Category: Historical Paranormal/Fantasy

A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons by J. Penner

On By TracyIn Book Publicity, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons (Adenashire, #2)A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons by J. Penner

Tracy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Adenashire, #2

Release Date: June 3, 2025

After competing in the Langheim Baking Battle and befriending the other contestants, dwarf Doli Butterbuckle decides to settle in Adenashire. She finds work at the “It’s About Tome” bookshop and shares the apartment above the shop with fellow contestant named Jez, a fennex. She settles into her new life, but something is missing. Doli left home hoping to find her place, she loves her family, but she doesn’t share their mining magic, her magic is conjuring tea and putting people at ease – things her family just don’t understand. When she receives a box from her parents, she discovers that it is an inheritance from her uncle. The box contains a necklace, a vase and a dragon egg, but it isn’t until after she opens it that Jez recalls a letter that was with the box – a letter from her parents informing her they will be arriving the next day to open the box – oops! Things just go from bad to worse, she is immediately stressed about her parents visit and to make matters worse – the egg is hatching!!

But not everything is bad, because just before her life got turned upside down, she met Saron, a gargoyle and was instantly captivated. And as luck would have it, Saron seems to know quite a bit about dragons and offers to help her. Help she is grateful for once her dragon hatches. The pink baby dragon is adorable and informs Doli that her name is Evvy and that she has chosen Doli to be her guardian. Let the adventure begin!!

This was a cute, well-written, coming of age story with wonderful characters and lots of magic. It was easy to get sucked into this book and the author did an amazing job with building the world of Adenashire. Doli was definitely the star of the show, and her story is filled with friendship, insecurity, magic, a low-key romance, personal relationships, lots of diversity, finding oneself and lots of love. I was hoping for a romantasy, but this story has a definite YA feel, however, it was a fun read, and I am looking forward to reading the first book in the series while waiting for the next installment.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Bargains with Benefits by Jillian Witt

On By TracyIn First Person Narrative, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

Bargains with Benefits (Fae by the Bay #1)Bargains with Benefits by Jillian Witt

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Fae by the Bay, #1

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Half-fae Luna Pierce is living her dream of running the Cliff House Inn, an inn that is owned by her estranged Fae father. But when her father threatens to sell the inn, Luna convinces him to give her time to prove that the inn can be profitable, too bad she doesn’t possess fae magic herself, oh and the fact that she threw a drink in the face of Vincent Andiveron, the recommendations columnist for the Bayside.

But lucky for them, all is not lost, since Vincent also has a dream, and it isn’t writing the recommendation column, he wants to write investigative pieces and has the best idea for a story but lacks a source. That is until he meets Luna, and they strike a bargain – he will help her make her inn the “must-visit” destination and she will help him crack his story about her father. What could go wrong??

I will be blunt – this could have been a great story, but I had issues – first and foremost it is written in First Person Narrative and if that wasn’t bad enough – it is a dual POV FPN – I seriously dislike FPN, but I hate dual POV FPN – I just can’t. Secondly, it was kind of predictable and a bit cliché, and finally the romance was blah (and clearly my idea of “spicy” is not the same as the author’s). The story does have some bright points; I did like both Luna and Vincent and I thought the family issues were handled well. But for me this story was a miss, it felt more like a YA fantasy than an adult cozy fantasy, and I didn’t read the previous series, but I don’t think that would have made difference.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *