The Witch's Halloween Hero (Nocturne Falls #4.5) ★★★☆☆

Rook and Witch have dated for years and now, at the Halloween Ball, it’s time...

Queue the magic.

Queue the fireworks.

Queue the ring.

Happy Halloween!

The Werewolf's Christmas Wish (Nocturne Falls #4.6) by Kristen Painter ★★★☆☆

Yes, it’s a cheesy got-my-man-for-Christmas story. But I still liked it because it was also a beautiful woman telling a man she didn’t care that he was broke and picking himself back up, she wanted the whole package. The whole hot-as-hell werewolf fireman package, lol. 

Secrets at Midnight (Psy-Changeling #12.5) by Nalini Singh ★★★★★

I do not read books looking to cry but sometimes great authors, like Nalini Singh, just sneak one by me. 

Hunter of the Tide (The Kraken #3) by Tiffany Roberts ★★★★☆

I read this as a sultry part of Merfolk May.

There are sexually aggressive women and then there are kraken women. Once Rhea decides on Randall she will beat the crap out of anyone who gets in her way.

Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex

The Reality Trip by Robert Silverberg  ★★★★☆

“She is a cosmic nuisance, but I fear I’m getting to like her.” 

Part meaningful story of loneliness, part SNL skit, I burst out laughing at least twice.  

Maybe I’m an asshole and I should have seen the despair in more even terms but deep levels of crazy amuse me.  

It’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with crab aliens.  How could I not laugh?

The Starlit Wood

Penny For A Match, Mister? by Garth Nix ★★★★★ 

“She poured the dregs of the coffee over his boots with some contempt and walked out.” 

I’m a fan of strong female characters, vengeance stories, and weird westerns so this suited me down to my toes!  

Red as Blood and White as Bone by Theodora Goss ★★★★★

“Fairy tales are another kind of Bible, for those who know how to read them.” 

A Dead Jinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark ★★★★★

My first thought upon finishing this story in 2016 was: This must be made into a book immediately!  Since then the Dead Djinn Universe has expanded and I need to catch up, lol!

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018

Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim ★★★★★ 

In this mountain of mediocre I was completely unprepared for a tearjerker.  

From the first lines I saw this as a Tim Burton movie, animated like A Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a story about family, and using the time you have to be with the ones you love.

And now I’m crying harder and I have to go call my mom for no reason.  

Read it for yourself: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/carnival-nine/