A.J. Maguire

Tag: Reading

  • Book Review – A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

    This book had great atmosphere. I loved the gaslamp aspects of the setting and the villains were quite hateable very early on. I particularly enjoyed Kell, ostensibly the main character, and was drawn into his tale early on.

    What knocked this down to a four star instead of a five star book for me was the OTHER character in the novel – Lila. She just felt so very shallow that I was never really rooting for her. I understand that some of her past was likely deliberately left off the page, that the author may have been distant from all the things that make the girl who she is because she herself was distant from them and didn’t want to confront all that she had been through.

    However, I needed her to confront some of it. The constant yearning for another place and wanting to be more than she was and daydreaming about a pirate ship fell flat for me because she never really revealed anything of herself. Sure, she had some moments with Kell where things slipped out, but we were inside her POV and head enough that we – the Reader – deserved to know more.

    That said, I recognize this is a ME preference and problem. And perhaps the novel was showcasing a personality who deliberately lived “in the moment” because she chose not to dwell on the things that built her into the thieving, I’m-ok-with-killing-when-I-have-to personality that she is. I could kind of see that perspective on the page, but as a reader I felt I deserved a more blatant confrontation with herself and subsequent understanding afterward.

    What knocked this UP to a four was most assuredly Kell. He had all the questions and few of the answers and that drove me forward. I loved how much of an underdog he felt like, and the magic system in general. I loved the dynamic between Kell and his brother, though I have weird feelings about his so-called parents. I’m curious to see what happens next in their story.

    PURCHASE LINK

    Happy Reading, everyone!

  • 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

  • Book Review – One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

    I enjoyed this book a good deal. I won’t lie, it took me a minute to get into the novel because of the magic system built into it, but I feel like that’s more of a me problem than anything else. My brother was big into some of those trading card games as a teenager and I’m afraid that’s all I could imagine for the first little bit reading the book. Once I equated the magic system to a regular deck of cards, with mild callbacks to the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, I was able to get into the book more.

    The characters were well fleshed out and the narrative itself was smooth. I enjoyed the Nightmare and the conversations the main character had with him. Elm has to be my favorite character on the page, but who doesn’t love a reckless Prince thumbing his nose at the Crown?

    It’s not your typical fantasy romance. The main characters have secrets to keep that make sense within the society on the page, and the attitudes they present are understandable. It’s not like the character jumps in with a chip on their shoulder and a crude gesture to the rest of the world, which seems to be the popular route these days. The fact that they had relatable reasons for their distrust is what really held my attention.

    For those of you who love or hate spicy scenes, this book has just one really spicy moment. So if you like that sort of thing, it’s there, and if you don’t, it’s easily skimmed through.

    Four of five stars.

    Happy Reading!

    PURCHASE LINK – ONE DARK WINDOW by RACHEL GILLIG

  • 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.

  • Novel News – September 2024

    For those who may check my Amazon account you might have noticed that Witch-Born and Deviation are no longer available in Kindle. Long story short, something went down between the publisher and Amazon and they are no longer able to sell any of their books on Amazon’s site. There are paperback copies still available on the site, but insofar as I understand it, any purchases made from this point out are not going to be reflected in royalties.

    Leastwise, that’s what the publisher announced when they sent the email.

    I don’t know why. I don’t know what’s going on over there. To be frank, I had already contacted this publisher to request a termination of the contracts so that I could get the publishing rights back to all books under their label. They were very professional and agreed to the termination and we had set things up to be official in February 2025.

    In the meantime, I have been going through a brand new edit of Witch-Born that I intend to release in the Spring. This includes new cover art and, after much deliberation on my part, a whole new title.

    For funsies, it’s good to know that titles are not really under copywrite. I did not know this until recently, but there you have it.

    I digress.

    The current circumstances that the publisher finds themselves in with Amazon has pushed the timetable up for announcements and what have you. I hadn’t intended to announce the switch until January, with a publication release in May or June . Because this is a re-release, I felt it would not overshadow Nora and the Siren Song, which is still due to release in April.

    Now, it should be noted that Witch-Born is not the only title I have under this publisher. And really, the original publisher was Double Dragon Publishing but they sold to this newest publisher several years ago. I feel like that’s an important detail. I stuck with them because at the time I could not conceive of seeking out a new book cover, and there are some sticking points about material that has been edited by in-house editors at a publishing company.

    It’s a weird gray area, but suffice… the book would require both new edits AND a new cover because the publisher paid for both, and Past Aimee was too busy to do either.

    Present Aimee, on the other hand, has rolled up her sleeves and is getting the work done.

    The other two books under this publisher are Deviation and Dead Magic and yes, I have plans for these as well. I know more about the business now than I did back when they were first sold to Double Dragon, and I am a better writer today than I was yesterday, so you can safely assume I’m working on them.

    Bottom line… If you have a copy of any of these books, they are about to be Out of Print. Everything is OK. We’ve got a handle on it.

    Happy Reading!

  • Book Review – Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

    A while back I read the first book in this duology – Divine Rivals – and I loved it. The magic was subtle, the war was tense, and the romance was sweet. I had to wait a bit to get to this second book because it was not on Kindle Unlimited (which is honestly the only way I can afford to read so many books) but once I spotted it on there I snagged it up.

    It should come as no surprised that I loved the second book too. We pick up a little bit after the first book left off, so the war is still in full swing and the newspapers for which Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt both work are still covering that war. Everything that I loved in that first book was present in this one.

    I don’t do spoilers but I will say that, while I loved this book, I loved the first one more. But I think that’s normal. It’s always a lot more fun to be actively engaged in the mystery and wonder than it is to have mysteries revealed.

    That said, it was a satisfying conclusion to a story I deeply enjoyed. I highly recommend this duology for any of my Fantasy lovers out there. For parents who may be checking, these books are rated SAFE for younger readers. There are no explicit scenes that are going to cause an uncomfortable conversation at the dinner table.

    Happy Reading!

    Purchase Link for Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross

  • Book Review – House of Beating Wings by Olivia Wildenstein

    This book was deeply creative and I enjoyed it. The world building was fun and the quest Fallon took was equally enjoyable, even if I had to sit back and shake my head at her hubris.

    I am not going to count this a spoiler since it’s in the blurb for the novel that if Fallon frees the crows she’ll be made queen, but I am going to say… I wish the character took ten seconds to really contemplate what being a queen would mean. This is where my head shaking started and I was torn between really liking Fallon and kind of… loathing her.

    Granted, the character is described as being 22 years old and it’s been a minute since I was that age, so I tried very, very hard to remember how self-absorbed I was back then. Try as I might, however, I cannot say I ever in my wildest dreams wished to be a queen. A princess, maybe, with the pretty gowns and the knight in shining armor where we equally saved one another (that equally bit has always been big on my priorities) but never the actual queen.

    You know, where you RULED people.

    And they were forced to do your will because QUEEN.

    The sheer hubris it took for the character to not only picture herself as queen, but actively begin pursuing the crows to see this matter come about, really irked me. To the point I put the book down twice to rant at my husband and son, both of whom deserve medals for their patience with me. I could have forgiven Fallon for this hubris if she had battled with the idea more, or if she had leaned harder on the whole loving Prince Dante thing, making her elevation to queen status more of a sacrifice she was willing to make to be with him than a personal goal.

    I am sure there are people out there who are going to decry this opinion because “Why shouldn’t a woman have ambitions and want to be a queen?”

    To them I say… because becoming a queen forces other people to bow. And any time you put yourself in a position to have power over other people, you ought to take at least five minutes to check yourself, which Fallon never did.

    Again, if she had done this I would have forgiven her, but she never does, which leaves me in a weird love-hate relationship with the character.

    Ahem.

    I digress.

    Despite my love-hate relationship with Fallon, I enjoyed the book. She makes mistakes in her love life that I can relate to, and you can clearly see where the narrative is heading for the second book in that regard. The world building is interesting, the characters are complicated with equally complicated motivations, and you feel like there’s real history with them.

    4 out of 5 stars.

    BOOK PURCHASE LINK – House of Beating Wings

  • Limbo Week – May 2024

    For those just joining us, I finished a manuscript at the end of April and have since been in what I like to call Limbo.

    Limbo is where I get to consume all the fiction I possibly can.

    Books. Movies. Video games. If it has a story, I’ll consume it.

    That’s not to say I’m not reading books during other weeks of the year. This is just the week where I get to spoil myself rotten with it.

    Reading and experiencing stories is so very important for writers. I know there are some out there who claim they are too busy writing to read, and I have to admit this makes me cringe. Because if you’re not reading then you have no idea what is being said out in society. Sure, you might get the highlights from the news, but there’s a deeper conversation happening in society and the only way you can access it is by reading.

    This is why I have been focused on bouncing Book Reviews up here lately. It’s not just because I enjoyed a book, it’s because I’m joining that deeper conversation.

    Even if that deeper conversation happens to be Romantasy novels with Vikings and Fae creatures running about.

    As I head into this next week, Limbo is officially over and work is beginning for Nora and the Winter King. I’m still hopeful that this is the final full length novel for Nora’s storyline, and that I will be able to deliver both Siren Song and Winter King within a couple months of each other.

    This is because Siren Song ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

    My first ever cliffhanger, guys. I’m not sure if I’m excited or worried.

    Anyway, Limbo is closing out and I have some more reading to do.

    Happy Writing, everyone.

  • 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