The Bori want nothing more than to build a fence, and raise their young in quiet. But an annoying neighbourhood watch woman feels the need to constantly interfere… until she sees the strength inside.
I absolutely adored this short story. And, halfway through I realised that’s probably because I kind of love everything by Melissa Marr that I’ve read anyway. She manages to make some faery tale style works and paranormal fantasy stories just that little touch darker. Not so much so that it’s uncomfortable. But enough that it’s not all happy and light. Exactly the kind of story that I love.
I’ve never come across Bori in a story before. And I’m now curious to see whether they are a “real” mythological creature, or one that is entirely of Marr’s own imagination. I’m hoping that they are in other stories… I really liked the idea of them and was completely drawn in from the very beginning.
There is nothing that I love more in a story than a little busybody getting their comeuppance. Alright, in this story it was a little intense and drastic, and I probably shouldn’t have enjoyed it quite so much. But I did. And I laughed. And it was just a great, fun short story that had a little bit of death and darkness to make me fall all that more deeply in love.
Title: Sweet Poison Wine Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.06 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 12th August 2020 Pace: Medium Format: eBook, Short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: The three men he’d brought along to assist in proving his point climbed out on his signal, following him inside.
Jonathan and Frances Healy are beginning their new lives together with that most traditional of celebrations: the honeymoon. Leaving their infant son with Jonathan’s parents, the Healys are leaving Buckley Township, Michigan for the cosmopolitan wonders of the city of Chicago, where they can properly celebrate the fact that they managed to have a wedding without anybody winding up dead.
Of course, these are the Healys we’re talking about, and nothing in Chicago is exactly fitting the description provided by the Bureau of Tourism. From the gorgon-run hotel where they’ll be staying to the swamp hags in the Chicago River, things are definitely business as usual, at least by the family definition of “usual.”
Bootlegger Arturo Gucciard has only just been introduced to the Healy definition of “usual,” but he’s going to need to get awfully familiar with it if he wants to live long enough to have a honeymoon of his own. And Jonathan, well. Jonathan just wants to have a normal honeymoon.
Good luck with that.
This is the longest Fran and Johnathan short story yet. Which, of course, pulled me in fairly quickly – I wanted to know what was going to happen after their wedding that would take longer than everything before. And I really wasn’t disappointed. This is exactly the kind of honeymoon that I would have imagined for these two. A perfect, fun and kind of quirky journey.
I love that this story features wine… of the supernatural variety. Each cryptid in this series has its own culture and needs (much like humans) and McGuire’s talent at seamlessly integrating this into her works is not only fun, but incredibly potent and powerful. Particularly when you think about the fact that part of culture is also food and wine. And in the case of this short story, it’s the wine that is an integral aspect of Gorgon culture.
One of the things I think I love the most about Fran is that she just gets bored seriously easy. Luckily for me, I mostly find my entertainment in books, rather than in fights. But there is still that same sense of adventure and need to try something new that I find completely relatable. The fact that in this case it leads to an adventure that delivers wine and justice… she’s definitely my kind of lady.
Title: Married in Green Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.05 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 12th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Free online short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: Turns out being a Healy brings a parcel of problems along for the ride.
After a rocky start and a lot of dangerous adventures, the day everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived: Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown are going to be married, and none too soon, since their first child is set to arrive at any moment. Alexander and Enid couldn’t be happier about their son gaining a wife and a child, while giving them a daughter-in-law. The mice have been celebrating for weeks. If only Jonathan and Fran were so sure…
Marriage is a big step, and Fran is terrified of what her future will bring. Is this her happily ever after, or just one more short-term home in a long string of the same? Help comes in the form of her old circus friends…but that just raises more questions. Will she ever be happy holding still? And what does it mean to be married in green?
You are cordially invited to join the Healys and the members of the Campbell Family Carnival on the joyous event of the marriage of Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown. Assuming they go through with it.
Everything changes today.
This short story opens with a bit of a quote. A saying about marriage that is full of superstition, but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a unique and fun way to set the setting for this short story. The fact that it hints at some possible sadness in the future of Fran and Johnny’s lives doesn’t really make me feel super happy and lighthearted. But it was a good way to start a story about a marriage in the insane Healy clan.
Fran’s family in and her past with the Circus are established fairly early on in this series of short stories. But it isn’t until this tale that you actually get to meet all of the players. I’ve not had the pleasure of reading many stories which feature circus folk. But the few that I have made this one feel something like coming home. Or maybe, that was just because Fran’s emotions and this feeling seemed to just jump from the pages. It was such a beautiful reason for a delay in a wedding and a great way to introduce an extended family.
Even though this story is all about Fran and Johnny’s wedding, the Aeslin Mice still steal the show. There is just something wonderful, funny and completely adorable about these creatures that makes every single moment all about them. Which is, in my mind, exactly how it should be.
Title: No Place Like Home Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.03 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 11th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: eBook, Short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: This wasn’t where she belonged.
Road trips are wonderful things, filled with adventure, excitement, and questionable lodgings, but there comes a time in every man’s life where all he wants is the chance to sleep in his own bed, eat at his own table, and reunite his colony of talking pantheistic mice with their fellows, thus making sleep a little bit more likely. With Buckley Township in his sights, Jonathan Healy is finally going home.
The trouble is, home for him isn’t home for Fran, who grew up in the desert, never lived under a fixed roof for more than a week at a time, and has no idea what to expect. To make matters worse, Jonathan’s parents—Enid and Alexander Healy, late of the Covenant of St. George—are right on hand to make things more awkward for everyone.
With her future on the line, it’s time for Frances Brown to make one of the biggest decisions of her life. Does she stay in Buckley Township and try to make a life with the Healys? Or does she saddle up her horse and ride back into the sunset?
Returning home after a while is always difficult. But this story didn’t so much focus on Johnathon’s difficulties in returning home. It focused on Fran’s feelings of not quite belonging. And it also highlights the first indications of the relationship between Fran and Johnny and where that relationship is going to go…
This is the first of the InCryptid stories that actually enters the Healy household. And the madness and insanity that seem to be a part of the outlay for this family. It’s not anything like what I expected (and I had high expectations)… rather, it’s way, way, way more. A great, fun and incredibly unique household.
I love that this story starts out with the feeling that Enid doesn’t quite approve of Fran. But, throughout all of the testing and conversations, you begin to see that that isn’t really the case. And, at the end, you see a whole different light as the different generations find a way to accept one another and move forwards in life.
Title: One Hell of a Ride Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.02 Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 11th August 2020 Pace: Fast Format: eBook, Short story Publisher: Seanan McGuire Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: “That’s that, then,” said Clark.
After a rather…eventful…visit to Tempe, Arizona, Jonathan Healy wants nothing more than to return to his home in Buckley Township, Michigan, where at least the threats are generally familiar ones. With the last of the blood mopped up and the locals none the wiser, it seems he’s just a train ride away from getting his wish.
Of course, there are a few small complications. Like the lovely and occasionally violent Miss Frances Brown, former star of the Campbell Family Circus, who seems to have become his new traveling companion. And then there’s the matter of the train having driven through a dimensional gateway into Hell…
Maybe Jonathan shouldn’t be quite so worried about getting back to Michigan. Maybe his time would be better spent in worrying about how to get off the train while he, and Fran, are still among the living.
Following The Flower of Arizona, and Fran and Johnathon’s meeting… it was nice to see how their relationship began and was likely to develop. Partly I loved the fact that this story involved a train ride and an adventure that had me giggling and smiling all the way through. Even if I now don’t necessarily want to ride a train…
I love that this story is literally what the title suggests – one hell of a ride. A train ride that passes through hell and all of the fun complications that that entails. The fact that it also highlights the evilness of corporate companies and capitalism… it just makes it all that much better.
Not only was this a fun adventure, but it showed a new aspect to the crypto world that I hadn’t expected. There was a mention of a Hell dimension in Discount Armageddon, but not really much beyond that. This provided that bit of extra information that helped make that much more sense…
Jonathan is monster hunting… on circus grounds. But, the woman he expects is the perfect villain might actually be something else entirely…
I did read the Fran and Jonathan short stories a little out of whack. Or at least, I read Stingers and Strangers before I read The Flower of Arizona and so there were a few steps in that story that were missed. The Flower of Arizona however filled in those gaps. It was a great way to show how Fran and Jonathan were introduced and how their relationship first began…
One of the things I absolutely adore about Fran is that she has a great passion and love for life. She’s lively and completely irrepressible. Which completely lit up the pages of this short story and drew me in from the very first moment it was fun and seriously cute. A great meet-cute and beginning of a whole new relationship, written with McGuire’s sense of humour and pizzazz.
Love that the beast in this is a Chupacabra. Well… probably not, but it was something akin to a Chupacabra… they seem to be popping up more and more in the stories I read, and I’m really loving them. They’re a little bit weird, definitely unique and I just want one as a pet… partner this with the Aeslin mice… and two of my favourite paranormal creatures seem to be present.
Title: Claimed by Shadow Author: Karen Chance Series: Cassandra Palmer #2, Cassandra Palmer World #4 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Dark fantasy, Paranormal fantasy, Paranormal romance Dates read: 28th – 31st July 2020 Pace: Slow, Medium, Fast Format: Novel Publisher: Roc Year: 2007 5th sentence, 74th page: I wasn’t sure why – obviously she could see without the eye, or come to some approximation of it – but she seemed very depressed about missing her turn.
A recent legacy made Cassandra Palmer heir to the title of Pythia, the world’s chief clairvoyant. It’s a position that usually comes with years of training, but Cassie’s circumstances are a little… unusual. And now she’s stuck with a whopping amount of power that every vamp, Fey, and mage in town wants to either monopolize or eradicate – and that she herself doesn’t dare use.
What’s more, she’s just discovered that a certain arrogant master vampire has put a geis on her – a magical claim that warns off any would-be suitors, and might also explain the rather… intense attraction between them. But Cassie’s had it with being jerked around, and anyone who tries it from now on is going to find out that she makes a very bad enemy…
This is a great second book to this series. I always find second books are the true hint to as to whether or not the series is worth continuing on. The first book is all about setting up the world 9and sometimes, they were originally supposed to be a standalone). But the second book is a hint as to the pace and style with which the rest of the series is going to set forth. Which made this a fantastic indication that I need to continue reading this series. Because. Wow. What a second book.
At the conclusion to Touch the Dark, Cassie had this great, kind of insane power thrust upon her. And I love that all throughout this book, she is seriously fighting that power. Instead of wanting to be powerful and a major player in the political activities which are surrounding her, she just wants to live a nice, quiet and normal life. To a degree, I get that. I’ve had an extremely eventful life… and all I want is for things to be incredibly boring. These are the kind of characters that I like – those who are powerful in a begrudging, slightly annoyed manner. It also gives many moments of humour throughout the action where she’s just a little bit testy…
Now that the series is starting to truly develop, I can see a few potential love interests for Cassie… and I’m completely intrigued to see who and what will be the ultimate guy that she ends up with. She’s finally lost that pesky virginity (and this is the first time that I’ve enjoyed the virginity sub-plot). But the actual guy who is going to be her happily ever after… I can’t wait to see who that will be!!! Personally, I’m hoping that it’s Tomas. But I think that’s just because I have a very, very attractive man pictured in my mind’s eye…
This novel isn’t just a great story in which Cassie is trying to wrestle with ideas of her new power. It is also a great story in which time travel and dimensional travel occur. From going back to the past, to travelling to Faery there are so many brilliant settings. Then, there’s also the fact that the end of this story indicates that not only is a massive supernatural war about to start. But, there’s a fairly good chance that Dracula is now running free and wild…
Title: Stingers and Strangers Author: Seanan McGuire Series: InCryptid #0.04 In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Strong women, Urban fantasy Dates read: 23rd July 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: Eleanor had just admitted she wasn’t human; he wasn’t going to make her cope with the idea of unmarried couples sharing a bed beneath her roof.
Fran and Johnny are out hunting monsters. But, it’s the wild wild west and just certain things are expected… will they be able to win the day and finally recognize their feelings for one another?
This is yet another great InCryptidshort story. It has the action, the humour and the wit that I have come to expect from this series. It deals with Verity’s grandparents (or is it great-grandparents?) and their own hunting journey into the West.
I love that Fran and Johnny are arguing and bickering throughout most of this story. From the very outset you recognise that they have feelings for each other. And although it takes a while for either one of them to actually admit it… that bickering and wit in their interactions helps to keep that feeling alive and well.
This had a beautiful gunslinging, wild west, cowboy feeling to this story. The fact that it also works to introduce Cuckoos to the Cryptid hunters just works even better. Now I need to read the rest of the short stories which make up this mini series within a series…
Title: Blood on the Wall Author: Heather Graham In: Home Improvement (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy, Vampires, Werewolves Dates read: 23rd July 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books Year: 2011 5th sentence, 74th page: And, of course, because DeFeo’s ancestor, Antoine Montville, had been suspected of Satanism, but something like it.
A young man just wants to build up his own cult and reputation. But when a werewolf comes to town, things are turned on their head and he finally realises that maybe he’s not been making the best decisions…
I really didn’t expect all of the twists and turns that reared their ugly heads throughout this short story. Every time I thought that I could predict what was going on, something else reared its head and surprised me. It was incredibly fun and welcome. I love when a story like this completely takes me by surprise.
One of the things that I love about this story is that the cultist in this story isn’t paranormal. And the one that you think is kind of normal? Not so much. It literally turns everything on its head throughout this story. In the best way possible.
This is a fantastic short story – it involves vampires, werewolves, crimes and cults. It kind of has everything that I love in a short story. Even if it is slightly, unexpectedly off-kilter to what I am used to. And all of those surprises… I’ll definitely be reading this one again!
The church is being haunted in a world that doesn’t like to acknowledge the presence of ghosts. This is not only a battle of wills and power… but one of faith.
I absolutely adored the combination of the Church, the supernatural and faith in this ghostly short story. It’s a good beginning to a collection of ghost stories, just enough creepiness, without being overwhelmingly scary. I think I need to ease into the truly terrifying things-that-go-bump-in-the-night stories. It’s been a little while since I tried to read any…
This story was seriously layered in its symbolism, themes and moments. It was one of those that will leave you contemplating the story long after you’ve turned that final page. The plethora of characters, character histories and faiths had me rereading multiple passages. It was just so beautifully constructed.
This is one of those great stories that completely pulled me in, but I can’t actually remember completely what the storyline was even about. There was just something… whispy and ethereal about the story. Which most definitely suits the ghost story theme. I look forward to rereading this in the future and picking up more nuances that I previously missed.
Earth and Skye 