Welcome to one of the March 2nd stops on the blog tour for Fire and Cinder by Christina Bauer, organized by XPresso Book Tours. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for excerpt spotlights, other reviews, author guest/interview spots, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
Fire And Cinder
Fairy Tales of the Magicorum Book Six
by Christina Bauer
Published 23 February 2021
Monster House Books
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Page Count: 320
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
Meet the Magicorum: modern folks who are supernaturally locked into fairy tale life templates. For eighteen-year-old Elle, that role is Cinderella. Meanwhile, Agatha is her evil stepsister. Things go downhill from there…
Cinderella On The Run
Elle—never call her Cinderella—has found the love of her life in Alec Le Charme, the prince of a jewelry dynasty. But when Alec gets spirited away, Elle must ditch her Manhattan home for the perilous Faerie Lands. To save Alec, Elle must also swap her glass slippers for a flying carpet. But will switching templates from Cinderella to Aladdin snap Elle’s sanity?
Whatever. Bring on the straight jacket. Elle is one Cinderella who’s determined to save her prince, no matter what.
Evil Stepsister or Elf Queen?
Agatha always accepted her role as Elle’s evil stepsister. Then her life template changes from nasty sibling to evil elf queen. Agatha has one thought on that score. Thanks but no thanks. Agatha refuses the regal life, even though stepping away from her crown means ignoring her lifelong attraction to the elf prince, Jacoby.
Then everything changes. Agatha discovers that Elle’s life is at risk… and the only way to save her Cinderella is by teaming up with Jacoby. Trouble is, that’s a lot of togetherness. Working with Jacoby could easily end in disaster, not only for Agatha’s heart, but also for Elle and Alec’s lives.
Fairy Tales of the Magicorum
Modern fairy tales with sass, action, and romance
1. Wolves and Roses
2. Moonlight and Midtown
3. Shifters and Glyphs
4. Slippers and Thieves
5. Bandits and Ball Gowns
6. Fire and Cinder
7. Fairies and Frosting
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
My Review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Consider liking my review on Goodreads.
I was granted an eARC of Fire and Cinder via NetGalley as part of my participation in the March 2021 blog tour with XPresso Book Tours. Thank you to all involved! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
Elle is on a quest to save Alec. Jacoby finds himself needing to save Agatha. Powers are being stolen, motives are being questioned, and genies are trying to recruit new genies. It’s insanity! It’s the risk you take going back into Faerie.
I’ll start off by saying I am not completely caught up on this particular series yet, though I have read and reviewed other Christina Baeuer books, and if you’re already familiar with the way she writes you can jump into this book and enjoy it for what it is without reading all the previous books. Would it be a BETTER experience if you’re caught up? Probably. Cannot confirm. I’m definitely reminded more of the Pixieland Diaries books than any of the Angelbound books reading this one, and that’s a great thing for me because I adore the Pixieland books. The way Elle and Agatha speak and think is a lot like Calla, so if you love Pixieland you’ll love the Magicorum.
I love how light, humorous, and fun this book is. It doesn’t take itself too seriously (because the characters don’t either.) Yo Momma jokes with a minotor? Yes please! That’s hilarious. This book is so fun and easy to read that you’ll absolutely fly through it. Despite being over 320 pages and the fact that I had four different books going at once, I finished this one in less than 24 hours.
Now, the characters I love so much because they remind me of Calla and the Pixieland books are also why this one isn’t a perfect 5 stars for me. First of all, it’s both exciting and satisfying but also disappointing to feel like Elle and Calla are the same character. They’re not, they have their differences, but I was so strongly reminded of Calla reading this book than I’ve ever been reading the Angelbound series, which tells me Christina Bauer’s characters CAN be very different from one another, yet main characters in this series and Pixieland feel very similar. They also feel flat. Fun, for sure. Likeable. But I don’t feel like most of these characters actually completed an arc in this book. They went on an adventure, lives were saved, bonds were formed, but the characters in the last 20 pages feel very much like the characters in the first 20 pages.
If you like any of Christina Bauer’s other work but particularly the Pixieland books, read this series! If you like YA fantasy, read this series!
About the Author
Christina Bauer thinks that fantasy books are like bacon: they just make life better. All of which is why she writes romance novels that feature demons, dragons, wizards, witches, elves, elementals, and a bunch of random stuff that she brainstorms while riding the Boston T. Oh, and she includes lots of humor and kick-ass chicks, too.
Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.
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Thanks for hosting today! This sounds like a great read overall! 🙂