Stephanie Cage - Writer

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney My rating: 5 of 5 stars I picked up ‘The Tenderness of Wolves’ for no better reason than that I’d just read Maggie Stiefvater’s superb shifter novel, Shiver, and had wolves on the brain. I’d vaguely heard of it some years back when it won the Costa Book of the Year Award, but I had no idea what to expect. If I’d even bothered to read the blurb I might never have tried it – I’m not always a huge fan of historical fiction and the first line of the blurb is ‘1867, Canada’ – so it’s a good thing I grabbed a copy on impulse on the way out of the shop and didn’t look properly. Though neither the setting nor the style is what I would have chosen, they both drew me in immediately. The wild, frozen north is the perfect setting for an inexplicable murder, and the lawlessness of the environment paves the way for one of the most dramatic murder investigation stories I have ever read. The dead man, Jammet, owned a bone tablet, marked with mysterious car...

The Chemist by Stephenie Meyer My rating: 5 of 5 stars This was quite a departure for Stephenie Meyer - a thriller / romantic suspense novel in the vein of Nora Roberts' The Witness, but a bit darker, more intense, and more technical. She's certainly done her research, and her literary writing background shows in a few wonderfully lyrical and thoughtful speeches, but the driving force behind this book is the relentlessly cruel and complex plot that drives the heroine (she of many identities, including Alex and The Chemist) into the arms of her unlikely but wonderful hero. Unputdownable. View all my reviews

Under a Blood Moon by Rachel Graves My rating: 4 of 5 stars 'Under a Blood Moon' is a highly entertaining debut novel which blends dark elements with a light chick-litty feel in a similar way to Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books. I love stories which explore how supernatural elements would fit into the structures of our everyday world, and the heroine Mallory's role within the Baton Rouge Supernatural Investigations Department puts this book squarely into that category. With the book coming from The Wild Rose Press, I was expecting more of a romance, but as it turns out, Mallory's relationship with Jakob, a six hundred year old vampire, provides plenty of heat without detracting from the pace of the detective story, and her friendships with others from the supernatural community are much-needed light relief from the dark events which follow from the initial zombie attack. When supernatural powers are thrown into the mix, human politics and interperso...

The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen My rating: 4 of 5 stars A beautiful piece of historical fiction following from a clever premise: what if Anne Boleyn had a son who lived? The story follows that son, William, and others of his court including his friend Dominic, and royal ward Minuette. Surrounded by the struggles of power, can the three retain their integrity and friendship? The details of the Court are beautifully drawn, and the invented history blends seamlessly with the true past to create this compelling first instalment in a trilogy. I look forward to reading the other two books - my only annoyance was the feeling that the ending was just a little too inconclusive in order to leave the way open for the sequel. View all my reviews

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg My rating: 4 of 5 stars I downloaded The Paper Magician on a whim for no better reason than that I was short on fantasy reads and liked the title. I started reading and was instantly addicted. Ceony is a wonderfully kind, funny, likeable heroine. She's feisty and independent (traits which cause her no small difficulties) yet with plenty to learn from magician Thane, to whom she is apprenticed. Being forced to be a Folder (paper magician) when she wants to be a Smelter (iron magician) is maddening, and her attempts to make the best of the situation are both endearing and humorous. As Ceony gets to know magician Thane and becomes more involved in his life, the secrets which emerge lead to some thrilling adventures, as she quite literally explores Thane's heart. I found those scenes the least convincing of the book, but then Charlie Holmberg set herself a huge challenge with them and I still thoroughly enjoyed this very strong f...

Silk for Susannah is a delightful short romance, which would be sweet even if it were entirely fictional, but is given an added dimension by the knowledge that it’s based on the real life of Shakespeare’s daughter.   Like the film Shakespeare in Love, it plays off our endless fascination with the Bard of Avon, and evokes a strong sense of time and place.     From the first page, we are transported back to Stratford in the summer when Susannah first makes the acquaintance of the young doctor John Hall, and has to persuade her father, the famous playwright, to support the match.   Evocative and charming, this is a light, quick read but demonstrates the same strength of historical detail as Victoria Lamb’s powerful young adult novel, Witchstruck.   Free on kindle unlimited, and currently only 99p to purchase, what better way to try out a new historical novelist if you've not yet got to know Victoria Lamb's books? 

Girl Friday by Jane Green My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s ages since I’ve read anything by Jane Green but when a copy of Girl Friday crossed my path and I read the blurb I was instantly hooked. I’ll read anything that features a writer as one of the heroes, and I wasn’t disappointed by Robert McClore, thriller writer extraordinaire and boss to Kit, the recently divorced heroine who is currently rediscovering the worlds of working and dating after too long focusing exclusively on her role as wife and mother. The bond between Kit and her two friends, Wall Street wife Charlie and yoga teacher Tracy, is brilliantly drawn, and the book has a lot to say about the dynamics of female friendship, as well as post-divorce dating. So far so predictable, but the secrets kept by Kit’s family and friends ensure that the story develops in a way that’s anything but obvious. Is Steve the romantic computer entrepreneur the answer to Kit’s prayers, or is Kit’s friend and mother figure Edie right t...

Ascend by Amanda Hocking My rating: 4 of 5 stars 'Ascend' is a fantastic conclusion to the Trylle trilogy, and brings together all the threads that were tangling messily at the end of 'Torn'. Wendy's planned wedding, her lingering feelings for Finn and growing attraction to Loki, the looming death of her mother Elora, Queen of the Trylle, and the ongoing quest of her father, King of the Vittra, to take over the Trylle kingdom. Of you've read and enjoyed the rest of the trilogy you won't be able to resist this exciting, dramatic and fast-paced finale. View all my reviews

Torn by Amanda Hocking My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's some time since I read ' Switched ' but it was easy to slip back into the believable world of the Trylle.  The book certainly opens with a bang, as Wendy is kidnapped by the Vittra in an exciting sequence. She escapes surprisingly easily, although the reason for this later becomes apparent. Perhaps the rest of the story doesn't quite live up to the excitement of the opening, but there are twists and turns aplenty and I was kept reading on to see how Wendy will manage to balance love and duty in what rapidly becomes more than a love triangle: there's Finn, the handsome tracker to whom she's always been attracted; Tove, the kindly Markis she's supposed to marry to save her kingdom; and finally, Loki, the dangerously attractive Vittra who was instrumental in her escape. I loved the magical world of the Trylle, and the Princess-diary-ish strand of Wendy learning to adapt from being an ordinary teenag...

New York Minute immediately appealed to me because it involves my favourite combination of business and music.  The heroine, Veronica or Vero, is an accountant who decides to break out of her boring life by putting on the persona of an outgoing fashion buyer and having a one-night stand with Diego, a gorgeous guy she meets at a wedding.  When she bumps into Diego again at a speed dating event she’s dragged to by a more outgoing friend, their brief flame is rekindled and the one-night stand rapidly starts turning into a real relationship.  Diego is a fabulously hot hero, with a successful – and fascinating - career as a musician and a deep devotion to his family.  As Vero learns more about Diego’s apparently perfect life, she feels less and less able to tell him the truth about her career, but of course the secrets she is keeping soon become a threat to their relationship.  Not only that, but it turns out that she’s not the only one keeping secrets, and ...

An Autumn Crush by Milly Johnson My rating: 4 of 5 stars The four seasons books are my favourite Milly Johnson books and although I didn’t love ‘An Autumn Crush’ quite as much as ‘A Spring Affair’, it was still a great read. Juliet is a strong, funny heroine and her new flatmate Florence (Floz) is the perfect sidekick to her, as kind and private as Juliet is noisy and outgoing, but just as appealing in her own way. The men in the story are perfect too – Steve is a wrestler and Juliet’s brother Guy is a chef who also wrestles. At first it appears that Steve is all brawn and no brain (that’s certainly how Juliet sees him) but as time goes on we see his softer side, and learn about the mystery in Guy’s past that has made him wary of women, even ones as sweet as Floz. There are some wonderfully funny moments and the humour never felt forced to me. Like most of Milly Johnson’s books, ‘An Autumn Crush’ envelopes the reader in a blanket of warm Northern friendliness, and like ‘A ...

I loved this sweet story about a country singer and a playwright.  Sherry Valentine is the queen of popular culture and Carston Hewlett is the king of high-brow theatre: Nashville meets New York Times.  When they’re thrown together for a radio interview, neither of them expects much of the occasion, but they quickly find that there’s more to each of them than first appearances suggest.  Sparks fly and they’re soon looking for opportunities to spend more time together.  The mature hero and heroine of the story were totally believable, and I liked the fact that, while they both had a past which influenced their present-day feelings, their pasts weren’t overplayed.  Instead, the focus was purely on how things play out for them in the present, when Carston finds out about Sherry’s desire to become an actress.  While Sherry keeps her ambitions a secret because she doesn’t want to exploit Carston, his past experience makes him misread her intentions entirely...

The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron My rating: 4 of 5 stars I came to this book without reading the first in the series, but it was immediately easy to follow and enjoy the fast-paced story. I’ve wanted to read a novel by Rachel Aaron since I came across her brilliant writers’ blog and how-to-guide, ‘from 2k to 10k’.  Could writing at speed really result, as she claimed, in compelling stories and flowing prose, or would the speed show up in the form of poor plotting or sloppy style?  Well, since coming across The Spirit Rebellion (book 2 in a series featuring the incorrigible thief Eli Monpress), I have my answer.  Despite the very occasional typo, The Spirit Rebellion is a superb story, well written, and I would have been proud to have produced it at any speed. Eli Monpress is an entertaining character: a roguish wizard with a penchant for befriending waifs and strays, and accumulating priceless artefacts. Miranda, apart from being a Spiritualist, is more of yo...

A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz My rating: 5 of 5 stars I think I bought this at the Romantic Novelists' Association conference in Sheffield, which means it's been sitting on my shelf an embarrassing eighteen months.  What finally prompted me to read it was my sudden fascination with steampunk, which resulted from being introduced to Lindsay Buroker's excellent 'Emperor's Edge' series.  Like the 'Emperor's Edge' series, 'Conspiracy of Alchemists' combines charming whimsy with darkly gritty realism. Pilot Elle Chance wants nothing more than to fly her airship in peace, but when she agrees to ship a mysterious box back from Paris to London, she finds herself dragged into a dangerous quest to thwart the Alchemists’ plans for world domination. Throw in a mysterious stranger, a pocket absinthe fairy and a trip aboard the Orient Express, and you have the recipe for the ultimate magical mystery tour. The historically realistic ...

Yesterday People: Book 3 of the Past Life Series by Terri Herman-Poncé My rating: 4 of 5 stars Yesterday People is the first book I've read in the Past Life series and I was a bit concerned that I would be confused starting at book 3, but the author does a great job of feeding in exactly the information you need, from the gripping, terrifying beginning, through all the twists and turns of the present-day story and the snippets of the characters' past lives. You don't need to believe in reincarnation to enjoy the clever interweaving of history and reality as the lives of the central characters play out a situation that has evolved over centuries. David Bellotti is an appealing hero who cares deeply for his partner and his daughter, and often makes the wrong decisions, but always for the right reasons. Lottie, too, is a believable, likeable character, though at times I lost sympathy with her a little when she found herself unable to resist the draw of the third person...

When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman My rating: 5 of 5 stars A wide-ranging story which could easily have taken the Austen-esque subtitle 'Love and Friendship'. Elly's relationships with her brother and best friend are at the heart of the story, but the backdrop of the story takes in many major events spanning several decades. From the death of Princess Diana to the fall of the twin towers, events are filtered through Elly's unique perspective. This is a rare story which is truly character driven yet remains totally absorbing even without a complex plot. This is mainly down to the fantastically drawn family relationships, but also the gentle, wry style of writing. Oh, and there's a rabbit. Called God. View all my reviews

What Belongs to Her by Rachel Brimble My rating: 4 of 5 stars      I thoroughly enjoyed returning to Templeton Cove for the story of Sasha Todd, manager of the fairground once owned by her family. This clearly isn't an easy situation for her, and it only gets worse when John Jordon, estranged son of the current owner, appears to take up the reins. It's obvious from the start that there is chemistry between Sasha and John, and equally obvious that neither of them will easily accept their attraction to the other.      Rachel Brimble excels at depicting the dance of a developing relationship, with all the cautious steps forward and scurries backward, and in Sasha and John she's created two people with a great many reasons to dance around each other, including Sasha's painful past and John's father's dubious business practices.      'What Belongs to Her' is an apt title in so many ways. Sasha's initial belief is that the fairground shoul...

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's not always a good idea diving into a series midway through, but Kim Harrison does a good job of feeding in all the backstory you need to make sense of this witty, witchy romp. With echoes of Janet Evanovich and Charlaine Harris in the tone, and a varied cast of supernaturals including vampires, weres, pixies and elves, there's plenty to lift 'The Good, The Bad and the Undead' above your average paranormal, including a complicated plot and a well-developed schema of magic, both good and bad. Witch and former bounty hunter, Rachel Morgan is an entertaining and likeable heroine with a reckless streak wider than a major freeway. She rooms with a vampire (reformed, but only just), enjoys challenging the authority of bad boy businessman Trent, and has a human boyfriend who conjures demons. All in all, Rachel is asking for a whole heap of trouble, and Kim Harrison makes sure she gets it. You...

What a Woman Desires by Rachel Brimble My rating: 5 of 5 stars So nice to read a historical novel with a heroine who's strong and gutsy, without being insanely anachronistic. Monica Danes left Biddestone for the bright lights of Bath's Theatre Royal after a distressing incident with an unsuitable suitor. She's vowed never to go back, and the only thing that could change her mind is the knowledge that after her father's death, her mother and sister desperately need her help. Still, she plans to make her visit as brief as possible, but fate has other plans for her. Her mother's illness, her sister's loneliness, and the terms of her father's will conspire to tie her to the village, and then of course there's Thomas, her father's former groom and right-hand man, who's so obviously destined for Monica that the question is not whether, but how, the couple can breach society's carefully constructed walls to be together. While Monica is a li...

The Next Always by Nora Roberts My rating: 5 of 5 stars I've been a Nora Roberts fan for a while and this is one of my favourites (although come to think of it, I often say that about the last one I read!) Clare and Beckett are old friends and there's no manufactured conflict between them, just a gentle journey towards making room for each other in their lives and hearts. Clare is cautious after losing her husband, a soldier, while pregnant with their third child, and Beckett is busy renovating the Inn of the title, so neither of them is looking for love, but of course, that's when love is most likely to come looking for you... With a little help from the honeysuckle-scented haunter of the Inn, they find plenty of things they're not looking for, and a thoroughly satisfying ending. View all my reviews