Location: United States
Member Since:
Jan. 17, 2012
Stef Maruch
Stef Maruch's favorite authors on Smashwords
Smashwords book reviews by Stef Maruch
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Dragons of the Mind: Seven Fairy Tales
on Nov. 18, 2012
This collection of modern fairy-tale-inspired short stories is superb. I read it in one big gulp and couldn't put it down. The writing has a clarity and sweetness that's like drinking pure cold water when you're very thirsty.
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The Fits o' the Season
on April 08, 2013
Fifth in the Caitlin Ross/Timber MacDuff series. This book relies on knowing the stuff that happens in the third (A Maid in Bedlam) and fourth (The Parting Glass) books in the series. (So buy all of them!) The series is in the small-town fantasy/paranormal romance genres, but with a difference, in that the POV characters are human witches and shamans, not vampires/werewolves/faeries. The previous books in the series are from Caitlin's point of view but this one is a set of interrelated shorts from Timber's point of view. Interesting magical and shamanic (and quite violent) things happen. Katherine Lampe knows how to make magick vivid and real. But what I especially like about this novella is that the underlying thread is an exploration of love for the long term, the kind you need to start building after the pedestal you stuck under your loved one crumbles. A lot of urban-fantasy/paranormal-romance books look at this from the point of view of a female protagonist, and this is the first one I've read that looks at it from the point of view of a male protagonist. Timber is a complex character. He's a broken guy who does a lot of bad things, but without being a rogue (so you like that he does bad things, because you secretly wish you could do them) or villain (so you enjoy hating him). You're just with him all the way hoping he is going to make it. He has a balance of positive and negative qualities such that he has to struggle hard to get where he needs to be.
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Demon Lover
on Sep. 01, 2014
This one is a real page-turner. Katherine Lampe writes something like paranormal fiction but her protagonists aren't vampires or shapeshifters. They and other characters in her books have some personal magic power, and also access power and communicate with supernatural entities use a variety of magic forms and rituals that are common in the Americas and Europe. This lets Katherine get her characters into and out of trouble using everything from Tarot readings to shamanic journeying to charms you can buy off the Internet or make with supplies from your local craft store, which I think is a lot of fun. The relationship between protagonists Caitlin and Timber (who are married) is a delightful change from the usual antagonistic romantic relationship (or its opposite, the soulmates-until-the-end-of-time-even-though-we-only-met-two-days-ago relationship) in many paranormal romances. This novel uses elements and gods from African religions, and the antagonist is an African woman. Because people might feel this is cultural appropriation, Katherine includes an afterword explaining her choices and how she researched these subjects. Because of that and because I'm white and they aren't my religious elements or gods, my enjoyment of the story wasn't affected. The story shifts between Caitlin's and Timber's POVs. They have really distinctive voices. For example, Timber is much more tentative about communicating with himself verbally. I really sense that his relationship to the world is mediated through his body. Sexual harrassment is often used as a plot driver in the paranormal genre in ways that make me uncomfortable: there is a trope (I'm looking at you, Charlaine) where male characters use sexual harrassment against female characters as a form of flirting/power-jockeying with other male characters. I hate that, and I am glad that is NOT done in this book. I was glad to see Tintri Fionn again, from an earlier book. He's one of my favorite characters.
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Planning Your Personal Retreat
on June 29, 2016
I really like this short guide about how to plan activities that will help you answer questions about your life. It's very well written, well organized, and simple. At the same time, there are enough examples to start a thought process going. I wasn't thinking about doing a retreat when I started reading it, but now I feel inspired. :) Most books like this are full of stories of people who did the thing, and how it helped them. I'm glad this one doesn't have that (except for bits of the author's own story) because the stories are often offputting to me in one way or another (they are written in a patronizing tone, and/or the people have goals I can't relate to). Also reading the stories can make me feel like I already did the work even if I didn't. I also like how no-nonsense it is - a lot of books about rituals / retreats incorporate a degree of woo that can turn off a lot of potential readers. With this one, you can bring your own woo if you want, but you don't have to.
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The Well Below the Valley
on Jan. 04, 2017
I love Katherine Lampe's writing style. It is like listening to a stream in the forest. The Caitlin Ross series is a refreshingly different take on modern paranormal small-town fantasy, written by a practicing witch. The books are set in rural Colorado (and the beautifully described landscape is a character in its own right). The protagonist couple are two strong and stubborn people who consider each other equals. They have both a complex, loving relationship and a working partnership. Romance is an important part of their relationship but is not the primary plot driver. The protagonists have some magical abilities but aren't superpowered and they have to work for their magical successes. Lampe doesn't shy away from serious topics (this book touches on the aftermaths of trauma, agricultural labor, and small town drug abuse) and the social issues are well woven into the story; it never gets preachy. As a practicing witch, Lampe describes ceremonies and rituals beautifully and clearly; both knowledgeable pagan practitioners and those who don't know a lot about the modern practice of magic and shamanism will love these scenes.