The third book in Mercedes Lackey’s Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, Fortune’s Fool is an enjoyable if eclectic remix of a number of fairy tales. Lackey takes a wide assortment of elements drawn from Russian, eastern and northern European, Japanese, and Middle Eastern folk and fairy tales, and mixes them up, higgledy-piggledy… and it works surprisingly well.
I love this gentle romance, which explores how two people, through sheer politeness, respect, and upper-class British reticence, end up in a conventionally distant arranged marriage instead of the affectionate, loving union they both desire… and how they eventually find their way to the real marriage they long for (with a little outside help from an unexpected quarter.)
Mary Robinette Kowal makes good use of the historical “year without a summer” in the third book of her Glamourist Histories. As Britain remains locked in winter’s grip, Jane and her husband Vincent are in London to work on a glamour commission for Lord Stratton, an Irish peer. Hearing that her sister Melody is melancholic and realizing there are few marriageable men near home, the Vincents invite Melody to stay with them. Melody’s growing affection for Stratton’s son, Mr. O’Brien, is complicated by Jane’s suspicions of the young man, and by the public’s growing belief that coldmongers are responsible for the unseasonable weather. Meanwhile, Jane and Vincent must contend with his father’s relentless cruelty and ambition, as well as a shadowy plot that threatens O’Brien, the young coldmongers, Jane and Vincent’s very lives, and even the British government itself.
When a company of soldiers are quartered at a war widow’s farm, they bring with them a prisoner… and a threat to her safety. The prisoner is one of her land’s most fearsome enemies, so why does Roe find herself sympathizing with him? When a Dragon Comes Courting is a slow-burn, poignant dragon-shifter romance.
Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne Published by self-published on May 18, 2015 Genres: Contemporary Fantasy, Urban Fantasy Pages: 39 Format: Kindle or ebook Source: purchased Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible Add to Goodreads Also by this author: Hounded, Hexed, Hammered, Tricked, Trapped… June 5, 2024 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 3 ★★★★
A worthy prequel to Legends & Lattes! I absolutely loved getting to know young Viv and hearing about the early experiences that helped form the person she becomes in L&L.
Inheritance, the first book in Nora Roberts’s Lost Brides trilogy, provides the perfect blend of wish-fulfillment fantasy, friendship, romance, and deliciously spooky atmosphere.
Heartwarming cozy fantasy
What can I say about Legends & Lattes that hasn’t already been said? Baldree’s breakout, bestselling debut novel hits the sweet spot for me: low-stakes cozy fantasy, found family, believable (and likeable) main character, interesting secondary characters, and solid worldbuilding with a D&D feel. It’s a well-crafted novel with good pacing and just the right amount of description…enough to bring the scenes vividly to life without overwhelming the action or Viv’s emotional journey.
Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon Series: Kelvren’s Saga #1 Published by DAW Books on July 25, 2023 Genres: Fantasy Pages: 368 Format: Kindle or ebook Source: the publisher Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible Add to Goodreads Also by this author: The Serpent’s Shadow, Phoenix… October 4, 2023 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 1 ★★★★
Trapped by Kevin Hearne Narrator: Luke Daniels Series: Iron Druid Chronicles #5 Published by Random House Audio on November 27, 2012 Genres: Urban Fantasy Format: Audiobook Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible | Chirp Add to Goodreads Also in this series: Hounded, Hexed, Hammered, Tricked, Two Tales of… July 17, 2023 Lark_Bookwyrm Book Reviews 4 ★★★★½
