This book was reviewed for Lola’s Blog Tours

 

Beginnings, first in Sherrer’s Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus series contains three short stories. Labelled as two episodes and an interlude, they follow the adventures of Lily Singer and Sebastian Blackwell as they free a haunted house of it’s trapped spirits, track down missing artifacts, and protect the mundanes from abused magick. You see, Lily is a wizard, born with an innate connection to magick, and Sebastian is a witch, who relies on summoning Otherworldly beings such as the fae to aid him. His is a magick of give and take, of favours asked and perhaps given, perhaps not. Hers relies on dedicated study to hone that natural link. Lily and Sebastian couldn’t be more different. She’s an introvert, preferring the silence of her archives and the company of books. Sebastian is outgoing, and at times incorrigible. Beneath the lazy veneer though, beats an honourable heart and a generous nature.

 

Sherrer’s whip-crack humour and subtle insertions of pop-culture references such as Harry Potter and the X-Files made LL&HP:Beginnings a delightful read to devour over a rainy day. Falling into Lil and Seb’s world was a rollickin’ good ride. The stories alternate, with the two ‘episodes’ centering around Lily, and the ‘interlude’ focusing on Sebastian’s point of view. I enjoyed all three, but I think the Interlude was my favourite. Sebastian on his own is different than when he’s with Lily. You get to see more of the part of him not afraid to act tough, and be protective. Plus, more of his wit, and snarky comments. To wit:

 

‘Criminals were sadly predictably, especially those with so little self-respect as to wear their pants around their knees.’

 

I spit my tea.

 

This particular line also brought to mind an amusing snippet from American Idol trials from 2008, with the hilarious Pants on the Ground song. For your viewing pleasure. 

 

Oh yeah, and I want an eduba. So very useful!

 

My only dislike was that there were jumps in time that happened in the very next paragraph, and I would have expected a gap between the ending section and the new section that would give readers a small warning something was about to change.

???? Highly recommended for any fans of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, or the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne.