A good modern retelling, but with the modern touches (cell phones, computers), it seemed to have lost a layer of mystery. I don't quite understand how Hyde could make her way through the modern world - I just couldn't suspend belief enough. The production of the audiobook was well done and engaging.

I wasn't a big fan of this version of Captain Hook's history. Brightside - The last few stories that took place in London in the "future" compared to Hook, make a lot more sense now. But I still feel like there is a gap in the middle of the storyline somewhere. 

This is the best book in the series so far. We seem to have left the long internal diatribes and thoughts behind - probably because Ieka has someone to talk to where Ziena didn'ts (I probably butchered the spelling of those names). We see just enough of Ziena and Ainar to keep them active and in our thoughts until they are needed again. The correlation to Cinderella is pretty loose, but you can see hints of it here and there. It ends on a cliffhanger so be prepared for that.

The storyline continues to come together, and it's getting a bit exciting. The battle for the universe is on with the republic vs the empire (still sounds a little familiar - but the Star Wars similarities are fewer in this one). An interesting turn of events with AI and the navigator Ravi, Prisma may be a lot more than a little girl looking for revenge, and Wraith joins up with his past squad - a very busy story, but it flowed well and kept me very engaged.

A pretty traditional rancher-style romance with some sort of forced proximity. Caroline was a little too good of a person, I  would have liked to see a little flaw in there somewhere. Wade was a great character - and I really enjoyed him and the brief look we get at his two brothers. This was a great novella set up for the rest of the series.

A slow and meandering tale of two people with tragic pasts that meet to bring an old bungalow back to life. I'm usually pretty dense with metaphors in the overall plot, but watching as two people healed from their past while the bungalow was being fixed wasn't lost on me. It was a beautiful story, but also very tragic and sad. 

At first I had a very hard time with the very descriptive and sometimes flowery language, but once I understood the flow and rhythm of the story, it seemed very natural.

I was really enjoying this forced proximity romance until the lie went too far. I understand keeping your cover and not revealing your identity to the person you're assigned to protect, but waiting until just after the right time (I don't want to spoil that point) is just wrong, and I don't think I could have forgiven him, even if he had saved my life. Ivy had every right to be mad and I really don't think she should given him another second of her time. So - first half of the book, fantastic, I loved it. Second half, I wanted to scream at Ivy to run away and not look back.

This was one of the easier to follow parts of the series so far. I could tell where in the timeline I was and why it was important to the story. Very nice. There are still soooo many ties to Star Wars though. The master speaks like Yoda, and Goth Sullis sounds a lot like Darth Sidius to me. But it was still unique enough in the search for this power (not called the force) that I really enjoyed this one. A mix of sci-fi space battle and a bit of mysticism.

The Spell Shop is an amazing cozy fantasy with a touch of romance. Full of love for books, reading, friendship, magic, and taking care of your community. The talking spider plant is probably one of my favorite characters. This story of rebuilding and community coming together to do what's right was so much fun. The bursts of mage - that often go slightly awry - and the great characters really made this book a joy to read.

I'm calling it done with this series after this book. While I actually really liked the story and most of the characters, I'm finding the small town politics and personalities a little overdone. The ending of this book also really pissed me off - justice was not service, and the punishment was a bunch of crap. Also, I looked ahead a little and I don't think Baxter gets a book which is really sad.