Touched by Magic(Razor’s Edge Chronicles, #1) by Celine Jeanjean – Review

Tags

5 stars, Adventure, Book Review, Celine Jeanjean, dogs, fantasy, magic, series, talking cats, urban fantasy

About Touched by Magic by Celine Jeanjean

I’m Apiva.  No, I’m not a badass magical asassin.  I’m a barber to the supernatural.  My magic is very weak and very niche — it works best with keeping things clean.  I know.  I can sense your awe at my power already.  And I’m sure you can see why barbering suits me well.

Although now that I’ve mastered the art of trimming a weretiger’s regrowth, my biggest challenge is fielding the insults of the shop’s cat. Sometimes I wish I had enough magic to go deeper into the city’s magical underbelly.  You know what they say—be careful what you wish for.

Everything changes when a pair of forest fae come into the shop one night, asking for help to protect their youngling. Something’s got them properly spooked, but they won’t say what. If it’s big and bad enough to scare the fae, it’s most definitely powerful enough to make a mouthful of me—probably a small mouthful, at that. And now that the fae have come to me, whatever’s after them is also after me.

My weak magic and a sarcastic cat for backup are unlikely to be enough to keep me alive and save the fae youngling.  There is someone who’s willing to help me—Sarroch. Arrogant, unpleasant, wealthy, and I don’t even know what kind of magical creature he is beneath his human form. Or what his motives are in offering to help.  I have no idea if I can trust him, but I’m so short on allies, I might not have a choice. I just hope I’m not making a huge mistake…

Grab Touched by Magic to see if I make it. Oh, and don’t get offended if the cat insults you…

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Review of Touched by Magic

I was very excited to get this first book in a new series by Celine Jeanjean.  I loved her Viper and Urchin series, so I have high expectations for this new one.  Book 1 did not disappoint!

The author has created a lovely detailed vision of Panong, the city where Apiya lives and barbers. The east Asian influence is evident in many ways: food, dress, transportation and, most importantly, in the folklore – the magical creatures, also known as the Mayak.  Many of the terms were not not familiar to me, prompting me to do a little research.  But the story gives plenty of definition and context so you will not need to do that research.  The Mayak is comprised of many different magical beings, each with their own agenda.  Those Mayak agendas will play into the story not only in this first book, but in the ongoing story.

Apiya is, as the title says, touched by magic.  That means she is not very magical but seems to be very lucky around things that are familiar to her.  Which explains why Hunter, the dog she loves, mostly sheds outside.  All this animal lover can say is Wow! What a great idea.  As a touched human, Apiya is also aware of all the other more powerful magical beings.  And while most of the Mayak believe Apiya to be beneath notice, a few do notice her.  Which is how she gets into a sticky situation.

Along for the adventure are Mr. Sangong, her magical mentor, her touched friend Chai, and businessman/Mayak Sarroch.  I found Mr. Sangong to be mysterious and not yet worthy of my loyalty because I’m not sure of his loyalty.  Chai is an artist with a talent for shaping any type of metal into whatever he wants.  And he is a great friend to Apiya, so, good guy.  Sarroch is the big question.  Is he good?  Is he evil? Will he help Apiya or eat her?  He is, I must admit, interesting.

I enjoyed Apiya’s relationship with her with parents.  They live in London, so she talks to them by phone.  Dad is a geeky scholar who barely knows how to use a phone and Mom is the calming voice of reason in the family.  Their family sense of humor is delightful!  Humor also comes in the form of a cat.  Timothy is a magical cockney cat, who doesn’t take orders from ‘inferiors’ (humans).  As Apiya says: ‘But that’s cats for you — tiny animals with enough arrogance to think they rule the world.”

The book ends on what I consider to be a cliffhanger.  That is, a major part of the storyline concluded and then the story continued, without the word ‘epilogue’ in between.  So I was a truly disappointed when it ended somewhat abruptly.  Touched by Magic is just 195 pages long and it was over too fast.  The next book is out next month though, so the wait is not long.  I am looking forward to more of Apiya’s adventures!

Thanks to the author who provided a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.

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Catalyst: Cat Ship (Obsidian Rim, #8) by Jody Wallace – Review

Tags

5 stars, Book Review, cats, dancing, humor, Jody Wallace, pets, romance, scifi romance, series, talking cats, trash

Furry Friends Week continues with another review of a book featuring a Furry Friend.  Jody Wallace is obviously a cat lover so Catalyst will appeal to all you cat lovers out there.

About Catalyst: Cat Ship by Jody Wallace

Dance teacher Wil Tango, adopted by a cat who needs to make use of his opposable thumbs, knows all too well the primary rule of their arrangement: never reveal the cat is a genius. Their clever scheme to win all the jackpots on Gizem Station works until a bigwig gets suspicious, and he finds himself stuffed in a stasis box and shipped to Garbage Planet. At least he’s got the cat for company.

Sulari Abfall, scrapyard picker extraordinaire, thinks she’s scored when she earns access to the latest offload from Gizem Station. Their trash is her treasure, and the profits from her recycling program should provide more than enough to upgrade her clunky garbage scow into a clunky tow ship, a huge step up in trash hierarchy. When she’s drawn to a hazardous waste container, she finds more than she ever bargained for. A naked man. And a sentient cat.

But unsealing the stasis pod sends an interspace signal back to Gizem Station—and the vengeful VIP who thought Wil was dead. It will take all the wits of a lovely garbage scow captain, a down on his luck dance instructor, and a brave orange feline to defeat a gang intent on mayhem, murder, and a galactic catnapping that could change the course of the future for the entire Obsidian Rim.

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Review of Catalyst

When I first saw this book, I knew I had to read it. A cat. Scifi. Romance. Jody Wallace. One click.

Sulari Abfall is a one-legged junk picker (with a bionic leg) and a business owner who turns junk into all sorts of containers in her box factory. Everybody needs containers, so Su has created a very successful niche market. To start the story, Su picks a container that happens to have cryosleeping man in it. As soon as she opens the box, a naked Will Tango tumbles out of the box and a talking cat name Pumpkin appears. And so, the adventure begins. The fateful meeting of Will and Su leads to a chase, a romance, a partnership and a family reunion. With a talking cat offering commentary and ‘assistance’ all along.

Pumpkin is really quite remarkable. He can pop in and out of a place at any time. Just when you think you may never see him again, he appears, seemingly out of nowhere. I believe his odd talent may be based on the habits of some non-fictional cats. If you have a cat you might understand. If you have a cat and you read this book, you might understand even better! I do wish the story would have had room to offer more about Pumpkin and his background, even though it was not needed to tell the tale. The story ending does hint that there may be more story to come. Or maybe it ends here. I hope for more Jody Wallace. 🙂

Will Tango is one of the most unusual main characters I have run across in scifi romance. A former dancer and dance instructor turned gambler. He also happens to have a following of dance loving garbage collectors. You think you know somebody and, all of a sudden, they want a dance lesson.

Will is being chased by casino goons (who really want Pumpkin) when he ends up on the Trash Planet. Goons become the bad guys. Garbage collectors, including Su, become the good guys. I’ve never seen that in a scifi romance either.

I like the setting very much. It is perfect for this story. Catalyst takes place on a garbage planet. Yes, trash, refuse, debris, rubbish, junk. If it has been tossed out, it can be found on Trash Planet. On this world, people collect trash from the dumps and find ways to repurpose them. They are organized into unions for policing, protection and regulation. It is a system that seems to work well on a planet with no formal law enforcement.

I also liked the dancer falling for the one-legged garbage collector, the cat learning a lesson, and the box factory. I know box factory sounds a bit humdrum, but read the book. You’ll get it.

Catalyst is a standalone novel in the Obsidian Rim series. This is the first book I have read in the series and did not feel I needed to have read any others, so feel free to jump in with Catalyst if you are a cat loving, scifi romance reader with a wacky sense of humor.

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If you are late in joining Furry Friends Week, you might want to check out:

My review of No Kitten Around by R.J. Blain.
The guest post from Laurie A. Green announcing the release of Pets in Space 4.
My review of Pets in Space 4.

Furry Friends Week continues tomorrow with a look at artist Tracy Lovett and her creation of a portrait of a very special Furry Friend.  I am excited to be able to feature her work.  See you tomorrow!