Megan Bannen

Thank you to NetGalley for proving an ARC of this story in exchange for my honest review. Hart and Mercy were a tough act to follow but Megan Bannen did a fantastic job with Twyla and Frank! Midlife, friends-to-lovers romance, which are two of my favorite tropes. Slow burn and love triangle tropes too, if you're keeping score. But also: dragons!

Twyla and Frank started out a bit slower than the first one: less initial focus on fantasy and more on establishing of new characters and their place in the world of the previous book. Once the story got going though, it really moved. Aw, and Duckers is back, yay! This one is more comedic than the first. And more of a book about Twyla coming into her own rather than about both her and Frank equally (compared to Hart and Mercy's story). Twyla has some snark, which I love. And while reading this second book, it strikes me that the author is someone who deeply understands the push-pull of family expectations, the often difficult claims they place on you, and what it means to give up a little of yourself to love. She also clearly understands (and is able to eloquently depict) the warm and comforting embrace of family, be it biological or found family. The writing of the female voices and the family dynamics reminds me pleasantly of Jennifer Crusie's writing style.

This shouldn't be read as a standalone, as it heavily references events and people from the first book, who also make appearances in this book. There is a lot of assumed knowledge of prior world-building. Do yourself a favor and read Hart and Mercy's story first, if you haven't already. Not just because you'll need it to more fully enjoy Twyla and Frank's story, but also because it's just a fantastic book!… (mehr)

I have read this book before but didn't write a review then so I'm rectifying that now after a recent and very enjoyable re-read. There is something for everyone in this book: fantasy, action/adventure, possessed "zombies", mystery, mistaken identity enemies-to-lovers romance, all with a western-ish flair. At its core, though, it's a story about relationships: how we lose them but also (and most importantly) how we build them to keep. I love Hart and Mercy together, my gosh, these two! Both vulnerable in their own ways, drawn together no matter how hard they resisted, with big crabby hearts worthy of love. I usually struggle with following the world building in most fantasy novels, but the author thankfully made it very easy to follow. Think "You've Got Mail", but set in an alternate fantasy world with humanoids and demi-Gods, and a pinch of Firefly thrown in. I absolutely loved the side character of Duckers and how he helped Hart come back to himself. I was not initially a fan of Mercy's siblings and their obliviousness to Mercy's worries and needs surrounding the family business but they grew on me.

Do yourself a favor and read this book, really take the time to savor it. It's a gem of a story.… (mehr)

I'm between a 3.5 and a 4 on this but I'm feeling generous so I'll round up. This game to me in a book subscription box and I never got around to reading it. Since the quarantine I was looking to de-clutter and give away books I'd probably never read and this was literally the first one I picked up to load into the donation box...but then I read the note from the author that was included with the subscription and that was super intriguing and then I saw that it had great reviews on Goodreads so I decided to give it a try.

What a story: Adventure, romance, tragedy. It's just begging to be a movie (that I'd watch in a heartbeat!)

I'm not sure I loved the actual writing here and I can't say why exactly - maybe it felt a little too modern for being set in 1280? Maybe it was the dialog that felt off? I'm not sure. But the story itself was top notch. I cared about the characters and reviewers were not wrong to warn you to have your tissues handy.

This particular book was also peppered with post-it notes with insight from the author and I loved those tidbits of info including the tie in to the opera Torandot and the only aria that I actually know: Nessun Dorma.
… (mehr)