Tag: urban fantasy

Categories
books personal reflection reading

MCD’s Most Anticipated Releases of 2020 (so far)

Because I like to include pretty pictures and a ton of links, I’m posting an expanded version of my February newsletter content – which will include the two giveaways I also just posted – on my blog. So for those of you who follow my blog and subscribe to my newsletter you’re getting some doubled content today, my apologies.

The links below lead to books on Amazon.com (simply replace the .com with .ca or .co.uk to find the book in your region). Also, most if not all of these books are available on all retailers, but linking to every store would take me hours, sorry!

MCD’s Most Anticipated Releases of 2020

(so far)

First, I need to mention a couple of books that just released because if I’d gotten this post written last week they would have still been on my preorder list!

Age of Deception (Firebird Chronicles 2) by T.A. White.

Intriguing world-building and driving plot! The first book in this space opera series (aka urban fantasy in space) is Rules of Redemption.

I also really enjoyed the first three books in T.A. White’s Broken Lands series (Pathfinder’s Way) (I haven’t read book four yet as it’s the beginning of a new story arc).

Alone in the Wild (City of the Lost 5) by Kelley Armstrong.

The next chapter in the City of the Lost series doesn’t release in Canada until February 11, so I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet but it’s available everywhere else. I’m a big, big fan of Kelley Armstrong’s work and absolutely adore the romance in this thrilling series.

MCD’S CURRENT PREORDERS

Releasing March 17. Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson 12) by Patricia Briggs.

I’ve just gotten all caught up on this urban fantasy series (Moon Called) via audiobook (likely my third full re-read) and pretty much love every single book!! I just need to re-read the Alpha and Omega series before March 17!

Releasing April 28. Starbreaker (Nightchaser 2) by Amanda Bouchet.

I really enjoyed the first book in this space opera series (Nightchaser) and am looking forward to the next. I also loved the author’s sexy, action-and magic-infused fantasy series, Kingmaker Chronicles (Promise of Fire).

Releasing May 5. Aurora Burning (Aurora Cycle 2) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the world-building in this YA space opera (Aurora Rising). Bonus: the book covers are outrageously gorgeous.

The authors’ The Illuminae Files (Illuminae) made my favorites list in 2019.

Releasing May 19. Chaos Reigning (Consortium Rebellion 3) by Jessie Mihalik.

Each book in this sexy, sexy, intriguing space opera series (Polaris Rising) is written from the POV of one of three exceedingly accomplished but very different sisters. Book 1 and 2 made my Best of 2019 list and I can’t wait to read book 3!!

Releasing July 28. Spells for the Dead (Soulwood 5) by Faith Hunter.

I’m a massive fan of everything Ms. Hunter writes. This is an offshoot of her Jane Yellowrock series (Skinwalker) and I thought it was going to take me a while to fall in love with the characters (I was never a fan of Rick’s) but I fell for Nell pretty quickly in book one, Blood of the Earth.

Releasing August 25. Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy 5) by Ilona Andrews.

ALL THE ANTICIPATION!! August is far too far away. I adore everything these authors write!! The first book in this action-filled, dreadfully sexy urban fantasy is Burn for Me.

What are your most anticipated releases of 2020? Comment below and let me know. I will most definitely be adding to my preorders steadily throughout the year!

Click here for A Completely Incomplete List of MCD’s Favourite Books.

Categories
inspiration personal reflection writing

A completely incomplete list of MCD’s favourite books

[updated: January 2026]

I often get asked about my favourite books/series/authors, specifically in the urban fantasy and why choose genres. And since I find myself repeating myself a lot – I’m a rather loyal reader – I thought I’d start a list here, then add to it as it becomes necessary.

To make it easier on myself, the links below lead to book one of the series on Amazon.com (simply replace the .com with .ca or .co.uk to find the book in your region). FYI these are affiliate links. I reinvest any $$ I make into paperback (etc) giveaways.

Favourite authors

Authors who I preorder the instant I know they have a new book coming, and who I reread.

Ilona Andrews – Kate Daniels (Magic Bites), Hidden Legacy (Burn For Me), and my favourite (by a terribly slim margin), The Innkeeper Chronicles (Clean Sweep).

Patricia Briggs – Mercy Thompson (Moon Called) and Alpha & Omega (Cry Wolf).

Faith Hunter – Jane Yellowrock (Skinwalker) and Soulwood (Blood of the Earth).

Kelley Armstrong – my current favourite is the Casey Duncan thrillers (City of the Lost), but also any of her Otherworld novels, including the YA offshoots, starting with Bitten. Kelley gets bonus points for being a fellow Canadian. 😀

Hailey Edwards – I loved her Foundling series (Bayou Born). Also her Beginners Guide to Necromancy (How to Save an Undead Life) and her newest series, Black Hat Bureau (Black Hat, White Witch).

Tracy Deonn. Her Legendborn Cycle (Legendborn) is actually life-altering. I can’t wait for the next book!

Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I’m absolutely in love with her The Inheritance Games series but I have now read her entire backlist.

Tijan – yep, contemporary romance! Best known for her Fallen Crest Series, my favs are Anti-Hero, Teardrop Shot, and Anti-Stepbrother.

Kathryn Moon – Omegaverse and Monster Romance. Auto buy author alert! Baby & the Late Night Howlers (Sweet Omegaverse 1), Lola & the Millionaires (Part One), Monster Smash Agency. Sexy, Why Choose, with bites, knots, and a plot! Fun, Fun!

Favourite series

Urban Fantasy/Paranormal

The Psy/Changeling Series (Slave to Sensation) by Nalini Singh. I was late picking up my first Nalini Singh book (Why? Such a terrible oversight on my part!) but I’m now all caught up! I’ve reread Mine to Possess, Kiss of Snow, Heart of Obsidian, and Shield of Winter multiple times. And loved all of the off-shoot series. I’m also a fan of her Guild Hunter Series (Angel’s Blood).

Sookie Stackhouse (Dead Until Dark) by Charlaine Harris – one of my first entry points into ‘modern’ urban fantasy. I recently picked up her Gunnie Rose Series (An Easy Death) and absolutely adored it.

Kalayna Price – Alex Craft (Grave Witch).

InCrypid Series (Discount Armageddon)[ongoing] and October Daye (Rosemary and Rue)[ongoing] by Seanan McGuire. Seanan also writes as Mira Grant, and I LOVED her Newsflesh Series (Feed).

Terry Pratchett – any Discworld book with witches in the lead POV with Wintersmith being my favourite. I own but find myself unable to read, The Shepherd’s Crown, which was published after Terry passed away. I got to a certain plot point, lost it, and had to put the book away so I could continue to function in my everyday life.

The Scholomance (A Deadly Education) by Naomi Novik. Loved! I reread, bought the audiobook, and I instantly preordered book two. Then I read that and instantly preordered book three! Big fan.

The Legend of All Wolves (The Last Wolf) by Marie Vale. Love this very different take on werewolves/magic/etc. The first and the fourth book are my favs. Sexy, emotional reads.

The Guild Codex: Demonized (Taming Demons for Beginners) [complete] by Annette Marie. Fellow Canadian!

Space Opera/Sci-fi Romance

Mercenary Librarians (Deal with the Devil) by Kit Rocha.

The Firebird Chronicles (Rules of Redemption) by T.A. White [Ongoing series]. I’m obsessively in love with this space opera/sci-fi romance.

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Illuminae). Also their newest collaboration, The Aurora Cycle (Aurora Rising).

The Consortium Rebellion (Polaris Rising) by Jessie Mihalik. Also, I really enjoyed her newer sci-fi romance, Starlight’s Shadow (Hunt the Stars).

The Crownchasers duology (Crownchasers) [complete] by Rebecca Coffindaffer.

All three books in the Galactic Love series by Ann Aguirre. But the first book, Strange Love, had me in tears because I was laughing so hard. Also sexy! Sexy!

And, if I’m listing fun ‘alien’ romps, I’d be seriously remiss if I didn’t mention the epic Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. Blue aliens, mating bonds, and seriously sexy times.

Romantasy/Fantasy Romance

A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses) by Sarah J. Maas. I’m also enjoying her newer Crescent City series (House of Earth and Blood).

Kingmaker Chronicles (A Promise of Fire) by Amanda Bouchet.

Forgotten Empires (The Orchid Throne) by Jeffe Kennedy [completed trilogy]. And Bonds of Magic (Dark Wizard) [ongoing].

Gargoyle Queen (Capture the Crown) by Jennifer Estep. Romantasy. This is an offshoot of Jennifer’s Crown of Shards (Kill the Queen) series but I think it can also be read separately.

Favourite Why Choose/Reverse Harem/Omegaverse:

The two-volume, Pack Darling (Part One) by Lola Rock is a great omegaverse (knots, bites, Why Choose) as well.

Pack’s Companion (House of Omega) by Roxy Collins. Roxy is pretty much an audio buy author for me. Uber alphas, mixed packs, criminal underground/underpinnings.

The Bonds That Tie (Broken Bonds) by J Bree. This series totally sucks you in and keeps you guessing, full of sexy times (Why Choose!!), magic, enemies to lovers, and traumatic histories. I also enjoyed J Bree’s Hannaford Prep series (Just Drop Out).

WITSEC (Find Me) by Ashley N. Rostek. New adult, thriller, four brothers.

Rich Boys of Burberry Prep (Filthy Rich Boys) and Adamson All -Boys Academy (Secret Girl) by C.M. Stunich. New adult, YA. Academy, bully romance (light bullying b/c/ I’m not a fan otherwise).

Influential books/series/authors:

William Gibson – his sci-fi Sprawl Trilogy (Neuromancer). The character of Molly Millions has definitely influenced how I perceive/write/create my own superhero females. [Also the namesake of my chocolate Shar Pei). I’m also a big fan of Pattern Recognition (just adding that link makes me want to reread it).

Stephen King – favourites: The Talisman, The Stand, and more.

Jane Austin – Pride & Prejudice and more.

Anne Rice – all of her early books, starting with Interview with a Vampire (of course!! and probably goes without saying). But I also really enjoyed The Mummy.

More recent great reads:

Her Vicious Beasts (complete series) by Ep Bali. WhyChoose, Magical Academy, shifters, magic.

Clash of Claws (Shifter Guardian Academy 1) by Elizabeth Dear. Loved the first book, and have already preordered book 2!

Villains of Lore (Blood of Hercules) by Jasmine Mas. Totally unique take on Greek Mythology mixed with a dystopian backdrop. Why choose. Loved the second book as well. And the audiobooks!

The Blackened Blade by Isla Davon. Academy, mysterious past/powers, shifters. Ongoing series.

What are some of your favourite books and authors?

Categories
excerpts On My Desk Today writing

bits of Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic

I’m working my way through the 2nd draft of my new WIP, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic. It’s an urban fantasy. Here are some of my favourite bits from this week’s writing (unedited and unproofed, FYI):

 – from Monday:

I flung myself at the bus, attempting to not simply collapse on the stairs of the open door.

I couldn’t breathe. The driver didn’t find this particularly charming. I tried a smile, and got an answering one in return. Though I think he might have also just noticed my heaving chest. Good, maybe that would distract him from the fact that I had no fare.

“Hi … “ I managed to speak between gasps, but was becoming uncomfortably aware of the yawning darkness of the vampire-filled night behind me. “Thank you for stopping.” Okay, so it was just one vampire. He was one too many.

 – from Tuesday:

“How did you know I lived here?”

The wolf shrugged. “Smells like you.”

“It smells like me?” I echoed, because, when surprised, I tended to be an idiot.

“Yes, your magic is tasty.” This time the wolf did show her teeth when she smiled. I thought that might indicate the conversation was moving in the wrong direction … the woman-eating direction, and not the good kind.

 – from Wednesday: 

I didn’t answer. The conversation had gotten too serious, too quickly for me. My guard was down. I was feeling soft and malleable after the terrifying evening and the yoga class. I was feeling like leaning on Hudson would be a terribly easy thing to do … right before he broke and probably ate my heart … though I think, according to my research, werewolves generally frowned upon man-eaters.

 – from Thursday:

I’d protested the change of location but Sienna had insisted my living room wasn’t the right spot for an earth-based spell, and, countering my suggestion of a park, she laughed and murmured something about needing the protection of the wards.

I hated it when Sienna murmured about magic. A murmur had led to many a close call in our youth. I’d lost my hair at sixteen because of a murmured caveat. It took two months for the skin to grow back on my left hand when I was twenty, also due to a offhanded ‘foot note’ murmured by Sienna.

Why I kept following her into these situations was pure stupidity on my part, but it seemed she always caught me just at the right time — this time I was angry and needing to prove I wasn’t just worthless garbage to be left on the side of the road.

Hence the dirt that was now coating the ass and legs of my second favorite pair of jeans. The floor was actually hard packed, but still dirt rubbed off.

 – from Friday:

Gah! I didn’t end up writing Friday. Boo.

What have you been working on?