Title: The Enchantment Emporium
Author: Tanya Huff
Published by: DAW
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Where I got the book: Public Library
Content warning: Incest
“Alysha Gale belongs to a specially “charm”-full family. The men grow horns, and obey females until they “choose”. She inherits her gran’s Calgary junk shop with fey mailboxes and the Monkey’s Paw. Leprechaun Joe can help sell yoyos. Tabloid reporter Graham bats very blue eyes and beds her. But when dragons fly overhead can even the Aunties save the day?” (Source)
This book is exactly my kind of weird. The Enchantment Emporium is exactly the kind of weird, romantic, urban fantasy I needed during exam season. I know this isn’t going to be a book for every one but here’s some of the reasons why I loved it.
First off, this is an urban fantasy set in Calgary. Calgary! Growing up I didn’t read a lot of books set in Canada unless they were historical fiction. Kids who discovered magic lived in London or New York, which were also conveniently the centre of the world when it was time to save the planet from aliens, dangerous technology, and rogue magic users.
Not this time though. The Enchantment Emporium is unabashedly a Canadian fantasy story. This includes everything from references from pop culture, to government, to Tim Hortons. Tanya Huff also writes a really funny, dry type of humour that is really common in Canada. It’s super fun to read a book in a genre I love that’s also about the country I live in and all our little quirks.
Secondly, I’m a sucker for a good romantic urban fantasy. Huff writes really good romance, as well as weird. There’s also a kind of joy in having multiple fantasy tropes jammed together. I love books where the fay and other creatures live unnoticed among us and The Enchantment Emporium has you covered with everyone from dragons, to witches, leprechauns, water spirits and more.
Overall, The Enchantment Emporium is a really funny read, with good (and weird) romance that’s unabashedly Canadian in a way that’s impossible for me not to love.
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