Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) has hit a home run with this imaginative and dark-kissed retelling of the fairy tale Snow White. So much more imaginative and intriguing than most of the previous ones I have read. Thankfully, Hemlock and Silver, is a standalone book allowing readers (and listeners) to pick it up without having to previously read anything else. Although, you just might find yourself looking for more of Kingfisher’s works if you aren’t familiar with it. 

 

The tale focuses on Anja, a skilled poison expert with a secondary talent in healing. She’s far more interested in poisons and their antidotes, and not beyond drinking poisons to confirm her theories. She’s rather heavier and curvier than the usual protagonist, and her social skills leave a great deal of room for improvement. However, she is immediately likeable and her motivations are easily understood.

 

The King’s daughter, Snow, is ill and he is certain she is being poisoned by enemies of the crown. He arrives at Anja's workshop and fairly begs her to come and examine his daughter and hopefully heal her. Naturally, Anja feels rather duty bound to examine the girl and perhaps cure her, after being recommended by her father. She isn’t holding her breath, though.

 

She befriends her two guards – the king wants her kept safe – one of whom, Javier, catches both her eye and heart. She is soon caught up in the mystery surrounding the girl, and the guardsman follows along to do his job. Snow is ill, and Anja is fairly certain she is being poisoned, but there is just no obvious way it could be happening. 

 

There is something odd going on at the castle, something that involves the mirrors. Anja may have to change her stance on her beliefs in magic as the tale progresses, especially after discovering Grayling, the talking, narcissistic gray cat is discovered. Time is rapidly running out as Anja struggles to believe what is happening and cure the worsening Snow. Tension mounts, the mystery builds.

 

While it begins slowly as the world is built, the ground is laid and the characters introduced and brought to life, then this story simply flies along lickety-split towards its surprising ending. Kudos to Kingfisher for the mind-blowing imaginative use of magic and mirrors. I absolutely love idea of the ‘gelds’! They made so much sense and answered a question I’ve had for decades!  

 

Listening length was 11 hours and 50 minutes. The narration was done by Jennifer Pickens, who provided entertaining voices and just the right amount of necessary snark in her tone for both Anja and Grayling. 

My thanks to NetGalley, Tor and MacMillan Audio for the advance audio edition in exchange for an honest review.  

Lives Entwined in Kind - Tucked Away by Mel Parrish

                                

                                                                  

 I knew I was going to be introduced to a new fantasy author, but beyond the basic somewhat vague synopsis, I had no idea what I would be listening to. It turned out to be a very enjoyable - although SHORT listen.

‘Tucked Away’ is basically a prologue with a dash of prequel in my opinion. It’s setting us up for the real story which is soon to follow. In fact book 2, ‘Emerge’ is already out, and readily available.

‘Tucked Away’ is a rather delightful whimsical and emotionally rich YA fantasy tale, but with somewhat slower pacing than I am used to. Old secrets lay covered in dust and laden with curses just waiting to be discovered, much as the hidden family members do. There are Mer people, Trolls, magic, and as I’ve mentioned, curses.

A great deal is also left to the imagination, which is fine as I like to give mine the exercise. There is some great character and world building going on, however, so many of the characters have such similar names that it can get a trifle confusing now and again.. There’s also numerous backgrounds and places. I honestly found myself hitting the back button, or just dancing back a chapter or two to clarify things in my mind.

Abraxos, the Master of Asulon Mansion, is the central character around whom all the darkness and the whimsy dance. He began as a surly figure, rather reclusive and definitely not what one would call friendly. That all changes the night an old lady arrives on the doorstep with a wee bundle in her arms. Delivering it to the Master before getting a night’s sleep and returning from whence she came. 

Poor Abraxos’ life suddenly takes a drastic change, for what his servant and seemingly only friend would call for the better. It will most certainly never be the same again.

Mel Parrish’s writing is solid and creative, quite enjoyable for the most part. With Tom Fairfoot narrating, it’s a rather cozy fantasy that I look forward to completing with book 2! Thanks NetGalley for this delightful, although occasionally confusing listen!

#NetGalley

#Mel Parrish

#Tom Fairfoot

#Lives Entwined in Kind

#YA Fantasy

Dot Slash Magic by Liz Shipton

 

AI and magic…. Oh the possibilities….

Seven Jones is a coder who finds herself making a deal with her parents. She’s got no better prospects at the moment, so a flight home from half a world away and college sound a whole lot better.

Finding herself taking an AI class, and then accidentally joining a weird magic circle leads to a completely unexpected and new future. Coding magic into an AI app that she built allows her to use it as a conduit for her magic… or, is it her magic?? It’s hard to know and Seven finds herself in a little trouble with the Board. Is her magic, if it is hers safe, or is it black magic? Does it matter? 

Shit hits the proverbial fan as her friends begin to die.  Naturally Seven Jones is the first to fall under suspicion, her possible ‘bad magic’ to blame. The roller coaster ride begins, and it’s going way too fast for anyone to get off.

Liz Shipton is a tick tokker and previously unknown to me. I am SO grateful that I have found her. I found myself laughing out loud in public at the dry humour and the beautifully snarky protagonist. I would have enjoyed a fuller look at some of the side characters, but honestly, there just wasn’t room to do so. I can appreciate the fast pace of the plot as the story gets deeper

‘Dot Slash Magic’ had me laughing, crying, and even feeling like I’d been punched in the gut at one point… I am praying that there will be a sequel!!!! Seven Jones is far to amazing to just vanish after one tale. A really human character, with flaws and all!

If you like urban fantasy, tech, and magic… this is definitely the book for you!

Thanks NetGalley for the audio ARC, and Mary Pochatko for doing such a great job with the reading. 

#Dot Slash Magic

#Liz Shipton

#NetGalley

#Urban Fantasy

#Tantor Media

Framed in Death by JD Robb

Thankfully there’s an immediate “hook” or I would’ve had an extremely difficult time getting past the first chapter. It’s just my personal opinion, but I find Susan Ericksen’s narration rather off-putting. One character often sounds more Transylvanian than Irish… again, a very personal opinion. 

However, JD Robb is a solid writer and the tale is written and plotted with her masterful hand. Ensuring that the audio can still be enjoyed. For those of you who don’t know, JD Robb is the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. She is the author of over 240 novels, including the futuristic suspense ‘In Death’ series that began in 1999, of which ‘Framed in Death’ is #61 of. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

The year is 2061, the setting is Manhattan… 

The killer, a much needed part of any mystery/thriller is targeting LC’s or Licensed Companions. He seems to have the misguided belief that he is an unrecognized artistic genius. He has begun a very twisted portrait series of death imitating art, beginning with an extremely lurid copy of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” 

 

The demented killer’s series isn’t following just one artist, which makes things a little harder for the police on the case. The unlucky models are posed outside art galleries, creating ‘living’ dead copies of the paintings. Not too mention making a very strong, if mentally misguided, statement. 

Lt. Eve Dallas is doing her best with her partner Dt. Delia Peabody to stop this serial killer before it goes any further. Pulling her Irish Billionaire, Roarke, into helping them with his knowledge of art. Two murders in two days is far too fast!

This story rolls along full bore with a short pit stop at Dt. Delia Peabody’s new home that Roarke helped make a reality. It will keep you reading or listening right along to the end, whichever format you happened to choose. 

Thanks to St Martin’s Publishing Group, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for letting me review this ARC in return for an honest review.

#JD Robb

#Macmillan Audio

#Susan Ericksen

#Mystery

#St. Martin's Publishing Group

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst

 

The Enchanted Greenhouse literally be-spelled me. I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I had to set it down for mundane things, like work. Sarah weaves a wonderful fantasy tale and as she stated in an interview with fantasy-hive.co.uk —“Cozy fantasy is designed to be a refuge, an escape, and to say ‘Everything is going to be okay.’ I couldn’t leave Terlu not okay!”

Well, this refuge left me wishing I could actually enter the world in reality, not just in a beautifully written tale.

Terlu Perna, a lonely librarian in Alyssium was guilty of casting a simple spell to create a magically sentient spider plant. For her first and only crime she was turned to a statue, for what she had thought would be eternity. Apparently, not all is as it should have been…

Terlu awakens, cold and alone. Standing in the snow in a place she doesn’t recognize, with only a large and rather curious greenhouse in the area. Thankfully it isn’t locked and she enters only to run into a rather grumpy gardener, Yarrow Verdane. As she uncomfortably susses the details from Yarrow, she learns this is the Greenhouse of Belde, built by a sorcerer, and she is there to repair what is rapidly crumbling without the deceased wizard. Being a librarian and not a sorcerer, Terlu is rather confused and confuddled.  

What follows is a delightful and enchanting story involving magical greenhouses all linked together, providing different climates,environments and species. Terlu stumbles upon a sentient resurrection rose whose name is Lotti, and who was once a companion to the sorcerer. They’re joined by delightful characters including, Dendy the sentient philodendron, and a beautiful sea turtle in the ocean greenhouse. 

Immerse yourself in this not to be missed cozy fantasy, you won’t regret it, at all. I went with the Audio version, read by Caitlin Davies. A huge thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this piece of magic. Best novel by far in a very long time!

Spellshop #2

Macmillan Audio

Bramble 2025

SarahBethdurst.com

Coming up Spellshop #3 Sea of Charms (2026)

#sarahbethdurst

#cozyfantasy

#audiobook

#Spellshopseries

Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree

This is a great rollicking tome of fiction … swords, fantasy, and all wrapped up in a rather cozy and even amusing tale! Baldree has done it again! Sadly, I missed Bookshops and Bonedust, but will make a point of hunting it down now.

Fern, the endearing rattkin bookseller (with a mouth to make a sailor blush), is accidentally swept up in an adventure after an extremely drunken night. She finds herself travelling with a legendary Elven warrior and her sentient sword, Nigel. Zil, is the Elf’s goblin prisoner, whose native tongue is most definitely unintelligible. Zil has a coat of bottomless pockets, within which is a sentient breadknife, and numerous other fascinating items.

Adventure abounds as the trio journey along, and as tends to happen when strangers spend time together, a friendship begins to build. 

This is a wonderful cozy tale for those who love sword and sorcery genre of adventure and don’t mind Fern and Zil’s expletives (which can be quite hilarious). 

I quite enjoyed the audiobook, read by the author himself, and managed to scare a couple of innocent shoppers at a store when I burst into laughter for no apparent reason. If they only knew… 

Do yourself a favour and INDULGE!

#Netgalley

#Brigands and Breadknives

#Travis Baldree

Volume #2 Legends and Lattes series

PanMacmillan

One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole

OMG!!!! What a continuous mind twist! The plot slid about like a living thing, every time you thought you had a grasp, it slithered away again! Not only was I able to learn something about DID (dissociative identity disorder), but I was also introduced to one extremely kickass author - Alyssa Cole - whose other works I shall be searching for.

Kenetria Nash was hoping for a career as a historical preservationist. That is until a breakdown and a simple diagnosis shattered her life and dreams. Ken suffers from DID, Disassociative Identity Disorder. A rather fascinating disorder that had me falling into the black hole of the internet for hours as I learned about it. As it is with most disorders, life went on, although Ken vanished into the inner realms of her mind and let one of the ‘alters’ front for her. That is, a different identity led life for everyone within. 

When Ken suddenly finds herself back ‘in front’ after a six year ‘hiatus’, she is about to embark on what sounds like a wonderful adventure. Perhaps a second chance to make her dreams come true, which one of the alters had found a way to set up. A job as the caretaker of the historic home on the isolated Kavanaugh island in the Hudson River. Determined not to ruin what could be the opportunity of a lifetime, Ken speaks very little and listens much. 

She should have listened to her gut when it didn’t want to board the little boat taking her to the island. After all it did sound far too good to be true. With the help of the groundskeeper, Celeste, Ken is able to survive the first night. A night which apparently kills people. There’s numerous tales of goblins, ghosts and witches and death. Enough to arouse Ken’s interest and make her wonder just what she is stepping into.

A nor’easter blows in just as the home’s conservation trust comes to visit the island. Ken finds herself well and truly trapped on the supposedly haunted little island with a group of people who may well be dangerous, the leaders of which are faces from her past. The only person who could possibly be on her side is Celeste. Twisted tales of historical events blended with bloodlines and equally twisted minds set Ken and her alters on edge. They must actually find a way to come together and save themselves from the deadly ending that is closing in on them, both in the inner world and the outer world. 

I would love to say that I just couldn't put this novel down, but exhaustion from work and life had me reading in fits and spurts. However, IF l'd had a choice, it would have been a binge/marathon read!

This is a dark thriller and a mystery, with a very light sprinkle of romance. A tale whose very existence will haunt the darker corners of your imagination!

Alyssa Cole

William Morrow 2024

Harper Collins Publishing