Do You Believe in Magic?
June 28, 2026 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as Bluestocking Belles, fantasy, paranormal fiction, Regency romance, romantasy, Speculative FictionApologies 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!
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Spotlight on Lynette M. Burrows
April 6, 2026 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Alternative History, Lynette M Burrows, science fiction, Speculative Fiction, The Fellowship Dystopia series
Lynette M. Burrows is an author, blogger, creativity advocate, writing coach, and Yorkie wrangler. She survived moving seventeen times between kindergarten and her high school graduation. Her stories weave her experiences into speculative fiction worlds that capture your attention, characters you root for, and action that keeps you turning pages.
Her Fellowship Dystopia series, My Soul to Keep, and If I Should Die, and a companion novel, Fellowship, tell the story of a world where the isolationists and fundamentalists merged after FDR’s assassination and created an America where even the elite can be judged sinners and hunted by the Angels of Death. They are in online bookstores everywhere.
Book three, And When I Wake, was just released.
And When I Wake: The Fellowship Dystopia, Book Three
When your greatest enemy is your own sister, can you save a nation without losing your soul?
In the epic conclusion to Lynette M. Burrows’ The Fellowship Dystopia Series, Miranda must find a way to break the theocratic Fellowship’s iron grip on 1965 America while protecting her real identity. But Miranda wants more than the end of the Fellowship—she wants justice for the deaths of her first love and her beloved mentor.
Meanwhile, her sister Irene, uses deception, threats, and the Angels of Death behind the scenes to regain her status as wife of the Fellowship’s Prophet. Unless she is stopped soon, she will lead the country more ruthlessly than any before her.
And When I Wake is a searing exploration of whether the fight for justice and for freedom can coexist when everything you love has been taken from you.
If you love morally complex female leads and freedom-from-tyranny stories with deep emotional stakes, you won’t want to miss the complete trilogy! (Buy links below.)
Lynette lives in the land of OZ and is a certifiable chocoholic and coffee lover. When she’s not blogging or writing or researching her next project, she avoids housework and plays with her two Yorkshire terriers. You can find Lynette online on Facebook, or BlueSky (@lynettemburrows.bsky.social) or on her website.
Lynette’s Books
Hover over the cover for buy links. Click the cover for more information on each book.
0 0 Read moreSpotlight on Lynette M. Burrows
February 16, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Alternative History, Lynette M Burrows, science fiction, Speculative Fiction, The Fellowship Dystopia seriesLynette M. Burrows is an author, blogger, creativity advocate, writing coach, and Yorkie wrangler. She survived moving seventeen times between kindergarten and her high school graduation. Her stories weave her experiences into speculative fiction worlds that capture your attention, characters you root for, and action that keeps you turning pages.
Her Fellowship Dystopia series, My Soul to Keep, and If I Should Die, and a companion novel, Fellowship, tell the story of a world where the isolationists and fundamentalists merged after FDR’s assassination and created an America where even the elite can be judged sinners and hunted by the Angels of Death. They are in online bookstores everywhere. Book three, And When I Wake, is scheduled to be published in 2025.
Lynette lives in the land of OZ and is a certifiable chocoholic and coffee lover. When she’s not blogging or writing or researching her next project, she avoids housework and plays with her two Yorkshire terriers. You can find Lynette online on Facebook, or BlueSky (@lynettemburrows.bsky.social) or on her website.
