Lydia Sherrer

**This book was reviewed for Lola’s Blog Tours**

Beginnings, first in Sherrer's Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus series contains three short stories. Labelled as two episodes and an interlude, they follow the adventures of Lily Singer and Sebastian Blackwell as they free a haunted house of it's trapped spirits, track down missing artifacts, and protect the mundanes from abused magick. You see, Lily is a wizard, born with an innate connection to magick, and Sebastian is a witch, who relies on show more summoning Otherworldly beings such as the fae to aid him. His is a magick of give and take, of favours asked and perhaps given, perhaps not. Hers relies on dedicated study to hone that natural link. Lily and Sebastian couldn't be more different. She’s an introvert, preferring the silence of her archives and the company of books. Sebastian is outgoing, and at times incorrigible. Beneath the lazy veneer though, beats an honourable heart and a generous nature.

Sherrer's whip-crack humour and subtle insertions of pop-culture references such as Harry Potter and the X-Files made LL&HP:Beginnings a delightful read to devour over a rainy day. Falling into Lil and Seb’s world was a rollickin’ good ride. The stories alternate, with the two 'episodes’ centering around Lily, and the 'interlude’ focusing on Sebastian's point of view. I enjoyed all three, but I think the Interlude was my favourite. Sebastian on his own is different than when he's with Lily. You get to see more of the part of him not afraid to act tough, and be protective. Plus, more of his wit, and snarky comments. To wit:

'Criminals were sadly predictably, especially those with so little self-respect as to wear their pants around their knees.’

I spit my tea.

This particular line also brought to mind an amusing snippet from American Idol trials from 2008, with the hilarious Pants on the Ground song. For your viewing pleasure.

Oh yeah, and I want an eduba. So very useful!

My only dislike was that there were jumps in time that happened in the very next paragraph, and I would have expected a gap between the ending section and the new section that would give readers a small warning something was about to change.

🎻🎻🎻🎻 Highly recommended for any fans of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, JK Rowling's Harry Potter, or the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne. show less

Lily Singer is the book-loving wizard who manages the archives of the Agnes Scott Institute, a women's college in Atlanta. She's learned everything she knows about wizardry from her mentor, Madam Barrington

It turns out not to be everything Madam Barrington knows about wizardry, and not just because there hasn't been time to teach her everything yet, but that's another story.

This one is about Lily and Madam Barrington's disreputable nephew, Sebastian Blackwell, discovering they can work show more together. Sebastian, you see, is a witch. Even though he comes from an old wizard family, he has no magical power of his own. That's why he ventured into witchcraft. Witches work with the fae, bargaining with them for the use of their powers and gifts. Some also bargain with demons, and that's why Madam Barrington, and many other wizards, regard witches as disreputable and sometimes worse. Sebastian, though, uses his professional skills as a witch to provide assistance to those in need of it, for reasonable fees. Their first adventure begins when Sebastian's latest client turns out not to need a ghost banished, but a curse broken.

When they encounter a problem with a time loop in a small town, they find it's going to take the skills of both to recover a treasure Sebastian inherited from his family and save the small town from complete disaster.

It will be no surprise to seasoned readers that Lily and Sebastian like each other, and haven't really admitted it to themselves, never mind each other. They are both likable in their different ways, and it's easy to understand why each regularly wants to clobber the other one.

It's very, very easy to understand why Madam Barrington is so frustrated with her nephew.

This is a fun, light urban fantasy with hints of potential romance in later books. Well worth reading when you need something light and entertaining.

I received a free electronic galley of this book, and am reviewing it voluntarily. show less

I loved this first book in the Lily Singer Adventures. The main character is a feisty librarian who spends her day seeming a bit prim and proper, but when her friend Sebastian is involved you see her caught up in some crazy adventures. Oh did I mention she's not just a boring librarian, she's a witch who at night is still working on her training. Sherrer has come up with a great magic system for her world, instead of falling back on what has become a traditional method a la J.K. Rowling. show more Lily is engaging and I felt that I didn't want to put the book down because I was dying to know what happened. Sebastian is a bit of a bad boy and he seems to be the one who keeps dragging Lily into the problems he causes. show less

I met the author at a local comic con and bought the first two books because the books sounded interesting. I'm glad I picked them up, though this new novella is the first thing I've read in the series. It's a really cute fantasy series for young adults. The main character is a witch who gets into trouble with her best friend who has no magic. The magic in the series is very different than the Harry Potter variety, it's nice to see a bit of imagination instead of basing something off a show more popular book. The novella is a great way to get introduced to the series to see if it's something you'll enjoy. I really liked this peek into the series and can't wait to find the time to read the rest. show less