Suzanne McLeod | Earth and Skye

Image result for home improvement undead edition book cover

Title: Home Improvement: Undead Edition
Author: Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner, Victor Gischler, Patricia Briggs, Rochelle Krich, Heather Graham, James Grady, Melissa Marr, E. E. Knight, Seanan McGuire, S. J. Rozan, Stacia Kane, Suzanne McLeod & Simon R. Green
In: Home Improvement (Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal fantasy, Short story collections, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 7th June – 24th October 2020
Pace: Medium
Format: Anthology
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: Two weeks after their first post they met in the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Larchmont.

There’s nothing like home renovation for finding skeletons in the closet or otherworldly portals in the parlour… And when you add in a hefty dose of the supernatural, the normal, everyday challenges of home D-I-Y become even more hazardous!

International number 1 bestseller Charlaine Harris has joined forces once again with award-winning mystery writer Toni L.P. Kelner to construct a brilliant anthology of fourteen forays into the frightening world of home improvement.

This is a great and fun collection. It’s amusing and light. Filled with lots of gorgeous paranormal stories and just seriously fun. What I love most about it though is that each and everyone of these stories features the process of home renovations in some way, shape or form. And, as a home owner myself… I can attest to the fact that sometimes home improvements are literally hell…

I love that this collection brings the supernatural and paranormal into our everyday experiences. Everyone has a home and, in the case of these somewhat more magical lives… after all, even vampires and witches and the fae still need a home… but their complications are a lot worse than the ones that I have had to face…

This collection had some authors and series that I’m familiar with. And some that are new to me. As with many of the good anthologies that I read, my wish list has grown yet again. Which is really what I want when I read a good anthology.

<- In Brightest Day

If I Had a Hammer ->

Image source: Hachette Australia

Title: Full-Scale Demolition
Author: Suzanne McLeod
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: Fae, Paranormal fantasy, Urban fantasy
Dates read: 19th October 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Year: 2011
5th sentence, 74th page: After much manoeuvring I balanced the bundled drop cloth on the backs of my thighs, tucking an end into my waistband, and started crawling down headfirst.

She can’t cast, but she can catch Pixies… really well. So when a routine Pixie collecting job goes seriously hay-wire, it might just be up to her unique abilities to stop this full-scale demolition.

I jot down notes when I’m reading, so that it’s easier to write reviews when I’m done. And the first point I wrote for this story… :

Ooooooh. I liked this story.

It’s a pretty good summing up of my feelings really. This was fun and entertaining and I was really, really hoping that it was part of a series (it’s not, but I’m going to imagine it in my mind’s eye anyway…)

This short story combined pixies, sidhe, lamia and kelpies. All paranormal creatures that I have loved in previous stories, so, of course, I was drawn in completely. Plus, any story that starts with pixies is generally going to be fun… they’re such an interesting and insane paranormal pest.

I loved that in the end, this story was saved by pixie dust. Pixie dust saves the day and is what ultimately is the source of power in this fun and incredibly cute short story.

<- Rick the Brave

It’s All in the Rendering ->

Image source: Hachette Australia

Earth and Skye

The ramblings of a bibliophile.

Tag Archives: Suzanne McLeod

Home Improvement: Undead Edition edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni L.P. Kelner

Full-Scale Demolition by Suzanne McLeod