of Cinderella as deeply as I do, the plot twists were about as deep as a Disney Channel movie. But, like a beloved, campy fantasy film, I felt entertained even though I could reasonably predict what would happen next. It’s a fast read, the scenes are simple, but they’re packed full of heart and you definitely want to keep reading all the way to the very end! 

An Unexpected Brew wins the whole *****5 STARS***** rating because it’s just so adorable I can overlook any pacing or plot flaws, and I’ll throw in an Upstream Writer certified WHOLLY RECOMMENDED endorsement because it’s a clean read and perfect for someone who just wants a quick, light fantasy retelling that hits all the right notes and doesn’t cut too deeply. (Definitely read Mueller’s other works for that kind of experience!)

Further Reading: (Also By The Author/Fairy Tale Retelling/Urban Fantasy)

A Tune Of Demons Series--J. E. Mueller
       -Fire's Song 
       -Spirit's Lullaby

Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -A Drop of Dream 
     -A Dash of Fiend 
     -A Splash of Truth 
     -A Promise Due 

Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tales--Pauline Creeden
       -Scales 
       -Submerged 
       -Salt 
       -Surfacing

-Dreamtime Dragons--Dreamtime Fantasy Authors 

-Severance--M. A. Smith

-The Wendy--Erin Michelle Sky

Wonderland Guardian Academy Series--Pauline Creeden
       -Red The Wolf Tracker 
       -Belle The Beast Tamer 

-Wolves And Daggers--Melanie Karsak 

-Beauty and Beastly--Melanie Karsak

-Selkie's Song--Kimberly A. Rogers

Reader's Review: "Selkie's Song" by Kimberly A. Rogers

Synopsis from Amazon:

A selkie’s song can enchant a man and tame the sea . . .

Naia’s unusual love for human things led her to become the sole artisan in her clan. But when this passion leads to her abduction, she loses more than contact with the sea when her pelt is taken. Unable to shift forms or return to the sea without it, she knows she will die if she cannot recover the pelt soon. Cut off from her family, Naia must appease the human king while persuading his lovesick son to honor past arrangements.

Malik has loved and lost before, an experience leading him to shy away from love. When Naia is stranded, however, he risks everything to find her. Together they uncover a plot that would sweep up humans and selkies alike in a war that would destroy the Five Kingdoms and possibly all of Sonera.

When the enemy acts, can they save sea and land . . . and each other?

>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

Kimberly Rogers is an author I've followed since the early days of this blog. I read her Therian Way series (currently being updated to get included into her Rogue Spotter Universe) and quickly got OBSESSED with the main pairing and absolutely devoured her storytelling voice. I find her books enthralling and her characters so charming and her plots are absolutely riveting.

Her magical take on the Little Mermaid is no exception!

Naia the middle daughter of three sisters, dismissed as a "runt" and "too human" in her looks. Since they are Selkies, not mermaids, there is a lot less stake in the transformation, in fact they really only wear their seal-pelts in cases of swimming long distances or quicker than they could be in their human forms. But even in their human forms, they must always keep their pelts nearby, because if anything happened to the pelt, it could be fatal.

Naia can use her apparent mundanity to her advantage, withdrawing from her younger sister's overt flirtatious behavior around good-looking Selkie males, and dreaming of one day being recognized for her skill in artistry, particularly jewelry-making and gardening. Then one day she is dancing on the shore with her sisters, and a pair of strange humans discover them almost at the same time as a sea serpent attacks the girls onshore. Her sisters end up being able to escape, but Naia is injured and before she can retrieve her pelt, one of the men takes it, and the man that carries her off the beach happens to be the crown prince. Naia and her pelt are separated, and the prince seems to know a thing or two about Selkie myths: namely that their voice is enchanting and he is smitten by her beauty, insisting that she stay in the castle until she can learn to requite his adoration!

My favorite part of this novel was that it wasn't wholly a Little Mermaid retelling, but there were enough subtle hints and references to it, in and around more Selkie-centered lore and some unique twists that expanded the tale and raised the stakes more than just "fall in love in three days or lose your human legs forever." Naia doesn't trade her voice away, but she is so pained at losing her pelt that she does spend a long while without speaking. Her father isn't the ruler of the Selkie kingdom, but he is certainly high-ranking in the community, such that the Great Selkie will visit the family, much to the delight of her overly-sociable sister. When Naia is taken away, he comes ashore to seek after her well-being, but neither is able to rectify the situation without knowing who has taken Naia's pelt and hidden away, why they took it, and where it might be.

I love all the imagery in this book, I felt Naia's longing every time she thought of swimming while she didn't have her pelt, and every wholesome moment between characters was delightful. I would definitely give Selkie's Song a full *****5 STAR***** rating, and add in the Upstream Writer Certified WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMENDED. This book is wonderful for those who enjoy clean, well-written fairy tale retellings with light romance and plenty of peril along the way--and great news, it's only the first in a whole series of these retellings called Love's Enchanted Tales, and I definitely will want to read more of them!

Further Reading: (Also By The Author/Clean Reads/Superb World-Building/Fairy Tale Retellings)

The Therian Way--Kimberly Rogers
       -Leopard's Heart 
       -Wolf's Path 
       -Tiger's Shadow

Rogue Spotter Universe--Kimberly Rogers

       -Threats By Numbers

Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tales--Pauline Creeden
       -Scales 
       -Submerged 
       -Salt 
       -Surfacing 

Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -A Drop of Dream 
     -A Dash of Fiend 
     -A Splash of Truth 
     -A Promise Due 

The Chronicles of Lorrek--Kelly Blanchard
        -Someday I'll Be Redeemed 
        -I Still Have A Soul 
        -I'm Still Alive 
        -Do You Trust Me? 
        -You Left Me No Choice 
        -They Must Be Stopped 
        -Find Me If You Can 
        -You're Not Alone 

The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
        -Foul is Fair 
        -Street Fair 
        -A Fair Fight 
        -All's Fair 

-The Wendy--Erin Michelle Sky 

The Bhinian Empire--Miriam Forster
     -City of A Thousand Dolls 
     -Empire of Shadows

Wonderland Guardian Academy Series--Pauline Creeden
       -Red The Wolf Tracker 
       -Belle The Beast Tamer

-Severance--M. A. Smith

-Beauty and Beastly--Melanie Karsak

-Wolves And Daggers--Melanie Karsak

Reader's Review: "Beauty and Beastly" by Melanie Karsak

Synopsis from Amazon:

When Isabelle Hawking and her father set out from London on a sea voyage, Isabelle is thrilled. Visiting foreign courts, learning from master tinkerers, and studying clockwork mechanisms is her dream. And it doesn't hurt that the trip also offers Isabelle an escape from her overbearing and unwanted suitor, Gerard LeBoeuf.
But Isabelle never arrives. Swept up in a tempest, her ship is lost.
Isabelle survives the storm only to be shipwrecked on a seemingly deserted island. The magical place, dotted with standing stones, faerie mounds, and a crumbling castle, hints of an ancient past. Isabelle may be an unwilling guest, but her arrival marks a new beginning for the beastly residents of this forgotten land.
>>>>>>>

My Review:

Melanie Karsak is an author I've been following for a while, ever since I read her steampunk take on "Red Riding Hood", Wolves and Daggers. It's an early one, but I enjoyed it very much.

As far as retellings go, this story was glorious! I've read plenty of "Beauty and The Beast" retellings, even recently participating in an anthology themed around "roses", leading to several stories (including my own submission) taking on the classic tale with our own spins. But when Karsak puts her signature steampunk/gaslamp twist on it, she really takes the story from "great" to "magnificent"!

Rather than inventing a horrendous beast-creature or dragon or what-have-you in an abandoned castle for her cursed character, Karsak has isolated him on an island where the animals and even the rose gardens around the castle are all enchanted clockwork! Rather than "Belle" being a dreamy girl who is constantly reading and very ostracized by her community, Karsak gives us a young woman of substance in Isabelle, an intelligent tinkerer, an inventor in her own right, and someone who makes plans and doesn't give up on accomplishing them.

The clockwork servants around the castle are fantastic, and the twists Karsak puts into the story are so fun and inventive. Plus, fans of the story will enjoy a highly-entertaining "Easter-egg hunt" with all the clever references Karsak adds to her own unique tale. (Including some bonus nods to Shakespeare's The Tempest! Don't think I didn't suss those out immediately!) I giggled, I gasped, I snorted, I sighed.... and most importantly, I couldn't stop reading!

Beauty and Beastly hits ALL the hallmarks of a great fairytale retelling: inventive characters, a compelling plot, quippy dialogue that doesn't feel forced or contrived or overly expositional, and a satisfying ending that will have every fairytale-loving reader squealing with happiness! To the surprise of absolutely no one, I give it the full *****5 STAR***** rating, and add in an Upstream Writer Certified WHOLLY RECOMMENDED endorsement! The romance is clean and sweet, the character development is on-point, and I'm definitely putting this one among my favorite retellings, and definitely the best version of "Beauty and The Beast" out there!

Further Reading: (Fairy Tales/Clean Reading/Retellings/Steampunk)

-The Girl and The Clockwork Cat--Nikki McCormack

The Alexander Legacy--Sophronia Belle Lyon
       -A Dodge, A Twist, and A Tobacconist 
       -The Pinocchio Factor

Punk Anthologies--Writerpunk Press Group
      -Sound & Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 1 
      -Once More Unto The Breach: Shakespeare Goes Punk, Vol. 2 
      -What We've Unlearned: Classic Literature Goes Punk

-Dreamtime Dragons--Dreamtime Fantasy Authors

-The Wendy--Erin Michelle Sky 

-Severance--M. A. Smith 

The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
        -Foul is Fair 
        -Street Fair 
        -A Fair Fight 
        -All's Fair 

Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tales--Pauline Creeden
       -Scales 
       -Submerged 
       -Salt 
       -Surfacing

Wonderland Guardian Academy Series--Pauline Creeden
       -Red The Wolf Tracker

       -Belle The Beast Tamer

-Mythical Doorways--Fellowship of Fantasy

20 Fun Facts About "Steal The Morrow" by Jenelle Leanne Schmidt

The city may be dangerous, but it holds his only hope…

Abandoned on a remote highway after bandits murder his parents, young Olifur finds safety with Fritjof. The gruff woodsman teaches him and other orphans to live off the land. When Fritjof falls ill, Olifur will risk everything to save his mentor—even travel to far-off Melar seeking a doctor.

However, the city of Melar is more perilous than Olifur imagined, and doctors aren't cheap. His quest leads him first to a hazardous job working on the elevated trains high above the city. But the dangers in the clouds are nothing compared to those on the ground. Olifur soon finds himself ensnared in a web of professional thieves, and he must think fast if he is to survive the day and bring the much-needed aid to Fritjof before it is too late.

Schmidt reweaves Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" into an exciting tale of integrity and perseverance in this gaslamp-fantasy adventure.

Book Link: mybook.to/stealthemorrow

Series Link: mybook.to/aclassicretold

1. I had never read Oliver Twist until I decided to retell it for this project. I was quite familiar with the story, having watched various movie versions and directed the play at the school I taught at, but this was my first time reading the actual novel.
   
   
2. My original goal when I sat down to write the story was mostly to save Nancy, as she is the only character in the book who comes close to being 3-dimensional, and she gets quite a raw deal from Dickens.
   
   
3. My dad actually wrote the outline for this book. I knew that I wanted to redeem some of the villains from the original plot and give them better roles, but even after reading the whole book, I was feeling at a loss for ideas. I chatted with my dad on the phone about it one evening, and several hours later he sent me a fairly complete outline, which I followed pretty closely for the rough draft… several things changed in the edits, though.
   
   
4. There are two Easter-egg characters mentioned in this book that readers of the Turrim Archive series will recognize.
   
   
5. When Olifur shows Nneka some tricks for keeping animals away from her plants, that is completely wishful thinking. I would really love to know Olifur’s secrets, as the wildlife in my neighborhood make it impossible for me to have a successful garden.
   
   
6. In the original rough draft, Fritjof dies rather than falling ill. This created a problem in the story, because Olifur absolutely refused to leave the forest and go to the city, where he needed to be for the second half of the book. My content editor recommended having Fritjof fall ill and need expensive medical care, and that solved the problem.
   
   
7. While I did change many things, there are definitely some places I tried to weave in staying true to Dickens’ original story. Olifur getting framed for picking a pocket he didn’t pick is there, as well as him getting abducted by the thieves and them wanting to use him to help them in their heist.
   
   
8. Another main goal I had in this story was to prevent Olifur himself from being a helpless little waif-child. I wanted him to represent a stronger, more self-sufficient sort of character.
   
   
9. From the get-go, I knew I wanted to redeem Fagin and Dodger. This was mostly due to the fact that the version of this story I grew up with was the musical, Oliver! and I fell in love with both of those characters there. The book versions are far more despicable and you sort of feel that they deserve the endings they get… but for the sake of the musical versions, I wanted to change their arcs. Fagin’s arc became a complete mirror image, in which he actually saves orphan boys and teaches them truly useful skills, as well as how to live honorably. Dodger’s story became more one of redemption.
   
   
10. Because Steal the Morrow is set in the city of Melar in the world of my Turrim Archive series, I had to give it a slightly Nordic flare. Observant readers will note the dirt (rather than cobblestone) roads, the wooden construction of the buildings and their tiled, rather than thatched roofs, and the various baked goods (pepperkakor, saffron buns, and apple tarts) scattered throughout the story.
    
    
11. Since I had already done most of the world-building for the Turrim Archive, setting the story in the country of Malei meant that I just had to include the malkyns and grymstalkers (two breeds of giant cats that people can ride).
    
    
12. I knew I had to get the, “Please, sir, can I have some more?” line into the book somehow (after all, what is Oliver Twist without it?) but I did not expect it to end up where it did.
    
    
13. I dedicated this book to my sister, because she is the sweetest person I know.
    
    
14. Fritjof’s malkyn is named Bet because there is a Bet in the original novel.
    
    
15. My kids are all in archery, so when I was trying to think of things Fritjof could teach Olifur, the idea of him making his own bow jumped into my head. I knew a lot of the basics about shooting a bow and arrow, but actually learning how to make one required rather a lot of research!
    
    
16. I named the nearby town Elbian because I love Stephen R. Lawhead’s “Song of Albion” series and this was my little way to nod to him.
    
    
17. I often have little jokes with myself inside my books. The conversation Olifur and Aric have about what life would be like with the train roads being built on the ground is one such place.
    
    
18. I really hope that my readers laugh when Dojhur tells Olifur that both his parents died before he was born.
    
    
19. Writing Bale Sowke was extremely difficult for me. I have a much easier time writing villains who want to rule the world, or villains who are just insane, but writing someone who is just truly, truly unkind was very tough.
    
    
20. My dad wrote the last line of this book. It is meant to be a kind of parallel to the end of the Creation account in Genesis, where God declares what He has made to be “good.”

Follow Jenelle online:

Website: www.jenelleschmidt.com

Newsletter: www.jenelleschmidt.com/subscribe

Blog: www.jenelleschmidt.com/blog

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JenelleLeanneSchmidt

Instagram: www.instagram.com/JenelleLSchmidt

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3636.Jenelle_Leanne_Schmidt

Amazon: author.to/JenelleLeanneSchmidt

Reader's Review: "Tree of Bone and Mist" by Melissa E. Beckwith

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Looking for clues to a past she cannot remember, Rhiannon stumbles into a dangerous new world. Can she survive the evil that hunts her long enough to fulfill her destiny? 

Suffering from vivid nightmares, Rhiannon Kossi is sure that she’s been lied to about her childhood. Seeking the answers to long forgotten questions, she is mysteriously taken from her quiet, simple life on a Montana cattle ranch and thrust into a new, violent world where she is forced to either fight or die. In her quest for answers to her past Rhiannon must accept hard truths that will forever change the course of her life… that is, if she can stay alive.

>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

Chalk this up to one of those I picked up during a giveaway event, it looked really cool and I started following the author... and then just kept postponing reading it again and again, until finally it comes time!

The very first scene is stellar, setting up the world, the antagonist and protagonist, in absolute heart-thumping intrigue. Then the scene switches to a young woman in a cabin on a farm with a pet wolf--in rural Montana?? From that point, I knew it was going to take me a while to warm up to this author's style. Just how easy is it to domesticate a wolf, and why a wolf, in particular? Why not just a wolfdog or something more credible? Main Character Rhiannon (love that name!) is set up as someone who just wants to find her dad and stay out of trouble, and this leads her to a portal that brings her into this alternate world--which makes for a fairly straightforward portal fantasy, right? Except that the author seemed a bit indecisive about the actual age of her main character.

When she's panicking about being in a strange world all of a sudden with everyone depending on her as some mysterious savior of some sort, or adamant about finding her father, it feels like she could be in her mid-teens. But then there are events that happen, situations she finds herself in that are in no way suitable for a mere teenager (including, but not limited to: unwanted sexual advances, going berserk and killing grown men on multiple occasions, and getting her clothes ripped off to display a birthmark on her chest) that make me think that she could be in her early twenties, which would make this more "Young Adult" or even "New Adult" and less "Middle-Grade" than I was expecting. I mean, I guess I should have been more aware of the fact that the series is called "The Sword of Rhiannon", but at the same time she is presented as someone very scared and remarkably tender-hearted, in no way a killer until she starts... you know... killing. The way, too, that Rhiannon is brought from "rejecting the call" to "accepting her fate" happens very fast and very near the end of the book, almost too late, as it were... She left a lot to be desired, as far as main characters go!

But I have to say, the fantasy world-building itself was everything I hoped for. I loved the rich lore, the different biomes, the varying vistas described over the course of the story. The antagonist, as mentioned above, is well-written as well, and if it were anybody else I just wish it could have been populated by more varied and interesting people! The epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter were a nice touch, as well. It lent an air of ancient mystique to the whole vibe of the book--although it didn't do much to help me understand what was going on any better.

Taking all of the above into consideration, I'd say Tree of Bone and Mist earns itself at best a ****4 STAR**** rating. Good world-building, the dialogue wasn't too forced or contrived (maybe repetitive sometimes when Rhiannon would still be trying to figure out what was going on...), the conflict and resolution did their jobs, and the plot did deliver on the premise.

All I know at this point is that this is definitely a book that is setting up the rest of the series. I can only hope that the downsides to this story are the result of "debut novel jitters" and perhaps as the series progresses, the writing improves as well--but at this point, I am honestly not as invested in the success of the protagonists as I'd like to be, and I could take or leave the series.

Further Reading: (Tough Heroines/Compelling Plots/Portal Fantasies)

The Vemreaux Trilogy--Mary E. Twomey
       -The Way 
       -The Truth 
       -The Lie 

The Untamed Series--Madeline Dyer
       -Untamed 
       -Fragmented 

The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
       -Gutshot (Novellette) 

       -The Alcatraz Coup (Novella) 
       -Vulnerable (Short Story) 
       -Jacq of Spades 
       -Queen of Diamonds 
       -Ace of Clubs 

-Ugly Girl (Faite Falling Series)--Mary E. Twomey

-The Seventh Crow--Sherry D. Ramsey

-Chasing Rabbits--Erin Bedford 

-Mythical Doorways--Fellowship of Fantasy 

-You're Not A Real Goth Until You Sack Rome--Jeffrey Cook & Katherine Perkins

The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
        -Foul is Fair 
        -Street Fair 
        -A Fair Fight 
        -All's Fair

The Firebird Fairy Tales--Amy Kuivalainen
       -The Cry of the Firebird 
       -Ashes of the Firebird 
       -Rise of the Firebird 

Lord of the Wyrde Woods--Nils Visser
     -Escape From Neverland 
     -Dance Into The Wyrd

The Portal Prophecies--C. A. King
     -A Keeper's Destiny 
     -A Halloween's Curse 
     -Frost Bitten

Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -A Drop of Dream 
     -A Dash of Fiend 
     -A Splash of Truth 
     -A Promise Due 

The Bhinian Empire--Miriam Forster
     -City of A Thousand Dolls 
     -Empire of Shadows 

Reader's Review: "What The Chat Dragged In" by Cyn Mackley

Synopsis from Amazon:

A romantic suspense story balanced on the point of a knife.

FBI Special Agent Martha Garrett spent her career protecting children from predators, but one night she saw something so awful that it broke her mind and her spirit.

Starting a new job and a new life, she’s found a kindred soul in Seth Christopher, a man who photographs flags, daisies, and food for a living and spends his time creating recipes for his food blog. Her tattooed, handsome soulmate is ready to whisk her away to a dream house in the Texas Hill Country, but unspeakable childhood abuse has left him with scars of his own and a dark side he warns Martha she never wants to see.

But the past refuses to leave them alone. When child predators that escaped justice start to die, cops think there's a vigilante at work settling her old scores. Now, Martha has hard questions to ask about herself and her newfound love.

With her name at the top of the suspect list, can Martha stop the killing before it destroys her second chance?

>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

Well, this one was different than I was expecting, for sure! I picked it up because Cyn Mackley is an excellent "cozy" author, I really enjoyed her Goode-Grace mystery series. I figured this one was going to be a bit like that, except from the perspective of a federal agent who specializes in sussing out pedophiles in chat rooms and whatever. I was all set for a gripping mystery, sudden plot twists, and high peril all the way.

What I got was more of an emotional journey than a physical thriller. What The Chat Dragged In kind of flips the usual emphasis of cozy mysteries. The crime itself and the investigation becomes almost a backdrop to the budding romance and the personal journeys of the two individual characters, Martha (the Fed) and Seth, a food blogger who seems to have his own past trauma that keeps coming back to haunt him. After a particularly harrowing case that results in a mental breakdown, Martha needs to find ways to relax and take it easy, and at the behest of a couple trusted friends, starts the process of healing and mending by pursuing a relationship with Seth.

I suppose it was partially due to the fact that I was expecting something like the relationship between Trinity Goode and Bobby Grace that I found Martha and Seth's relationship a little bit uninteresting, and at times uncomfortable. She may be "retired" in a way, but Martha still finds herself digging into different unsavory characters in between speaking engagements where she can share her skills and explain her processes to other law enforcement groups--and especially when she meets Seth, and learns about the abuse that happened in his past, things kind of converge in crazy ways. Simply based on the title, I thought for sure the cat named Chat would feature more prominently than it did. I kept waiting for a scene where Martha's conversation with a prospective criminal might dredge something up, or Chat would physically drag something in that would launch an investigation... but no dice.

But in spite of the disappointments, I will say that Mackley does not fail when it comes to the food references in her books, nor the sweet, sultry, slow-burn romance that builds between characters! Seth's occupation as a photographer and food blogger provides ample opportunity for him to cook up dish after dish of tantalizing food for Martha's enjoyment. Their bonding over that aspect in particular is very sweet and endearing, a sort of "oasis" in the midst of the chaos that is the rest of their lives. I do acknowledge that this feels like more of the main thrust of the story rather than any kind of mystery: Martha's and Seth's own journey through healing and recovery, and the way they support each other in it, and the threat of the way their own pitfalls could drag each other down if they're not careful. The criminals are suitably reprehensible, and the community surrounding both characters is unique and relatable, and provide their own breeds of "setbacks" as well as support that both Martha and Seth need at varying times.

On the whole, I'd rank What The Chat Dragged In with a fairly-decent ****4 STAR**** rating. There wasn't much in the way of an actual antagonist (more like the past abuse and psychological trauma is the villain in this piece!) and thus not a whole lot in the way of a linear plot with clear trajectory and a satisfactory resolution, but honestly, the food references were great, the characters are awesome, and I do think a story like this could speak volumes to readers who can relate to the trauma. Mackley does an excellent job crafting a sympathetic story that lets every reader find themselves in the story. Despite it not going the way I expected, this book goes to show that when the reader can relate to the experiences of the main character, the message comes through loud and clear, "You are seen. You are heard. You are not alone." And that's the best kind of cozy fiction of all.

Further Reading: (Also By The Author/Clean Romance/Thrilling Mysteries/Cunning Conspiracies)

The Goode-Grace Mysteries--Cyn Mackley
       -American Goth 
       -A Maze And Grace

The Painter Place Saga--Pamela Poole
       -Painter Place 
       -Hugo 

The LouisiAngel Series--C. L. Coffey
        -Angel in Training 
        -Angel Eclipsed 
        -Angel Tormented

The Time Tree Chronicles--Lisa Rae Morris
       -The Emergence

The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
       -Gutshot (Novellette)

       -The Alcatraz Coup (Novella) 
       -Vulnerable (Short Story) 
       -Jacq of Spades 
       -Queen of Diamonds 
       -Ace of Clubs

The Jill Andersen Series--J. D. Cunegan
       -Bounty 
       -Blood Ties 
       -Behind the Badge 
       -Behind The Mask 

Reader's Review: "Severance" by M. A. Smith

Synopsis from Amazon:

With the earth long diseased, humanity has evolved back into creatures of the water. Beneath the waves, the folk, fearing the corrupted land, remain within the boundaries of their world. One among them, though, is different. One of them is prepared to make a bargain. A life for a life. A severance for a blood debt. The truth for one deep breath.

>>>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

For as much as I enjoy a good mermaid tale, there have only been a few that have made it onto my radar for Reader's Reviews.

One such is of course this, Severance, an innocent-looking novella that I knew involved mermaids at some point--but that was all that I knew about it. I've been looking forward to it, curiosity duly piqued--what I didn't want was just another story of a mermaid who becomes curious about the surface world and ends up falling in love with someone from there, until the twist comes and she finds out that the love will never be requited.

This is not your typical mermaid tale.

First of all, Smith sets up her fantasy world with the epic grace and poise of a master world-builder. References are made of a nuclear/radiation/pollution cataclysm that drove some humans down below the water, where the radiation couldn't reach them, and there they adapted and became the creatures commonly known as merfolk. But Smith does all this in such a way that when you are reading it from the perspective of the narrator, the young mermaid who fills the role of main character, you are plunged into the depths of The Keep and you find your breathing patterns matching those of the merfolk. The descriptions of the ravaged surface world are so real, it makes your skin crawl. You start to smell that briny sea scent.

Second, I love the detail and immersion Smith pours into her writing, using terminology and metaphors that only someone who has lived underwater would use, right down to the scientific jargon that lends credibility to her fantastic theories. This is a technique I attempted to use when writing my own retelling of Little Mermaid, but Smith takes it to a whole new level that I absolutely loved! From the technique of using kelp butter to keep her scales smooth out of the water, to referring to crucifix necklaces as "souls", everything about this story was beautiful and fascinating! The distinctive characters she has designed are pretty awesome as well.

I was spellbound through the whole thing. Severance earns itself a full *****5 STAR***** rating, and I'll add to that the Upstream Writer Certified DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED endorsement. It rings true with Hans Christian Andersen's original, but told entirely from the perspective of the mermaid herself, rather than a "land-dweller" attempting to write how one might assume a mythical creature might feel. M. A. Smith is a talented author with incredible skill to her credit!

Further Reading: (Mermaids/Fantasy/Immersive World-Building)

Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tales--Pauline Creeden
       -Scales 
       -Submerged 
       -Salt 
       -Surfacing

The Valiant Series--Joanna White

       -Hunter 

-Cracks in The Tapestry--The Tapestry Group

-The Captives--Precarious Yates

The Red Dog Conspiracy--Patricia Loofbourrow
       -Gutshot (Novellette) 

       -The Alcatraz Coup (Novella) 
       -Vulnerable (Short Story) 
       -Jacq of Spades 
       -Queen of Diamonds 
       -Ace of Clubs

-Adaline--Denise Kawaii 

The Vemreaux Trilogy--Mary E. Twomey
       -The Way 
       -The Truth 
       -The Lie

The Bhinian Empire--Miriam Forster
     -City of A Thousand Dolls 
     -Empire of Shadows