Author: cherylmahoney

I'm a book review blogger and writer. I have published four novels, The Wanderers; The Storyteller and Her Sisters; and The People the Fairies Forget; and The Lioness and the Spellspinners. All can be found on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. In my day job, I'm a Marketing Specialist. Find me on Twitter (@MarvelousTales) and GoodReads (MarvelousTales).

Recent Reading Round-up: Parallel Worlds

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews2 Comments

I have been off of the blogosphere for several months now, very busy with a new baby!  Now that he’s a few months old and I’m getting (somewhat) more sleep, I’m hoping to get more activity going here again.  I’ve actually still been reading a fair amount of books – whenever I had any time for a break, reading was about all I had the energy for!

I’d like to catch up by writing about a few of the highlights of my recent reading.  I noticed a theme in that several of the more noteworthy books I’ve read recently involved parallel worlds.  So today, a round-up of those novels!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

This one was recommended to me by a friend, and then I kept seeing it pop up other places.  It seemed to be getting a lot of attention…which may have been a disadvantage, because although I liked it, it probably couldn’t ever live up to the hype.  Nora feels she made all the wrong choices in her life, and on a really, really bad day, she decides to kill herself.  In between life and death, she finds herself at the Midnight Library, which turns out to be a very, very cool place.  Each book in the library represents a different life, a different path she could have gone down, and now she has the chance to visit different lives until she finds the one she wants to live.

I love parallel lives stories…although possibly I’ve read a few too many of them for this particular book.  It felt pretty clear to me by the time she got to the library what her big five or six regrets were.  Sure enough, she goes into other lives to “correct” them one by one, only to find out that it isn’t a better life and she can let go of that regret after all.  It was interesting to watch it all play out and I really liked the writing style here…but it did all go about as I expected all the way through.  But I’ve read a lot of books with a similar premise – it might feel fresher to someone else! Continue reading “Recent Reading Round-up: Parallel Worlds” →

A Brief Announcement

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet around here for the past few months.  After years of posting three times a week, this slid down to two, then eventually to one or even less.  Like many (most?) people, 2020 was a very strange year for me, and living through a pandemic definitely affected my creativity and engagement with a number of aspects of life, including this blog.

Additionally, I had another, much more positive distraction, as I got pregnant last summer!  My baby was born at the beginning of March, and is a healthy, adorable, very distracting new part of my life.

All pregnancy, I hoped I might find the time and the energy to come back to more regular blogging.  Now that I have a newborn, I’m accepting the inevitable.  I’m not closing down this blog, and I still intend to be here more regularly some time in the future – but I am stepping away officially for the next while as I adjust to the new normal in my life.

Thank you for ALL the wonderful support over the past ten years, and I expect to be “seeing” you again soon – perhaps with some new ideas and new features, as I create a new normal for Tales of the Marvelous too! ❤

Launch Day: The Confessions of Christine Daaé

On By cherylmahoneyIn Novel News2 Comments

Today is launch day for my newest novella!  The Confessions of Christine Daaé is a companion story to my Guardian of the Opera trilogy, that finally reveals Christine’s thoughts and motivations throughout the story – and they’re rarely what they seem to be on the surface…

Get your copy here!

This novella is currently only available digitally, although if you’re a paper book reader I do intend to eventually put out a print collection with this story, the prequel and some extra goodies too.

For now, here’s a bit more about the story:

The Phantom’s story has always been one of intrigue and deception, of faces that don’t match the souls behind them – but it may not be the man in the mask who has the most to hide. Readers of the Guardian of the Opera series have already met this very unusual take on Christine Daaé through the eyes of Meg Giry and the Phantom himself. Here you’re invited to learn more than Meg or Erik could ever tell, as Christine finally shares her own story.

Starting with her impoverished childhood with her violinist father, through meeting the young Vicomte de Chagny, and on to the famous disaster at the Opera Garnier, Christine unfolds her true thoughts and feelings. Far from a helpless victim in events, in these pages you’ll find a Christine who knows exactly what she’s doing every step of the way. Why did she really take the Phantom’s mask off? Did she love Raoul or the Phantom? Who or what did she care about most? Read The Confessions of Christine Daaé for a look behind Christine’s carefully concealed mask.

Cover Reveal + Pre-Order for The Confessions of Christine Daaé

On By cherylmahoneyIn Novel News1 Comment

I’ve been promising for some time now to eventually share a version of my Guardian story from Christine Daaé’s point of view – and it’s almost here!  Readers of the trilogy will know that my Christine is quite from different from most – and that what she appears to be thinking is usually not what she’s really thinking!  The Confessions of Christine Daaé finally reveals everything from her point of view, and just what was going on behind her sweet smiles.  The novella will be out February 5th, and is already available for Kindle pre-order.

Here’s a bit more about the story:

The Phantom’s story has always been one of intrigue and deception, of faces that don’t match the souls behind them – but it may not be the man in the mask who has the most to hide. Readers of the Guardian of the Opera series have already met this very unusual take on Christine Daaé through the eyes of Meg Giry and the Phantom himself. Here you’re invited to learn more than Meg or Erik could ever tell, as Christine finally shares her own story.

Starting with her impoverished childhood with her violinist father, through meeting the young Vicomte de Chagny, and on to the famous disaster at the Opera Garnier, Christine unfolds her true thoughts and feelings. Far from a helpless victim in events, in these pages you’ll find a Christine who knows exactly what she’s doing every step of the way. Why did she really take the Phantom’s mask off? Did she love Raoul or the Phantom? Who or what did she care about most? Read The Confessions of Christine Daaé for a look behind Christine’s carefully concealed mask.

And now on to the cover!

This was a fun cover to design, different from the three book covers with Meg as the focus.  Though the Phantom, of course, still looms above!  And that really is Box Five of the Opera Garnier behind her.

This novella is best read if you’re already familiar with the trilogy, so if you’ve enjoyed the previous books I hope you’ll check it out.  And if you haven’t read the others – no time like the present to catch up, right? 🙂

2020 Reading Round-Up

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations1 Comment

We are (finally!) at the beginning of 2021, making it time to look back at the best, the worst and the sometimes weird of my 2020 reading. I read 134 books this year, including finally picking up a lot of very good ones that had been languishing on my To Be Read list for years – and a few that turned out to be terrible too!

1) Best of…
I’ve been splitting my “Best of” books for the past several years, so that I can highlight the ones that were best in very specific ways.

1A) Best Premise: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows – I loved this concept of a society where everyone reincarnates and remembers their past lives.  So fascinating to explore what that makes the world look like.  The sequel went some odder directions, but I’ll probably pick up the third one eventually.

1B) Best World Building: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers – I thoroughly enjoyed this sci fi adventure.  The characters and plot were good, but I especially liked the world (galaxy) they were in.  A little bit Star Trek (a galactic alliance of species), a little bit Star Wars (those species are really, really different from each other), and quite a bit Firefly (a ragamuffin crew with a Wild West feel), it still felt totally unique.  Humans aren’t very important in the galaxy, there’s a lot of exploration of the very different alien cultures, and by and large everyone is really accepting of those differences.  Very cool place to explore.

1C) Best Romance: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I’m not usually a fan of love triangles, but I really enjoyed this one.  I liked how the heroine’s character was explored through her choice between the two men, and her romance with each was convincing and powerful – but I was still happy with how it wound up!

1D) Best Hero: Elliott from In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan – This was a wonderful, satirical take on magical school stories, and the hero, Elliott, was everything I wanted him to be: sarcastic, irritable, bad-tempered but totally on the ball.  Doesn’t sound appealing, but he was wonderful!  He brings a backpack stuffed with pens and highlighters to magic school (complaining loudly about quill pens) and has serious questions about why fourteen year olds are being sent into battles.  He’s awesome. Continue reading “2020 Reading Round-Up” →