A.J. Maguire

Tag: book-reviews

  • Closing out 2025

    As I am writing this, it is December 27th. Outside my window, the world is smothered in snow, but I am warm inside with a brand new candle burning lavender scents into the room. The fact that I am able to write this post, with working internet, a computer that functions, and family puttering around outside my room, is a blessing that I refuse to ignore.

    I am so grateful to be here. To be alive, with stories to write, and a means to write them.

    It has been a whirlwind of a year. In the writing and publishing side of things, we saw the release of Nora and the Siren Song in April and, because it left off on a cliffhanger, I pushed myself to release the conclusion of Nora’s first storyline. Nora and the Vampire Court was released in November.

    There were a couple of hiccups between Siren Song and Vampire Court that has me convinced not to do that again. Suffice to say, I was pulling some serious late nights and it just wasn’t super healthy, for me or for the story, which I feel needed a little more time to incubate before I released it.

    I am likely to nit-pick between now and the first year anniversary, so that when I begin offering the full series package I will feel better about it.

    Also this year we saw the release of my FIRST EVER audiobook!

    Nora and the Werewolf Wedding can be found on Audible now, which I absolutely love. The narrator was a delight to work with and I am deeply pleased with it.

    There are more stories to be told inside Nora’s world-scape and I promise I am not done with it yet. That said, I need to take a step back and work on something else for a little while. In particular, I have a book I promised my son I would finish – Castle of Three Kings – and since he graduates this year, it feels appropriate to conclude this story about responsibility and humanity and what it means to have integrity.

    With any luck, this will be the book I put out for the year of 2026. I’m not sure exactly when and I refuse to put a date on it until I have at least the second draft completed and have edits to implement. (See? Vampire Court taught me a lot about my process and what I need as a creative to get from start to finish.)

    In June of 2025, I released Blood of the Witch Heir, which was a heavily revised and altered book that I had already published under the Double Dragon imprint. It was only after a long, hard debate that I chose to part ways with the publisher and I have not decided what to do with the others books that were under its imprint. When I know, I’ll be sure to post about it. For now, Blood of the Witch Heir is currently being made into an audiobook and I am excited for everyone to get a chance at listening to it. The narrator is fantastic!

    About that Reading Challenge…

    I set out to read 50 books in 2025, but I’m afraid I am going to miss that goal. As there are only 4 days left, I will go ahead and throw in the towel and say that, while I did not read 50, I did manage to read 42.

    43 is currently being read and I believe I can get it done in time, but just in case, I’ll let the official tally be 42.

    42 isn’t bad! I’m going to celebrate that number, rather than let it pester me.

    Instead of making a list of what I plan to do for next year, I’m going to close out 2025 with gratitude.

    I am alive, safe, and warm. There are books on my shelf that I cannot wait to read, and stories inside me that I have yet to tell.

    Stay safe, everyone. Happy writing and happy reading.

  • A Kick in the Pants

    Life has a way of kicking you in the pants.

    Or at least, it has a way of kicking ME in the pants, but I’m old enough to know this is the norm for a lot of people.

    I was hard at work, prepping marketing things for Blood of the Witch Heir’s release – which is in FOUR DAYS – and drafting up Nora’s final book when suddenly…

    My computer stopped working.

    As in, the thing would not power on.

    This was frustrating since the warranty ran out the month prior and I’m afraid extending warranties/insuring items like this has never been in the finances for me.

    Budgets be budgets, you know?

    Anyway, there I was, stuck with no computer for a couple of days. We did try to unearth an older laptop lingering in the house but the thing was from the days of antiquity, too slow to load anything and running an outdated operating system.

    What did I do with no computer for days on end?

    Well, I read a lot. (I rated them on Goodreads as I went because I will not be trying to type out an entire review on my tiny iPhone Mini.) This means I not only caught up to y 50 books in 2025 goal, I went a little over and am now a book ahead of schedule.

    I also received some happy packages! I got my author copies of Blood of the Witch Heir and new copies of the Nora books whose covers have been upgraded.

    Nora and the Siren Song still has to be updated, but we are in the works for that! As soon as I have them all in hand, I’ll do a happy little post to display them all because they are GORGEOUS and I love them to pieces.

    And finally, I enjoyed time with my husband and watched my animals be crazy. Which means I took a lot of pictures, which I am going to share here because why not?

    Brief note: the goats are not mine. We stumbled on them at the Old Sturbirdge Village and that boy goat went and posed for me on the rock. It was too cute not to include.

    Anyway, the OTHER thing I did was make a schedule with altered deadlines and now I probably should get back to it.

    Happy writing. Happy Reading.

  • Countdown to Siren Songs!

    As of today, we have 66 days before Nora and the Siren Song hits the virtual shelves.

    I am so very excited for everyone to get a chance to read the next step in Nora’s journey. The early reviews have been excellent. You can check them out on Goodreads if you don’t believe me. Or Bookbub, if you would rather.

    I know there are several other review sites out there, but Goodreads still tends to garner the most reviews and ratings for me.

    So what is this new adventure about?

    Well, it’s a romance.

    As in, the other books the romance tends to hide in the background, but in this next volume it takes center stage. I know this might annoy some people who prefer their romances in the light version, but Nora is growing and as such, she has reached a point of crisis where she must confront what she truly wants out of life.

    Which includes knowing what she wants out of a partner.

    I thoroughly enjoyed writing this book. It is a huge journey for Nora, not only because she must come to some decisions about who she is and what she wants, but because the world around her is getting far more dangerous.

    I can’t say much more than that without spoiling the book for you, so I will leave you with the current Book Blurb (subject to change between now and Publication Date.)

    Nora Grayson never meant to be a criminal.

    Raised by the very people who murdered her parents, Nora’s memory has been shrouded by spell-work and heavy drugs. Sensing that something terrible is in the works, Nora is desperate to uncover the truth of what her caretakers forced her to do, but there are other powers at play both Earthside and in Fairy. When the Vampire Court demands Nora be shackled from her power, she and Constable Elliot Cade must flee. Her only hope rests with the last known Great Wizard, Lady Helle, but reaching the wizard’s tower proves more difficult than either of them imagined.

    Boxed in on all sides, ancient rivalries rush to the surface, and the ocean powers Cade has been hiding from set out to prove that there is nothing more treacherous than the sea in a storm. With options and allies dwindling, and the wizard’s tower far out of reach, Nora faces an impossible choice: clear her own name or save the man she loves.

    Pre-Order Here!

  • Book Review – Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

    I’ve had my eye on this book for a while now, so I was pleased when I was able to pick it up. It took me approximately three days to read, which is about average for the work week. The prose was smooth and easy, the pacing quick, and I enjoyed most of the characters. I also enjoyed the feel of criminals thrown together toward a set goal, with a lot of mistrust going around.

    For the most part, I loved this novel. It felt like a breath of fresh air in the fantasy genre and kept me engaged throughout.

    Two things bothered me though, which is why I gave the book 4 out of 5 stars instead of a full 5 star review.

    First… Aeri felt out of place/time. Every other character on the page, when we were in their POV, felt like they lived in that world. Aeri, on the other hand, felt like she had been plucked out of a high school here in modern times. Every time it was in her POV, I felt disjointed and yanked out of the narrative.

    Second… the spymaster didn’t really get to earn the badassery discussed on the page. Sure, we get a moment where he runs through a warehouse murderfying bad guys (trying not to give spoilers here, I feel like that’s vague enough) but particularly when we reach the climax of the book, he doesn’t really get to do anything.

    I mean, he put the whole thing together and organized things (as spymasters do) but he was also proclaimed a demon with the blade (fun points for the flaming sword, by the way) and we just didn’t get a chance to see him put pedal to the metal when it mattered the most.

    At any rate, I enjoyed the book and look forward to its sequel.

    4 out of 5 Stars.

    Happy Reading!

    PURCHASE LINK – FIVE BROKEN BLADES

  • Welcome to 2025!

    It’s time for new challenges!

    2025 READING CHALLENGE

    Last year I managed to read 36 books in total. That’s not including DNF’s that I do not talk about because… My Mom taught me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you don’t say anything at all.

    Fairly, it takes a lot to get me to DNF a book.

    ANYWAY!

    I want to read 50 books this year. I don’t know that I’ll manage it, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

    2025 WRITING CHALLENGE

    Last year I managed to write, revise, and edit Nora and the Siren Song to its completion. I also managed to edit and publish Nora and the Autumn Duke.

    I am still tickled by the response I have gotten to Nora’s second book and I thank everyone who has taken the time to grab the book. You’ll be glad to know that the conclusion to her main story line is on its way. (More on that later.)

    In addition to that, I managed to review/revise the outlines for two additional books that you won’t get to see until 2026. For reasons.

    THIS YEAR…

    I will be publishing two books.

    Nora and the Siren Song will be out in April in all formats. (If you are interested in reviewing the book beforehand, I can send digital copies. Please just let me know if this interests you.)

    Nora and the Vampire Court, the conclusion to this major story arc for Nora Grayson, will be out in October 2025.

    Because my writing process requires downtime from a project, I will also be editing/revising other projects due out in 2026 in between the Nora books.

    VARIOUS 2025 GOALS

    I want to resume gardening work. Make more candles. And learn this new epoxy resin jewelry stuff I got for Christmas.

    That’s it.

    That’s my 2025.

    Bring it on!

  • Happy Holidays 2024 & The Yearly Wrap-Up

    We’ve made it to the end of 2024!

    It was a rough ride, but we’re here and we’re still kicking.

    What did I get done in 2024?

    Available Now!

    Well, first we had Nora and the Duke of Autumn come out for sale. It came out staggered, with the paperback in April and the digital rights in August, and I learned valuable lessons in this. Basically, you won’t see me do that again. There’s a weirdness in how the publishing dates work with the platform I use, but I’ve adapted and I know how to do it better in 2025.

    Second, I completed Nora and the Siren Song. It is scheduled for release in April 2025 (both paperback & digital) and is already generating reviews with advanced readers.

    Third, I began drafting Nora and the Vampire Court. This book is also scheduled for a 2025 release, but you won’t be seeing it until October. It has several drafts yet to go, and I am nervous as a cat in a tree about making sure all the little plotlines come together in the end.

    Fourth, I began edits for a re-release of previously titled Witch-Born. I still quite love this book, but its publisher sold to another publisher and long story short, I’m getting publishing rights back to it. This is also in the running for 2025 publishing release sometime over the summer. When I know more, you’ll know more.

    Fifth, The Last Child of Winter saw its final revision pass and has been on query for some time now. The querying trenches are brutal and frightening, with long stretches of nothing as you await word from various agents and sudden barrages of rejections that seem to come in rapid succession. I still have hope for this one, but if my next attempt at querying is unsuccessful, I may bring it back to the drafting table.

    All in all, not a bad year.

    I’m excited to say that insofar as orders go for my books, there have been over 500 more orders this year than what I managed to do last year. Which is exciting. Especially since my holiday sale of Nora’s current books won’t hit virtual shelves until the 9th, so that number is bound to go up before the end of the year.

    I am sincerely grateful to everyone who has picked up my books. Whether you liked them or not, I appreciate the time it took. I hope every Reader has a book fort made of their TBR piles, the cozy drink of their choice, and maybe a fuzzy pet to curl up with them as they read.

    Most of all, I hope everyone has a warm, safe holiday and I will see you all in January.

  • Book Review – Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

    This book took me a minute to get into, but I think that was my fault. I have been reading far too many Romantasy novels and needed a pallet cleanser. And I know some of you are going to gasp and be offended and say — There’s no such thing as too many Romantasy novels!

    To which I will say…

    There is if you are reading them one after another after another. Because the plotlines and characters really start to blend.

    SO.

    Yes, this book took me a minute.

    Because Diem (which, by the way, insofar as character names go is admittedly not my favorite, but I got over it) was so much like every other kick-butt female heroine from a Romantasy novel that my eyes were kind of glazing. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, we love tropes for a reason, so I put the book down and did something else for a while until I had enough distance from that trope that I could love it again.

    I enjoyed this book. While there were elements that were blaringly obvious and I wanted to reach into the pages and strangle the main character until she came around and paid better attention, there were other elements that I distinctly loved. The world and prejudices inside it were real. You could feel and understand the frustrations coming from the human element of society, even while you wanted desperately to see some sort of resolution that would not put innocent lives in danger.

    But most important.

    I loved that Diem made a mistake.

    Mild spoiler alert. Diem makes a choice that turns out to be a bad one. And it’s one that you know she is going to make. You see it coming. And you understand it. That in and of itself made me adore this book, but to top it off, the banter between Diem and the romantic interest is fun.

    I look forward to the next in the series.

    AMAZON LINK – Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

  • Release Shenanigans – Nora and the Duke of Autumn

    I try to alternate weeks between writing posts and book review posts buuuuuut….

    But this week the paperback edition of Nora and the Duke of Autumn was released and so I am going to steal today for shouting my excitement from the rooftops.

    Mood Board – Nora and the Duke of Autumn

    For those just joining us, Nora’s story sparked with a X (then Twitter) conversation about how I loved the concept of Lucifer having a therapist in the show of the same name. Another writer and I were chitchatting about how the characters in our novels all deserved some therapy after what we put them through, and I made the offhand comment about how a lot of the romance couples needed this too.

    Bam.

    Nora’s story was born.

    An empathic wizard living in Boston who provides counseling to the supernatural living amongst us? The possibilities were endless.

    Mood Board – Nora and the Werewolf Wedding

    In the first book, I had a lot of fun introducing the world(s) where Fairy and Earthside coexist and teasing at the deeper lore hidden behind Nora’s ignorance.

    I knew a couple of things walking in. First, I knew I wanted relationships to be highlighted. In Nora and the Werewolf Wedding, we saw several relationships throughout. We saw a bride and her mother, a bride and her groom, a son and his mother, and a grandson and his grandfather, all of which played significant roles in the story.

    In Nora and the Duke of Autumn, we see Nora struggling with her personal relationships, and we see a young son rebelling against his parents, as well as a broken mother and daughter relationship. I don’t want to spoil anything here, so I’m going to be purposefully vague. There are brothers and lovers and friendships throughout the book that Nora is able to influence in some way.

    The second thing I knew walking into this series was that I wanted magic to be hidden in plain sight of humanity. Don’t ask me why, but this story can only exist with the parallel between Earth and Fairy. In Nora and the Werewolf Wedding, we stuck real close to Earthside, but in Duke of Autumn we take that major plunge into the Fairy. Sixty percent of the novel is traipsing through my steampunk version of Fairy, and I had a blast writing it.

    Everything else about the books has grown over time and will likely continue to grow as I delve deeper into the series.

    Mood Board – Nora and the Siren Song

    SPEAKING OF WHICH…

    I am excited to announce that by the end of April, I will have a completed draft of Nora and the Siren Song. (Yes, that’s only a couple of days away. Yes, I am THAT close. Currently I am sitting on the final chapter and the epilogue.)

    So here is me, throwing confetti for the paperback release of Nora and the Duke of Autumn AND finishing the draft of Nora and the Siren Song.

    Come on, 2024, let’s see what else we can get done.

    PURCHASE LINK – Nora and the Duke of Autumn

    PURCHASE LINK – Nora and the Werewolf Wedding

  • Paperback Release! Nora and the Duke of Autumn

    Woo! Today is the day!

    You can get Nora and the Duke of Autumn in both Paperback and Hardback from Amazon. Here are the links!

    PAPERBACK LINK

    HARDBACK LINK

    A couple of things to note…

    #1 – This is only the physical copy release date. The KINDLE version is still up for preorder until its official release in August. Don’t ask me why, but Amazon would not let me schedule them at the same time. It seems weird to me, but hey, it is what it is. Just means those of you who like physical copies get to enjoy the book first.

    #2 – Major thanks to those on my ARC team who have left reviews/ratings. You are all super stars.

    Don’t know where to leave a review?

    I can help with that!

    Goodreads and Amazon are still both the best spots for this. Here’s the GOODREADS link for this book in particular. And here’s the spot Amazon.

    Don’t have time to leave a full review? No problem! You can just hit the stars and I promise that’s just as good. Even if you give it 1 star because you hated it (please always be honest) the ratings are there to help people see if it’s something they’d be interested in reading.

    FROM THE BACK COVER::

    We call ourselves the Bright.

    Most of us look like you.

    We live next door and shop in the same stores. We laugh and cry and work, just like you.

    There’s only one difference between us…Magic.

    When Nora Grayson grudgingly took a premarital counseling job for a pair of socialite werewolves she never expected to unearth secrets about her own family. Her life in upheaval, Nora tries to piece together the truth after her so-called caretakers have gone on the run, stealing not only answers, but every cent Nora had saved. To make matters worse, Derrick King has been called to London to handle the werewolf clans there, putting a significant pause on their budding relationship.

    Clinging to the hope of his return, Nora must rely on Constable Elliot Cade and the rest of his team as they continue to sort through the shattered pieces of Nora’s life. When evidence of murder is discovered in her Uncle Martin’s pawn shop, Nora and the team must reopen a decade old cold case in their hunt for answers. As the team narrows down their investigation, Nora must prepare for a trip to Fairy, where Bright politics prove to be as unforgiving as they are deadly.

    Nora and the Duke of Autumn Moodboard!

  • Ventures Into Fairy – Nora Grayson Edition

    When I set out to write Nora’s story I did not know what I was getting into. I had a vague premise – marital counselor for supernatural creatures – and a sort of Clue setting for Werewolf Wedding. I quite like the game Clue, and massive old houses with loads of history, and since my other books were feeling a bit too heavy, I wanted to have some fun with this one.

    It did not take long for me to realize I had a lot more here than Clue meets Fairy Creatures, but I fought the desire to dig further because I didn’t want to write a series. I wanted a standalone novel and I struggled mightily to force this narrative into submission.

    (Insert manic laughter here.)

    The fact is, I had too much fun with Nora and her world. I’m still having boat loads of fun, in fact, and I sincerely hope I continue in this vein.

    For those who haven’t read Nora and the Werewolf Wedding, the basic summary is that Fairy was created so that Bright folk (aka Fae creatures) could hide from humanity, who were hunting them for their magic. Bright creatures can access the way to Fairy through any body of water, and make frequent crossings between Fairy and Earthside.

    With Nora and the Duke of Autumn being released in paperback next month, it seemed prudent to mention that we dive heavily into Fairy in this book.

    Nora has not been to Fairy, for reasons you’ll have to explore in the books, and her brief forays into Fairy in Werewolf Wedding leave a whole wide world out there unexplored. Happily, this gets remedied with Duke of Autumn. Nora not only gets to see more of Fairy, she gets to meet — you guessed it — Fae nobility.

    Why did I choose Autumn for the setting?

    Uh… because it’s my favorite.

    I also revisited one of my favorite steampunk settings with a dirigible. However, fans of Witch-Born will notice this dirigible is a bit different, particularly with the amount of fairy creatures and the heavier focus on steam powered items on board.

    Among the more challenging aspects of writing Fairy has been the need to show a kind of mish-mash of cultures. Having Fairy lean on steampunk has been a fun physical means of differentiating between it and Earthside, however, and I look forward to continuing in this vein. It shows that humans have still left their fingerprints on Fairy, and while they have many traditions they call The Fairy Way, there are still some bits of technology that have been fused with magic to make their way of life a little easier.

    I could go into a deep dive in the books, but I have chosen not to. The books already edge toward the super high end of the word count spectrum and while it’s fun for me to know Nicola Tesla was a wizard in my world setting, it might bog down the pacing.

    But hey, the series has at least one more book for me to write. Maybe it’ll come to light in the narrative naturally.