It was a quiet reading week, for me, but the end of it is bringing the best: the second Forty Proof novel, by Shannon Mayer. If you haven’t read my review of the first of the series, you can find it here, for this will be about the one which has come out yesterday (23 April), two months after the first book.
When we last saw Breena O’Rylee, she was this 41-year-old woman, recently divorced and back to her hometown of Savannah, living with her ex’s cousin, and newly returned to the Shadow World. Midlife Fairy Hunter starts exactly five days after the end of the first book, with Bree still recovering from her ordeal, and still with many questions about two of the men in her life.
In comes Kinkly, a small, cute fairy, knocking on the bathroom window to ask Breena to meet with “her lady”. There starts a major laughing episode, of which we will read about all through the book. And it will not be the first huge fit of laughter for the readers, despite the action, emotion, conflict, magic, and much more.
During training at The Hollows following the disastrous auction of her grandmother’s house, won by none other than Crash, one of her male interests and a mysterious and dangerous man to boot, Breena sees her friend Robert and gives him the whiskey she had promised him for helping her during her first bounty. Her stopping for the skeleton avoided her the fate of everyone else in the group: a curse, which prevented the mentors from telling the name of the bad guys in the most hilarious fashion (and tears of laughter on my part). I’m with Louis, there: “C’est quoi ce bordel?” (Gosh, how I laughed when I read that line!)
The curse gave Breena the chance to have Eammon’s blessing to work for the fairies in protecting an important magical artefact. Will the midlife woman save the day once more?
Friendship stories
Breena might be conflicted when it comes to men, but if there is one thing that she is never conflicted about, it is her friendships. There is Feish, of course, and Eric (the baking bigfoot), but there is also an unexpected alliance with someone from The Hollows, and Kinkly the fairy.
And there is Robert.
I’ll be honest: Robert is the kind of friend that we all need. He is loyal, not scared to put himself in danger for Bree, and he is always there for her. He might still not talk more than in one-word sentences, more often than not “Friend”, but he is a strong and steady presence in Breena’s new old life. And let’s face it: he is hilarious. Plus, he loves whiskey.
One thing is constant with Breena’s friendships: the ones she befriends are those who are overlooked by the majority; river maid, bigfoot, part siren, outspoken fairy, even a seamstress, a man whom people think is a charlatan who sells bogus powders (who’ll have the last laugh, you think, in this case!), and a giant spider/shifter. And she treats them with respect and a great dose of affection. Coming from someone who is, more often than not, overlooked and invisible because of her age and lack of physical shape, it is heartwarming and hits very close to home.
Questions answered and new questions
When I read the first book, I was, like Breena and every other reader, wondering what in the world Crash was. This is answered rather quickly in the book, and the reveal is quite stupefying. I seriously did not expect it.
Is he a bad or a good guy? Who knows! That is part of the questions that remain. One thing is for sure, and I am not spoiling anything: Breena is quite attracted to him still. And to Corb. But more to Crash, who is older and hot as sin, whereas Corb is younger but also hot as sin. A ducking conflict in Bree’s heart and woman’s parts.
One question is also partially answered in the book: how Himself was able to steal everything from Breena after their divorce. Partially being the word, and the next book(s) might enlighten us more on the matter.
We also find out more about Missy, the other of Gran’s friends, and learn a lot more about Breena’s backstory.
However, there are also many questions left, which makes me wait for Midlife Demon Hunter with great enthusiasm! The great part? It should be out in May!
My Goodreads Review
Midlife Fairy Hunter by Shannon Mayer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I got back to Breena’s story with anticipation and excitement. I was not disappointed! Shannon Mayer again delivered a brilliant story, with characters that we can’t help but like (or dislike) more and more as the pages go by. And many more questions, which I can’t wait to read the next book to have answers for.
And we all need a Robert in our lives.
A brilliant, brilliant book!
View all my reviews
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