Publishers Weekly
Thoughtful and leisurely, this fresh urban fantasy from Canadian author Huff (Valor's Trial) features an ensemble cast of nuanced characters in Calgary, Alberta. Headstrong young museum research assistant Allie Gale takes over her missing grandmother's titular junk-shop, which is supposedly crucial to the local community. When Allie arrives to find a leprechaun, a monkey's paw and a magic mirror, she realizes her grandmother didn't mean the human community. After spotting low-flying dragons and other UnderRealm creatures in the neighborhood, Allie calls on the help of her powerful family of modern, benevolent Toronto witches, who attempt to visit via a spacetime-spanning Wood until something shadowy begins pushing them out in inconvenient locales like Haiti. Fantasy buffs will find plenty of humor, thrills and original mythology to chew on, along with refreshingly three-dimensional women in an original, fully realized world. (June)
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Library Journal
Alysha Gale isn't sure what she wants to do with her life. Born into the magical Gale family, she feels that everything is predestined—she'll marry another Gale, have magical children, and, after menopause, become one of the Gale Aunties. Though she tries to live a normal life, she finds her attempt thwarted when her Gran goes missing and leaves Alysha a strange inheritance: a Calgary junk shop that is a hub of activity for the city's fey community. Though Alysha journeys reluctantly to Calgary, she soon realizes that this trip is yet another part of her predestiny as a Gale—something scary is brewing in the prairie province of Alberta, and she needs to help stop it. VERDICT This new urban fantasy by the author of the "Blood" vampire mysteries (the basis for Lifetime's now canceled Blood Ties series) will appeal to fantasy fans who enjoy supernatural phenomena in real-world settings and urban fantasy readers who are bored with the grittier side of the genre. A good readalike is Laura Anne Gilman's "Retrievers" series.
From the Publisher
"Fantasy buffs will find plenty of humor, thrills and original mythology to chew on, along with refreshingly three-dimensional women in an original, fully realized world." —Publishers Weekly
“It’s a great adventure, full of music and magic and just a little goofy at times, thanks to the delightful oddities of the Gales.” —Locus
"Combine Huff’s ability to blend ancient traditions seamlessly into the modern world and make them seem perfectly normal with her characters who are appealing and fun to hang out with, and you’re in for an amazing read." —Seattle Post-Intelligencer
