Oct. 15th, 2025 05:40 pm
Book 100, 2025
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chez_jae
Battle of the Hexes by Morgana BestMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
I picked an ebook to read this afternoon, thinking it would take me until tomorrow. Alas, 20% of the book was an excerpt from another; thus, I cracked it out in one sitting. The book was Battle of the Hexes by Morgana Best. Main character is Adelaide, a witch who keeps her identity secret for fear of being arrested by witch hunters in Australia.
Adelaide is aghast when she checks on the neighboring shopkeeper, only to find him dead. The police question her, which makes her nervous, even though they’re only getting her statement. She saw a nun fleeing the scene, but beyond that she has no information to impart. When a handsome witch hunter arrives in town to investigate the murder, Adelaide is even more concerned, as are her vampire BFFs, Ursula and Isabelle. Even Pudding, her snarky feline familiar, tells her to be cautious. Jackson recruits Adelaide to visit the local convent, reasoning that the nuns will be more at ease with a local. What they discover there doesn’t make a lot of sense and may lead to solving the case...if Adelaide can keep her witch nature a secret.
This was a fun story, but too short to really get into it. Characters were portrayed well enough for a novella, but the narrative was a tad choppy. Some things I guessed and others surprised me.
Favorite line: ”I’m a cat. I lie.”
Average rating of three.
Oct. 14th, 2025 10:30 pm
WIP Wednesday
firethesoundThis week has been a little easier, so that's a nice break between the nonsense. I have some medical stuff to take care of this week which I am very anxious about, Mr FTS has some pretty intense work stuff coming up, and then my brother and MIL will be visiting one after the other. So I honestly don't know how writing time is going to go for the rest of the month. There are at least a few days where I should have a little more time than I usually get, since I'll have a few evenings to myself, but overall I'm anticipating having less. Definitely not going to get anything finished and posted this month, alas. Even if I could potentially rush to finish something small, my focus has actually been pretty tightly centered on food truck au so I'm loath to derail that while I'm making such good progress on it.
New words this week : 6712 words which is right on target, AGAIN. Every week when I see my total land right around 6-7k I am filled with joy. I still can't believe how consistent I'm managing to be!!
WIPs worked on this week : 3, with no new WIPs (yay!)
The Old Guard
☆ food truck au : 5789 words which brings the total to 34,214 words and I've had to accept a couple of different truths about this one. A) I am absolutely definitely going to blow past my last estimate of 35k, and probably also my newer estimate of 40k. At this point I'm still hopeful about keeping it under 50k but at this rate who the fuck knows. This is due in large part to, B) it's going to be way way smuttier than I anticipated. Third chapter is off to beta and it cranked the UST way up, so that's going to take some words to resolve later in the fic. Anyhow, fourth chapter is coming together quicker than I anticipated so that's nice.
☆ werewolf au : 326 words which brings the total to 10,841 words and it was just throwing down some notes about a little scene fragment so I wouldn't forget it. I've officially back-burnered this one, yay. We'll see if that holds next week.
☆ horrorguard : 597 words which brings the total to 597 words and I'm excited about it. I signed up for a very low-key horror fest and my card was tremendously inspiring. I have SO many ideas but have narrowed it down to two. Thinking it over some more and just throwing down notes to figure out which one I want to do. Both ideas are short-ish (though one is moreso than the other) and I have until mid-February to submit, so plenty of time.
New words this week : 6712 words which is right on target, AGAIN. Every week when I see my total land right around 6-7k I am filled with joy. I still can't believe how consistent I'm managing to be!!
WIPs worked on this week : 3, with no new WIPs (yay!)
The Old Guard
☆ food truck au : 5789 words which brings the total to 34,214 words and I've had to accept a couple of different truths about this one. A) I am absolutely definitely going to blow past my last estimate of 35k, and probably also my newer estimate of 40k. At this point I'm still hopeful about keeping it under 50k but at this rate who the fuck knows. This is due in large part to, B) it's going to be way way smuttier than I anticipated. Third chapter is off to beta and it cranked the UST way up, so that's going to take some words to resolve later in the fic. Anyhow, fourth chapter is coming together quicker than I anticipated so that's nice.
☆ werewolf au : 326 words which brings the total to 10,841 words and it was just throwing down some notes about a little scene fragment so I wouldn't forget it. I've officially back-burnered this one, yay. We'll see if that holds next week.
☆ horrorguard : 597 words which brings the total to 597 words and I'm excited about it. I signed up for a very low-key horror fest and my card was tremendously inspiring. I have SO many ideas but have narrowed it down to two. Thinking it over some more and just throwing down notes to figure out which one I want to do. Both ideas are short-ish (though one is moreso than the other) and I have until mid-February to submit, so plenty of time.
Oct. 15th, 2025 11:34 am
Book 99, 2025
chez_jae
The Pumpkin Patch Prowler by Andraia RosMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
Late last night I finished an ebook, The Pumpkin Patch Prowler by Andraia Ros. The main character is tea shop owner Ashley Bennett.
Ashley is anticipating the upcoming Harvest Festival on the tropical isle where she lives and works. However, the festival is in jeopardy when an unknown animal begins destroying the nearby pumpkin patch. Ashley recalls tales her grandmother told of mysterious wild creatures and island spirits and is convinced it’s no ordinary animal that is causing damage. Together with her friend Kai, she investigates in hopes of stopping the damage, protecting the creature, and saving the festival.
While the story itself was fun and seasonal, it left a lot to be desired. I have no idea where the island was. It seemed like Hawaii, yet the mainland wasn’t that far from it. None of the characters was fleshed out, and I don’t believe any of them was described as far as physical appearance is concerned. It was never really explained why the creature, who was drawn to shiny objects, attacked the pumpkins. Also, how could something that large be skulking around a village and not be seen?!
Favorite line: ”This place...it’s like there’s magic around every corner.”
This seemed more appropriate for a tween to read. Again, it was cute, but it doesn’t deserve more than an average score.
Oct. 12th, 2025 06:51 pm
Book 98, 2025
chez_jae
Horse of a Different Killer by Laura MorriganMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
Spent most of Friday hanging out on the couch with my cat. As a result, I quickly finished off Horse of a Different Killer by Laura Morrigan. It’s the third in her “Call of the Wilde” series of mysteries, featuring animal psychic, Grace Wilde.
Grace’s vile former brother-in-law, Anthony Ortega, has bid on and won her services as an animal behaviorist. Grace wants nothing to do with him; he was physically abusive to her sister, Emma, before their divorce. When Emma goes to visit Ortega to return his winning funds, she finds him dead. Since Emma was discovered hovering over Ortega’s body, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Not only is Grace desperate to clear Emma’s name, but Ortega’s fiancee, Jasmine, claims he bought a horse for her, a gorgeous Friesian named Heart, who has gone missing. She hires Grace to find the horse. Grace is convinced that Heart’s disappearance ties in with Ortega’s murder; thus, she takes the case. Soon Grace is following clues and leads...right into danger.
Intriguing, fast-paced story. I love Grace as a character. Despite being socially inept, she’s fierce and loyal and tenacious. I didn’t like that some things were never explained, such as why Ortega wanted to retain Grace’s services to begin with. It didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story, but I would have appreciated those loose ends being tied up.
Favorite lines:
♦ Some days you’re the windshield, some days you’re the bug. Other days, you’re the girl wading thigh-deep in frigid water trying to talk a koala out of a cypress tree.
♦ Who needed a fly on the wall when you had a cat on a rafter?
♦ “She seems –I don’t know—more like a Maleficent or a Bellatrix.”
♦ My vocal cords produced a sound that was equal parts pain, anger, and frustration followed by a string of some of the most inventive curses I’d ever heard, much less uttered.
♦ “A car wash!” I said, clasping my hands over my heart with a mawkish gasp of delight. “Won’t the other girls be jealous!”
♦ “Just make sure if anything weird happens, you take out the cameraman.” // “Seriously? There’s a chance of that?” // “Probably not. But the only thing worse than one of us getting mauled would be to have it immortalized on film.”
♦ Where the heck was Dumbledore when you needed him?
♦ “Help yourself to a Thin Mint while you’re in there. We keep them next to the severed heads.”
♦ Kittens are such adorable, manic little things.
Very good, five stars
Oct. 12th, 2025 05:29 pm
"There is no beauty without some strangeness"
torino10154 posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
firewhiskeyficThank you to everyone who participated in the Shocktober round of firewhiskeyfic! Though competition is always fierce, there was one category that was very nearly a 10-way tie! ;)
Without further ado, here are the winner's banners, such as they are, but as ever, we're all winners here! ♥
( Winners and Banners )
Please let me know if I've made any errors so I can fix them. Names will be added to your entries shortly, and you can reply to comments/repost your pieces wherever you'd like.
Congrats to all! I'm tentatively thinking of an event in February but keep an eye on the comm for future announcements.
firewhiskeyfic! Though competition is always fierce, there was one category that was very nearly a 10-way tie! ;)Without further ado, here are the winner's banners, such as they are, but as ever, we're all winners here! ♥
( Winners and Banners )
Please let me know if I've made any errors so I can fix them. Names will be added to your entries shortly, and you can reply to comments/repost your pieces wherever you'd like.
Congrats to all! I'm tentatively thinking of an event in February but keep an eye on the comm for future announcements.
