Lowell

Synopsis:
It started with a dandelion.
Innocuous. Ubiquitous.
Who knew it was a warning?

After claiming his big bonus, things are coming up roses for Roger Mulligan. A job he loves. A house that feels like home. Money in the bank. A solid roof over his head and job security.

But when he finds a dandelion on the pristine grounds of Shackleford House, he starts down a twisted, garden path. Old man Shackleford says the fairies have a problem, the pixies keep falling down on the job, and the house seems to grow weaker by the day.

He’s soon tossed into a confusing mixture of fact and fantasy, accompanied by Shackleford’s cousin and – of all things – a stray cat. Surrounded by the fantastical, it’s hard to tell magic from mundane.

Review:
I loved how Barbara got to become front and center in this novel, and how Roger, while changed, has become more resilient than he ever thought possible. While following Roger was always amusing, it was clearly the cat who was the star of the show. I really enjoyed this novel, but in some ways I felt like it didn’t feel as extravagant and all encompassing as the first in the series. In the first novel there were a series of different things that Roger, the house and family had to overcome. In this novel, while there was technically more to be overcome, most of the discourse and nitty gritty of such things (Barbara’s turmoil, the company issues) were done off the page and only vaguely mentioned or referenced. I don’t feel like we are done with the Wizard, his Apprentice, or the Cat so I really hope there will be another book in the future.

I would recommend this series to anyone who loves the average guy using his wits to save a situation (especially the magically people involved), people stepping out of their comfort zones and finding their true place, and in the second book- cats!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Synopsis:
“He thinks he’s a wizard,” they said. For five grand a month and a million dollar chaser, Roger Mulligan didn’t care how crazy the old geezer was. All he had to do was keep Joseph Perry Shackleford alive and keep him from squandering the estate for a year. They didn’t tell him about the pixies.

Review:
“Ebooks. This is my only connection to the outer world.” (Page 84)

This book has everything except romance, and always left me wanting to keep reading on. I had to sleep halfway through a chapter many a night because I didn’t want to put this book down! While this book has some sort of wizard, maybe, one of the main focuses is easy to relate to Roger Mulligan, who is former army/former EMT. He’s got a steady mind and can be quick on his feet, which makes his entry into a world he had never imagined; that of being a butler, a job that many think doesn’t even exist, all the more exciting. Especially when you add in that Shackleford thinks he’s a wizard. Despite being about the mundane things we do not want to think about in our own day to day life, Lowell writes Mulligan’s activities in a way that make you want to see more of just what a butler may do and how his job influences and interacts with all of the other ongoing plots. All of the characters had great depth and motives. While at times it seemed a very low-risk cozy modern/urban paranormal fantasy, the fatality at stake leads one to need to keep reading. I loved seeing how the house encouraged change for the inhabitants, and how it helped them to find what they most needed in their lives. Mulligan needed this job, but in many ways, Shackleford needed him to lead him into a new era. I’ve already started the second book, and so far (19% in) it is just as good as the first.

I loved this book immensely and cannot wait to share it with my husband and friends in the near future.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Amy S. Brown

Review of The Wizard’s Cat by Nathan Lowell

Review of The Wizard’s Butler by Nathan Lowell