Padme's Library: Saturday's Series Spotlight: The ABCs of Spellcraft by Jordan Castillo Price Part 2

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Saturday's Series Spotlight: The ABCs of Spellcraft by Jordan Castillo Price Part 2

Something Stinks at the Spa #3
Summary:
Mineral spas are so calm and relaxing...unless they smell like a derrière at a bean-lover's convention, that is!

Dixon and Yuri have a hot tip that Uncle Fonzo is taking the waters at Spring Falls Hot Spring Spa. Not only is the spring stinky enough to make your eyes water—but the foul odor reaches peak level just as the resort is gearing up for a visit from an important critic that will make or break its reputation.

Normally, this wouldn't be Dixon’s problem...except it appears that a piece of his uncle's Spellcraft might be responsible. He can't be entirely sure, though, since that particular slip of paper managed to go through the shredder.

Dixon and Yuri pitch in to help the spa's owner appease a jilted bride, an obnoxious businessman, and the world's most boring critic while they scramble to reconstruct the shredded Spellcraft. Can they fix the wonky spell before it does any permanent damage? Or will all their efforts at saving the spa end up swirling down the drain?

The ABCs of Spellcraft is a series filled with bad jokes and good magic, where MM Romance meets Paranormal Cozy. A perky hero, a brooding love interest, and delightfully twisty-turny stories that never end up quite where you'd expect. The books are best read in order, so be sure to start at the beginning with Quill Me Now.

Dead Man's Quill #4
Summary:
It’s all fun and games until someone loses a hand.

Dixon has been dying to introduce Yuri to Uncle Fonzo, the Hand of his family, and now he’ll finally get that chance. All they need to do is meet him at a traveling carnival with an unused piece of Spellcraft.

Easy peasy, right?

Not even a little. And even worse, they might encounter a clown.

Uncle Fonzo has left a trail of magical destruction in his wake, but he claims he’s been helping people. Spellcrafters are a slippery bunch, and it’s hard to say if he’s stretching the truth or telling an outright lie. One thing’s for sure, he’s between a rock and a hard place now, and if he doesn’t deliver an outrageous ransom to Strange Manor by midnight, all deals are off.

From a lackluster carnival with a booby-trapped tour bus to the decrepit mausoleum behind an old mental asylum, the Spellcraft leads Dixon and Yuri on a goose chase that’s not only wild…but deadly.

The ABCs of Spellcraft is a series filled with bad jokes and good magic, where MM Romance meets Paranormal Cozy. A perky hero, a brooding love interest, and delightfully twisty-turny stories that never end up quite where you'd expect. The books are best read in order, so be sure to start at the beginning with Quill Me Now.

Something Stinks at the Spa #3
Original Review July 2019:
Honestly I didn't think the author could make the adventures, or should I say misadventures, of Dixon and Yuri any more fun and zany than they were in Trouble in Taco Town. Boy was I wrong!

We see Dixon and Yuri continue their quest to find Dixon's Uncle Fonzo and this time they find themselves in a not-so-sweet spa in this entry so aptly titled, Something Stinks at the Spa. I won't go into details because it really is an adventure you need to experience to grasp the full effect of what these boys face. What started out as a find-the-lost-relative quest has become multiple stops on the find-him-and-clean-up-his-mess map. Trust me what the boys find themselves in may be one zany spell after another but it will grab you and not let go till they discover the next clue to Uncle Fonzo's trail.

As for the romance part of this series, well Dixon and Yuri really shouldn't mesh but they do and perhaps their relationship isn't growing by leaps and bounds from one entry to the next, it is deepening. I don't think anyone who has been reading this series doubts the connection between the two and even when their love story takes a backseat to fixing Fonzo's spells, it is still there and getting stronger with each page.

They say comedy is the hardest thing to write and I can certainly see how that can be true well, Jordan Castillo Price has not only written a novella series that is ripe with adventure and romance but is chock full of humor. I for one can't wait to see where Uncle Fonzo's spells lead Dixon and Yuri next.

So much goodness packed into so few pages that make The ABCs of Spellcraft a must read but it is most definitely a series that needs to be read in order. I realize that a short story series that has an ongoing plot isn't for everyone or that some might think the author should put them into one book instead of "spread out in small increments", perhaps some authors should. HOWEVER, for me these kinds of short story connected series bring to the table a bit of nostalgia for the old movie serials of the 30s and 40s that got the population through the Great Depression and World War 2. For that feeling of nostalgia(to be honest they were way before my time but my parents collect them on DVD/Blu-Ray so I've watched & enjoyed the simplicity of the genre) alone I salute Jordan Castillo Price for telling Dixon and Yuri's journey in this manner.

Dead Man's Quill #4
Original Review September 2019:
Here I thought all the entries in The ABCs of Spellcraft were brilliant(okay they all really are topnotch) but Dead Man's Quill is beyond brilliant, its . . . super-super-uber-brilliant😉😉. Everything we've learned so far makes sense, not that it didn't fit each story before but now everything is brought together and we see what got Uncle Fonzo's journey going.

Dixon and Yuri are as vibrant as ever and their relationship just keeps getting stronger. There have been moments in the series that I wasn't sure if I wanted them to find Uncle Fonzo but now that they did, I'm glad because he adds his own variety of wit to the mix. We see just why Dixon has been so focused on bringing his Uncle back to the fold and Yuri's glad to see his man happy but I think there might be a few times where he's not quite so sure finding Fonzo was the best decision😉, however you'll have to read for yourself if he sticks to that chain of thought by the end of Dead Man's Quill.

You all know I'm not going to divulge any spoilers and in a story like Dead Man's Quill every little tidbit has a purpose so no leaks from me, sorry-not-sorry😉. Just know that Dixon and Yuri's tale is not over, this isn't the end of the road for them, just the end of this story arc. So many possibilities, I can't wait to see where the boys' journey takes them next. If you wondering about reading order, yes each entry has its own plot, it's own series of mishaps but they are also part of bigger quest so it really does need to be experienced in the order that its released. Trust me, if you like quirky romantic mysteries bound together with magic and humor than The ABCs of Spellcraft is definitely for you.

RATING:

The ABCs of Spellcraft Collection Vol 1
Summary:
Dixon Penn’s family wasn’t terribly shocked when he announced he was gay, but they were devastated to learn he’s the only one without the gift of Spellcraft. Fortunately, that doesn’t stop Spellcraft from reaching out to him.

Dixon’s prospects have gone from bad to worse, but a contest at the biggest greeting card company in the tri-state area would be just the thing to turn his luck around. So what if he’s not technically a Spellcrafter—he’s been scribing pretty words and phrases all his life. How could anyone possibly write a better verse than him?

Yuri Volnikov, the taciturn Russian security guard at Precious Greetings, is determined to keep the charming contestant out. But Dixon has always been a sucker for big guys with exotic accents, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Whether or not Dixon wins the prize he hopes for, when he and Yuri work their magic together, it’s clear that luck is on their side.

The ABCs of Spellcraft is a series filled with bad jokes and good magic, where MM Romance meets Paranormal Cozy. A perky hero, a brooding love interest, and delightfully twisty-turny stories that never end up quite where you’d expect.

This collection contains the first five stories in The ABCs of Spellcraft series: Quill Me Now, All that Glitters, Trouble in Taco Town, Something Stinks at the Spa, and Dead Man’s Quill.

Saturday's Series Spotlight Part 1

Author Bio:
Author and artist Jordan Castillo Price is the owner of JCP Books LLC. Her paranormal thrillers are colored by her time in the midwest, from inner city Chicago, to small town Wisconsin, to liberal Madison.

Jordan is best known as the author of the PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who's plagued by ghostly visitations. Also check out her new series, Mnevermind, where memories are made...one client at a time.

With her education in fine arts and practical experience as a graphic designer, Jordan set out to create high quality ebooks with lavish cover art, quality editing and gripping content. The result is JCP Books, offering stories you'll want to read again and again.