I received this book for free from the author as a free story in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the author as a free story
"Black Friday"
by
Karen Chance
It is part of the Cassandra Palmer #8.1 series and is a urban fantasy in a PDF edition that was published by Smashwords on December 20, 2017 and has 10 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Curse the Dawn, Death's Mistress, Hunt the Moon, Chicks Kick Butt, Fury's Kiss, "The Gauntlet", "The Queen's Witch", "House at Cobb End", Midnight's Daughter, Claimed by Shadow, Touch the Dark, Embrace the Night, Tempt the Stars, "In Vino Veritas", Updating Pritkin, Reap the Wind,, Ride the Storm, Brave the Tempest, Masks, Shatter the Earth, Shadow's Bane
A short story, 8.1, in the Cassandra Palmer urban fantasy series and revolving around the Pythia who’s shopping for Christmas presents in Hell. If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Cassandra Palmer books on my website.
My Take
Chance caught me with that whole gift shopping in Hell routine. I mean, our own “Black Friday” is its own kind of hell, but without the fun gadgets you can find in a magical world.
It is hard to imagine a hell region that puts on the image of a cozy, snowy Victorian village, but then again, Shadowland is a marketplace. Of course they want to make money. Then there’s the animated food! Oh, boy…I don’t know if I’d eat it or run from it, lol.
It’s in first person protagonist point-of-view from Cassie’s perspective and gives us the opportunity to discover the lack of Christmas memories in Cassie’s past.
My one major, major niggle in this was when Chance had Fluffykins bite his leash in half, and yet Cassie is still being dragged around the marketplace. How does this happen??
Okay, a secondary, minor niggle is that I would have liked it if Chance had made that crazy fey more recognizable. I read through the short story three times to ensure I understood he was the same guy throughout the story.
And in spite of this, I did enjoy it…
The Story
Where better than Shadowland to find the best gifts for the ones you love? Lie-detecting cufflinks. Memory balls. And attacking toys!
Eek!
The Characters
Cassie Palmer is the Pythia, the head seer of the supernatural world. The portly Fred is a vampire who adores food and is one of her bodyguards.
Pritkin is a war mage and Cassie’s boyfriend. Jonas is the Lord Protector of the Silver Circle of mages. Tami is one of Cassie’s best friends and the current majordomo of the Pythian Court.
Shadowland is…
…the closest hell region to earth and is a neutral zone where everyone can shop.
Aeslinn is the king of the Svarestri and Cassie’s enemy. Fat Tony was the crooked vampire at whose court Cassie was raised.
The Title
The title is all about the sales and Christmas shopping, yep, it’s “Black Friday”.
