Why is a series set in Maine making me run around Ohio?

/ posted in: Reading

Carousel Sun by Sharon Lee
on February 4th 2014
Pages: 336
Series: Archer's Beach #2
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Paperback
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When magic meets mundane, sparks fly: these are exciting times in Archers Beach, Maine! A unprecedented Early Season has united townies and carnies in an effort to expand into a twelve-month resort, recapturing the town's former glory. Kate Archer, owner-operator of the vintage wooden carousel, is caught up in the excitement—and is quite possibly the cause of it. Kate leads a double life, as a carny and as Guardian of the land. Her recent return to the home she had forsaken has changed the town's luck—for the better—and energized the trenvay—earth and water spirits who are as much citizens of the Beach as their mundane counterparts. But the town's new energy isn't the only change afoot. Joe Nemeier, the local drug lord, whose previous magical consultant was vanquished by Kate, has acquired a new ally—and this one plays with fire.

You know, for a series set in Maine this sure is making me run around Ohio a lot. After I read the first book in the series, Carousel Tides, I went to the Merry Go Round museum in Sandusky. Then in the very beginning of this book Kate is looking for a replacement horse. She hears about the Euclid Beach carousel that is being stored at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. They won’t sell her a horse because they plan on putting the carousel back together.

Wait, what? Is that true? I pulled out the ipad and googled. Yep, it started giving rides again at the end of 2014. I had seen the museum building on our last trip to the botanical gardens. I decided we needed to go.

The carousel is housed in a glassed in part of the building so you can see it from outside. Two rides are included in the cost of admission.

The carousel is from an amusement park that shut down in the 1960s.

I did enjoy this second book in the Archer’s Beach series. I love the world of nature spirits interacting with the humans who are mostly unaware. I’m looking forward to reading the third book and interested to see if it sends me anywhere else.

About Sharon Lee

Sharon Lee has been married to her first husband for more than half her lifetime; she is a friend to cats, a member of the National Carousel Association, and oversees the dubious investment schemes of an improbable number of stuffed animals.

Website

Carousel Tides

/ posted in: Reading

Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee
on January 31st 2012
Pages: 432
Series: Archer's Beach #1
Genres: Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Source: Library

Also in this series: Carousel Sun

Kate Archer thought she could put magic and world-walking behind her by running away to an ordinary life–but destiny has other plans. With her grandmother suddenly missing, Kate must return to the bedraggled Maine seaside resort she grew up in, and take charge of the family carousel. If she doesn't–and it's by no means certain that she can–very bad things will happen, to Kate and to the town, for the carousel isn't at all what it seems.

The first sign Kate had of trouble concerning her grandmother was the notice that the carousel was about to be foreclosed on. That brought Kate back to Archer’s Beach on the coast of Maine.

She found that her grandmother had been gone for 6 months and the only clue was a leaf and a vague note left for Kate. Kate needs to take over running the carousel while she looks for her grandmother because six of the animals serve as prisons for the souls of Fae criminals and without a magical caretaker the bonds are thinning.

Kate’s search brings her in contact with many of the magical citizens of Archer’s Beach. There are selkies and shape shifters and runaway Fae. None of these are giving her as much trouble though as the local drug smuggler who built a house next to her land and with whom she is getting into a boundary dispute .

On top of her worries the Chamber of Commerce has decided to open the park early for visitors this year and the tourists are pouring in — just in time for a possible Fae war.

This was an interesting urban fantasy book. There are creatures here that I haven’t read about often. I liked the idea of tethering criminals to the horses as a punishment. No one in this book is exactly what they seem to be at first glance. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

I also went to visit a Merry Go Round Museum after reading this book. They have a haunted horse but if there are any Fae around, they are staying quiet.

About Sharon Lee

Website