Maddie Marrow spends her summers in the mountains of Colorado. She works for her uncle, a humble innkeeper, who also happens to guard gateways to magical worlds. At the inn, everything is perfect. Maddie can stay far from family tragedy. With her boyfriend Brekken by her side, she is set on becoming Innkeeper one day. But this summer, Maddie is caught in the center of a mystery. A body is discovered. A monster is on the loose, Brekken is missing, and her Uncle is gravely injured. Maddie is left to protect the inn and must uncover some dark secrets in her search for the truth.

Havenfall is a story about breaking down oppressive structures for inclusive ones. The world building is beautiful, and the writing is skillful and fast-paced. Maddie is a bisexual woman who’s ambitious, compassionate, and a fantastic lead. She’s surrounded by a cast of dynamic supporting characters. And while there weren’t many cats, I found the Solarians to be true cat-kin.

With that, Havenfall gets an enthusiastic 5/5 cat heads. My author and I cannot wait for book two. Until then, you’ll find us napping and dreaming about what could be next for Maddie Marrow.

Get this amazing story and learn more about author Sara Holland at https://www.sarahollandwrites.com/

I listened to the delightful audiobook version.

Tavia is a Siren. She has to keep her identity a secret in a world prejudiced against her kind. Effie, Tavia’s best friend, loves the water so much she plays a mermaid in a renaissance fair, following in her late mother’s fins. Tavia and Effie are charming young women with all the joys and issues of growing up: weird skin, young love, a gargoyle perched on their roof… They are also Black and face the added challenges of being Black in a racist world while trying to find out where they belong.

Morrow gives readers a mesmerizing story that compassionately deals with real-world issues with charm. I give it five cat heads of approval.

Get this amazing story and learn more about author Bethany C. Morrow at https://www.bethanycmorrow.com/

Many of you may remember when my author decided to try to become a fish. Well, a mermaid really. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read about it here . Since then, our search for everything oceanic and mermaid has been long and dry. In case you didn’t guess, we’re trying to research for a story idea. The idea is barely formed and like three or so books away, so it might be a while before it gets to you readers.

It’s been tough to find a book that appealed to us. Do you like mermaids? If you do, you don’t have to look any further.

Emory Gayle is an indie author like my author Catherine. She also happens to live in our city, too!

Water is Emory’s debut book, and it is an amazing one. My author and I abandoned our lives, pulled into Emory’s story, characters, and writing. When we emerged, the world had changed. The snow was falling, hushing the world and our heartbeats slowed their excited rhythms back to normal.

Water is about Cora Reed, an eighteen-year-old Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada resident who is terrified of the water and for good reason. She’s faced tragedy. I won’t spoil what tragedy for you, though. After she graduates high school, she has a clear direction in life. She’s going to university. That is, until her mother’s plans for her and her younger sister Bree change all of that.

Bree and Cora are to work at Camp Crystal in the picturesque Sturgis, Saskatchewan area. The catch, the camp is near a clear, deep lake. Worse, the Camp swim instructor, Darrien Locke, is all sorts of trouble.

Main character Cora is well developed, awkward, clumsy, and incredibly likeable. She’s innocent and determined and strong. She’s also a Mer and doesn’t know it.

Darrien knows, though, because he was sent to watch over her and bring her home to her long-lost father under the sea. When he begins to fall for Cora, his job becomes more complicated. Lying to her and hiding the truth eat at him and threaten their feelings for each other. Not to mention, the constant onslaught of Sirens trying to harm Cora don’t help.

Water is the first book in the series and it is all sorts of fun! So look no further for that great mermaid read, it’s here.

I give it four cat heads of approval. It’s only draw back was, alas, no cats.

And now, it’s time for me to catch up on my naps. Happy reading!

There is something special about #gothic #fiction I can’t quite put my #paw on.

Now that my #author and I have to #read slower because she is sick, it makes reading these gothic #stories better. I highly recommend reading Bram Stoker’s gothic horror tales other than Dracula slowly for extra suspense. Old gothic fiction has a sort off beauty to it modern fiction misses. If only it wasn’t so racist and colonial… and had more #cats.

Even without enough cats, I give it 4 cat heads.

Katherine Gilbert’s Protecting the Dead features main character Lydia, a young woman who escaped a horrific childhood and just wants a normal life. She reinvents herself as Linda and finds herself a job at a care home that turns out to be anything but normal. Her boss is a total hunk (and magical). Her residents all are very strange and come in all shapes and sizes. Even her apartment is odd with a loud noisy closet that apologizes to her when she tells it to stop making noise in desperation for sleep. When she meets her first long-term resident, Glory, Lydia-now-Linda swears she hears Glory’s cats speak.

When reality crashes in on her and she realizes that she is surrounded by magical creatures and an evil demon and his overlord are out to get her, Linda must accept that she just isn’t normal. She accepts she will never escape her supernatural world and accepts her real identity as Lydia again. As she struggles with her romantic feelings for her boss who is more than he seems, she must also find the strength to face off against the darkest evils from her past to save the care home residents, and the world.

My sensibilities were pandered in this paranormal romance with the voluminous appearance of key feline characters. There are werecats and magical cat-angels whose hair coating protects against demonic and evil influences.

I have tried many times to explain to my author the benefits of the layers of cat hair on her before. She doesn’t buy it. Perhaps this book will help to explain to her the powerful mystical properties of cat hair better than I can.

I am pleased to give this novel a strong five cat heads of approval. If you’re a feline trying to convince your human of the benefit of your hair coating everything, this is the right book for you. It’s also a good read if you like paranormal elements, angels and demons, paranormal romance, and good reads with cats in them.

Author Katherine Gilbert’s feline companions will be featured in an interview early next month. You’ll want to return to read it, for sure.

The Witch’s Ambitions Trilogy’s second installment The Elemental Coven picks up where the first book left off. Witch Lilith finds herself taken away from everything she ever knew and loved and brought to a strange world where she meets the head of the Elemental Coven and continues her journey uncovering the secrets of her past and her power. What she learns turns her world on its head. She faces new types of magic that her home coven forbade. Lilith discovers the startling secrets surrounding the young woman her coven had killed for her abhorrent magic.

There are resurrected felines, including a tiger, sisterhood, new powers that dazzle, and a story that keeps you guessing right to the end. Krantz is a talented weaver of suspense and fantasy. If you like magic, witches, suspenseful plots in fantasy, and necromancy, you’ll like this series.

I give it a solid five cat heads of approval.

I did an author interview with Kayla Krantz last year, so if you’d like to get to know her better, check it out here.

Do you know any other dragon books that should be on my list? Please share if you do!

After reviewing this Pusheen-like book, I found myself wondering if sloth were in fact catkin. But more on that later.
When Dante contacted me to review his book, I couldn’t say no to the Primetime Emmy Award Honoree. So, I’m happy to offer an honest review of this author-provided book.

I couldn’t help but notice how Slothilda and her corgi friend mirror much of author life and author pet life. Slothilda’s four stages of writer’s block seem all too familiar.

I also appreciate “The “I Deserve” Trap,” which encapsulates the basics of feline life beautifully—one of the many reasons I wonder if sloth and cats are kin.

I was disappointed to see that Slothilda’s journey lacks feline presence. I wonder how I would look as a famous Fabiero creation. Would he capture the dot on my lip? The length of my whiskers? My sheer beauty? How would Slothilda react to meeting me?

Alas, I shall never know.

I do know that this book is highly relatable, adorable, funny, and sweet. I have no doubt it will be a huge success, especially with all its cute related gifs ready to share. No matter which area of life you and your inner sloth struggle with, you’ll find a relatable pictorial of Slothilda sure to please.

I give it a solid 4.75 cat heads of approval. The only thing that would make this book better would have been more cats.

I wish luck to Dante and his own corgi companion on their journey into author life and author pet life. To Slothilda, I hope she captures the hearts of millions.

And now, I return to napping.

]]> https://whiskersreads.com/2018/09/25/book-review-slothilda-living-the-sloth-life/feed/ 0 https://whiskersreads.com/2018/08/04/book-review-solomons-seal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=book-review-solomons-seal https://whiskersreads.com/2018/08/04/book-review-solomons-seal/#respond Sat, 04 Aug 2018 20:06:13 +0000 https://whiskersreads.com/?p=430 Solomon’s Seal by Skyla Dawn Cameron gets 5 cat heads of approval .

There are two attractive feline males. One is grey. One would make an excellent cat dad some day. They both feature often.

Livi Talbot is a ex-debutante, single mother, treasure hunter. The book oozes with adventure, paranormal and supernatural artifacts and creatures, and witty banter. The characters are deep and you root for them all the way through. Livi is feisty and strong and not a cliché. If you’re looking for a fast paced read with a good dose of felines, magic, and guts, this is it.

I have loved every book in this series, and so has my author. After reading this book, I was compelled to get out my claws and run around the whole house. I leaped from tall places in a single bound. I climbed as high as I could. I wrestled and scrapped with my brothers. I trespassed every boundary from the fireplace to the counter to the windows and doors. I was truly inspired to unleash my inner tiger. I felt like I could conquer anything and take down a demon with just a flick of my paw.

Skyla Dawn Cameron also rescues and fosters cats in need, and she has a really cool Patreon Page. So please support her and your reading habit by buying all of these books right now. She also has a vampire series available which is no doubt insightful and inspired by feline behaviour (unconfirmed opinion).

My favorite Pusheen is Fancy Pusheen. My cat dad has a shirt with fancy Pusheen and her monocle and sometimes he wears it. When he holds me in his arms while wearing this shirt, I imagine myself sitting beside the famous Pusheen.

I think Pusheen should now feature in an epic adventure story where she rescues a sacred cat artifact or the internet. Authors Claire Belton and Andrew Duff have a hardworking author cat, who is also an author herself. Pusheen is definitely a reminder to the world that behind every good book or internet meme is a cat.

I look forward to more comics and GIFS and Pusheen in my life going forward.