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Blood Moon Rising by Amelia Faulkner (Tooth & Claw #2)

A pack in turmoil. A ray of sunlight. A moon that demands blood... Randall Carter is in love. If only he could say it to Ellis’ face, but he’s been too busy - or too much of a coward - and now he may never get that chance. With the threat of a blood moon looming in the night sky his Alpha is on the warpath against both a new pack invading his territory and the vampire lover he ordered Randall to destroy. Ellis O’Neill’s problems are mounting fast. Randall’s Alpha wants to kill him, a vampire neighbour invites him to join some sort of coup, and his secrets are stacking up like firewood waiting for a single spark to set them ablaze. The last person he expects to betray his trust is the man he’s fallen in love with. Torn between love and obligation, Randall soon realises that he can’t satisfy both. He’ll have to choose, but the cost may well be more terrible than he can imagine. COVER ARTIST: Cover Design by Amelia Faulkner and Jen Fowler PUBLISHER: Ravensword Press YEAR: 2015 LENGTH: 268...

Books And Bone by Veo Corva (Tombtown #1)

 Librarians-and-Necromancy Fantasy with Small Town Charm in a City of the Dead

The others believe in blood and bone. Ree believes in books.

She manages the libraries and draws maps for the denizens of her hometown, a secret society of necromancers hiding in a sprawling underground crypt. Though they look down on her for not practicing their craft, Ree has bigger ambitions than raising the dead. She’s going to resurrect therianthropy, the ancient magic of shapeshifting. Or at least — she’ll do it if it really exists. And if she can find the books that prove it.

But Smythe, a chatty historian from the world above, stumbles into the crypt and takes a curse meant for Ree. Now she has to find a way to save him, keep the townsfolk off her back, and convince her necromancer parents that shapeshifting is a viable career path.

Ree is certain that if she and Smythe combine their scholarly skill sets, they’ll find the right books to solve their problems. But Ree’s search for power might put the entire town in danger, and her father and the other townsfolk want Smythe dead lest he reveal their home to a world that hates them.

PUBLISHER: Witch Key Fiction
YEAR: 2022
LENGTH: 424 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy
RECOMMENDED: Highly

Queer Rep Summary: Lesbian/Sapphic Secondary Character(s), Gay/Achillean Secondary Character(s), Ace/Aro Main Character(s).

BOOKS AND BONE is a story of transformation and cost, of hard choices and terrible bargains when there seems to be no way out. Ree is a resident of Tombtown, but she has no plans to be a necromancer like her father and most of the town, nor a priestess like her mother. She has her heart set on a kind of magic which hasn’t been seen in centuries and might never have existed at all.

As a worldbuilding choice, I like the detail that any person with a capacity for magic could do any kind of magic at all, but once they do magic from a particular school, even once, they’re locked in forever. Narratively it’s a way of ensuring that there is a real importance to Ree's choice not to do any magic no matter how much she has been pressured. She has her heart set on something that might turn out not to be real, but if she gives in and misses her opportunity, she’d never forgive herself. 

As the first book in a series, this was a very satisfying end which ties off this chapter of Ree's life. It also lays the groundwork for many more stories of Tombtown. There’s a specific character to this place, creating a distinct impression of that world without locking it down too much. BOOKS AND BONE ends, having laid the bones of a problem which will need to be resolved later, setting up the sequel to build on it either directly or tangentially. 

I like the dynamic between Ree and Smythe, the whole story is delightful, and I enjoy the way the ending seems especially true to the characters involved.

If you like this you may like:

  • The Thirteenth Hour by Trudie Skies
  • Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Moderate CW for xenophobia, bullying, kidnapping, confinement, blood, gore, violence, injury detail, death.

CWs from the author: Contains undead, mild-moderate fantasy violence, and fantasy threat.

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A deathly pale young woman with short, black hair is dress all in black, clutching an old book to her chest. She is in a mausoleum, list from behind by the eerie green light of souls.


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