Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde Series: Magic after Midlife #1
on March 15, 2021
Genres: Paranormal
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon
It’s official. Miriam Feldman is killing it in the midlife crisis department. She’s mastered boredom, aced invisibility, and graduated Summa Cum Laude in smiling and playing nice in her post-divorce life. But when a drink with a “good guy” goes sideways, Miriam snaps, and in a cold dark rage unleashes a rare and powerful shadow magic.
To make matters worse, her best friend goes missing and Miri is thrust into a world of hidden magic, vampires, and a legacy of hatred aimed directly at her. Hard to say which is more dangerous, this spiderweb of supernatural power plays, the grumpy French wolf shifter she’s teamed up with, or Miri herself, kicking butt and rediscovering the woman who got lost along the way.
But lines get blurred in the shadows, and if she’s not careful, she could lose everyone she loves. She’ll have to turn her invisibility into strength and pray they never see her coming.
Forty isn’t the new twenty. It’s better.
Throwing Shade is the first book in Magic After Midlife series, following a heroine in her forties that is figuring out that there is still life to be had in her mid-life. Miriam seems to have conquered being divorced and co-parenting but she is now going to add some magic into her life and that will shuffle things up good.
Miri seems like your everyday mom making things work for her and her kid. She goes to work and is in a book club for fun. But when her best friend goes missing and she is attacked, the magic she has been pushing down for decades comes snapping back and opens her eyes to the world around her. It also introduces her to Laurent, a grumpy French wolf who seems to have an interesting past and could be someone Miri might be able to form some kind of connection to.
The world in this is set in Vancouver Canada and most of the magic seems Hebrew mythos based. I don’t have a strong background in that so I’m not sure if it is following established lore or not. I did like that the Heroine is older and has a little more life experience under her belt and some other issues that come up with being in her forties.
Overall, the worldbuilding, characters and plot is good. I think there were some ways the dialogue and scene transitioning could have been made a little smoother. I was also disappointed we didn’t get more development on the romance front of the book, but since this the first book of the series I’m sure we will see some more fleshing out later in the series. I did find most of the characters interesting and would like to see where Miri’s magic and new place in the world go in the future.
About Deborah Wilde
A global wanderer, former screenwriter, and total cynic with a broken edit button, Deborah Wilde writes funny urban fantasy and paranormal women’s fiction.
Her stories feature sassy women who kick butt, strong female friendships, and swoony, sexy romance. She’s all about the happily-ever-after, with a huge dose of hilarity along the way.
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There are many of these #PWF books I might like to try but so far I’ve only managed Elizabeth Hunter. I keep confusing Deborah Wilde with Deborah Blake.
It seems like a genre that is just getting started. I do like seeing some UF with characters my own age with the stuff that comes with it.
I like that the main character is in her 40s. It sounds like the series has some promise.
good set up book. I am curious to see where the story takes us. I’m hoping for a little more romance down the line.
Oh yes I was actually curious about this one!
I’m trying this genre out a little more. I’m definitely like the idea of it but haven’t found anything that blows my socks off yet.