Title: Hearth, Home, and Havoc
Author: R.J. Blain
Series: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) #3
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2017

Hearth, Home and Havoc is a great little novella, one that focuses quite a bit on being controlled and getting revenge. I mean, some of it is justice. But, mostly it just feels like a whole lot of revenge on a bastard who truly deserves it. And then there’s the goddess aspect within the story. And the cute government agent. And the mother who has lost touch with her children. All gorgeous aspects of this story that build and build into a wonderfully fun and somewhat violent novella. My favourite kind.

Running away from your problems and digging a giant hole to literally hide the body is maybe not the best ever coping mechanism. But it is one that I really appreciated and could definitely get behind. It was funny, cathartic and an all round pleasure to read. I particularly like that the lead knows that digging a giant hole to drown a body in isn’t the healthiest or sanest option. But, she continues to do it anyway. Plus, she acknowledges that she is 100% having a break from reality, but just chooses to continue dealing with it / going with it without fanfare. Again, maybe not the best coping mechanism, but maybe one I should try the next time I feel overwhelmed… just digging a giant hole and imagining (ceremoniously) burying my problems deep in the ground.

Although the coping mechanisms in this may not be the best, I love that the importance of therapy is mentioned again and again. In fact, it is visited and revisited at multiple times throughout the novella. With each and every horrible past action revealed, the idea of, and attendance at, therapy is revisited. The normalcy with which this is mentioned was great. I love that it was a fabric of reality to recover from past trauma, without judgement and without stigma attached. I wish this could happen in real life.

Finally, I love that this story centres around the mortal mother of the Goddess of Hearth and Home. And that this little growing deity is all about making sure her Mum is happy and healthy. She not only is the driver of a lot of the interactions and positives within this story, but also the instigator of change. She protects her Mum in the best way she knows how (but with an adolescent mindset), and her Mum in turn tries to protect her. It’s just a gorgeous little novella and signified the unbelievably wonderful strength of a mother-daughter connection.

Image source: Smashwords

Title: Hoofin’ It
Author: R.J. Blain
Series: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) #2
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2017

Shane and Marian are a great and fun couple, and I love going on the journey with them in Hoofin’ It to find their happily ever after. The fact that it starts with a spitting alpaca, a dead body and a shaved werewolf. Well, of course I’m going to enjoy the heck out of that nonsense. It was funny, sweet (in moments) and just all round a whole lot of fun. I might have been on this journey before, but I enjoyed everything about going on it again. It was just such glorious, unrestrained fun!

Where Shane and Marian were an incredibly fun couple, introducing Ernesto and his brood; and the Babylonians might be an aspect of this story that I enjoyed even more. The Babylonians in particular were just pure chaos demons. Which I loved. They just produced chaos, carnage and insanity wherever they went. Then there were the mounts (of which there were a variety) who just wanted to eat all the human flesh and devour the hordes of evil. Again, absolutely loving the nonsense that is produced by the Babylonians getting involved in the final battle.

Then there’s Ernesto and his clan – they are just beautiful and I vaguely recall something about them coming up at different points later in the series. Their introduction feels so “everyday”, but they are an integral aspect to the patchwork that is the world of the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) series. Understanding this on the reread meant that I paid a whole lot more attention to Ernesto and his family, and all of the information that is shared about them. I’m not really into vampires per se these days (Twilight absolutely ruined them for me), but I did like Blain’s take on them and the way that they are interwoven into the series.

Back to Marian and Shane though, I love that Marian starts out as an alpaca. Then gets turned back into being a human. Then you realise that she can actually shift into a badger. I’m kind of disappointed that there wasn’t more about Marian turning into a badger. I mean, we have Shane figuring out what animal he shifts into, and spending a bit of time in his animal form. But Marian didn’t have that pleasure, and I really wanted it. But that’s okay, because there are other awesome shifters to come in the rest of this series. Hence the reread.

Image source: Kobo

Title: Playing with Fire
Author: R.J. Blain
Series: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) #1
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Urban fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2017

I honestly don’t know why I love Playing with Fire so much. For some books that I love, I can wax on and off about just why I love them so much. But for Playing with Fire and the rest of the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) series, I’m not entirely sure what it is that keeps pulling me back in. Yet, even though this was a reread, I just couldn’t put this down. I’m pretty sure that I’ve read this from cover to cover both read throughs. I laughed, I smiled and I just enjoyed each and every word of chaos as it unfolded in my mind’s eye.

Bailey has some serious self confidence issues – I kind of picked it up on my first read through, but on this reread… wow. I just couldn’t even handle / stomach some of her comments and just how sad they were. I mean, it’s a testament to how good of a writer Blain is – she manages to take some serious symptoms of abuse and trauma and make them kind of lighthearted. I mean, Bailey’s parents are truly evil and cruel, and of course their child is going to end up with some major trauma. But how is it that not until the second read through, I actually pick up on the total and utter lack of self confidence and self worth. It was really only because of parts of later Magical Romantic Comedy (with a Body Count) stories that I think I even picked up on it this time…

Although I love a good, subtle courtship, Quinn’s was too subtle even for me. I mean, he’s been chasing the same woman for how many years and no one is any wiser about it. But, I did love, that when he realises that the object of his affections doesn’t understand that she’s on the receiving end, he decides to up the ante and take control. The taking control part of Quinn’s courtship was kind of adorable. And although I don’t read these books for the steamy factor, it did increase that a little bit. Not in the same way as some of the more X-rated paranormal romances that I read, but in a warm and pleasant way.

The use of Cindercorns (I wonder if they’re based on anything in mythology, or just the author’s imagination?) is still one of my favourite things. Not only is a violent, fire-breathing unicorn just the best thing ever. But, Bailey gets to go on a drunken napalm bender in her Cindercorn form. The fact that she levels a building, saves the world and just generally acts all kinds of violent cute? That makes it all so much better. I freaking love Cindercorns and everything that they bring to the mayhem of Blains’ Magical Romantic Comedy world.

Image source: Kobo