Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Ratcheting up the tension

Twisted Shadows by Allie Therin

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Twisted Shadows is the second book in Allie Therin’s Sugar & Vice paranormal/urban fantasy series. You must read Liar City to have a clue what is happening. I had to reread it as a refresher. In Allie Therin’s alternate universe, some people are born with supernatural empathic powers. Empaths are feared, fetishized, and regulated. Empaths can read emotions, and if corrupted, can turn people into thralls. A corrupted empath no longer cares about hurting people. The US government has an operative called The Dead Man who […]

A Good Story Marred By One Of My Least Favorite Tropes

Starcrossed by Allie Therin

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Arthur and Rory are both figuring out their relationship as well as the magical relic that has fallen into their hands.  Arthur is also following up on some loose ends related to the magical relics.  However, when a new threat arises, their fragile start of a relationship leaves them both vulnerable, and the stakes are rising with a new relic now in play. Have you ever wanted to reach inside a book and just shake a character?  Sometimes multiple characters?  That’s how I felt for […]

Compelling Characters and an Interesting World

Spellbound by Allie Therin

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Rory Brodigan’s gift comes at a cost, and he’s done his best to keep his head down and finding counterfeit antiques pays the bills.  However, when Arthur Kenzie waltzes into his life with a job, things get much more complicated.  Arthur and his team of paranormal friends do their best to protect the world from supernatural relics, and they need help with this latest one.  Arthur’s hoping that Rory can help them with the latest one that has wandered into their hands, but Rory’s reluctant […]

Sebastian huffed. “You make it sound like a crime.” “Yes, darling,” Wesley said, slow and patronizing. “Because it is.”

Once a Rogue by Allie Therin

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When I started reading Allie Therin a few years ago, I didn’t expect that she would become one of my go to authors for banter. She has though. Wesley, Lord Fine, and Sebastian de Leon give good banter as they try to find out what’s happening in the paranormal world. I enjoyed this so much and there’s so much I can’t talk about because it’s spoilery. Once a Rogue, is the second book in the Roaring Twenties Magic series, which is itself a spinoff of […]

Maybe that’s how you fool other empaths, like, “hey baby, you just be your high-strung self and let me handle all that scary danger,” but respectfully, Agent Dead Man, I’m pretty sure you are the scary danger.

Liar City by Allie Therin

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Note: the Harper Collins Publishers Union and the NewsCorp have reached an agreement and the union has accepted the contract! I’ve been waiting to talk about Liar City for weeks!!!!! Allie Therin writes wonderful queer urban fantasy, and I would love for more people to start reading her books. I have enjoyed her historical fantasy series and was intrigued to see what she would do with a contemporary alternate universe. Folks, I loved it. Liar City opens with a mysterious phone call at 4 am […]

“If you want to be the villain of the two of us, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to try harder.”

Proper Scoundrels by Allie Therin

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This is a spin-off of the author’s Magic in Manhattan series, which I absolutely adored. I was a little worried about this book because it stars two somewhat villains (and afraid I would miss the characters from the previous book, Arthur and Rory) but this book is just as excellent as the previous ones. While it’s not directly connected to the previous series, I don’t think it would work without some knowledge of it (and this review will contain spoilers for that series). “I’m the […]



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