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Deadly Curiosities Adventures
Trifles and Folly: A Deadly Curiosities Collection
Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them and along with her business partners Teag, who has Weaver magic and Sorren, a 600 year-old vampire, they get rid of cursed objects and keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats. Join Cassidy and her team as they battle vengeful ghosts, dark witches and immortal creatures that stalk the shadows in one of the most haunted cities in the United States.
A collection of nine adventures:
Buttons
The Restless Dead
Retribution
Coffin Box
Wicked Dreams
Collector
Bad Memories
Shadow Garden
Spook House
Also includes a BONUS section with three additional stories chronicling Sorren’s early days:
Vanities
The Wild Hunt
Dark Legacy
A collection of nine adventures:
Buttons
The Restless Dead
Retribution
Coffin Box
Wicked Dreams
Collector
Bad Memories
Shadow Garden
Spook House
Also includes a BONUS section with three additional stories chronicling Sorren’s early days:
Vanities
The Wild Hunt
Dark Legacy
287 pages, ebook
First published October 1, 2016
28 people are currently reading
206 people want to read
About the author
Gail Z. Martin
178 books1,783 followersGail Z. Martin discovered her passion for science fiction, fantasy and ghost stories in elementary school. The first story she wroteat age fivewas about a vampire. Her favorite TV show as a preschooler was Dark Shadows. At age 14, she decided to become a writer.
She enjoys attending science fiction/fantasy conventions, Renaissance fairs and living history sites. She is married and has three children, a Maltese and a golden retriever.
Gail Z. Martin is also Morgan Brice, which is her pen name for urban fantasy MM paranormal romance.
In addition to the online sites listed below, you can find me on
Facebook.com/Groups/MartinShadowAlliance
Facebook.com/Groups/WorldsOfMorganBrice
Twitter: @GailZMartin and @MorganBriceAuthor
YouTube: YouTube.com/c/GailZMartinAuthor
IG: @MorganBriceAuthorGail & Larry newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj
Morgan Brice newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dy_8oL
BookBub for Morgan: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/morga...
Bookbub for Gail: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gail-...
Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/Morgan-Brice/e...?
Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Z-Martin/...
Pinterest (for Morgan and Gail) www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin
She enjoys attending science fiction/fantasy conventions, Renaissance fairs and living history sites. She is married and has three children, a Maltese and a golden retriever.
Gail Z. Martin is also Morgan Brice, which is her pen name for urban fantasy MM paranormal romance.
In addition to the online sites listed below, you can find me on
Facebook.com/Groups/MartinShadowAlliance
Facebook.com/Groups/WorldsOfMorganBrice
Twitter: @GailZMartin and @MorganBriceAuthor
YouTube: YouTube.com/c/GailZMartinAuthor
IG: @MorganBriceAuthorGail & Larry newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj
Morgan Brice newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dy_8oL
BookBub for Morgan: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/morga...
Bookbub for Gail: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gail-...
Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/Morgan-Brice/e...?
Amazon profile: https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Z-Martin/...
Pinterest (for Morgan and Gail) www.Pinterest.com/Gzmartin
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
July 14, 2021
4 Stars
Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*
I read this after the first three main books, though I think it could be read at any time without confusion or spoilers. Some seem to take place before the main books, others between books.
Each of these stories is basically a mini book, as they each use the same format of supernatural things happening and then Cassidy and co. solving the mystery and saving the day. Most of the stories don't really add any extra info to the main series, and you won't be missing anything if you don't read it. But...
There were three stories from Sorren's POV! I enjoyed that because I've been wanting to know more about him. You get to learn how he got started in the Alliance, as well as some other things mentioned in the main books. You also get to see a bit of his jewel-thieving skills.
Overall, this is fairly focused on plot and mystery and is nice if you like these sorts of little mysteries or just want to hang out with these characters some more, especially if you're curious about Sorren.
*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2021 // Format: Ebook*
Recommended For:
Fans of Gail Z. Martin's Deadly Curiosities series. Anyone who likes urban fantasy without romance, magic, ghosts, likeable and realistic characters, and complex mysteries for the characters to solve.
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*
I read this after the first three main books, though I think it could be read at any time without confusion or spoilers. Some seem to take place before the main books, others between books.
Each of these stories is basically a mini book, as they each use the same format of supernatural things happening and then Cassidy and co. solving the mystery and saving the day. Most of the stories don't really add any extra info to the main series, and you won't be missing anything if you don't read it. But...
There were three stories from Sorren's POV! I enjoyed that because I've been wanting to know more about him. You get to learn how he got started in the Alliance, as well as some other things mentioned in the main books. You also get to see a bit of his jewel-thieving skills.
Overall, this is fairly focused on plot and mystery and is nice if you like these sorts of little mysteries or just want to hang out with these characters some more, especially if you're curious about Sorren.
*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2021 // Format: Ebook*
Recommended For:
Fans of Gail Z. Martin's Deadly Curiosities series. Anyone who likes urban fantasy without romance, magic, ghosts, likeable and realistic characters, and complex mysteries for the characters to solve.
Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight
June 14, 2024
2024 Reads #341/250
3.75⭐️
3.75⭐️
April 11, 2019
Review in English and Polish || Recenzja po angielsku i polsku
Cassidy Kincaide, who's got a gift of psychometry, runs Trifles and Folly, an antique and curios shop in Charleston. However, her actual job is to get dangerous, magical objects, often charged with negative energy, off the market. However, from time to time, she also has to eliminate other supernatural threats. She completes her difficult tasks with a help of two exceptional people: Teag, Cassidy's best friend who has Weaver magic, and Sorren, a six hundred-year-old vampire and her business partner.
"Trifles and Folly" is a collection of nine short stories and three bonus stories set in the world of an urban fantasy series, "Deadly Curiosities". In this case, the most important question which we should answer is: "Do we need to read the main novels of the series before we reach for these collection?". The answer is very simple: no. And undoubtedly this is a huge advantage of this book. In my opinion, "Trifles and Folly" is built on the principles similar to these of the TV series, in which the intro contains all the important information that allows us to find our way in the world we "enter". Thus, reading every story we get to know the characters, their appearance and skills, their workplace and the role they play in this universe. Therefore, we don't have to learn all the details and characters to know what's going on in the stories, as we simply remember them thanks to the aforementioned "intro", and thus to repeats of some important information which characterize the series and the characters. It is also worth adding that thanks to all this, regardless of which story we read first, we always know what is going on and who we are dealing with.
As for the short stories themselves, it is worth noting that in the vast majority they have many common points, such as the way in which the plot develops, which is the result of the profession of our protagonists. Thus the pattern repeats – the object filled with negative energy entails a whole series of events, the consequence of which is the fight between "good" – our characters – and "evil" – the cause of the problem. However, it is worth noting that if the pattern is similar, the aforementioned problems, their paranormal background, people's stories presented in the chapters and the events differ from one another, which is an undoubted advantage as we read each short story with new passion and interest. To put it simple, no matter how many times we read these stories, they are never boring. And you can believe me when i say that when you start reading them, you don't want to stop.
Another advantage of "Trifles and Folly", this time definitely more subjective one, is in my opinion the fact that a lot of stories to some extent refer to Voodoo, or in other words Voudon, and Hoodoo. I admit that I have a weakness for this subject, and this is because Voodoo fascinates me, although at the same time I feel great respect for it and I'm afraid of it. Think what you want, but for me Voudon and Hoodoo have always been real and had real power. Therefore, I admit that I read the stories with references to this subject with great interest, and at the same time I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I know it's a fiction, but some reactions are simply unconditional and for me my psyche's reaction to Voodoo and Hoodoo is a great example. Well, in short, reading "Trifles and Folly" has fully engaged me.
Sorren's story at the end of the volume undoubtedly makes an interesting bonus. In these chapters the readers have the opportunity to "meet" the creator of our vampire, they can see to what extent and in what way Alard influenced his protégé and his future related to getting rid of dangerous objects and protecting people. What's more, thanks to all this we have the opportunity to take a closer look at Sorren himself. Although he appears in nine main short stories of this book, he's still a mysterious figure, about which we definitely want to learn more. So I must admit that these last three chapters are as interesting as the rest of the short stories included in this volume and they are a great complement to the "Trifles and Folly" collection.
In summary, "Trifles and Folly" is an addictive collection of short stories that we read with real pleasure and which provides us with great entertainment from the first to the last page. For readers who already know "Deadly Curiosities" series this is a "must read" book, and for those who are just beginning their adventure with the series, it can be a good start of an incredible journey with Cassidy, Teag and Sorren at their side. I highly recommend this collection!
__________________________________
Obdarzona darem psychometrii Cassidy Kincaide prowadzi Trifles and Folly, sklep z antykami w Charleston. W rzeczywistości jednak jej zadaniem jest pozbywanie się z obiegu niebezpiecznych, magicznych i często naładowanych negatywną energią przedmiotów, a nierzadko także eliminowanie innych ponadnaturalnych zagrożeń. W tym niełatwym zadaniu pomaga jej dwójka wyjątkowych osób: Teag, posiadający magię tkania najlepszy przyjaciel Cassidy, oraz Sorren, kilkusetletni wampir i partner w interesach.
„Trifles and Folly” to kolekcja dziewięciu opowiadań oraz trzech historii bonusowych nawiązujących do serii urban fantasy „Deadly Curiosities”. W takim wypadku najważniejsze pytanie, na jakie powinniśmy sobie odpowiedzieć jest następujące: „Czy zanim sięgniemy po opowiadania musimy przeczytać główne powieści serii?”. Odpowiedź jest banalnie prosta: nie. I niewątpliwie stanowi to ogromną zaletę tej kolekcji. W moim odczuciu „Trifles and Folly” skonstruowane jest na zasadzie zbliżonej do serialu telewizyjnego, w którym intro zawiera wszystkie istotne informacje, które pozwalają nam odnaleźć się w świecie, do którego wkraczamy. Tym samym, czytelnik za każdym razem na nowo poznaje bohaterów, ich wygląd i umiejętności, miejsce pracy, rolę jaką spełniają w tym uniwersum. Nie musimy więc od razu zapamiętywać wszystkich szczegółów i postaci, aby odnaleźć się w opowiadaniach, ale po prostu zapadają nam w pamięć dzięki wspomnianemu „intro”, a więc powtarzaniu pewnych istotnych informacji charakteryzujących serię oraz bohaterów. Warto też dodać, że dzięki temu niezależnie od tego, od którego opowiadania rozpoczniemy lekturę, będziemy wiedzieć o co chodzi i z kim mamy do czynienia.
Jeśli chodzi o same opowiadania to warto zauważyć, że w ogromnej większości mają one wiele punktów wspólnych, jak chociażby sposób, w jaki rozwija się ich fabuła, co jest wynikiem profesji naszych bohaterów. Tym samym powtarza się w nich pewien wzór, a więc naładowany negatywną energią przedmiot pociąga za sobą lawinę zdarzeń, których konsekwencją jest walka między „dobrem” – naszymi bohaterami – a „złem” – powodem problemu. Warto jednak wspomnieć, że o ile wzór jest podobny, o tyle wspomniane problemy, ich paranormalne podłoże, opisywane w opowiadaniach historie ludzi oraz wydarzenia różnią się od siebie, co jest niewątpliwą zaletą i sprawia, że każdy rozdział czytamy z nową pasją i zainteresowaniem. Tymi opowiadaniami po prostu nie sposób się znudzić, niezależnie od tego ile razy będzie się je czytało. A możecie mi wierzyć, że kiedy już zacznie się lekturę, nie ma się najmniejszej ochoty przestawać.
Kolejną zaletą „Trifles and Folly”, tym razem zdecydowanie bardziej subiektywną, jest moim zdaniem fakt, że sporo opowiadań w pewnym stopniu odnosi się do praktyk Voodoo, lub innymi słowy Voudon, oraz Hoodoo. Przyznaję, że mam do tego tematu pewną słabość, a to dlatego, że Voodoo naprawdę mnie fascynuje, chociaż jednocześnie odczuwam przed tym ogromny respekt oraz strach. Myślcie sobie, co tylko chcecie, ale akurat dla mnie Voudon i Hoodoo od zawsze były prawdziwe i posiadały realną moc. Dlatego też przyznaję, że opowiadania, w których pojawiły się odniesienia do tego tematu sprawiały, że czytałam je z ogromnym zainteresowaniem, a jednocześnie czułam się nieswojo. Wiem, że to fikcja, ale jednak pewne reakcje są bezwarunkowe i dla mnie taka właśnie jest odpowiedź mojej psychiki na temat Voodoo i Hoodoo. Krótko mówiąc, lektura „Trifles and Folly” zaangażowała mnie w pełni.
Ciekawym dodatkiem niewątpliwie jest także znajdująca się pod koniec tomu historia Sorrena. Czytelnik ma okazję poznać w niej twórcę naszego wampira, widzi w jakim stopniu i w jaki sposób Alard wpłynął na swojego podopiecznego i jego przyszłość związaną z niebezpiecznymi przedmiotami, których należy się pozbyć oraz chronieniem ludzi. Co więcej, dzięki temu mamy okazję lepiej przyjrzeć się samemu Sorrenowi, który choć pojawia się w dziewięciu głównych opowiadaniach nadal jest dla nas postacią tajemniczą, o której zdecydowanie chcemy dowiedzieć się czegoś więcej. Przyznaję więc, że te trzy ostatnie rozdziały są równie interesujące, co reszta opowiadań i stanowią świetne dopełnienie kolekcji „Trifles and Folly”.
Podsumowując, „Trifles and Folly” to uzależniająca kolekcja opowiadań, którą czyta się z prawdziwą przyjemnością i która zapewnia nam świetną rozrywkę od pierwszej do ostatniej strony. Dla czytelników, którzy znają już serię „Deadly Curiosities” jest to książka z rodzaju „musisz przeczytać!”, zaś dla osób, które dopiero zaczynają swoją przygodę z serią, może być dobrym początkiem niesamowitej eskapady u boku Cassidy, Teaga i Sorrena. Gorąco polecam!
Cassidy Kincaide, who's got a gift of psychometry, runs Trifles and Folly, an antique and curios shop in Charleston. However, her actual job is to get dangerous, magical objects, often charged with negative energy, off the market. However, from time to time, she also has to eliminate other supernatural threats. She completes her difficult tasks with a help of two exceptional people: Teag, Cassidy's best friend who has Weaver magic, and Sorren, a six hundred-year-old vampire and her business partner.
"Trifles and Folly" is a collection of nine short stories and three bonus stories set in the world of an urban fantasy series, "Deadly Curiosities". In this case, the most important question which we should answer is: "Do we need to read the main novels of the series before we reach for these collection?". The answer is very simple: no. And undoubtedly this is a huge advantage of this book. In my opinion, "Trifles and Folly" is built on the principles similar to these of the TV series, in which the intro contains all the important information that allows us to find our way in the world we "enter". Thus, reading every story we get to know the characters, their appearance and skills, their workplace and the role they play in this universe. Therefore, we don't have to learn all the details and characters to know what's going on in the stories, as we simply remember them thanks to the aforementioned "intro", and thus to repeats of some important information which characterize the series and the characters. It is also worth adding that thanks to all this, regardless of which story we read first, we always know what is going on and who we are dealing with.
As for the short stories themselves, it is worth noting that in the vast majority they have many common points, such as the way in which the plot develops, which is the result of the profession of our protagonists. Thus the pattern repeats – the object filled with negative energy entails a whole series of events, the consequence of which is the fight between "good" – our characters – and "evil" – the cause of the problem. However, it is worth noting that if the pattern is similar, the aforementioned problems, their paranormal background, people's stories presented in the chapters and the events differ from one another, which is an undoubted advantage as we read each short story with new passion and interest. To put it simple, no matter how many times we read these stories, they are never boring. And you can believe me when i say that when you start reading them, you don't want to stop.
Another advantage of "Trifles and Folly", this time definitely more subjective one, is in my opinion the fact that a lot of stories to some extent refer to Voodoo, or in other words Voudon, and Hoodoo. I admit that I have a weakness for this subject, and this is because Voodoo fascinates me, although at the same time I feel great respect for it and I'm afraid of it. Think what you want, but for me Voudon and Hoodoo have always been real and had real power. Therefore, I admit that I read the stories with references to this subject with great interest, and at the same time I felt a little bit uncomfortable. I know it's a fiction, but some reactions are simply unconditional and for me my psyche's reaction to Voodoo and Hoodoo is a great example. Well, in short, reading "Trifles and Folly" has fully engaged me.
Sorren's story at the end of the volume undoubtedly makes an interesting bonus. In these chapters the readers have the opportunity to "meet" the creator of our vampire, they can see to what extent and in what way Alard influenced his protégé and his future related to getting rid of dangerous objects and protecting people. What's more, thanks to all this we have the opportunity to take a closer look at Sorren himself. Although he appears in nine main short stories of this book, he's still a mysterious figure, about which we definitely want to learn more. So I must admit that these last three chapters are as interesting as the rest of the short stories included in this volume and they are a great complement to the "Trifles and Folly" collection.
In summary, "Trifles and Folly" is an addictive collection of short stories that we read with real pleasure and which provides us with great entertainment from the first to the last page. For readers who already know "Deadly Curiosities" series this is a "must read" book, and for those who are just beginning their adventure with the series, it can be a good start of an incredible journey with Cassidy, Teag and Sorren at their side. I highly recommend this collection!
__________________________________
Obdarzona darem psychometrii Cassidy Kincaide prowadzi Trifles and Folly, sklep z antykami w Charleston. W rzeczywistości jednak jej zadaniem jest pozbywanie się z obiegu niebezpiecznych, magicznych i często naładowanych negatywną energią przedmiotów, a nierzadko także eliminowanie innych ponadnaturalnych zagrożeń. W tym niełatwym zadaniu pomaga jej dwójka wyjątkowych osób: Teag, posiadający magię tkania najlepszy przyjaciel Cassidy, oraz Sorren, kilkusetletni wampir i partner w interesach.
„Trifles and Folly” to kolekcja dziewięciu opowiadań oraz trzech historii bonusowych nawiązujących do serii urban fantasy „Deadly Curiosities”. W takim wypadku najważniejsze pytanie, na jakie powinniśmy sobie odpowiedzieć jest następujące: „Czy zanim sięgniemy po opowiadania musimy przeczytać główne powieści serii?”. Odpowiedź jest banalnie prosta: nie. I niewątpliwie stanowi to ogromną zaletę tej kolekcji. W moim odczuciu „Trifles and Folly” skonstruowane jest na zasadzie zbliżonej do serialu telewizyjnego, w którym intro zawiera wszystkie istotne informacje, które pozwalają nam odnaleźć się w świecie, do którego wkraczamy. Tym samym, czytelnik za każdym razem na nowo poznaje bohaterów, ich wygląd i umiejętności, miejsce pracy, rolę jaką spełniają w tym uniwersum. Nie musimy więc od razu zapamiętywać wszystkich szczegółów i postaci, aby odnaleźć się w opowiadaniach, ale po prostu zapadają nam w pamięć dzięki wspomnianemu „intro”, a więc powtarzaniu pewnych istotnych informacji charakteryzujących serię oraz bohaterów. Warto też dodać, że dzięki temu niezależnie od tego, od którego opowiadania rozpoczniemy lekturę, będziemy wiedzieć o co chodzi i z kim mamy do czynienia.
Jeśli chodzi o same opowiadania to warto zauważyć, że w ogromnej większości mają one wiele punktów wspólnych, jak chociażby sposób, w jaki rozwija się ich fabuła, co jest wynikiem profesji naszych bohaterów. Tym samym powtarza się w nich pewien wzór, a więc naładowany negatywną energią przedmiot pociąga za sobą lawinę zdarzeń, których konsekwencją jest walka między „dobrem” – naszymi bohaterami – a „złem” – powodem problemu. Warto jednak wspomnieć, że o ile wzór jest podobny, o tyle wspomniane problemy, ich paranormalne podłoże, opisywane w opowiadaniach historie ludzi oraz wydarzenia różnią się od siebie, co jest niewątpliwą zaletą i sprawia, że każdy rozdział czytamy z nową pasją i zainteresowaniem. Tymi opowiadaniami po prostu nie sposób się znudzić, niezależnie od tego ile razy będzie się je czytało. A możecie mi wierzyć, że kiedy już zacznie się lekturę, nie ma się najmniejszej ochoty przestawać.
Kolejną zaletą „Trifles and Folly”, tym razem zdecydowanie bardziej subiektywną, jest moim zdaniem fakt, że sporo opowiadań w pewnym stopniu odnosi się do praktyk Voodoo, lub innymi słowy Voudon, oraz Hoodoo. Przyznaję, że mam do tego tematu pewną słabość, a to dlatego, że Voodoo naprawdę mnie fascynuje, chociaż jednocześnie odczuwam przed tym ogromny respekt oraz strach. Myślcie sobie, co tylko chcecie, ale akurat dla mnie Voudon i Hoodoo od zawsze były prawdziwe i posiadały realną moc. Dlatego też przyznaję, że opowiadania, w których pojawiły się odniesienia do tego tematu sprawiały, że czytałam je z ogromnym zainteresowaniem, a jednocześnie czułam się nieswojo. Wiem, że to fikcja, ale jednak pewne reakcje są bezwarunkowe i dla mnie taka właśnie jest odpowiedź mojej psychiki na temat Voodoo i Hoodoo. Krótko mówiąc, lektura „Trifles and Folly” zaangażowała mnie w pełni.
Ciekawym dodatkiem niewątpliwie jest także znajdująca się pod koniec tomu historia Sorrena. Czytelnik ma okazję poznać w niej twórcę naszego wampira, widzi w jakim stopniu i w jaki sposób Alard wpłynął na swojego podopiecznego i jego przyszłość związaną z niebezpiecznymi przedmiotami, których należy się pozbyć oraz chronieniem ludzi. Co więcej, dzięki temu mamy okazję lepiej przyjrzeć się samemu Sorrenowi, który choć pojawia się w dziewięciu głównych opowiadaniach nadal jest dla nas postacią tajemniczą, o której zdecydowanie chcemy dowiedzieć się czegoś więcej. Przyznaję więc, że te trzy ostatnie rozdziały są równie interesujące, co reszta opowiadań i stanowią świetne dopełnienie kolekcji „Trifles and Folly”.
Podsumowując, „Trifles and Folly” to uzależniająca kolekcja opowiadań, którą czyta się z prawdziwą przyjemnością i która zapewnia nam świetną rozrywkę od pierwszej do ostatniej strony. Dla czytelników, którzy znają już serię „Deadly Curiosities” jest to książka z rodzaju „musisz przeczytać!”, zaś dla osób, które dopiero zaczynają swoją przygodę z serią, może być dobrym początkiem niesamowitej eskapady u boku Cassidy, Teaga i Sorrena. Gorąco polecam!
March 29, 2019
Story: 5 stars Narration : 5 stars Overall: 5 stars.
Trifles and Folly is an antique and curio shop out front and out back Cassidy reads the history of the things brought in to sell and also items that she comes across while attending appraisals and foreclosures. Things only go on the shop floor when Cassidy and her magical business partner Teag are sure that it is safe. When a piece has a story to tell or darkness that needs disposing of, it is kept in one of the shops back rooms. Cassidy likes to read buttons and Teag's weaver magic is unusual. He is learning basket weaving and is putting magic inside his weaves. He can also use his powers to uncover information on the internet, this makes him a great Hacker who is able to find what others never could.Trifles and Folly has so many interesting characters, mysteries and paranormal suspense. The team have to deal with many magically dangerous situations. Because so much is going on throughout the various adventures, it would be easy to get lost and confused but I found that Gail Z Martin has a lovely clear way of making confusing situations clear. Amanda Ronconi is a narrator that I am familiar with. In my experience her voice acting has always been stellar and her narration of Trifles and Folly is no exception. Her voice is clear and the different characters were easily recognisable. In my opinion this is a perfect example of the right narrator for a great story.
Trifles and Folly is an antique and curio shop out front and out back Cassidy reads the history of the things brought in to sell and also items that she comes across while attending appraisals and foreclosures. Things only go on the shop floor when Cassidy and her magical business partner Teag are sure that it is safe. When a piece has a story to tell or darkness that needs disposing of, it is kept in one of the shops back rooms. Cassidy likes to read buttons and Teag's weaver magic is unusual. He is learning basket weaving and is putting magic inside his weaves. He can also use his powers to uncover information on the internet, this makes him a great Hacker who is able to find what others never could.Trifles and Folly has so many interesting characters, mysteries and paranormal suspense. The team have to deal with many magically dangerous situations. Because so much is going on throughout the various adventures, it would be easy to get lost and confused but I found that Gail Z Martin has a lovely clear way of making confusing situations clear. Amanda Ronconi is a narrator that I am familiar with. In my experience her voice acting has always been stellar and her narration of Trifles and Folly is no exception. Her voice is clear and the different characters were easily recognisable. In my opinion this is a perfect example of the right narrator for a great story.
August 6, 2019
There was something here for all walks of life in the fantasy paranormal realm. I enjoyed getting a peek in to the mind of a talented author and the narrator brought to life the words written. One could visualize the world created for each of the stories. One could see in and almost feel like they were present in a fantasy that came so close to being a obsessed curiosity. Each one presented you with a different take on the deadly items that each of Teag, Cassidy, and Sorren come across in their line of work. I enjoyed them to the point a few of them I felt were just way too short and wanted more of them.
As the author Gail did a fabulous job of creating world that was steeped with curses, lore, lure, deadly consequences, and magic. Amanda brought the words of Gail to life and gave them a quality of vivid imagery.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gail Z. Martin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
As the author Gail did a fabulous job of creating world that was steeped with curses, lore, lure, deadly consequences, and magic. Amanda brought the words of Gail to life and gave them a quality of vivid imagery.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gail Z. Martin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
April 11, 2022
Trifles and Folly is a collection of nine short stories set in the world of the authors Deadly Curiosities series. But it can be read without reading that which is how I am reading it.
Main character Cassidy owns an antique store. She has a gift which enables her to sense things from an object. From something like the simple touch of a button she can feel memories and emotions of the person who once owned or used the item. Along with her friends Teag and the mysterious magician Sorren she solves the mysteries that find their way into her life.
I've never read this series before but straight away it makes me want to go and read the others. I liked that the stories in this collection all felt full and layered. They are like mini episodes of a TV show which is perfect for me as I like lots of TV shows!
If you are looking for a new paranormal book series with some humour and mystery then check this one out. It's also a great introduction to this authors style of writing, which I like.
Main character Cassidy owns an antique store. She has a gift which enables her to sense things from an object. From something like the simple touch of a button she can feel memories and emotions of the person who once owned or used the item. Along with her friends Teag and the mysterious magician Sorren she solves the mysteries that find their way into her life.
I've never read this series before but straight away it makes me want to go and read the others. I liked that the stories in this collection all felt full and layered. They are like mini episodes of a TV show which is perfect for me as I like lots of TV shows!
If you are looking for a new paranormal book series with some humour and mystery then check this one out. It's also a great introduction to this authors style of writing, which I like.
April 11, 2019
Trifles and Folly by Gail Z. Martin is an entertaining addition to the Deadly Curiosities series. The collection includes the following stories: "Buttons," "The Restless Dead," "Retribution," "Coffin Box," "Wicked Dreams," "Collector," "Bad Memories," "Shadow Garden," and "Spook House." Bonus stories: “Vanities,” “The Wild Hunt, Dark,” and “Legacy.”
Trifles & Folly is an antiques and curios shop run by Cassidy Kincaide, Teag Logan, and Sorren. The stories are set in contemporary Charleston. Cassidy can see the history of objects that she touches. Teag is a magic weaver. Sorren is a vampire. In addition to running the antique store, the crew seeks out cursed objects to keep the world safe from supernatural threats.
I enjoy how the stories combine past and current history. The stories are clever and entertaining. They are well-written and exciting. Gail Z. Martin does a noteworthy job with her character development. Her characters have lots of depth and emotion. I recommend Trifles and Folly to people that enjoy urban fantasy mysteries. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.
Trifles & Folly is an antiques and curios shop run by Cassidy Kincaide, Teag Logan, and Sorren. The stories are set in contemporary Charleston. Cassidy can see the history of objects that she touches. Teag is a magic weaver. Sorren is a vampire. In addition to running the antique store, the crew seeks out cursed objects to keep the world safe from supernatural threats.
I enjoy how the stories combine past and current history. The stories are clever and entertaining. They are well-written and exciting. Gail Z. Martin does a noteworthy job with her character development. Her characters have lots of depth and emotion. I recommend Trifles and Folly to people that enjoy urban fantasy mysteries. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.
April 3, 2022
Trifles and Folly is a collection of short stories set in the Deadly Curiosities series and follows the story of Trifles and Folly the antique shop full of odd and dangerous antiques as well as Cassidy, Teag, and Sorren. The book is a paranormal adventure mystery and filled with intriguing items and characters. The book contains ghosts, magic, and paranormal creatures as well as a healthy dose of action and adventure. The book is well researched and well written. I like the overall story a lot and the characters are great. Overall a very enjoyable read.
December 10, 2018
Fabulous collection!
A collection of short stories about Cassidy Kincaide and her band of supernatural warriors. During the day they run an antique shop while their nights are dedicated to finding and procuring supernaturally tainted items. Often these items are guarded by monsters who for their own reasons want those items to stay right where they are. And, as a delightful bonUs, we also get some backstory on Sorren, Cassidy's 600 year old vampire partner.
A collection of short stories about Cassidy Kincaide and her band of supernatural warriors. During the day they run an antique shop while their nights are dedicated to finding and procuring supernaturally tainted items. Often these items are guarded by monsters who for their own reasons want those items to stay right where they are. And, as a delightful bonUs, we also get some backstory on Sorren, Cassidy's 600 year old vampire partner.
March 7, 2019
Gail Z. Martin and Larry Martin are exceptionally delightful and entertaining prolific authors. TRIFLES AND FOLLY offers nine wonderful stories in the Deadly Curiosities universe, focusing on Cassidy Kincaide's Trifles and Folly Shop in historic and haunted Charleston South Carolina, established 1670. Additionally, this collection includes three other stories and an excerpt. Welcome to the magic and edge-of-the-seat suspense these authors provide.
April 13, 2019
Having the ability to do something that others are unable to do can be viewed as a gift or a curse. For instance, if you have the ability to see only bad things that happen in the future, how would that affect your outlook on life? Would you view it as a curse, feeling that this is something that will happen no matter what you do, or would you view it as a gift that you were allowed to see them in an attempt to change the outcome? Martin’s collection of stories portrays a little bit of these elements with characters knowing certain things that they probably shouldn’t, but it is ultimately a choice that they make as to whether to put that knowledge to good use or ignore it and let bad things happen. What would you do? Would you allows deflect to the good side of things or does it depend on the circumstances?
Cassidy and Teag run an antiques shop called Trifles and Folly, a shop that has been in Cassidy’s family for generations. While a six hundred year old vampire may own the shop, Cassidy and her ancestors don’t mind continuing to run things. This shop is not just any shop though, they items that Cassidy and Teag collect are generally either cursed items or hold some type of sentimental value from the past with A LOT of baggage. Cassidy is able to read objects and see the history of an item by touching it while Teag is able to weave magic for things like protection and also hacking into systems easily. With their combined abilities, they assist Sorren with ridding the world—one cursed object at a time. Throughout the various stories, a sequence of life events are thrown into the mix of their many adventures, but each adventure grows darker and darker. Does that mean that Cassidy, Teag, and Sorren are growing stronger or will their time come faster than they think?
Martin seems to have some really great stories among this collection; however, there is so much wasted content where the background information of the characters are reiterated every single time. If these were all separate stories at one point in time, it would have been acceptable in those instance, but now as a collection—it does not make much sense. A book series is kind of like a television show for many readers. There is no rehashing of backgrounds like Martin does within these stories. It would have more than likely been beneficial to share a brief glimpse of previous events to jog the reader’s memory. Some of the word choices did not seem relevant or accurate to the scenes either. Since this review is based on the audiobook, the narration was not a particularly good fit for this book. The accent sounded forced and the pronunciation for many words throughout the stories did not flow well. With that being written, the story did have a general practiced theme and the stories did flow well together. If you are a reader of paranormal mysteries and urban fantasy, you may want to pick up this collection of books. Since this is the first collection, you should be able to jump right in.
An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a three-star rating for Trifles and Folly by Gail N. Martin.
Cassidy and Teag run an antiques shop called Trifles and Folly, a shop that has been in Cassidy’s family for generations. While a six hundred year old vampire may own the shop, Cassidy and her ancestors don’t mind continuing to run things. This shop is not just any shop though, they items that Cassidy and Teag collect are generally either cursed items or hold some type of sentimental value from the past with A LOT of baggage. Cassidy is able to read objects and see the history of an item by touching it while Teag is able to weave magic for things like protection and also hacking into systems easily. With their combined abilities, they assist Sorren with ridding the world—one cursed object at a time. Throughout the various stories, a sequence of life events are thrown into the mix of their many adventures, but each adventure grows darker and darker. Does that mean that Cassidy, Teag, and Sorren are growing stronger or will their time come faster than they think?
Martin seems to have some really great stories among this collection; however, there is so much wasted content where the background information of the characters are reiterated every single time. If these were all separate stories at one point in time, it would have been acceptable in those instance, but now as a collection—it does not make much sense. A book series is kind of like a television show for many readers. There is no rehashing of backgrounds like Martin does within these stories. It would have more than likely been beneficial to share a brief glimpse of previous events to jog the reader’s memory. Some of the word choices did not seem relevant or accurate to the scenes either. Since this review is based on the audiobook, the narration was not a particularly good fit for this book. The accent sounded forced and the pronunciation for many words throughout the stories did not flow well. With that being written, the story did have a general practiced theme and the stories did flow well together. If you are a reader of paranormal mysteries and urban fantasy, you may want to pick up this collection of books. Since this is the first collection, you should be able to jump right in.
An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a three-star rating for Trifles and Folly by Gail N. Martin.
April 10, 2019
This was an engaging collection of short stories. Cassidy & Teag make a great investigation team. I love the combination of old collectibles, the supernatural, and mysteries to solve. My favorite tales tho were the final three, which are bonus material. They are told from the viewpoint of Sorren, a helpful and knowledgeable vampire. Through those stories we got to know him better and I would love to see a novel (or 3?) dedicated to this character.
Teag does come off a little too laid back at times and some mistake him for aloof or an idiot, but we all know he has a brain under that surfer boy demeanor. Cassidy is a straight forward young lady who’s trying to run a business as well as get dangerous supernatural objects off the market. I immediately liked her.
My one quibble is that with each new story, we have to have Cassidy’s special ability explained, again. This gets a little tedious when I’m listening to the stories back to back. However, it also allow for each story to stand alone in some other collection or magazine.
Cheating husbands, prematurely dead kids, and dark magic all play a part in these stories. One of my favorites dealt with the difference between Houdon and Voodoo. There’s also a mother-daughter team that sell hand woven baskets at the local market and there’s power in those baskets. Out of the Sorren stories, the first was my favorite because we get to know about Sorren’s origins and how things can still go horribly wrong even if you’re a powerful vampire.
All told, it was an enjoyable collection. 4.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Amanda Ronconi was a perfect match for Cassidy. She also had regional accents for the side characters. While she did keep each character distinct, her male voices could use some masculinity. So for those last 3 stories that are all told from Sorren’s point of view, I would have liked either more masculinity from Ronconi or a male narrator. It was too easy to slip into Cassidy’s character sometimes for those last few stories. The pacing was great and there were no technical issues with the recording. 4.5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gail Z. Martin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Teag does come off a little too laid back at times and some mistake him for aloof or an idiot, but we all know he has a brain under that surfer boy demeanor. Cassidy is a straight forward young lady who’s trying to run a business as well as get dangerous supernatural objects off the market. I immediately liked her.
My one quibble is that with each new story, we have to have Cassidy’s special ability explained, again. This gets a little tedious when I’m listening to the stories back to back. However, it also allow for each story to stand alone in some other collection or magazine.
Cheating husbands, prematurely dead kids, and dark magic all play a part in these stories. One of my favorites dealt with the difference between Houdon and Voodoo. There’s also a mother-daughter team that sell hand woven baskets at the local market and there’s power in those baskets. Out of the Sorren stories, the first was my favorite because we get to know about Sorren’s origins and how things can still go horribly wrong even if you’re a powerful vampire.
All told, it was an enjoyable collection. 4.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Amanda Ronconi was a perfect match for Cassidy. She also had regional accents for the side characters. While she did keep each character distinct, her male voices could use some masculinity. So for those last 3 stories that are all told from Sorren’s point of view, I would have liked either more masculinity from Ronconi or a male narrator. It was too easy to slip into Cassidy’s character sometimes for those last few stories. The pacing was great and there were no technical issues with the recording. 4.5/5 stars.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Gail Z. Martin. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
March 13, 2019
This is a series of nine tales from the Deadly Curiosities Collection, some of which are published separately under the title of Deadly Curiosities Adventures and featuring Cassidy and her colleagues at the Trifles and Folly shop in Charleston. It also includes a further three tales about the beginnings of Sorren’s early involvement with the shop. Cassidy inherited the shop from her uncle, due to her magical ability, to read the history of objects by touch and sense good or evil. Her business partners are Teag, who has magic as a Weaver, able to weave magic into cloth and other fabrics and ropes, but can also weave together information, so makes a great researcher or hacker and Sorren, a six hundred year old vampire.
The shop helps to keep dangerous antiques and curiosities from the hands of the general public and people often bring items to the shop, to sell, because they have an odd or unwelcoming vibe to them. Often from houses people are renovating or have inherited from relatives. Some are cursed with bad or evil magic, others just hold very malevolent emotions or tragic memories. The threesome work with other specialist as required and also as part of the Alliance, who do the same job around the world. Sorren has other shops in other locations and is off at other sites doing the same work.
Each tale is a complete short story, introducing you to the shop, the characters and what they do, as well as an actual case to have to deal with in each story. They are really interesting stories and involve a real mix magical situations for the team to deal with. You definitely can’t be bored with any of them and will make you want to read the rest of the books in the series and associated books. I had first read the author’s Darkhurst series and then Tangled Web, before continuing with the Deadly Curiosities stories. Great short reads that you can pick up and finish easily, but then go back to read the next short story.
I look forward to the next book in the series and now look out for this author’s name whenever I am searching through newsletters, book offers or review sites. I was lucky to receive an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
The shop helps to keep dangerous antiques and curiosities from the hands of the general public and people often bring items to the shop, to sell, because they have an odd or unwelcoming vibe to them. Often from houses people are renovating or have inherited from relatives. Some are cursed with bad or evil magic, others just hold very malevolent emotions or tragic memories. The threesome work with other specialist as required and also as part of the Alliance, who do the same job around the world. Sorren has other shops in other locations and is off at other sites doing the same work.
Each tale is a complete short story, introducing you to the shop, the characters and what they do, as well as an actual case to have to deal with in each story. They are really interesting stories and involve a real mix magical situations for the team to deal with. You definitely can’t be bored with any of them and will make you want to read the rest of the books in the series and associated books. I had first read the author’s Darkhurst series and then Tangled Web, before continuing with the Deadly Curiosities stories. Great short reads that you can pick up and finish easily, but then go back to read the next short story.
I look forward to the next book in the series and now look out for this author’s name whenever I am searching through newsletters, book offers or review sites. I was lucky to receive an ARC copy of this book from Hidden Gems and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
March 16, 2019
Trifles and Folly is a book of novellas and short stories. And so far this is my favorite book I have read this year. I love how Gail Martin not only brings a book filled with haunted artifacts, but there is also history. The history is real the people in the history are not but she tells a great story with both fiction and non fiction intertwined. This book is a clean read, there is no strong language and no sex. One of the stories does mention a rape but no details at all. There are 9 stories in this book and 3 bonus stories where you learn more or Sorren's Story.
Amanda Ronconi narrates the audiobook. I have to admit I love her. I have listened to several books she has narrated and she is amazing. She brings so much to this book. I would of enjoyed this book no matter who narrated it but with Amanda narrating it it was a huge bonus.
Cassidy Kincaide owns her families 350 year old business which to the world looks like a Antique shop. But it is actually a shop where they take in haunted and cursed objects and either make them safe for resale or do away with them so no harm can come to anyone else.
Along with Cassidy is her business partner Teag Logan who is also has Weaver magic and Sorren a 600 year old Vampire. Cassidy is a psychometric, which means she can read objects. Together the 3 do their best to gather haunted objects and then "unhaunt" them.
I have to say my favorite story in this book is The Restless Dead. A piece of on old sewing machine comes to the shop. The story is about the flood and hurricane that hit in the late 1800's. A group of Irish indentured women work in a Sewing factory to pay off their debt. When the hurricane hits the everyone in the building dies due to the doors being locked and no one having a key to open it. The story may be made up but even the made up parts of the story brings a lot of history and I do love history as well as "ghosty" things.
Amanda Ronconi narrates the audiobook. I have to admit I love her. I have listened to several books she has narrated and she is amazing. She brings so much to this book. I would of enjoyed this book no matter who narrated it but with Amanda narrating it it was a huge bonus.
Cassidy Kincaide owns her families 350 year old business which to the world looks like a Antique shop. But it is actually a shop where they take in haunted and cursed objects and either make them safe for resale or do away with them so no harm can come to anyone else.
Along with Cassidy is her business partner Teag Logan who is also has Weaver magic and Sorren a 600 year old Vampire. Cassidy is a psychometric, which means she can read objects. Together the 3 do their best to gather haunted objects and then "unhaunt" them.
I have to say my favorite story in this book is The Restless Dead. A piece of on old sewing machine comes to the shop. The story is about the flood and hurricane that hit in the late 1800's. A group of Irish indentured women work in a Sewing factory to pay off their debt. When the hurricane hits the everyone in the building dies due to the doors being locked and no one having a key to open it. The story may be made up but even the made up parts of the story brings a lot of history and I do love history as well as "ghosty" things.
June 23, 2021
I have mixed feelings about this collection of short stories. I strongly feel that the ones at the end, which feature Soren as the main character, belong at the beginning of the series, let alone this collection - and that's how I listened to them. Those do come first, chronologically, and make sense to listen to first. They were also my favorites of the bunch. If there were a whole series on just Soren's life, I'd be SO all about it.
For the remainder, which goes back to Cassidy's adventures, I enjoyed most the parts concerned with the ghostly type & otherworldly characters, their pasts, the history of their time, and what caused them to be unsettled or problematic for Cassidy and her companions. The actual resolution of each story, the battle leading to their being sent on or destroyed was generally less exciting, though a few of those scenes were a little more unique than others. For many though, the conclusions were a tad too formulaic.
The problem with listening to this collection, (and with the series in general), is that the author writes each one with background information being given almost verbatim. This is so that when they were released separately, the reader could be reminded of what's what or to make them fairly easy to understand as standalones, should they have been in anthologies with other authors' works. But to hear the same information over & over got me a bit twitchy. It's probably best not to binge.
The audio narration is decent. The narrator occasionally changes side character voices slightly, but I could always tell who was talking & felt that she paced well & her emotion felt pretty real. I found myself "thinking" with a southern accent. It is impressive how similar in voice she is to the narrator who does the full novels, (unless they're actually the same person, but she goes by 2 different names. If that's the case, well, of course she sounds the same.)
For the remainder, which goes back to Cassidy's adventures, I enjoyed most the parts concerned with the ghostly type & otherworldly characters, their pasts, the history of their time, and what caused them to be unsettled or problematic for Cassidy and her companions. The actual resolution of each story, the battle leading to their being sent on or destroyed was generally less exciting, though a few of those scenes were a little more unique than others. For many though, the conclusions were a tad too formulaic.
The problem with listening to this collection, (and with the series in general), is that the author writes each one with background information being given almost verbatim. This is so that when they were released separately, the reader could be reminded of what's what or to make them fairly easy to understand as standalones, should they have been in anthologies with other authors' works. But to hear the same information over & over got me a bit twitchy. It's probably best not to binge.
The audio narration is decent. The narrator occasionally changes side character voices slightly, but I could always tell who was talking & felt that she paced well & her emotion felt pretty real. I found myself "thinking" with a southern accent. It is impressive how similar in voice she is to the narrator who does the full novels, (unless they're actually the same person, but she goes by 2 different names. If that's the case, well, of course she sounds the same.)
April 2, 2022
4.5 stars
This is an engaging collection of stories that center around the same characters and premise– there’s an antique store that’s basically a front for the dangerous work of curtailing dangerous supernatural objects, a diverse and interesting crew of people (some human, some not) who work across a variety of supernatural traditions with skill, a lot of luck, and good intentions all around. They’re all interesting, and while the majority of the stories are tied to a single place (Charleston) the range of perils they face there is varied and richly developed– it’s clear the author is no stranger to careful research, and weaves it skillfully into their fiction. The only thing I didn’t always love is how formulaic the introduction to the characters is in each story: you will hear about Sorren glamoring Cassidy’s dog every. single. time. There will be the same joke about Sorren’s adaptation skills as a tech-savvy 600 year old vampire. Everyone’s skill set and life experience will be unpacked in near identical language (down to the explanation of what ABD means for a grad student every time Teag’s introduced). It’s understandable that the characters and context would be introduced in each story– especially if an anthology was not their original place of publication, but since I ended up binge reading all of them at once here, I found myself really wishing that there had been at least a little variation, if not in the actual backstory info, in the way it’s presented to readers. Overall, however, that’s a really, really minor complaint, and the stories make for compelling reading. While they’re all enjoyable, my favorites were far and away the few that left modern Charleston to document Sorren’s early experiences as a vampire newly entrusted with calling– I’d happily read more about him at any time, and I hope that I get to in future books.
This is an engaging collection of stories that center around the same characters and premise– there’s an antique store that’s basically a front for the dangerous work of curtailing dangerous supernatural objects, a diverse and interesting crew of people (some human, some not) who work across a variety of supernatural traditions with skill, a lot of luck, and good intentions all around. They’re all interesting, and while the majority of the stories are tied to a single place (Charleston) the range of perils they face there is varied and richly developed– it’s clear the author is no stranger to careful research, and weaves it skillfully into their fiction. The only thing I didn’t always love is how formulaic the introduction to the characters is in each story: you will hear about Sorren glamoring Cassidy’s dog every. single. time. There will be the same joke about Sorren’s adaptation skills as a tech-savvy 600 year old vampire. Everyone’s skill set and life experience will be unpacked in near identical language (down to the explanation of what ABD means for a grad student every time Teag’s introduced). It’s understandable that the characters and context would be introduced in each story– especially if an anthology was not their original place of publication, but since I ended up binge reading all of them at once here, I found myself really wishing that there had been at least a little variation, if not in the actual backstory info, in the way it’s presented to readers. Overall, however, that’s a really, really minor complaint, and the stories make for compelling reading. While they’re all enjoyable, my favorites were far and away the few that left modern Charleston to document Sorren’s early experiences as a vampire newly entrusted with calling– I’d happily read more about him at any time, and I hope that I get to in future books.
January 23, 2020
Collection of short stories in the Deadly Curiosities universe
I enjoyed this collection of short stories that gives us more insight into Cassidy, Teag, Sorren and those who assist them. The bonus stories in the back of the book documenting Sorren’s history were also quite informative.
Each of the adventures was a quick, concise read that gave a little more detail on the powers that the characters have and learn. I am assuming from the way they read that each story appeared elsewhere first and were then collected here. I say that because there is a great deal of repetitiveness in each story introducing the characters, their backgrounds and certain quotes. That got quite old after a while and made me long for the author deciding to make this a much more integrated collection which would involve editing the stories to reduce that redundancy.
You can also tell, if you’ve read other books in the series, that the stories must be spread throughout the catalog. It would have been helpful if at the start of each story it was chronologically placed in the existing catalog. For example, in one story Kell knows nothing of what Cassidy and Teag really do and in another story he refers to himself as an “Alliance apprentice.” Something obviously occurred in one of the books to bring about this change in status so it would helpful to know what and in which book for those who like to read everything in order.
The stories themselves are all interesting and pose unique questions. It was a good read, particularly as I enjoy this universe.
I enjoyed this collection of short stories that gives us more insight into Cassidy, Teag, Sorren and those who assist them. The bonus stories in the back of the book documenting Sorren’s history were also quite informative.
Each of the adventures was a quick, concise read that gave a little more detail on the powers that the characters have and learn. I am assuming from the way they read that each story appeared elsewhere first and were then collected here. I say that because there is a great deal of repetitiveness in each story introducing the characters, their backgrounds and certain quotes. That got quite old after a while and made me long for the author deciding to make this a much more integrated collection which would involve editing the stories to reduce that redundancy.
You can also tell, if you’ve read other books in the series, that the stories must be spread throughout the catalog. It would have been helpful if at the start of each story it was chronologically placed in the existing catalog. For example, in one story Kell knows nothing of what Cassidy and Teag really do and in another story he refers to himself as an “Alliance apprentice.” Something obviously occurred in one of the books to bring about this change in status so it would helpful to know what and in which book for those who like to read everything in order.
The stories themselves are all interesting and pose unique questions. It was a good read, particularly as I enjoy this universe.
January 22, 2022
I am embarrassed that it took me so long to get through this anthology. I started it a while ago on a vacation trip and since lost track of it in my kindle. A short story anthology is both good and bad that way because I was able to stop easily at the end of a story and pick up with the next one years later without missing anything.
I don't have experience with this world outside of this short story set, so needed the intro that is tacked on to every story in the set. It introduces you to Cassidy, the touch psychic who runs the shop, Teag, her partner, and Sorren, the last silent vampire partner. They work together to using intelligence, magic, connections in the neighborhood, and sheer luck to remove antiques with bad mojo from the market. I will say, while I appreciated the intro when starting and then picking the book up, the way this anthology is designed, I would almost recommend that as your strategy for reading it, otherwise it quickly becomes redundant.
There are a ton of stories packed into this set, some that I enjoyed more than others, but the highlights for me were at the end, in the bonus section. This included Sorren centric stories of his history and "onboarding" into the magical saving community. The world is unique, the stories are interesting, and the size of each story was very manageable for a quick read. I would recommend this set for someone who wants to casually read a short story anthology, perhaps with different breaks for books in between.
I don't have experience with this world outside of this short story set, so needed the intro that is tacked on to every story in the set. It introduces you to Cassidy, the touch psychic who runs the shop, Teag, her partner, and Sorren, the last silent vampire partner. They work together to using intelligence, magic, connections in the neighborhood, and sheer luck to remove antiques with bad mojo from the market. I will say, while I appreciated the intro when starting and then picking the book up, the way this anthology is designed, I would almost recommend that as your strategy for reading it, otherwise it quickly becomes redundant.
There are a ton of stories packed into this set, some that I enjoyed more than others, but the highlights for me were at the end, in the bonus section. This included Sorren centric stories of his history and "onboarding" into the magical saving community. The world is unique, the stories are interesting, and the size of each story was very manageable for a quick read. I would recommend this set for someone who wants to casually read a short story anthology, perhaps with different breaks for books in between.
April 16, 2019
Trifles and Folly 1 by Gail Z Martin collects nine stories centred around the antiques shop Trifles & Folly, set in the Deadly Curiosities world. Cassidy runs the shop, assisted by Teag. They are both more than they seem. Cassidy has the gift of psychometry, and Teag is a Weaver. The shop is a front for the more series work they do, aided by their vampire coworker Sorren. They collect and cleanse or dispose of items containing excessive psychic residue.
I fell in love with this world that is very much Supernatural meets Warehouse 13. It's so much fun, and all of the characters are enjoyable. I loved getting to meet the other magic users too. From Voudan, Hoodoo, and witchcraft, to root workers and Christian mystics, there's such variety! All of the main stories are set in Charleston, South Carolina. There are bonus stories at the end that focus on Sorren's earliest years as a vampire and are set in Antwerp. Speaking of Sorren, I'm not often a vampire fan these days, but the vampires of this world don't seem the villains. Sorren and his maker, Alard, work to protect humanity. And they don't sparkle! The only thing that was mildly annoying was the recap each story that introduced Cassidy and what Trifles and Folly does, but I'm guessing these were written over time, then collected in this volume. I'm looking forward to reading the full novels!
***Many thanks to the author for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for Silver Dagger Blog Tours
I fell in love with this world that is very much Supernatural meets Warehouse 13. It's so much fun, and all of the characters are enjoyable. I loved getting to meet the other magic users too. From Voudan, Hoodoo, and witchcraft, to root workers and Christian mystics, there's such variety! All of the main stories are set in Charleston, South Carolina. There are bonus stories at the end that focus on Sorren's earliest years as a vampire and are set in Antwerp. Speaking of Sorren, I'm not often a vampire fan these days, but the vampires of this world don't seem the villains. Sorren and his maker, Alard, work to protect humanity. And they don't sparkle! The only thing that was mildly annoying was the recap each story that introduced Cassidy and what Trifles and Folly does, but I'm guessing these were written over time, then collected in this volume. I'm looking forward to reading the full novels!
***Many thanks to the author for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. Reviewed for Silver Dagger Blog Tours
August 1, 2018
Weirdly, the only thing I highlighted in the entire book was this sentence:
"There isn't much in life that can't be made better by a glass of ice-cold tea with enough sugar in it to make you vibrate."
I completely agree with this statement.
Onward. I enjoyed these short stories a great deal, and really enjoyed the stories from Sorren's point of view.
I would caution you about reading so much of them at once, though. If you're anything like me, you probably shop for antiques too much and long story short Ms. Martin may be pursuing a copyright infringement suit against me because I started out buying some vintage luggage and ended up posting a fanfiction idea on her website because after a while this stuff just starts to get to you and the idea that *someone* had to clear all these items to make sure they aren't uncontained magic starts to make a lot of sense and you, more than anything, want to be able to stop unpacking your house because moving is objectively terrible and suddenly there you are with a 3000 word piece of fan fiction about the made up aunt of a fictitious character.
You know how that is, right?
"There isn't much in life that can't be made better by a glass of ice-cold tea with enough sugar in it to make you vibrate."
I completely agree with this statement.
Onward. I enjoyed these short stories a great deal, and really enjoyed the stories from Sorren's point of view.
I would caution you about reading so much of them at once, though. If you're anything like me, you probably shop for antiques too much and long story short Ms. Martin may be pursuing a copyright infringement suit against me because I started out buying some vintage luggage and ended up posting a fanfiction idea on her website because after a while this stuff just starts to get to you and the idea that *someone* had to clear all these items to make sure they aren't uncontained magic starts to make a lot of sense and you, more than anything, want to be able to stop unpacking your house because moving is objectively terrible and suddenly there you are with a 3000 word piece of fan fiction about the made up aunt of a fictitious character.
You know how that is, right?
January 19, 2023
I'm glad of the author note at the beginning - that really helped explain the weird vibes I'd gotten when I read "book one" of the series and felt like I was missing something. The short stories are kind of all over the place in terms of timeline but it doesn't really matter. Putting them as a collection makes them convenient - and allows an audiobook format - but also does them a bit of a disservice probably as it gets super repetitive. Since each story needs to be able to stand on its own, every single one goes through the same old into of the characters, the premise, the magic, the weapons, etc. Tiresome.
This audiobook has a different narrator than did books one and two. I prefer the original narrator, but that might at least be partially biased since the other was the first and the one I'd gotten used to. But even impartially, you can't deny the former narrator put way more emotion and oomph into the readings. Still, the new narrator is definitely not bad.
This audiobook has a different narrator than did books one and two. I prefer the original narrator, but that might at least be partially biased since the other was the first and the one I'd gotten used to. But even impartially, you can't deny the former narrator put way more emotion and oomph into the readings. Still, the new narrator is definitely not bad.
March 7, 2019
I received this book as part of an ARC review. It is very good and hard to put down. It is a compilation of nine stories that mainly feature Cassidy, Teag and Sorren. Each of the three are very interesting in their own way. Cassidy is the owner of Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with extra duties, who can read the history of objects by touching them. Teag is the assistant manager, bodyguard and a weaver. Sorren is an 600 year old vampire who is the silent partner in Trifles and Folly. Together they take on the supernatural that would harm people. This is the secret function of the shop. Sorren works with other shops and the Alliance. The battles they fight are thrilling and can be a bit spooky. Some of the stories feature Sorren and his past which are interesting. I will be reading other books in this series.
March 12, 2019
I already like reading about paranormal romance, so reading this paranormal book was pretty cool.. I even learned about 2 new types of people with gifts- Cassidy, a psychometric, a person who reads objects instead of people. And Teag, a Weaver, meaning he can weave his magic in fabric & even weave data streams. Them two along with all the other kinds of people are pretty cool to read about. This book is basically broke down into cases. Like, each story is a different case that they come across. It almost makes you wonder if this book could be turned into a series...But between all the help they get from both physical people and the dead, it's neat to see how they all work together to bring evil down & protect the people around them. So if you're in to a book like this, I would definitely recommend it.
I read this after it being sent to me for free.
I read this after it being sent to me for free.
September 4, 2022
Trifles and Folly is a short story volume that is set in the Deadly Curiosities universe and it is the first of several of these volumes. If you've never read anything in her universe, no worries, these stories are completely comprehensible on their own. This volume will definitely make you go read everything in Deadly Curiosities.
Gail Z. Martin is such good author - her stories of any length are a delight to read and this collection gives the reader better insight to her characters, especially Cassidy, Teag, and Sorren. Each story is a quick read with an engaging story, so you will fly through this one and want to read the next one! There are more volumes of these short stories, so if you don't want to read the main books, you will still have plenty more short stories about characters in Deadly Curiosities.
Gail Z. Martin is such good author - her stories of any length are a delight to read and this collection gives the reader better insight to her characters, especially Cassidy, Teag, and Sorren. Each story is a quick read with an engaging story, so you will fly through this one and want to read the next one! There are more volumes of these short stories, so if you don't want to read the main books, you will still have plenty more short stories about characters in Deadly Curiosities.
March 8, 2019
The first story, Buttons, reminded me of clearing out both of my parents places and the emotional objects that were found.
It brought back good memories mostly, but in this story there is a troubled individual who wants attention.
The second I could picture in my mind and was like a thriller with strong adversaries, so a heavy encounter is unavoidable.
Wow I need a break after reading it, have no pillow to hide behind.
The symbolism was very informative too, I had never heard of a few before.
The rest are also good, only it takes too much time to describe them all.
The only thing that bothered me a little was the repeat of introductions of the new characters.
But I guess that makes each story stand alone.
I received a copy from Hidden Gems and this is my honest and voluntary review.
It brought back good memories mostly, but in this story there is a troubled individual who wants attention.
The second I could picture in my mind and was like a thriller with strong adversaries, so a heavy encounter is unavoidable.
Wow I need a break after reading it, have no pillow to hide behind.
The symbolism was very informative too, I had never heard of a few before.
The rest are also good, only it takes too much time to describe them all.
The only thing that bothered me a little was the repeat of introductions of the new characters.
But I guess that makes each story stand alone.
I received a copy from Hidden Gems and this is my honest and voluntary review.
March 6, 2019
Interesting collection of stories. The main characters are interesting and the writing flows quite nicely. As this is a collection, the single stories are stand-alone with little repetition on explaining the character's abilities.
I have read three stories so far and they are more or less all ghost and vodoo stories.
I hope there will be other kind of deadly curiosities too and a bit more depth to the characters.
But I do like the length of each episode, they are just right for an hour escape. I will come back to these stories every now and then when I feel like reading a quick ghost story for a change.
I have read three stories so far and they are more or less all ghost and vodoo stories.
I hope there will be other kind of deadly curiosities too and a bit more depth to the characters.
But I do like the length of each episode, they are just right for an hour escape. I will come back to these stories every now and then when I feel like reading a quick ghost story for a change.
March 13, 2019
Rcvd an advanced reader copy from the author for giving my two cents. We meet Cassidy, a psychometric who reads the past thru objects and runs Trifles and Folly antique shop with her assistant mgr Teag, a weaver. Together with Sorren, the secret 600 yr old vamp who helps with the other side of T & F....helping rid the world of dangerous objects. This compilation is various adventures they go on to stop the dangers in their small town. We also get a glimpse into Sorrens past and how his maker met his demise. Cassidy and Teag along with their friends/companions embark on different tasks to stop the evil that causes deaths and destruction. Great book.
August 24, 2017
This has been a fantastic collection of books from the writer of Gail Z Martin. Here we are introduce to Cassidy, Teag and Sorren owners of Triffles and Foleys an antique shop dealing with artefacts and antiques. Each story is a novella collected into one volume and has many mysterious and haunting stories to keep you glued just like it had me glued.
Overall this a 10/10 book and I can't wait for more so if you a want a 600 hundred year old vampire and a mystic reader who reads into objects then this is for you.
I can't wait for more
Overall this a 10/10 book and I can't wait for more so if you a want a 600 hundred year old vampire and a mystic reader who reads into objects then this is for you.
I can't wait for more
March 15, 2019
A great collection of short stories that embrace paranormal/urban fantasy dealing with "cursed", for lack of a better word, items that our characters keep out of circulation and diffuse as needed to prevent bad things from happening. This did detour slightly from my preferred fantasy reads, as it didn't have a romantic component, however I was delighted in the appetizers of stories to dip into the world of Charlestown NC and its sometimes sordid history. Overall, an enjoyable set of stories. * I received an ARC of this book from Hidden Gems and this is my voluntary and honest review.
April 12, 2019
Trifles and Follies is a collection of short stories that give you the little reading hits you need to keep you going between book releases. Each of these stories read like mini episodes and I could fully imagine each story in my mind. I was addicted from the start. What started off with reading one a day lead to a complete ‘series’ binge! Luckily I had a day off so no plans had to be cancelled, I genuinely would have though. I really enjoy the way these authors wrote and I love the characters. I am now planning on carving time out of my diary so I can do a full series reread.
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