The slow editorial trudge continues.
Saturday:
Sunday:
Mod R is my witness, I keep cutting and cutting and somehow there are more words.
Thank you for all of the encouragement. You guys are too nice!
I received an interesting question the other day: if you could choose a comfort read among your books, what would you choose?
It’s probably Silver Shark for me. It grew out of my experiences more than any other. Don’t get me wrong, when I think about my childhood, it’s sun-filled and bright. The garden, the flowers, the River Street with the huge river flowing slowly past, the parks, the friends…
However, the older I grew, the more aware I became and the bleaker my life looked. It’s normal for teenagers to be nihilistic, but everything was truly falling apart by the time I was 14, and it only got worse from there. My adolescence is desaturated in my memories.
I had a chance to Google-drive past the house where I grew up, and it was in ruins. It really hammered home the point: that life is over. The place of my childhood exists only in my memories. It’s bittersweet, but the place where I live now is wonderful. It’s vivid, and bright, and I’m grateful for it. Yes, US has its problems, and I will complain about them as much as any American, but it’s a huge upgrade compared to the life I left behind.
Which brings me to another question:
Could we get a post sometime where folks share their favorite comfort read portions of House Andrews books?
This sounds like fun. Of everything we’ve written, what scenes or books do you go to when you need a little bit of comfort? One lucky commenter will get a signed book from our shelves.
Please don’t recommend other authors, as we will have a separate thread for that.
Hidden Legacy, for sure! Book 1 is especially hilarious but also moving – my favorite combo!
– Peaches / SPLAT!!
– The ferret heist!
I love them all!!! My go to is Magic Bites.. when Kate first meets Curran. Here Kitty, Kitty. Solid Gold.
The entire Kate Daniels series is a favorite comfort read of mine. I’ve gone back, several times now, and re-read the whole main series over a week or two (1+ book a day 😅) when I need some escapism but also need comfort and familiarity.
When I don’t want to commit to rereading a full series, Sweep of the Blade or Magic Bleeds.
I have several go-to scenes, depending on what kind of comfort I want.
I think the first HA piece I ever read was Silent Blade, probably in an anthology. I lost track of it for a while, and it *haunted* me–especially the scene where Carvano confronts Meli after figuring out who she was. SUCH a good apology scene, and she doesn’t just cave! Pure catharsis. And then the following scene brings hope back into the world. I was so glad when I found the story again that I read it through twice immediately and re-read that pair of scenes a few more times…I may also have made my husband read it immediately.
I also love any of the scenes where someone’s competence and general awesomeness are acknowledged by someone who previously underestimated them. I think that’s why, like many others, I love Sweep of the Blade–it has several of these scenes. Favorites there include when the House Scribe asks for Maud’s story (“It seems Lady Maud and I have gotten off on the wrong foot”) and she tells the story of becoming Sarev, and when Karat first meets Maud and Helen (“She would attack me if I tried, wouldn’t she? She’s building up enough bounce to jump across the room.”)
Silver Shark is also a favorite when the ills of the world are weighing on me. I think about Rada’s immigration program often, and wish our world could institute a similarly sensible approach to refugees (and just humanity in general). I especially love the scene where Claire is buying fruit, wanting to try one of everything, and her neighbor tells her that her hair is too bright. Something about how Claire can recognize that the neighbor is trying to be kind, but also that she (Claire) doesn’t have to live by those constraints anymore along with the gentle support of the fruit seller gets me every time.
For just plain laughing out loud and delighting in tour-de-force writing, I love any scene between Bug and Catalina. Also the scene where Catalina imagines Bug’s dialogue.
Mine is the free fiction “A Bit More Roman
I always always go to this section of Emerald Blaze as it makes me feel like love will win out over it all and Alessandro’s devotion gives me chills! I would love to have a person in my life that cherishes me the way Alessandro cherishes Catalina. I love everything about their relationship and feel like they are true partners and equals in it.
“I pulled out my phone, found Alessandro’s number, and texted him.
Where are you?
Where do you need me to be?”
So much is conveyed in those two little sentences. Wow House Andrews! Just wow!
My comfort book is definitely Bayou Moon.
I love the entire Edge universe, but Cerise and William’s story just resonated with me.
The part where she asks him if he is a spy, and she just accepts him as he is, broken and all, because she sees him for who he is, that just makes me fall in love with the story all over again.
Honestly, Magic bites. it’s the first book I read of yours. I don’t even need to reread, Ive practically memorised it at this point. Trigger words for happy thoughts… Boones Farm and here kitty kitty 🤣
Absolutely!!!
For comfort reads I usually go for Hidden Legacy. There are so many gems in that series, the infamous ferret heist probably being the best for cheering-up purposes. I also like Gunmetal Magic, probably because if someone as screwed up as Andrea can find peace and happiness anyone can!
The rescue of Ghastek and Kate from Mishmar. The themes of putting others first for friendship, love or just being the right thing to do…especially Christopher.
The first conversation between Christopher and Kate after he manifests as Deimos in Magic Binds. They both know Roland the best (at this point in the story) and can empathize with one another. I loved the reintroduction of themselves they did. But what I really appreciated was when Kate asked about what he will do now. He replies, “When you fight your father, I will soar above you. I want to be the last thing he sees before he dies.”
So glad he was able to remember that he could fly! ♥️
Iron and Magic. I know Hugh started as a villain but my inner child is tired of being brave and Hugh is a protector and for a while I spent every lunch hour rereading this book over and over again.
+1
my favorite go to book is White Hot. it’s so funny and so romantic and I just love listening to Rogan try to explain the lack of bullshit in his life. I can listen to that book over and over.
I love everything written by HA, but for comfort reads, I always head back to the innkeeper series. The first book especially. I don’t know why that book is like wrapping myself in a warm blanket. I think it might be Dina’s demeanor that comforts me. She always comes across as so well centered.
It depends on my mood, but if I had to pick just one, it’s either Cerise and Lord Bill or Audrey and Kaldar that I go to.
Something about the liminal space represented by the edge, the culture clash across the Weird and Broken, and the pure intelligence, will, and general bad-assery of these women really resonate with me. Plus, there’s bonus Gaston, George, and Jack.
I think I’ve posted it before here, but often rereading one world leads me to reread another. For example, the Edge might take me to Innkeeper, which sends me over to HL, which detours me to Jesse Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion, and then the whole cycle starts over at Kate.
Kinsmen is the one I can’t quite keep on the list – probably because I lurve long books and those are so short. Catalina and Augustine are other favorites though – I have the ferret heist mousepad hehe.
When I’m feeling alone or even just in a reading rut, I reread the Hidden Legacy series. The sense of close-knit, ride or die family is everything I’ve ever wanted, and it’s very comforting to read about.
Hi,
I don’t contribute often,
My soft spot House Andrews series is The Edge. It was the first series of books I read from you, and I was charmed and captivated.
But my reread fav is definitely Kate and Curran. I love all the stories but their dynamic and the way their respect for each other grows… They show a very mature relationship that can still be excruciatingly childish at times. A wonder!
Thank you so much for so many hours of immersive listening. You both are the best.
Please don’t include me in the draw, I only listen to books now.
Gunmetal Magic.
I read it with a friend, we finished and had a long huge call about it and the KD series overall, scant hours before he died.
We laughed so much, and he enjoyed it so thoroughly that it has somehow become the comfort read when I miss him and yearn to be back hearing his perspective on this absurd life.
It’s not my favorite but it’s the one that gives me comfort.
I really love them all but when I need a boost I tend to jump on the shorter story ones like Grace of Small Magics or the Kinsmen universe unless I’m planning on re-reading the larger series.
One of my favorite comfort reads of yours has actually become my “bedtime story” . I thankfully remembered recently (just in the nick of time) that of the most comforting moments of my childhoof was just the act of falling asleep while listening to my parents read to me a tale. I used that memory of comfort and decided to use audible while I fell asleep to try to ease my new found adult anxiety/racing thoughts/ insomnia. It works as a charm- if i have the right story. And the right story for me is Sweep of the Heart starting at Chapter 10. There is something so soothing listening to a story that 1) stars a magic house that loves you 2)has descriptions about wide variety of different aliens 3)has descriptions of perfect systems in place to make those varied aliens happy and also keeping everyone safe (th type Apersonality in my LOVES this) 4) knowing how welling everything turns out in the end.
I just love it. And I love how it sometimes influences my dreams.
p.s. it took me a while to find which IA worked best. may I warn people against KD # 8 Magic Shifts, if they want to try this Adult nighttime story. I started with KD as they are my ultimate favorite but waking up to, “MEAT! MEAT! …MEAT” is not the so comforting.
Sapphire Flames is the most re-read book on my shelf. Although I will read the entirety of Emerald Blaze for Catalina’s angry confession that she speaks Italian.
But no, it’s Sapphire Flames. Catalina making her first true friend, gobstopping the Count, the hell pepper, the behind the scenes love story with Bern, the invisible man, TEXAS… I love how the entire world keeps generating madness off screen and Catalina just brushes against it while dealing with assassin fueled chaos. It’s my favorite. I know there’s a HEA for her even if it doesn’t happen in book one. The bad guys get beaten, the good people are safe, lessons are learned.
I wanna snuggle with my dog and a fuzzy blanket and read it again.
Of Swine and Roses. It’s short, but that makes it better. Somehow it’s the beginning of a story, but I don’t need the rest of it. What’s there is so full of family, and strength, and hope, that I know they’re not only going to be okay, they’re going to be happy too. It’s a lively little mood boost whenever I need one.
I have re-read Hidden Legacy many times, I have re-listened to Hidden Legacy many times. Feeling low or off or down, pick up Nevada, and whoa life is good, it is a great read and so much fun. I love the characters, the relationships and the intrique. I was one of many I think who had no clue who Caesar was until the Arabella Aunt story. You can put the obvious in front of me and I will not see it. Thank you to both of you and your whole team, I am eternally grateful for your writing and hope and wish many more years of listening and reading your amazing words.
I re-read all of your books, but if I’m looking for a comfort read, I go for the Innkeeper series.
I just listened to the audio books for Hidden Legacy. Prior to this I read the kindle versions. Slipping back into House Andrews’ worlds is a comforting escape at any time. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve reread the different series, or listened. Now that we’ve stopped moving around, I will start looking for hard copies of the books.
Favorite comfort read is Innkeeper 3 One Fell Sweep; comfort listen is Kinsmen Universe Fates Blades
I love all House Andrews books but I think that the Innkeeper series is my comfort read. I laugh out loud the most with this series (the same quotes get me every time). It’s also the only series that will truly make me cry (AHHHH! the baby Inn 😭😭😭) and then laugh while I still have tears on my face. It’s cathartic and a wonderful way to wind down my brain and anxiety levels (didn’t say I was anxious. Nothing to see here 👀). As far as characters, I probably identify the most with Catalina in the Hidden Legacy series and having to step out of my comfort zone to lead. But Innkeeper forever has my heart. I imagine what my room would be like as a guest in the Inn, roam the gardens, and have Orro’s eggs three ways. All the other worlds would probably terrify me but I think I would like to be a forever guest of the Inn like Caldenia.
ALL of Iron and Magic!!!
If I just want a quick read Silver Shark. If I have time for something a little longer my pick is Sweep of the Blade. I love both and have read them many times.
Interestingly, Silver Shark is also my comfort read. I love the whole kinsmen world (always up for more short stories there!), and it’s an easy and highly satisfying read when I’m stressed. I recognized the echoes of Ilona’s experiences in it, and they also echo mine, but in a different way. My adolescence and 20s were suffocated by an oppressive religious environment and way of thought that I didn’t know how to escape from (and couldn’t admit I needed to escape from at first). Coming out of it, the world took on new life and offered a sense of wonder that I struggled to find previously. In that sense, I highly relate to Claire’s journey. It reminds me of the joy of being able to finally choose for myself and enjoy life as I pleased.
SWEEP OF THE BLADE. Between the rescue and Ripper Cushions, I always get happy and smile.
I like reading about the vampires getting drunk on coffee 🙂
Sweep of the blade, then Silver Shark.But, I am having some health challenges right now, and I am listening to the Baylor under my pillow when I am sleeing.
It’s tough to choose just one, but I have to go with Sweep of the Blade. That book just makes me feel better.
As someone who has taken the past two months to read through ALL the Kate Daniels books for the first time – I’m going to say:
Iron and Magic. There’s something wildly comforting about watching two people who feel “wrong,” find their place, find each other, and find themselves surrounded by lots of people who respect and accept and care for them too. And their banter makes me laugh. Laughter is medicine.
Blood Heir. I love this book so much. A story about a girl who doesn’t know who she is anymore and thinks she can never really go home. Every time someone recognized her, or spoke to her as Julie, I wanted to cry. And as much as the ending makes me crazy desperate for the next book, I actually like that there’s still things that are unresolved – because everything still kind of ends on an uplifting note.
I would have to say the innkeeper series. I just love all the characters and how they interact. I absolutely adore the heartwarming and hilarious memory of Dina’s father in the car with her mother. I laugh out loud every time I read:
One time we were on the road and a giant semi veered a little too close. He’d screamed, “Jesu, Helen, turn the horses!” and then spent the rest of the day being embarrassed about it.
I also adore Orro and his dramatics. It’s all so delightful. These are yummy books.
My favorite reread is definitely Hidden Legacy, especially Catalina’s arc. I love seeing the sisters grow and become more confident in their abilities.
Definitely Kate Daniels series as a whole, but specifically Magic Strikes. My favorite scene is when Kate and the others go into their fight and they’re supposed to fly under the radar. But instead they absolutely decimate their opponents in hilarious ways and Jim snaps his clipboard, lol.
For me, it’s magic strikes where you really see kate and Curran recognize this is something and then magic triumphs and Conlan. Everything conlan. My babies are 5 and 3 so it all just resonates
I reread everything several times a year, but I listen to Sweep of the Blade at least once a month from start to finish, and don’t even count how many time I put on the favorite parts when I need a short break. I love when Helen with her little daggers threatened to kill Illemina if she hurt her mom.
Children in house Andrew’s book are so talented; Conlan made blood claws when he was a baby; Arthur kinectically assembled a gun in the air using his grandma yarn and yarn swift (great imagination here).
I am patiently waiting for Maud’s next book; hopefully we get a scence where house Ervan need a favor from house Krahr or some such, and Maud’s former mother in law get to meet house Krahr’s Maven. Ooh… I can’t wait.
Maud’s former mother-in-law meeting House Krahr’s Maven? Oh that would be absolutely delicious!
Iron and magic is my top comfort read (one among many of yours admittedly)
”She came for him. She threw caution to the wind, displayed her power, and came to get him away from Nez. She faced Roland for him and would’ve fought him. Hugh never expected it. She should’ve left him to rot, yet she pulled him out of there and somehow dragged him to the castle. Nobody, in his entire life, would’ve done it for him, except for his Iron Dogs.”
Love This As Well! I can relate to how Hugh Feels, as no one but my husband has ever stood up for me!
My comfort read is the innkeeper chronicles. And hidden legacy. Both set in Texas and because I live here it’s familiar. Like putting on a favorite sweater.
Innkeeper series, especially book 1.
Silent Blade! It is short so you can read it as a quick pick me up. There is something about the story that I just adore. She uses all the skills she developed learning to be a good wife to later get him to fall in love with her. It is poetic justice at it’s finest but also happily ever after! Just makes me happy and warm inside!
I love everything about Kate!
I re-read the books so many times that Kate and Curran do feel like my extended family. I missed so much knowing what happened to them after Atlanta and the Wilmington Years books were a wonderful surprise – except for the covers because Luisa’s Small Magics Kate is it for me 😉
It’s hard to choose between my first love of your series Kate Daniel’s and the Hidden legacies and Innkeeper series. But I recently re-read them. So for now Clean Sweep wins out.
My comfort read(s) is/are The Wilmington Years novellas, they are absolutely delightful!
My no. 1 book is One Fell Sweep, followed by Sweep of the Blade. So many great moments in all of them.
A few from those: Maud’s rescue; making the special Hiru room; Helen offering the Hiru a Christmas ornament “now you have something”; everyone reaching out to Dina when she’s comatose “please, small human”; the final showdown at the Inn “so I would snap out of it” “not in my Inn!”
Fated Blades if I’m looking for a short read. A perfect little novella – especially the part where they first work together, both on the business front and to break into the compound (fighting through the goons), and the final reveal of their connection at the end (big fight showdown).
Favourite scenes from other series, in no particular order:
1) Curran coming after Kate in book 6 – the lion bounding through the hills, crouching down to say “punch me in the face or something”…
2) Hidden Legacy – the Baylor sisters at the trials – culminating with Arabella and math 🤣
3) Edge 1 – William discovering Jack lives with his family
4) Magic Tides – the whole opening, especially Curran’s reaction to Kate leaving “will you be back for dinner?” and “happy wife, happy life”… then explaining to his contractor why they need to prepare for a siege
I honestly love them all, but if I had to pick one, it would be the Innkeeper series (I can’t pick just one of them!). Though the setting is far from my everyday life, I love how Dina, Sean and their friends and family feel like real people. And the growth! Watching how they have all grown, in confidence, themselves, relationships, is just great. And of course, the books are just amazing – fantastic plot, funny, heart breaking, phenomenal.
Clean Sweep!!!!
I love all of your books and have reread at least once all of them but The Innkeeper Chronicles hold an extremely special place in my heart. It’s not just my comfort read from among your books but one of my all time favourite from all the books I’ve read.
P.S. I rarely post here but I truly appreciate you 🙂 and can’t wait to read your new book even if it has 2000 pages!
I’ve been relistening to the Graphic audio of Magic burns. There is a section where Kate is talking to Curran about Myong and why she support’s Myong’s relationship with Crest. She talks about the things she doesn’t get to have. That moment coupled with the moment at the end of the book are the things that I go back to. The fact that someone listened and took in the impact of what you said and remembered it. The coupling of those two scenes with everything else that is going on in that book is a big part of why those sections in particular is a comfort read for me.
Sweep with Me. When life is all loss and fear, I can pick up this book and be wrapped in Sean and Dina’s love and the joy of Treaty Day. The humor, the warmth, the comfort- this is where I find it.
So hard to choose one portion of one book, as all your series are my go-to comfort reads (one after the other on audio). Today, I would choose the ferret heist scene. Tomorrow might be totally different, depending on what I have listened to most recently.
+1
My favorite is the first part of Clean Sweep, when Shawn is in the orchard. I crack up every time. 🙂
Poor apple tree
Not poisonous
My comfort read is Magic Strikes which inevitably leads me to rereading Magic Bleeds and then might as well just reread the highlight reels from Kate and Curran’s relationship from there.
For me, it is the Innkeeper that I lean most into as a comfort read, though to be fair, I re-read all of the IA library pretty regularly. But when I think comfort read, I think Innkeeper … Dina with this amazing home that she loves, and that loves her in return. Her story at the simplest level is just defending her home and helping it to thrive. Making it a sanctuary, which is something I try to do with my home too. Just not as successfully as Dina, sadly. 🙂 And then finding a partner that fits into that home as if he was made for it. Mmmm, comfort.
I have tinitis. At night I block it out by listening to Sweep of the Blade. I have to read and listened to it many many times. Love the story line and characters.
It isn’t one book, but most of them. I will cherry pick scenes, depending on my mood, from the books to comfort read.
I think my comfort read could be the entire Kate Daniels series. she’s everything I’m not. brave and strong with the ability to kick lots of butt. Meanwhile I’m a giant chicken who’s scared of everything, and cries when I’m angry instead of just being able to get mad. Kate helps me remember that both events and emotions pass. Even the way you feel about someone can change (Hugh). You learn from them and move on.
Being scared isn’t the opposite of brave and tears are rarely as bad as we want to make them out to be. It’s the facing up to those items and continuing on that is bravery. You got this! Proud of you!
White Hot…especially the epilogue. I think about Rogan breaking the snowballs apart before they hit Nevada so often.
It’s funny you ask this because the entire collection is my comfort place but if I had to pick just one it would probably be clean sweeps
For me, it’s the bathtub scene with Kate and Curran during the Midnight Games.
and just both of them. Their very real-life relationship.
I love a comfort read, something that takes me to a time and place, whether it be when and where I read the book, or within the book.
The Innkeeper series, specifically Mauds story, is my fav comfort read – I’ve revisited this book so many times now. Maud is strong, pragmatic, fierce, intelligent and so vulnerable. I love the conversation she has with Karat when she first arrives on the planet, pointing out how refreshing her welcome is. 😀
Sooo many scenes, and yes, the Hidden Legacy and Innkeeper books are especially thick with them.
But, I keep coming back to Julie’s troubles at boarding school, solved when Kate and Raphael ride up in full regalia. (“Those runes on the sword don’t do anything.” “But they look impressive.”)
I’ve listened to Iron & Magics audio 6 times now, and I have to restrain myself from going back more often because I don’t want to overdo it. the entire innkeeper series is also something I relisten to when I get into a slump trying to find a new great book, and I need something I know I’m going to love.
My go-to lately has been the scene from Magic Triumphs where Kate eliminates the sahanu. Some days the idea of locking all your problems into a small space and chopping them into tiny pieces with a sword is a little too appealing!!
Arabella threatening to stuff Michael’s bill up his backside, and Catalina being so horrified by the thought, she has to call on Nevada to talk Arabella down, makes me smile every time I read it or think about it.
Sweep of the Blade
I’m not sure which part I’d call a comfort read, though Dina and Helen unpacking ornaments and then the Hiru walk in. There’s something lovely about that.
My current favorite scene is Sean v the space pirates. Sling-shotting himself onto the ship, cutting his way in and destroying the crew. Just something you do. la la. I swear it was longer the first time I read it.
I also enjoy the GA versions (Orro! omg), the audio makes it easy to listen to the Kahari bar fight from Dina’s POV in book 3 and then from Maude’s POV in book 4. Sooo fun.
Every House Andrews book, depending on what I need comfort for. Faves are Iron and Magic coz Hugh redemption and I love why the book came about (BDH win, thank you so so much HA) and also Fated Blades, funny and romantic and I adore Matias and Ramona!
Kate Daniel’s is My Comfort Go To. Depending what I need comfort from or for decides what book I choose. In my Job I’m known for the amount of books I consume, and get asked for recommends all the time and the scene I use to sell the series, Without spoilers, is the Here Kitty, Kitty. So far its work all 11 times, We now have a informal book club around the series at our store!
Innkeeper- the Costco scene. I still laugh every time I read. I loved that we got to meet the woman who helped later on.🤣
.
Probably my biggest Ilona comfort read is either The Edge or Burn for Me. I have a big family (so I love the family in Hidden Legacy) and we grew up poor.
Most fantasy books, the characters play at being poor. Or they are poor, but the author obviously doesn’t know what that MEANS. The descriptions seem either overwrought or cliche. But the Edge is different.
When I was 18 my dad lost his job. I worked 2 full time retail jobs for 3 months while he took every pizza delivery job he could get. One day my little sister (15) pulled me aside and pointed out that my little brother (14)- who was starting high school in 2 weeks – had outgrown all his clothes. They were too short, too tight, too small – just didn’t fit. So I took all the money I could scrape together from my two jobs after having bought groceries and went with sis to JC Pennys to get him jeans and shirts that fit, damn it.
I can’t read the first page of The Edge without crying. Jacks shoes get me every time. I KNOW what that feels like. So weirdly, it’s a comfort read. Because it feels like Ilona knows exactly what that feels like too, and there is a happy ending to Roses story.
+1
Putting duck tape around the front of my “skips” ( cheap plain keds/ converse) to keep them from falling apart and drawing on the tape. Thats what I remember most from middle school.
I love the first time we get to see Sean’s reaction to the space chickens.
Hidden Legacy for me, definitely my cleanser series. I have just started it again now..for the second re read this year
Kinsman for me too. Silent Blade was my favorite comfort read until Silver Shark came out, and now it’s my favorite. That scene where Claire is trying to cut the unfamiliar fruits/vegetables and learn to cook reminds me of every time I’ve moved and struggled to find my footing. Her perseverance is reassuring!
I try not to buy physical books because I move around quite a bit and books are heavy, but I regret not getting the Subterranean Press special edition with both stories (and Luisa’s illustrations!).
I don’t know if it qualifies as ‘comfort’ but Kate yelling back at Roland that her lineage is longer than his by one… that moment always gives me goosebumps and fills me up with so much pride. I didn’t come from great parents and it’s very empowering to know that cutting myself off from them, denying and rejecting everything about my history isn’t the only option to help bring forth a break in the cycle, to help build my life into what I want it to be, to be the type of parent I want to be.
Love them all, but probably the comfort read is either Silver Shark for something short and then the Inn Keeper series because the main characters are wonderful , and the supporting characters are so rich too. I love how sentient the Inn is itself !! My grandmother’s house was haunted as it was built next to an old road called “Stage Coach Road” and a cemetery plus its right near a Civil war site. It’s not far from Hurricane Mills which was Loretta Lynn’s house and her house was haunted as its next to a Civil War site as well.
Good luck with the edits. I am so excited this new book and can’t wait to read it!
Cheerio,
Melissa
My comfort read is definitely one of the Kate Daniel’s books, I think the one right after they step down from the pack. I know it’s stressful for Kate, but she’s finally not hiding (not completely at least) and being true to herself and I love it. I also love how so many people follow her and she just doesn’t realize how much people truly love her.
sweep in peace, the number of my friends who I have subjected to the audiobook is ridiculous.
Hmmm my comfort comes from beginning to reread Kate Daniels from the first book to the last really, I can’t point to a particular scene but the whole series itself is my comfort read. It’s such a joy! The new Kate Daniels books in particular would be big comfort reads. Similarly with Deana’s series.
I’ll read any of your series for comfort. I’d be hard pressed to pick just one.
I can’t thank you enough for that!
I love this moment in Ruby Fever.
She kissed my hair. I almost cried. She used to hug me like this every time my magic leaked, and someone lost themselves to obsessing over me. She would hold me and tell me that it would be okay, that with practice I would get better. Mom always believed in me without any doubt. “You and your sisters, you three are so different, and somehow you’re all the same.”“How are we the same?”“All of you can do anything you want if only you manage to get out of your own way. You especially. You need to get out of your own head, Catalina. You overthink everything. Put yourself on rails and go forward.”“Okay,” I promised.
Haha, that moment in the Kate books when Saiman dresses her up to flaunt her in Curran’s face. At the restaurant that is used as a meeting ground and Curran gets riled up and Kate is so angry and Saiman is drunk. I particularly love the chase scene between Kate and Curran.
and what comes after of course 🙂
Oh my, I think it would be Arland, drunk on coffee, running about naked among the apple trees.
Then I would have another mug of coffee.
I reread Maude’s book because it gives me all the feels (and the giggles, too)!
I also love the ferret heist for obvious reasons…I had 6 ferrets! I sure do miss my carpet sharks.
Ohh yes, the ferrit heist!
My favorite reread scene is when Kate & Curran asked Roman to officiate their wedding. I thought the whole scene was hilarious and very sweet. And you could tell that he seriously appreciated the opportunity to marry them. He went all in.
+1!!!
Everything that you write gets read about 3 times a year (it saves me as I read 1-3 books a day)so much so that I have my reading copies that after a few reads I trade for better, and a whole other set that has all been signed.
For the longest time, it was just Hidden Legacy — esp Burn for Me as every Neveda/Rogan interaction gave me squeals and i’d get so caught up in it i want to google people from the universe to find their herald entries when i was doing long drives with the audio (esp Rhinda Charles)
Then the Innkeepers, but esp Sweep of the Blade carried me away. I chuckle deeply just remembering the strong face as Arland walked between the stair wells but Maud carrying him (basically) anytime anyone couldn’t see them after he took on the mass of warriors.
Recently Fated Blades — and the dancing in the forest as well as the battle dance at the end and the not-quite-merging of the companies at the end just sends me into a fit of warm fuzzies.
Sorry. Can’t pick just one.
I can’t decide if it’s the Innkeeper, Hidden Legacy, or Kate Daniel series. It all depends on the situation
My most random favorite: a scene from (I think) Magic Breaks, when Kate is on her donkey crossing the city with Derek and Ascanio, who are sniping at each other, but take a break to make fun of her heavy footsteps. It’s such a completely funny non-eventful moment.
I love to re-read Magic Breaks from the Kate Daniel’s series. I really feel that that book in particular is probably the most well done urban fantasy book I’ve ever read. It hits all the notes for me, and I often compare it to others, which sadly, do not measure up. But hope springs eternal and I’m always on the hunt for the next, Magic Breaks.
I always go back to Catalina’s books in Hidden Legacy! Something about who she is as a character really connects with me and I enjoy reading her story arc.
My favorite is Sweep of the Blade, Maud’s character resonates with me on so many levels, especially her love and devotion to Helen.
I come back most to the scene where Maud fights Lady Ilemina. Maud is such a wonderful mother and as my own 3 girls are growing I appreciate her character more and more. Thank you!
For the most part, I don’t reread books. But I have read On the Edge 3 times. It’s definitely a comfort read for me. The characters go from desperate to finding friends, making a home, coming of age…happily ever after. It has everything I need in a book. Heroes, family, heroine, working for hope, health and happiness. There’s bits of found family, certainly romance, but mostly it’s a book full of love.
I listen to the Kate Daniels series. Sometimes from top to bottom, but Book 4 is my favorite because Kate and Curran finally get together.
I go to the food scenes. Kate making breakfast, Nevada sitting in the kitchen in a white dress eating tacos. Stuff like that. Homey bits are nice pauses in all the ‘things are blowing up, we need to stop the bad guy” events in the rest of the book
Magic Brakes, when Ghastek learns who she really is:
“I looked into the power roaring into my face. “Father.”
“Father?” someone squeaked to the left. Ghastek might have just had a heart attack.”
Last night I pulled out Gunmetal Magic. Over the course of the evening, I opened it randomly and read three parts that seem to be my favorites: the fight with Andrea and Roman on the bridge, ending with them arriving at her apartment, Kate and Andrea decorating Raphael’s house and their subsequent make up, and the entire finale, starting just before the Michelle scene.
I also like the part where Andrea becomes the Bouda beta and gets Kamal et al out of jail.
I would have to say the “Bad HoBo” scene in Bayou Moon is a favorite in our home. That being said all of your books are a comfort for me. You have this wonderful sense of family and what it should mean. Not every person you right has this trait. Rose Drayton’s dad for example. But from Rose and Grandma stepping it up for their boys, to Kate and Curran’s love and support of Julie, to The relationships between Penelope and Navada, their love for one another is tangible. I have learned o lot about love, the below the surface kind, from your books. Things I didn’t even realize that I needed to learn. I find myself quoting things from your books to my children. I have thanked you before for creating these amazing worlds that are fascinating to read about, but this time I would like to thank you for creating amazing relationships that I can learn from. Thank You!
It’s the Innkeeper Series and how the relationships develop. My favorite is when Dena goes to recruit Oro (Sorry about the spelling, I only listen to the books). Her sense of his needs and how to engage him is wonderful and I aspire to that level of understanding of others.