Do You Believe in Magic?

Apologies if the post title triggers a Loving Spoonful earworm!

The Magic of Books

It’s Midsummer and I’ve been thinking a lot about magical stories.

Paranormal, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Romantasy, not to mention all the Star Wars-type stories. Have you read any? Do you have a preference?

My daughter is currently working her way through Rebecca Yarros’ Romantasy series. With a busy mom’s schedule, it’s been a slow go snatching time to read those lo-o-ng books.

Being an anglophile and writer of Regency-set romance, I like a familiar fantasy world, like Regency-era England, albeit populated with magical creatures and occurrences.

His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik, is a speculative fiction story with talking dragons who fight for their respective armies in the Napoleonic wars. Not a romance, but fascinating and well-done. Another book I loved is Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett. The story world is not Regency England, but there is a romance angle and there are lots of magical beings.

Among my Regency romance writer friends, Barbara Monajem has some beautiful stories with ghosts and paranormal creatures; Meara Platt has a Regency Dragon Shifter series; and Jude Knight has just launched Unexpected Magic, the first book in an alternative Regency world Romantasy series.

Magic in the Works

Precognition has played a role in my Macbeth series, but this fall I’ll be releasing my first actual ghost story, The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul, appearing in Moonlight Madness, a Bluestocking Belles Collection. I’ll tell you more about that in my September post here.

There’s more magic coming from the authors of the Bluestocking Belles. We’ve launched a multi-author series called Forevers in Fenwick, a stand-alone romance arriving each month (except for the months when we release a collection of stories). All of the stories take place in the fictional town of Fenwick on Sea, which was the setting for the Storm & Shelter collection from the Belles. And there’s magic, or at least a rumor of it: a fae blessing upon the well water leads to finding one’s true love.

The talented Elizabeth Donne starts off the series with The Legend Begins.

After this year’s Moonlight Madness collection, the Belles have more stories coming in June 2027, all set in a magical part of England, the Lake District. I’ll tell you more about that later in the year.

Dragons or Fairies?

What’s your preference? Do you have a recommendation? Tell me about it in the comments!

Until next Quarter Day, happy reading, and enjoy the rest of the summer!