Supernatural Sports Romance: The Fake Divination Offense and Tentacles and Triathlons

19 May

The Fake Divination Offense
by Sara Raasch
I had enjoyed the previous story in Sara Raasch’s Magic and Romance Duology, The Entanglement of Rival Wizards, an enemies-to-lovers fantasy academia mm romcom. The second book in the series, The Fake Divination Offense, takes on the Sports Romance genre and adds a sprinkle of fantasy and helping of the fake dating relationship trope to it. This books focuses on Sebastian, the protagonist from the last book’s pro-athlete, half giant bff Orok. Orok agrees to pretend to date an adorable wannabee cheerleader in order to get him on the cheer squad. He is promised that the relationship will get good press for his religion (centered on an author created god of strength); however Orok is secretly thinking of denouncing his beliefs. His new romantic interest also has secrets he is hiding. I liked that similar to the previous novel this one despite the trappings of supernatural such as werewolves and mermaids, also takes on some heavier issues such as the complexity of no longer wanting to be a part of a religion that a family member is heavily invested in and post traumatic stress. The seriousness is tempered though with funny moments such as the comedic sports reports at the beginning of each chapter. I’d recommend reading the stories in order to prevent revealing major spoilers. I hope that Raasch considers revisiting this world in the future; I’d love to explore more of it.

Tentacles and Triathlons
by Ashley Bennet
Tentacles and Triathlons is the second book in Ashley Bennet’s Leviathan Fitness Series. Briarwood Park’s Department supervisor Reece Rollins has entered a triathlon and is doing great with training except for the swimming portions. Cyrus, a Kraken and painter, agrees to help him and they clearly have chemistry, but it will take Reece overcoming his prejudices towards monsters to let their relationship flourish. If you enjoy this book there are two other books in this trilogy, book one: Muscles and Monsters and book three: Mantras and Minotaurs. As much as monster romances can sometimes be a bit silly, I think stories like this allow for exploration of issues of cultural differences in romantic relationships in a less charged way than having it focused on two different real world groups. Overall though, this a light and low-stake story for those looking for supernatural romance without a lot of additional drama. I listened to this as an audio book while I was commuting back and forth to work which was especially great for moments stuck in frustrating traffic; it features two narrators: Jack Calihan and Liam Price, one narrating for Reece and the other for Cyrus who alternate chapters in the story. If you enjoy Jack’s narration, he also is one of the narrators for Muscles and Monsters which focuses on Reece’s sister’s romantic adventures.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Horror/Thriller Book Club April Pick: Memorials by Richard Chizmar

14 May
Book cover of Memorials by Richard Chizmar. The background shows a dark, wooded roadside, with a narrow road curving. In the foreground is a small roadside memorial with a wooden cross, a teddy bear, flowers, and lit candles. The title “memorials” appears in lowercase across the center, and Richard Chizmar is shown all capital letters at the top.

We’ve all seen them, those crosses along the roadside, perhaps a few dead flowers around them, or the painted white bicycle, and then we think, ‘How so very tragic. Someone’s life ended right here.’ That’s the thinking that propels Billy, Melody, and Troy to hop in their van to create a documentary for their American Studies project – who builds them and what they mean. But also, what secrets linger around that tarnished ground?

April’s read for the Hoboken Public Library’s Horror/Thriller book club was a slow-burn suburban horror with childhood nostalgia and cultish dread. Chizmar follows the Stephen King style: Quiet, character-driven, and with heart at the center of the dread. Memorials (in my humble opinion) is almost 500 pages straight out of King’s playbook.

Go into Memorials expecting the pacing and inching creepiness of The Blair Witch Project.

The first stop: Billy’s hometown, and the first memorial marks the spot of his parents’ death. The project is personal. They continue through the Appalachian backwoods in search of more stories.

Things do eventually get weird. Memorials show up with a strange symbol. Eyes are cast on the three children. Mysterious figures appear in video footage. The same people are seen miles apart, etc.

But the deeper they go, the more they don’t realize the strangeness they’re entering – a hitchhiker appears and disappears, locals treat them with uneasy hostility, and their van is tampered with.  

Do the local communities (or the three young students) know the web spinning around them?

Memorials is a step down from Chizmar’s Boogeyman series, but I did like (and I kept this in the back of my mind during the read) that I felt for Troy, Billy, and Melody. At times Memorials is too slow, but if you enjoy small-town horror, a good 80’s setting, slow-burn suspense, and find yourself getting a little uncomfortable itch every time you see a roadside memorial then Memorials could be a good choice for your next read.

Interested in the Horror/Thriller Book Club? Please email reference@hobokenlibrary.org, or register for our next meeting by searching under Events on our website.

Have you read Memorials? What did you think? Comment below.

You can reserve it in the BCCLS system here.

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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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