Brigid Collins (2)

Fun urban/fairy fantasy romance. Not graphic in any way which is a pleasant change, with some clever interweaving of sidhe fairy tales too. Perhaps trying a little too hard to hit all the inclusivity criteria, but it is refreshing to have a diverse range of characters.

Over four short novels chelsea is embroiled with the Winter Court of the fairy realm, saves her friend, redeems her former lover and eventually comes to terms with life with foot in both worlds. Set nearly entirely int he show more faerie realm there's just enough grounding to enjoy the crossover. show less

I'm so pleased with how this story came together, especially the last third of the book!

"Singer" by Brigid Collins starts out as the adventure of the eponymous character, a woman who would be mute if she couldn't sing the most beautiful wordless melodies. Singer teams up with a ragtag group of adventurers on their way to plunder the mysterious depths of the bluntly named "Nameless City", to which she is inexplicably drawn. As they travel through a place so old that everyone who has ever show more lived there is dead with their bones turned to dust, it becomes clear it's every bit as dangerous as predicted. And the storytelling and imagery remains excellent right up to the finale.

Admittedly the action starts slowly, and during the first few chapters I didn't quite know why I kept reading. However it was easy prose, well worth continuing, as my empathy towards the characters grew organically as a result of the pacing. By the time the threats start showing up deep inside the Nameless City you're invested in everybody, so I would say the pacing works out well enough. Besides which I want to give credit where credit is due and recognize that the monsters were fuck-off scary and I feared for character's lives, so good job there. I'm hesitant to spoil anything, so it the most vague terms I'll say my personal experience as a computer programmer was irked by a plot point. It was bad, but it wasn't "Hackers" bad.

Continued at my personal blog. show less

A Prisoner to Spring is the first book in the Winter's Consort series by Brigid Collins.

Plot:
After Chelsea got left at the altar, she swore that she would never put on a wedding dress ever again. But when her best friend Jennifer gets married and asks Chelsea to wear a wedding dress the night before - an old family tradition meant to confuse fairies who might be looking to steal the bride - Chelsea agrees to it. What could be the harm after all? Well, much to Chelsea's surprise an actually show more fairy does show up and whisks her away to the Winter Queen's court to get married. The Winter Queen is the most gorgeous person Chelsea has ever seen, but Chelsea still doesn't want to get married. But dealing with a fairy is tricky business and Chelsea has to be very careful how to proceed.

A Prisoner to Spring is a nice, queer fairy tale (in the literal sense). It's got a nice premise that it executes well. While I wouldn't go so far to say that it is sensational, I really enjoyed it and I definitely want more queer/sapphic fairies in my life.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2022/04/07/a-prisoner-to-spring-brigid-collins/ show less

I don’t have much to complain about with this book. It’s a quick read, but not for lack of content. Chelsea, who swore to never wear a wedding dress again after being left at the altar, breaks that vow… to wear a dress that matches her best friend’s on HER wedding day. A family tradition, apparently, to confuse any spirits who may wish to steal the bride away. In short… it works. Chelsea is stolen instead of her friend. Meanwhile, the winter and spring courts in the Fae Realm are show more warring for control.
I’ve seen some low star reviews, but I’m not sure why. Sure, there are some cheesy parts, and some of the decisions the characters make are seemingly random at times, but overall the book isn’t bad at all.
I assumed this book would be kind of like a Hades and Persephone retelling, but it was not.
The pace of the book changes, from a fast paced beginning to a fast paced ending, separated by a slow paced middle. During the action, I was unable to put the book down. show less