Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


They go together like hocus and pocus.

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon

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Recently I got on an Ursula Vernon reading kick. I was amazed that I had known about her, but never read anything. And then when I learned they were T. Kingfisher, too, I was intrigued. After all, when one uses two names as a writer, what does that say about the writing style? And when one writes many titles under one name, how similar are they? Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon probably is a good example of both of Vernon’s names and styles coming into […]

A promising start to a new series

Witch Season by Julia Bianco

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CBR18 Bingo: Refuge (The Aestas coven works hard to be a safe haven and refuge for young witches who have snapped and would normally be ostracised by other witches) Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC. This book is on sale now. There are two types of witches (in this world, all magic users are called witches, regardless of gender). The ones who are born from families with established magic, who grew up as part of a coven, and who are […]

“Echoes of her late husband drifted around her, this pernicious and lingering Old Gods notion that a uterus somehow endowed one with inherent childcare abilities.”

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

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No one in the town of Eternity expected widowed, middle-aged Twyla Banneker to partner with her neighbor and best friend, Frank Ellis, to join the Tanrian Marshals. But that was eight years ago, and Twyla and Frank have rewarding careers patrolling the strange land of Tanria, despite the misgivings of her grown children. Hey, it beats the alternative; the domestic grind of an empty-nester mother whose sons think she has nothing better to do than be a free babysitter. Fortunately (or unfortunately) a recent decrease […]

I wish most of this book didn’t feel like homework

Prince of Storms by Kit Rocha

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3.5 stars Thank you to Montlake and NetGalley for this ARC. This book is on sale now. Naia, Einar and Aleksi return to the ice queen’s island to figure out who tried to kidnap them and are soon joined by all the other deities of the High Court of the Sheltered Lands, concerned about them and wondering exactly who is behind this most recent plot. As Naia’s powers keep growing and she needs to use them to protect the innocent residents of the island from […]

Historian friends to lovers, a haunted mansion and a potentially explosive teaspoon

The Antiquarian's Object of Desire by India Holton

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Amelia Tarrant and Caleb Stirling are both history professors at Oxford with a speciality in magical antiques. They have been best friends since childhood, but any hint of affection between them could be ruinous to Amelia’s reputation and the careers of both. As a result, they have to appear to be enemies and stage elaborate public fights every so often to make sure all their colleagues believe them to be bitter rivals. One such fight, involving a volatile magical teaspoon, causes a big enough explosion […]

I really wanted to love this, but instead I was just a bit whelmed

Daughter of Tides by Kit Rocha

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3.5 stars Naia is a very young water nymph, born directly from the Dreaming, but she has the memories and experiences of so many who have lived before her who had any connection to the sea. Einar was once a mortal man before he became the immortal pirate lord known as the Kraken, tied to his magical ship and his equally immortal crew. Aleksi is the most charming and beloved of all the gods; he is literally The Lover. After the events in Queen of […]



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