Angieville

I fell in love with Lisa Shearin 's Raine Benares series at the tail end of last year. Shearin's delightful blend of wry humor, high-speed action, and brief moments of sizzling chemistry make for highly enjoyable reads. The only problem being that they end leaving you thirsty for more. The Trouble with Demons is the third Raine Benares book and has my favorite cover (and title) so far. This girl looks more like the Raine in my head and the title is certainly...apt. There are demons galore in this one. Demons pint-sized, demons ogre-sized, demons every color of the rainbow, oh my! Raine is tired. Just last week she and her goblin more-than-friend Tam narrowly managed to foil a slew of elven assassins and now this week the demons are coming out of the woodwork. Turns out a Hell Gate has been opened, a demon queen is in search of her husband's captive soul, and the acting archmagus would love to see Raine take the fall for the entire debacle. Meanwhile, the Saghred still has ...

Two Raine Benares books down and I can say three things: first--I am officially a Lisa Shearin fan, second--I liked  Armed & Magical  just as much as (if not more than)  Magic Lost, Trouble Found , and third--it's going to be a long wait for book #3,  The Trouble with Demons , to come out the end of April. Lisa has, however, assured me that my wait will not be in vain, as book #3 will have more than enough sizzle to satisfy any Team Tam girl's needs. To be fair, she said the same will be true for Team Mychael girls, but that's neither here nor there... Armed & Magical   begins immediately after the first book ends. Raine and Co. are on the Island of Mid, restlessly holed up in the finest suite the Conclave and its Guardians have to offer. The paladin has assured Raine that someone within the magical university hierarchy will be able to help rid her of her increasingly uncomfortable link to the Saghred--the ancient, malevolent stone intent on sucking her soul dry. U...

I believe I first heard about  Magic Lost, Trouble Found  through Tia's review  over at  Fantasy Debut . In it Tia referred to  Lisa Shearin  as "the Janet Evanovich of fantasy," and, well, who doesn't want to get a piece of that action? Seriously, I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to doing just that. This series seems to be most often described as regular fantasy with a decidedly urban fantasy heroine, complete with charming (at times self deprecating) sense of humor. I would agree with this assessment. Raine's internal dialogue is very much in keeping with urban fantasy trends. She'll be the first one to tell you, she's one part disreputable imp, two parts defender of all that is good. And she can handle anything that comes her way. And the excellent part is--all kinds of heinousness comes her way and she handles it with aplomb (and the aforementioned sense of humor). Raine Benares is a seeker, finder of lost things and/or peo...