Reviews

Kissed by Magic by Erica Ridley

georgiewhoissarahdrew's review

1.0

I'd forgotten I don't read Erica Ridley's fantasy stories for a reason. There's world building and there's undisciplined story-telling that I associate with desperately making up a bedtime story for my children. Even they called me out on some of my more preposterous inventions - I could have lent them to Erica Ridley, if only I'd known.

I like her Regency stories better.

dianed's review

4.0

This is not normally the kindof book I would ever give a second glance. It just isn't the kind of book I like to read. Therefore, I am surprised that I really liked it. I picked it up because I like Erica Ridley and so I thought I'd give it a try.

The plot was a fun idea. The characters were delightful and the Happily Ever After was worth the wait. This is a fun, fast read.

I received an advanced copy of this book.

isalavinia's review

4.0

arc provided by Intrepid Reads through Netgalley

Lance Desmond is a wanted man. Ivan Radko, his arch-enemy as placed a 10,000 silver drachma on his head after Lance got his hands on some diamonds Radko had been hired to find, and promptly spent them on a pirate ship which isn't even his yet.
Out of options, he remember Castle Cavanaugh, which harbours inside it the mythical Golden Bloom of Eternal Youth. Problem is, Castle Cavanaugh is so cursed as to be unbreachable, surrounded by impenetrable cold.

Princess Marigold has been trapped within Castle Cavanaugh since medieval times, so she's a bit startled when Lance is not distraught by the news that he is now trapped with her:

“No treasure,” he repeated as if it were all a grand jest. “No magic mushrooms, not even a gold coin. But hey. I found the princess in the very first castle.”

But Lance needs to hurry, for if he does not manage to escape the castle before midnight he will join the many figurines adorning the great evergreen in the parlour...

Lance was extremely funny. For instance, he had on an enchanted necklace, supposed to bind him to that which he loved the most... and he believed it had bound him to just that:

"“I tried to fight it, but . . .” He heaved a great sigh, as if about to impart a shocking confession. “Here’s the thing. I’m addicted to Candy Crush.”"

And not only is Lance funny, his heart is in the right place:

“My best friend gave it to me,” he said simply, his eyes sad but firm. “Just because it’s not magical, doesn’t mean it’s worthless.”

Marigold was also a compelling character: a spoiled princess - the only daughter of a King and Queen who had lost hope of ever having a child - she suddenly found herself alone and trapped within her castle for many, many centuries. So she read, and she learned how to fight, and how to paint, and to become her own person.

I loved how their relationship was developed and how they fought to break the curse.

All in all, this was a very cute story!

thelibraryofalexandra's review

3.0

Erica Ridley’s 'Let It Snow' is honestly such a cute little holiday read, and I read it after Christmas last year.

I read this in under an hour! It is a super quick and easy read, and super cute and adorable. Essentially, you follow the story of Lance Desmond, a soldier of fortune, who owes some people some money (because I’m pretty sure he spent 200,000 grand on a pirate ship), so he decides to go to the cursed Castle Cavanaugh, in order to find the Golden Bloom of Eternal Youth, the most sought-after treasure, to get the money and hand it over to Ivan Radko, the dude after Lance.

And thus, the quest begins! The ‘cursed’ aspect of Castle Cavanguagh is pretty refreshing so I won’t go into too much detail, but I think the blurb gives you a pretty good indication of the premise of the curse. I have to admit that I was slightly confused concerning the universe of the book. In the beginning, I thought possibly it was set in an Ancient Greece-like world, because of the descriptions of men wearing swords and the drachma used. But then the characters were talking about their smartphones and wifi networks and my brain imploded. However, one thing that you have to know from the outset, because I had to re-read paragraphs as a result of this, magic is known and practised. Witches and warlocks have evolved! They are using e-readers instead of carrying around tomes holding spells and chants. I laughed more than I should have. I’m just going to insert here one of my favourite lines from the book:

“Your grandma once raised an army of mummies from the dead in order to overthrow a terrorist military regime” (p. 20)

How fantastic is that?

In terms of the characters, and I’ve said this quite a lot in this review, Lance and Marigold are cute. This is not a deep and meaningful read and the character development is limited; but at its core, it’s a fun and light-hearted read, and I laughed more times that I could count. I give it 3.5/5 stars only because I wish there was more explanation surrounding the context of the narrative and the universe it was taking place in. Ridley writes such refreshing and exhilarating content, with the idea of the world so incredible, that it seems like such a waste to not extrapolate on it a bit.

My only regret is that Lance really should have twerked. It’s what the story needed.

rating: 3.5/5

*review originally posted on my blog! https://writerpending.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/romancelandia-review-let-it-snow-by-erica-ridley/