Book 1), Trouble Found (Raine Benares, Magic Lost

Lisa Shearin is a remarkably talented author. Her main character Raine Benares is sassy and smart. The action sequences are very well done. The supporting characters have strong, but not overbearing personalities. And, expect to laugh out loud at the cleverness of Raine's dialog. I immediately bought the next book and enjoyed it just as much.

While it started off slow, Shearin definitely picks up the pace in her debut Raine Benares novel and continues to deliver momentum in the following book Armed & Magical. Full of witty sentences and a cast of colorful characters, I cannot imagine anyone who could dislike such a fantastic book!

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Very cute, very witty character. I liked the dialogue of the main character, especially. Other characters were also very endearing. I also liked the fact that not everyone is as they seem, it helped round off the story more. I'm looking forward to the next installment in this story.

Enjoyable fantasy from a new author. My only quarrels with it were a few phrases that are appropriate slang for the 21st century but not for a book that was more feudal in flavor. And a little more development of the various "cultures" - goblin, elf and human would have been nice.

MLTF is a terrific beginning to what promises to be an exciting adventure. Seeker elf Raine captivated me so thoroughly from the get go, that it wasn't until someone else commented that it was written in the first person that I realized, `Oh, so it is!'. I loved Raine's snarky inner dialogues, the colourful characters and the rest of the fun and excitement. Lisa Shearin's Mermeia is a fantasy destination I can't wait to visit again, and again, and again...well you get the idea.

Nice start to a light fantasy series. I love the strong female POV and a little romantic tension between the characters. Now the wait begins for the next book! Hopefully the cover art will be better in the next book.

I found this book awhile back while browsing the Fantasy section and decided to buy it. It knocked my socks off! What a great read!

Raine Benares is a spunky main charcter that you root for all the way and the surrounding cast of characters are the perfect match for Raine and the world of Mermeia. I couldn't put it down once I started reading and I'm looking forward to another marathon reading session when I start reading Armed & Magical, the second book in this series.

I absolutely loved this book. It was fast paced, had really good action, and a very likable narrator. It was definitely one of those books that was very difficult to put down. All I have to add to the synopsis is that there's a lot of really delicious evil, a hot potential love interest (AND a potential love triangle), and a lot of creative battles, both magical and non-magical. I even laughed out loud a couple times.

So, if you're looking for a good fantasy read, this is definitely it.

As others have already mentioned, within the first 30 pages or so I got lost in all of the characters that were being introduced. Here are my issues with this book.
1. Too many characters.
2. Too much handed to you via first person narration.
3. Two possible love interests? Enough already! Is this even necessary?
4. Level of the plot is YA!

I'm not sure how anyone rated this anything above three stars! I will not be reading the sequel. The only reason I finished reading this title is that I lived in hope that at some point the author would redeem herself. Unfortunately, the only way I was able to get through the entire book was by reading every other page and then simply skimming the pages that I actually stopped on.

After reading several much-hyped bad first books, it was a relief to find one that's worth the cover price. This book was well done with a strong heroine, good secondary characters (I liked both Mychael and Piaris), and everything else a book needs: plot, action, several creepy settings, etc. The pacing is a little uneven, but entirely forgiveable in a first book. If you like light fantasy, this is highly recommended.

you will probably enjoy this book! I found Raine to be much like a female PI Garrett and so thought MAGIC LOST, TROUBLE FOUND was wonderful. Raine's great sense of humor and knack for trouble kept me moving through the book at a rapid pace. Good characterization, with an interesting twist on goblins. I'm ready for the next one already!

Finally a new writer who breaks away from the stereotype fantasy mould. Shearin writes with wit and skill that carries you along in a swift fast moving pace. Her style is easy going and draws you in from page one. Raine (our heroine) is certainly going acheive cult status. My only complaint is that I understand we will have to wait a year for book two...

There's nothing wrong with the substance of the plot, but I found this book very difficult to get into despite repeated attempts. The dialog is cliched in a lot of places and is full of modern colloquialisms that are jarring in a fantasy setting. I never quite felt like I was getting a picture of what was going on despite plenty of explanation.

Spare yourself. Of all the times I should've stuck to buying only the books that allow a look inside, this was it. Wasted good money. Had to double check that it wasn't vanity published. I won't ask where the editor was on this one, because obviously there wasn't one. This reads like a second draft, with only the spelling corrected. The story is told in the first person by a smug Mary Jane character sans any sort of sense (she wasn't just born stupid, she practices), and I do mean *told*. The characters are stupid, stereotypical, Saturday night D&D drivel. The world building is strictly wattle and daub. The writing style is clunky, cliched, and scattered. Three chapters in I'd had enough of waiting for a story to start, enough of being endlessly *told* everything, enough of what little passed for dialogue, enough of the cast of thousands and far too much of roll-the-dice combat sequences written by an author who has never raised a hand in her own defense, let alone a weapon. Save your money. This is far too high a price to pay for fireplace kindling.

My personal rating system

1 Star Couldn't finish the book
2 Stars Didn't really like the book, but was interested enough in the story to finish (Skipping great chunks)
3 Stars The book was okay, finished it and will consider reading more from the author
4 Stars Really enjoyed the book, will check out others by this author
4 1/2 Stars Loved the book, will immediately check out others by author, if asked will recommend book
5 Stars LOVED the book, will immediately check out all others by author, will pre-emptively recommend book to ALL my book friends

This book earned it's five stars, I look forward to recommending it to all my friends and I expect to reread it several times over the years.