Book 60, 2019

Quill Me Now by Jordan Castillo Price

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



It was...Wednesday or Thursday night that I finished reading Quill Me Now, which is the first story in the "ABCs of Spellcraft" by Jordan Castillo Price.

Spellcrafting is one of those "gray area" occupations--frowned on by polite society, until they need some spellcrafting done. Dixon Penn comes from a long line of Scriveners (those who can create spells with their words), but he failed his Spellcraft initiation and is now stuck in a dead-end job, delivering takeout orders. Dixon hasn't given up on writing, however, and when he sees an ad for a contest at a local greeting card company, he takes up the challenge and submits an entry. Dixon is so excited about the contest that he can't stop pestering the owner of the company, even when confronted by security guard Yuri. Dixon knows he should be frightened by the large, Russian enforcer, but instead, he finds Yuri compelling and attractive.

Dixon can't help but think there's something hinky going on at Precious Greetings, and when he finds out just how well-matched he and Yuri are, Dixon will stop at nothing to help Yuri break the Spellcrafting that holds him at Precious Greetings.

The story was cute and lively, with pov switching between Dixon and Yuri. It was short, but the characters were still done well. Dixon was a riot, and I loved how he just sort of bulldozed Yuri, when one would think it would be the other way around.

Favorite line: In fact, if there were people living on the moon, I'd be surprised if they hadn't heard about the giant fiasco.

Very good, four stars!