Weekend Reads: The Fey of Castle Garden (Upcoming Release) - Mary

 For this episode of Weekend Reads I am SO excited to get to share the upcoming release by Naomi P. Cohen, The Fey of Castle Garden!

Official Blurb:

New York City, 1859: On Samhain night, a mage pledged to the Wild Hunt is violently murdered. Tensions between the Hunt and Triona, Fey Queen of Central Park, heat up and threaten to boil over into a full-scale conflict. Sofia De Benedetti, mage and musician in Triona’s court, has her hands full making enough money to support herself and help women who are down on their luck in the rough corners of the city. Now a fey war looms and a mage killer is on the prowl. Everything Sofia has built since immigrating, and her life itself, is at risk. With the help of a cait sidhe and a tempestuous storm fey, Sofia must find the murderer before the streets of the city erupt into a magical battleground.

 

This book is utterly magical. It's a shorter read, one that feels like treating yourself to a tiny, beautifully artistic, and deliciously sweet fancy dessert from a five-star restaurant.

I'm a big fan of literary fiction, and while this book has a very clearly-defined plot unlike the literary genre, Cohen's vivid, luscious descriptions echo the enchanting tradition of L.M. Montgomery (my personal favorite).

This book also boasts a very unique setting, but one that meshes perfectly with the genre to make it highly unique. Cohen has done a fantastic and well thought-out job of interpreting and expanding urban fantasy and Irish mythology tropes into new realms. As I was beta reading it, I kept finding myself thinking "I want to live in this world!"

The Fey of Castle Garden is set to release on October 31st, 2021. If you like Irish mythology, urban fantasy in historical settings, gorgeous descriptions of magical creatures and realms, and Jane Austen-esque explorations of a society's inter-class dynamics, you will want to have this book in hand to begin reading this Halloween!

Top 3 Books Involving Out-of-Body Experiences (Laurie)

Since Halloween was only a few days ago, I thought I'd feature something a bit spooky in today's post :) I originally planned to write about books with ghosts, but it turns out I've read very few books that include actual ghosts (just not my type of story, I guess!). But I realized that I have read some fabulous books where characters have out-of-body experiences, which is a bit like temporarily becoming a ghost, right? That was my line of thinking, anyway :) So here are my Top 3!

3. Romanov by Nadine Brandes

This was such a powerful story! Gorgeously written and filled with historical details and complex characters who face impossible decisions but never lose hope. I can't say too much about the out-of-body experience in this book due to potential spoilers, but let's just say it's part of the story's cool, mysterious magic system. I haven't read much historical fantasy thus far, but now I definitely want to read more!

2. Ghostlight by Rabia Gale

Here's a book that actually does feature a ghost, and I LOVED it!! But the ghost is actually a spirit separated from a still-living body kind of situation, so it still works for this post :) The setting of Ghostlight is basically a fantasy-esque Regency England, which had me hooked right away. The main characters had some fantastic banter, and the ghostly aspects were sufficiently creepy to be a perfect Halloween read, but still manageable for someone like me who doesn't typically read scary stories.

1. The Dreamworld Duology by Kristina Mahr

I've gushed before about how much I adored these books (such as in our interview with the author, Kristina Mahr). The main character basically lives in two different worlds - part of the royal family by day, invisibly wandering the streets of a sinister city at night. Until she suddenly isn't invisible anymore... Intriguing, right? Her dual life causes plenty of problems, romantically and otherwise, and I could hardly put down these beautifully written books.

There's one more series I debated including on my list, because the books are amazing and it does include an out-of-body experience - the problem is, the fact that the character is having an out-of-body experience would be a MAJOR spoiler, so I will leave the series unnamed. Just know that there are other great examples out there, too :)

Do you have any favorite books involving an out-of-body experience? Are there any specific types of books you enjoy reading around this time of year?

Thanks for reading!

Laurie

In honor of Halloween... (Laurie)

I have a confession. Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays. I do enjoy candy, and dressing up can be fun, especially now that I get to pick out adorable costumes for my kids.

But I hate being scared. I can't stand horror movies or books, and I don't do well with haunted houses or any other situation where someone might lurk in the shadows waiting to take me by surprise.

I'm one of those people who's super jumpy. Someone once burst out laughing next to me in a movie theater because I jumped so obviously during a scary part. If my husband comes home earlier than usual and I'm listening to music or watching TV and don't hear him come in, he can give me a near heart attack. This weekend we went to a Halloween party, and when we got to the door someone opened it, yelling "Boo!" After seeing the look on my face, his next comment was, "Wow, you scare easy, don't you?"

Yes, yes I do.

In addition to being jumpy, my ability to think logically seems to fail me completely after dark. Seriously, it's pretty pathetic. I once woke my parents up at 3:00 a.m. because I was hearing strange noises. Turns out, it was the water softener.

I'm very fortunate that my husband has only traveled for work once in the six years of our marriage. While he was gone, I couldn't sleep unless I locked the door to our mud room, the door going downstairs, and our bedroom door. Do we live in a dangerous neighborhood? No. Did I have any reason to suspect someone would try to break into our house that particular night? Of course not. Could I convince myself out of these extra safety measures? No chance.

It gets even worse... I was a girl scout starting in grade school all the way through high school. Our troop went on these amazing camping trips that were basically big sleepovers. One of our traditions was our leaders would tell us scary stories as we sat around the campfire. They got really into it, a few times planning for someone to jump out and scare us at just the right time in their narrative. I don't remember the details of the stories, but the one that has stuck with me the most involved someone looking in the mirror at midnight and seeing something frightening instead of their reflection.

Many years have passed since these camping trips. I'm now an adult, with a law degree, a husband, and two kids. I don't even remember what the person saw in the mirror in that story from girl scouts, but do I avoid looking at my reflection whenever I get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night? Absolutely.

So there you have it. I'm a great, big scaredy-cat. But acceptance is an important step towards healing, right? And at least I can poke fun at myself for it :)


How about you? Do you enjoy horror books/movies or haunted houses? What are your favorite or least favorite aspects of Halloween?


Thanks for reading!
Laurie


Attribution:
Photos from pixabay.com