Cassia Rose

This is another excellent collection of winter holiday stories from Dreamspinner Press - they range from historical to contemporary to science fiction and even fantasy/paranormal, and while the majority focuses on Christmas, there are a few with other holidays sprinkled in for good measure.

I particularly enjoyed:
- All I Want for Christmas... Is No Christmas by Colton Aalto
- Bite Night by Clare London
- How the Supervillain Stole Christmas by Charles Payseur
- Krampus Hates Christmas by Andi Van
- Mele Kalikimaka by B.G. Thomas
- The Orpheum Miracle by Pat Henshaw
- Popcorn Garlands by Ariel Tachna
- Teddy Bears by Brandon Witt

But I liked all of them and am already looking forward to the 2017 event!


NOTE: These books were provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.
… (meer)

When all you want is to be “normal” – with a standard job and no magical hijinks like any other mortal – but circumstances or karma or your destiny decide differently, you have a problem. Mícheál, or Micheal for those who are not aware of his ancient Irish roots, has done his best to stay away from his family’s obligations of peacekeeping between the magical and mortal realms, only to end up the Riftkeeper by default when an overzealous cousin has an unfortunate and quite deadly run-in with a dragon.

Micheal fights this responsibility with everything in him. He has a job as an accountant and all he desires is to fit in with what he considers to be normal. Micheal hates the idea of having to deal with pixies, fairies, and other magical beings. He doesn’t want to be the “diplomat” in charge of keeping the peace at the solstice, or to go to any parties and other social occasions when his “job” requires his presence. In fact, he is extremely grumpy about it, especially since the “key”, a tattoo-like sign on his right hand, has appeared and has caused tingling, itching, and even pain that won’t go away.

Ryan is Micheal’s next-door neighbor at work. He is cheerful, friendly, extremely social, and seems to have made it his mission in life to make Micheal feel better by spreading holiday cheer. Unfortunately all the decorations attract pixies like nobody’s business, and Micheal has his hands full trying to get rid of them. Ryan has his own secrets though, and when Micheal discovers what is really going on, he isn’t sure whether to be even grumpier or whether to breathe a sigh of relief. Being Micheal it is more of the former, and poor Ryan has his hands full trying to deal with the mess.

If you like magical beings and the mayhem they can cause in the mortal world, if a grumpy main character fighting his destiny is your thing, and if you’re looking for an entertaining read with some very funny moments, then you might like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.… (meer)