#Review - Kingdom of Shadows and Dust by Sherry D. Ficklin #Fantasy

Series: Kingdom of Shadows and Dust # 1
Format: E-Galley, 300 pages
Release Date:  September 14th 2021
Publisher: TrueType Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy

A spellbinding fantasy story... and a fascinating world to escape to! ~InD'tale Magazine

As the king’s only daughter, Ava was supposed to be many things; meek, submissive, and above all, silent. While she dreams of fighting alongside the armies of Ankara, she’s forced to hide her identity behind a veil. It seems her prayers are answered when fate intervenes, allowing Ava to sneak away and join the battle. Yet the tides of war turn on her, leaving the young beauty defeated... her hopes shattered. Her only chance at salvation is Callan, a mysterious black wolf willing to risk everything by hiding her away among his kind. But there are some dangers far more ominous than the snapping jaws of a wolf. Ripped away from the brave Turnskins, Ava is imprisoned by the beguiling Shadow King who fills her head with promises of peace and a haze of passion. Forced to choose between her family, the bond she shares with Callan, and the handsome king's striking proposal, Ava finds herself torn between duty and desire. When an unthinkable sacrifice is required to save all she holds dear, will Ava accept the crushing demands of taking the crown? Or follow her heart to the forbidden touch she desperately craves?

Kingdom of Shadows and Dust, by author Sherry D. Ficklin, is the first installment in what appears to be a new series. Ava is an Ankara princess and the King's only daughter who is forced to hide behind a veil. She has suffered in isolation while dreaming about fighting with her best friend Bridger who has taught her how to fight. Her own father believes her place is with other women, including the Queen, in the Terem because women are more precious and divine than men. 

This is a misogynistic society where women are paraded in front of men who make their choices as to whom they want for their bride's. AKA Bride Show. Ava has been sneaking away for years to be with her friend Yoann who is a magus. Magus unwillingness to save Ava's mother created a huge rift between people's. Ava has tried her best to smooth over the rift but old habits and hurts die hard. After Ava defies her father's orders, and sneaks away to join Bridger's army, she finds herself in harms way.  

Her only chance at salvation is Callan, a mysterious black wolf called Turnskin willing to risk everything by hiding her away among his kind. Turnskin's are people who are able to shift from human to wolf. They were soldiers once until they were betrayed. Ava gradually falls for Callan which, of course, anyone would have seen coming a mile away. Soon though, she is "imprisoned" by Aldrin, the King of a neighboring country who has been at war with Ankara for years. 

However, Aldrin turns out to be a decent fellow, and that's where things get really twisted for me. You can say that this book doesn't contain an instalove. It doesn't. It does however contain a twisted love triangle between Ava, Callan, and Aldrin. While one relationship with help her country stop an war that has costs lots of innocent lives while uniting countries, the other is a fated bond which can't be broken. What do you do? 

One of the more interesting relationships in this entire book is between Ava and her brother Cassian who is the heir to Ankara. Unfortunately, even though it was an overall enjoyable read, the book did not leave me as satisfied or enthusiastic about reading the sequel.

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#Review - The Canary Club by Sherry D. Ficklin #YA #Historical

Series: Canary Club # 1
Format: Paperback, 325 pages
Release Date: October 19, 2017
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Historical

"Bad Luck" Benny is a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Recently released from jail, he has vowed to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. But he also needs to care for his ailing sister and the rest of his struggling family, and he'll do anything to make that happen—even if it means taking a position with a notorious crime boss. He soon finds himself in over his head—and worse still—falling for the one dame on earth he should be staying away from.

Masie is the daughter of a wealthy gangster with the voice of an angel and gun smoke in her veins. Strong-willed but trapped in a life she never wanted, she dreams of flying free from the politics and manipulation of her father. A pawn in her family's fight for control of the city, and with a killer hot on her heels, she turns to the one person who just might be able to spring her from her gilded cage. But Masie is no angel, and her own dark secrets may come back to burn them both.

Two worlds collide in this compelling story of star-crossed lovers in gritty prohibition-era New York.

Perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams’ A CERTAIN AGE or Libba Bray’s THE DIVINERS, THE CANARY CLUB by Sherry D. Ficklin will entice Historical Romance fans of all ages. This Gatsby-era tale filled with dazzling speakeasies, vicious shoot-outs, gritty gangsters, and iridescent ingenues has also been compared to the television series Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING and BOARDWALK EMPIRE.

The Canary Club, by author Sherry D. Ficklin, is the main installment in the authors Canary Club series. Other titles in the series include: Gilded Cage, All That Glitters, and Nothing Gold. This story takes place in 1927 New York City. It features two main characters: Benny Fleischer, and Masie Schultz. "Bad Luck" Benny spent 3 months in prison for not pointing the finger at others. He's trying to do what's right for his family which includes his mother who has been working double shifts, and siblings one of which, his sister, who is very sick. 

His best friend Richard "Dickey" Lewis (who was introduced in Nothing Gold) works for JD Schultz, son of Dutch Schultz. Prohibition has turned good people into criminals, criminals into modern gods. One of those Gods just happens to be Dutch Schultz. After working with Benny for a few days, he starts earning a bit of cash that goes a long way to help is sick sister get the treatment she needs. But when he ends up in the wrong place at the wrong place and takes a bullet for his trouble, Dutch is so grateful, that he makes Benny bodyguard for his daughter Masie.  

The moment the two meet, there are sparks of interest but with Dutch as a father, and one who sees his daughter as a chess piece to gain even more power, the likelihood of a happy ending isn't looking that good. He has to make a lot of tough decisions in order to keep everyone he loves safe, while not compromising his values. When Benny is given oversight of a brand new club called The Canary Club, Benny is hounded by corrupt individuals who want to bring Dutch down and take what they believe they are entitled to.

Masie is the flaxen-haired daughter of notorious boot-legger Dutch Schultz who was introduced first in Gilded Cage. Masie was born to violence like a fish born to water. In this world, women are considered to be soft targets and disposal. Women are pawns in a game they are not allowed to play. Women are to be coddled, protected, and mollified. But what the men around her don't understand is that Masie has a brain of her own, and she wants something else besides being part of a criminal organization until she is married off.

Maisie falls for naive Benny who get innocently drawn into the racket out of desperate need for money to help support his family fallen on hard times. Masie's best friend, and J.D.'s main squeeze is June West who was introduced in All That Glitters. With rival gangsters, Prohibition agents, and even a murderer in the mix, Masie and Benny may be pulled apart just as they’ve found each other. I feel as though the story was missing something. Like another sequel. The ending literally bypasses actually history when it comes to Dutch and his crew. The ending also leaves a whole lot of room for another Masie and Benny to have yet another adventure. At this point, things don't look so good. 

There are a boatload of actual characters who really did exist in this era including Lucky Luciano. The book should have a forward, telling the reader that some of these people did in fact exist, but that the author had taken literary license with the story, and written a "what if" instead. 

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#Review - Demons Lie by Sherry D. Ficklin #YALit #Paranormal

Series: A Girls Guide To Witchcraft And Demon Hunting #1
Format:E-Galley, 305 pages
Release Date: October 31, 2018
Publisher: True Type Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal

Rule #1 Demons Lie

Orphaned by an unspeakable evil, Aria Dupree is the last of her line. A powerful witch tasked with guarding the boundaries between our world and the world of demons who prey on humankind, Aria has gone rogue. Now she’s out to find and destroy every single gateway into our world and kill every demon that she can find--including the one who murdered her mother.

But, as it turns out, hunting is the easy part; it’s graduating high school that might kill her. Red Prairie Texas isn’t just another stop on her demon hunting world tour and an unlikely alliance might be exactly what she needs to keep from becoming a slave to the very darkness she’s been fighting against.

Because the devil is coming down to Texas--and only Aria can keep all hell from breaking loose.

DEMONS LIE is the first in a dark paranormal series full of magic, monsters, and mayhem

 

Demon's Lie is the installment in author Sherry D. Ficklin's A Girls Guide to Witchcraft and Demon Hunting series. The story is told in the first POV by 17-year old Ariadne "Aria" Dupree. Aria has arrived in the West Texas town of Red Prairie searching for demons. Aria is driven by revenge. For the past 3 years, Aria has focused on 3 main goals: killing every single demon that crosses her path, finding the one responsible for ripping her family apart, locate and destroy all gateways.

Aria is known as a Buidseach aka Witch aka Demon hunter. Buidseach's are supposed to guard & protect gateways that demons use to enter this world. Aria's mother was also a Buidseach as well as her grandmother. But, now, she is alone in the world and nothing will stop her from completing her mission. After killing one demon fairly easily, she realizes that she was too lax in her duty, and someone was killed in the process. Aria later enrolls in Red Prairie, High School where she is drawn to find a demon who is hiding out as a human. 

Little does she know that the demon she thinks she is supposed to kill, Ben, is a charming, funny, nearly perfect high school boy who will tear at every single one of her emotions. Their relationship is sappy as hell, but fun to watch as Aria has to open her heart to someone who breaks all the rules. If that weren't enough, she meets Maddie Brown, who, not only will become her best friend, but also someone it seems that fate has chosen to help Aria. What shocks Aria the most is that Maddie has a dormant magical spark that seems to sense. Aria seems to have a forbidden physical attraction to Ben which makes this extremely complicated. 

Aria, who is a pretty badass hunter with mad skills, soon realizes that it will take all her skills, all her snark, and all her arsenal to protect the people she has opened her heart to before the boy she loves is torn asunder, and she loses the only apprentice she has ever had. Can Aria walk the thin line between doing what is expected of her, while continuing to search for the demon who killed her mother? Read the book and find out! ::grin::: I loved that Aria has a group of rules that she tries to live by. 

Such as Rule # 1 Demon's Lie. There are no absolute good v bad, or right v wrong when it eliminates the human element. I give props to the author for not going all in on the high school hi-jinks and angst. She stuck to her guns and didn't have any mean girls or any real nasty bullies to pushed Aria's buttons to the limit. While this book is about demons, it is the relationships that take over the main story-line for the entire book. 

Determination: yes, I will be reading the sequel whenever it comes out. Aria's next stop should be loads of fun!

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Friday #Review- Glitter and Gold: A Canary Club Anthology by Sherry D. Ficklin

Series: Canary Club Prequel
Format: Kindle, 178 pages
Release Date: March 23, 2017
Publisher: Crimson Tree Publishing
Source: Amazon Freebie
Genre: Fiction / Romance / Historical 

Set during the flamboyant anything-goes era of 1920's America, these three tales are filled with intriguing characters and rich imagery from the time period—with flappers, jazz music, gangsters, and lavish wealth. Escape to a different decade today with the compelling stories of the Canary Club Anthology.

Glitter and Gold, by author Sherry Ficklin, is the prequel to the author's Canary Club series. This is an anthology with three separate stories. This series is set during the 1920's Prohibition where alcohol was supposedly banned from 1920 thru 1933 thanks to the Volstead Act, aka the 18th Amendment. Let's also not forget that it is set in NYC where things really were wild during the early 19th century.

Novelette 1- Gilded Cage - Overage rating 3.5

Masie Schultz, the flaxen-haired daughter of notorious bootlegger Dutch Schultz, returns home from boarding school to find her family in crisis. Her mother is dangerously unstable, her father's empire is on the brink of ruin, and the boy she once loved, Vincent Coll, has become a ruthless killer for hire. To keep her family's dangerous secrets, Masie is forced into a lie that will change the course of her future—and leave her trapped in a gilded cage of her own making. ++ Pay attention to the secondary characters in this story like JD, who is Masie's brother, and June West, who is JD's girl. Both will appear again in this anthology. Masie will also appear in the full length story called "The Canary Club."

Novelette 2- All That Glitters - Overall rating 3.5

A dame with brains, moxie, and killer curves, June West isn't your average flapper. She's managed to endear herself to the son of one of the most powerful gangsters in New York, JD Schultz, earning herself a spot in the limelight that she's always longed for. With the infamous playboy at her side, June has become accustomed to living the high life. Lavish parties, expensive clothes, sparkling jewels—nothing is beyond her reach. But when her carefully woven web of lies finally catches up with her, she must make an impossible choice… come clean about her past and risk losing everything, or find a way to bury her demons—once and for all. **Pretty good story, especially since June is a Jersey girl who hid her real ancestry from everyone. 

Novelette 3 - Nothing Gold 3.0

Dickey Lewis has been down on his luck since the day he was born. Flat broke and sick of being looked down on, he meets young socialite named Lillian Rose at a wild party. The connection is like a strike of lightning. From a wealthy New York family, this debutante is everything he's been told he can never have—and the only thing he wants. Determined to win her, he knows the only way to get her parents approval is with cold hard cash. So when a shot at the biggest score of his life comes around, he just can't refuse…**This is the most heartbreaking story of the three. Dickie is put through so much. Here is also where we meet the male protagonist of the Canary Club along with Maisie Schultz. 

**Currently FREE for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo**

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