Katie MacAlister

1964-

Reviewed by Stephen Frank

Katie MacAlister writes paranormal romance. Read excerpts of her novels at Katie MacAlister's website. Read Stephen's interview with Katie MacAlister.

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Aisling Grey, Guardian — (2004-2007) Publisher: Aisling Grey is a courier enjoying a free, work-related trip to Paris when she learns she's a Guardian. That's a keeper of the Gates of Hell, for those who don't know. She finds this out from Drake Vireo, who's scrumptiously sexy-at least in his human form. Now Drake has stolen the package Aisling was sent to deliver, and she must track him down, get the package, and try to resist the passion boiling inside her.

Katie MacAlister Aisling Grey, Guardian 1. You Slay Me 2. Fire Me Up 3. Light My Fire 4. Holy Smokes fantasy book reviews

Available for download at Audible.com

Silver Dragons — (2008-2009) This series is a spin-off from Aisling Grey, Guardian.
Publisher: Starring the Dragons Of The Aisling Grey, Guardian Novels. Gabriel Tauhou, wyvern of the silver dragons, has found the one woman who can withstand his fire. Too bad May Northcott is already bound to a demon lord. But when the demon orders May to steal one of Gabriel's treasures — an immensely important relic of all dragonkin — Gabriel has to decide which to protect: his love or his dragons.

Katie MacAlister Silver Dragons 1. Playing with Fire 2. Up in Smoke fantasy book reviews

Katie MacAlister Silver Dragons 1. Playing with Fire 2. Up in Smoke 3. Me and My Shadow

Me and my Shadow: Frenetic, funny, vastly entertaining!

Publisher description: May Northcott is at the end of her tether. Her demon boss has moved in and is making life hell. Her scorching hot dragon lover seems to think everything can be solved with a fiery kiss. And worse still, she's being shadowed by her ditsy twin sister — a naiad who simply can't seem to stay out of trouble. The arrival of a nearly-dead man on May's doorstep could be the final spark that sets light to their tinder-box world. And with dragon war imminent, it's looking increasingly like it will be up to May (and her watery shadow) to stop it before the fire consumes them all, and their lives end up in smoke!

Stephen's review: Me and My Shadow is the third book in Katie MacAllister’s Silver Dragon series, which is set in the same world as her Guardian series. In fact, many Guardian characters (including Aisling and Drake) reappear in her Silver Dragon series. My personal favorite carryover character is Jim, the demonic Newfoundland. His inappropriate and ribald comments had me laughing aloud frequently.

The story itself is about May, a shadow-walking doppelganger who is the offspring of Cyrene, a Naiad, and Magoth, a demon lord. To create May, Cyrene sacrificed her own common sense and enthralled May to Magoth. So from birth, May has been forced to do Magoth’s bidding (stealing) while she watches over her loveable but common-sense-less twin. The series tells the story of May’s quest for freedom, self-identity, love, and, um, foreplay.

Earlier in the series, May fell in love and mated with Gabriel, a wyvern (head of the silver dragons). In this third book, May’s quest is to get rid of the shard of the fabled dragon heart that she has absorbed and which is threatening to take her over completely and turn her into a dragon. Along the way, she must deal with her twin falling head over heels for Gabriel’s bitterest political rival; escape from her thralldom to Magoth (possibly at the cost of releasing him from hell); avoid the temptation of using the demonic powers she has been awarded; escape from hell (Abaddon) more than once; sidestep the “help” of aspiring demon lord Sally; tiptoe around the very pregnant Aisling and her horrid mother-in-law; solve the mystery of the shadowy puppetmaster behind everything; and stop burning down bedrooms every time she has sex. Oh, yes, and she would like to just once have the foreplay promised by the well intentioned but fast-starting Gabriel.

What’s not to like? Well, let me first say that this novel hits my personal sweet spot: funny, fast-paced urban fantasy with a kick-butt female protagonist. The characters are memorable, and the setting does what it’s supposed to do. And the dialogue is generally sharp and witty.

On the other hand, the love interest develops rather abruptly in this series, so if the gradual development of romance is what does it for you, then this may not be your series. And it’s not going to win prizes for deep themes or flowery prose.

What I can say is, I loved it. The novel never dragged and it made me laugh — a lot. I read it straight through and can’t wait for the next installment. —Stephen Frank

Light Dragons — (2010) This series is a spin-off from Aisling Grey, Guardian. It features Baltic as the hero. Publisher: When it comes to love, one woman is scaling back her expectations... Tully Sullivan is just like any other suburban mom-except she's just woken up in a strange place surrounded by strange people who keep insisting that they're dragons — and that she's one too.

a Steampunk Romance — (2010- ) Publisher: Jack Fletcher's heart is about to get punked. Computer technician Jack Fletcher is no hero, despite his unwelcome reputation as one. In fact, he's just been the victim of bizarre circumstances. Like now. His sister happens to disturb one of his nanoelectromechanical system experiments, and now they aren't where they're supposed to be. In fact, they're not sure where they are when… they wake up to see a woman with the reddest hair Jack has ever seen-and a gun. Octavia Pye is an Aerocorps captain with a whole lot of secrets, and she's not about to see her maiden voyage ruined by stowaways. But the sparks flying between her and Jack just may cause her airship to combust and ignite a passion that will forever change the world as she knows it…

Katie MacAlister Steamed fantasy book reviews

Forthcoming: a sequel

Steamed

Steamed is the first novel in what promises to be a rollicking steampunk fantasy series as Katie MacAlister delivers her trademark humor and romance in a new world setting.

Jack Fletcher and his sister get sucked into an alternative reality and find themselves on a Aerocorps steamship captained by Octavia Pye. The novel’s premise is inventive and fun, as is the romantic interplay between Jack Fletcher and Octavia Pye. The zany steamship crew members form a great supporting cast. MacAlister always seems to have one side character who steals the show. In this case, I particularly enjoyed the dialogue of the Spanish cook who is also madly and inappropriately attracted to Octavia.

What’s not to like? Well, while the plot was fast-paced and action-packed, I never truly understood certain aspects of the world setting, such as the motivations of the emperor or the rebels or the foreign enemies. And that made several elements of the plot seemed like, well, afterthoughts contrived solely to bring the male and female protagonist together, put them on the run, and force them to enter a certain profession. (I’m not saying what).

Despite minor quibbles with the plot, I thoroughly enjoyed Steamed overall. More importantly, perhaps, I am already excited about the next book in the series because — though I do hope the fun plot is a bit more comprehensible — MacAlister has established a great cast of characters and positioned them for what promises to be an epic series of misadventures. Once again, MacAlister demonstrates why she is one of my favorite authors for romantic, comedic fantasy. —Stephen Frank

Other novels

Ain't Myth-Behaving — (2007) Publisher: A modern woman and a god from ancient legend? Surely an epic love mismatch... or maybe it's the "myth match" of the century? The irrepressible Katie MacAlister brings us heroes who are more than mere mortals in two sparkling new novellas of the Otherworld.
STAG PARTY: Dane Hearne — also known as the Irish fertility god Cernunnos — must choose a bride quickly. His long-time goddess has run off with a salsa dancer, and Dane must be married by Beltane, just a week away, or become a mortal — and die. When he meets American travel writer Megan St. Clair, he knows he's found his soul mate. But while Dane is a sexy Irish hunk with his fair share of blarney, can he convince Megan to marry him in just one week?
NORSE TRULY: Alrik Sigurdsson is cursed to sail his Viking ship along the same stretch of Scandinavian coastline forever. So when lovely American Brynna Lund skids her car off the road into the ocean, he and his men are happy for the diversion of rescuing her. Then Alrik discovers that Brynna is the only woman who can break the curse. Is it any wonder that he's determined to keep her... forever?

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