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How to Bare Your Neck and Save a Wreck by D.N. Bryn (Guides for Dating Vampires #3)

"I only take what's owed me, and you, my little swan, owe me blood." A single kiss from a masked vampire has left Shane with an obsession and a mission: uncover the secrets of the black-market blood trade and find his mystery vampire in the process. But one knock at the wrong door and he could have fangs at his throat instead of lips. Andres is trying to forget his kiss with Shane Crowley by drowning himself in his work as a thief for the blood trade. When his boss seizes an overcurious Shane to drain his blood, though, Andres's only option is to buy him for every drop he'll ever produce. This new ownership awakens thoughts of glittering collars-thoughts Andres knows are the desires of a monster. But Andres needs blood to live, and he's going to have it from Shane, even if that means donning a mask once more and demanding Shane bare his neck during nightly excursions. Soon, Shane feels pulled in all directions, between the strange desires his role as Andres...
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Tales of Mundane Magic: Volume Two by Shaina Krevat

Gertie and Bridget Mallon were able to survive their first semester at Flories Boarding School. That, in and of itself, was quite an accomplishment. One would think they now have a handle on things, that life could be as normal as possible in a world of magic, ghosts and smartphones. Gertie can go back to practicing for her enchanting license, and Bridget for her driver’s license. However, as much as the Mallon sisters would like things to be simple, with new students, new classes, and new adventures, maybe life isn’t quite as mundane as it seems.

TITLE: Tales of Mundane Magic: Volume Two
AUTHOR: Shaina Krevat
PUBLISHER: Independently Published
YEAR: 2019
LENGTH: 127 pages
AGE: Young Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
RECOMMENDED: Highly

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

Queer Rep Summary: Gay/Achillean Minor Character(s).

Tales of Mundane Magic: Volume Two keeps a lot of the fun and wonder from Vol 1, while expanding Gertie's and Bridget's world to new destinations, challenges, and dangers. We get more of a sense of magic's place in this world, and it isn't all benign.

There's a subtle shift between Volume One and Volume Two: Gertie and Bridget feel a little older, a little more mature but still definitely kids. Part of that is that they've changed (they're growing up, gaining magical and non-magical mastery), and part of it is that we get the beginnings of a set of antagonists. It's not some grand Big Bad, but it's also clearly not trying to be, and it works well. It's perhaps better to say that in Volume One there were people in their lives with different purposes and goals from them but they mostly co-existed, and here we start to have people with conflicting purposes, making them get in each other's way. It's a small change, but I like it.

Their problems get bigger (some of them are pretty dangerous this time), and the girls definitely have a more serious air when figuring out how to solve them. Before there was some pretty serious stuff too, but it had the sense that they didn't know how much danger they were in. Now they know a little better, but they're still excited and confident. It keeps a lot of the fun feeling from the first book while also letting them mature as people. Where the first book felt like a lot of random events with a few connecting threads, this collection feels more focused (or maybe it's that there was more room for complex narratives since volume one had the basics handled). The three-part vacation sequence is my favorite narrative, with the middle portion as my favorite story in the entire book (Gertie And Bridget Go To The Beach). 

CW for guns, death.


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