I had such a great time reading this book! I really enjoy Deborah Wilde's writing, and these worlds are so interesting, I really enjoy these Jewish magical worlds, since I basically know nothing about them. And they're all so different!

Miri was so fantastic to read about, she's divorced with a teenager, and she has magic that she's hidden away, given what happened to her parents. But now her friend is missing, and Miri is pulled into the magical world.

I had such a great time watching her and Laurent interact, there was some pretty great banter between the two of them! They both have their issues from their pasts, but oh, it was so much fun watching these two interact!

The investigation into her missing friend-and her dive into this world that she's kept out of-was really interesting to read. I loved learning about this world, and hoping that she'd find her friend. It was just a great adventure to read!

This was a wonderful read, and I can't wait to continue the series!

Deborah Wilde gives us Humorous Paranormal Women's fiction in Throwing Shade. Miriam Feldman has a boring job as a librarian in a corporation where she fields sexist requests and finding things for others. Then her best friend Judith is kidnapped by vamps and Miriam has to use her magic to get her out. Her shadow magic and alliance with a golem and a French wolf shifter takes her deeper into the magic netherworld. Where will she end up?

I loved the cover and really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were great and I enjoyed the story itself. It had what I was looking for in this type of book. Looking forward to more in the series.

Miriam is a lovable character. When she gets in her forties, she gets a divorce and starts her life over. One night she is out with a man and something crazy happens. This book was awesome. This is the first book in this genre I have read and I must say that I truly like it. The characters are realistic and the story is very well written. I would recommend this book.

ARC from NetGalley

I quite enjoyed this book with a healthy side-eye at all the talk of the MC, aged 42, being essentially invisible to men and alluding to her life being all spanx and polydent. I'm turning 40 soon, so that right there can suck my dick. I understand that we are trying to frame a certain setting, but it was honestly not super believable, at least for me. Perhaps it's because I'm childless. Maybe this is the kicker. Is it the breeding that thrusts us into obscurity, never to be seen again? Hiding in the back of the minivan eating secret chips while our children scream and our vaginas disintegrate? Alas, I will never know.

Despite the above rant, my displeasure was quite short-lived and really didn't influence my feelings for the book overall. It was written well. It was mostly funny with a couple of cringey bits. There was one point where I actually LOLd, which is rare when I'm reading. I enjoyed the Vancouver aspect. It's nice to see my city in the books I read every once in a while. I enjoyed the brewing romance. The plot was good, the characters were interesting, the magic system was intriguing, and I'd like to read the next one.

Miriam is a Middle Aged single parent. She is persuaded by her BFF to meet for drinks. She meets a stranger at the bar while waiting for her friend. Her friend does not arrive so she assumes that she lost track of time and decides to return home. On her way home she is approached by the man which leads her to have to use a tool she has vowed not to use. This event leads to have to face a past she left behind or at least thought she did.

This book does feature an attempted assault caution ⚠️

I enjoyed reading this book. I love that Miriam is not your typical young heroine and is relatable. I also loved her snarky attitude. I definitely recommend reading this book.

I received an ebook to review this are my personal opinions

Miriam has a 16yr old daughter,is over 40 and just trying to figure life out as a newly single woman. Miriam thought things in her life was going good when she meets Alex, when he begins to attack her in an alley Miriam's long hidden magic comes out. She is called a Shadow Master where her shadow fights for her, that's something new, it's kinda cool. The next day Miriam goes looking for her best friend, Jude, and can't find her. I like this book, it had me by the end of the first chapter. The characters are so likable and the main character, Miriam, is relatable. I liked that Miriam named her shadow. I also like that she is so snarky. This book made me laugh out loud and it was so fun to read. PWF lover's will like this book..

Loved the main character of this novel, this 42 year old sassy sarcastic and bitting narrator, is quick, waking to magic, and just an all rounded fun character. Her name is Miriam and she reminded me of another Miriam I recently saw: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. If you are a fan of the show I think you will like this book, yes, despite this being fantasy. That said the plot interested me only partially, it was really the main character which carried the whole thing on her back, she's such a fascinating lady. I like reading characters which are not going through teen angst. I mean that's why I'm a batman girl, no spiderman for me, thank you very much. A nice read.

I admit the beginning was a slower pace, but once the ball was rolling it didn't stop. I really enjoyed the main character, Miri. I energy the uncommon forms of magic, it gave this story a fresh feeling. Miri was by far the most surprising aspect of this novel, she was the opposite of what was expected which contributed to greatness of her character. The worldbuilding was interesting as well. The twist were surprising and appealing. Overall I enjoyed Throwing Shade, and look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a advance reader copy for reviewing purposes.

Review for Throwing Shade – Book #1 of Magic After Midlife series by Deborah Wilde

My rating: 5 stars!
Reading Time: 3 days.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for access to the book.

What a great urban fantasy/supernatural mystery with plenty of humour and the glimmer of a potential romance. If you are wanting to get away from YA fantasy and not ready to jump into dark and intense fantasies than this is an excellent book to try.

Plot overview: 40-something Miriam lives a reasonably comfortable life. Steady job, amicable relationship with her ex-husband while co-parenting their 16-year-old daughter and a best friend to go enjoy Friday drinks with. This life gets turned upside down when she is forced to use her magic to defend herself while walking home from a bar. This sets of a series of events throwing her into the magical community which she had avoided her whole life up until this point.

TRIGGER WARNING – Attempted sexual assault.

I adored Miriam as our hero! It was refreshing to see her with imperfections, a sense of humour and a day job that she enjoys but does not love and dreams for something more. Not your typical 20–30-year-old, female lead with a perfect body, wardrobe to boot and endless offers for sex. The characters in the magical community she meets are interesting and it will be a joy to see how they all develop in future books. At times I felt the writing was a little bit chaotic, but this made me enjoy the book more as it ‘fit’ with the feeling that Miriam’s life was now chaotic, and she was doing her best to manage it.

In summary, loved it and am looking forward to reading book #2 in the Magic After Midlife Series.

Miriam ‘Miri’ Feldman is 42 and at that stage of life where she has stopped giving any effs about what other people think. She’s mother to a 16-year-old, bored in her job as librarian to a major Vancouver law firm, and very tired of dealing with the male half of the species, to whom as a woman over the age of 30, she appears to have become indistinguishable from the furniture.

She’s also been hiding a secret since her parents were murdered when she was only a teenager; Miriam is one of the Banim Shovavim, descended from Lilith and gifted with dark, shadow magics. Forced to call up her long-dormant magic to defend herself one dark night, Miriam is quickly sucked into the magical underworld when a white werewolf kills her attacker right before her eyes… and her best friend disappears, leaving behind a strange golem who speaks impossible prophecies of the future.

It’s fun to read an urban fantasy with a mid-life aged protagonist; in my 40s and a parent myself, though not part of the dating pool, I found Miriam both hilarious and extremely relatable. But what I REALLY liked about this book is that the magic system is heavily rooted in Jewish myth and legend. Miriam is Jewish and so are many of the other characters we meet, including werewolf Laurent and the ex-rabbi leader of the local vampires. It’s an eclectically diverse crew as well, from Miriam’s Vietnamese bisexual ex (and her half-Vietnamese daughter) to French-Algerian Jew Laurent, it definitely reflects Vancouver’s diverse reality even while adding in the magically fantastic elements.

I honestly loved everything about it; I learned some more about Jewish mythology, laughed along with Miri as she snarked at everyone who annoyed her and got thoroughly invested in the plot. I definitely want to read more in the series - and I hope the sexy Laurent makes a move, because I’m sure I detected some sparks flying between the two! I also admit to being intensely curious about Miriam’s daughter Sadie; the whole ‘she hasn’t inherited magic’ thing just seemed a little TOO pat to me and I suspect that might come up in future books.

Five stars for a fun and clever read!

Having enjoyed all of Deborah Wilde's previous books, I anxiously awaited this first book in a new series. I loved it and can hardly wait for the next one. Throwing Shade has lots of snarky humor, a woman who kicks ass magically and takes names, mystery, and paranormal characters galore. She, Miri, is amazing and her relationship with her daughter Sadie is one of my favorite things in the story. Miri is also a librarian which made me relate to her even more. This story drew me in immediately and I couldn't put it down. More please!

This is another great start to a series in the "new" paranormal women's fiction subgenre. For years, I've been so tired of paranormal fiction starring nothing but whiny teenagers and snarky 20-somethings. Thankfully, an ever-growing group of authors decided to do something about this, and have been producing books in which the MC is age 40 minimum. Sometimes, there's a bit too much complaining about creaky knees and a lot of baggage in the form of difficult exes, dead-end jobs, etc. but overall, I've been very pleased with the books I've read. It's so refreshing to read a book starring a kick-a** heroine who has actual life experience to draw on.

In Throwing Shade, we have Miriam, age 42, a law firm librarian with a 16 YO daughter, and an ex whom she lives next door to and co-parents amicably with. However, Miriam is hiding a pretty big secret. She is part of the Banin Shovavim, magic users descended from the children of Adam and Lilith, whose magic was previously considered dark and dangerous by the more numerous "Ohrists" or "light" magic users. At age 15, Miri suffered a traumatic event that caused her to suppress her magic completely. Now, at age 42, she's forced to unleash her magic to defend herself against a vicious attack. She subsequently gets drawn into the magic community in Vancouver BC as she tries to find her best friend, who disappeared at the same time as she had her magical reawakening.

There was a LOT of world building going on in this book, but it didn't feel info-dumpy or inorganic because by cutting herself off from the magic community, Miri missed learning the rules when she was maturing, so she's playing catch-up, the same as we, the readers, are. The magic system based on Hebrew mythology is pretty unusual in this genre and I found it fascinating to learn about. If I have any complaints, it's that Miri sometimes borders on naive and TSTL and rushes into situations even though she's been warned not to. However, most of her mistakes are due to her sincere desire to do no harm, so I overlooked them. I really liked Miri, her daughter, and the grumpy French alpha werewolf that she gets mixed up with, and I'm looking forward to the next book.

When I caught this book’s tag line – magic after midlife – it immediately went on my TBR list. Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of great stories about there about young women and their powerful magic, but it is a nice change to see a protagonist who isn’t a gorgeous twenty-something with nary a fear of gravity’s body-altering affects or lacking in the kind of take-no-grief attitude that can only come with age.

This book delivered on so many levels…and I haven’t chuckled this much while reading a book in a good long time. Beyond the realistic and all-to-familiar daily struggles that come with middle age, I loved the delicate weave of Jewish folklore, superstition and vocabulary over some familiar paranormal tropes. It felt new and it kept me interested. There is some juicy tension between Miriam Feldman and the French wolf shifter she teams up after her best friend goes missing. Toss in some demons, a couple of vampires, a golem and some shapewear and you’ve got the makings of a highly entertaining series.

There were a few places where I got a bit lost in the explanations of things, but a second read helped to clarify things. I wouldn’t call this a quick read, but it is an entertaining one, and one I couldn’t wait to get back to. I am very much looking forward to book two and more.

For the sheer entertainment value, the snarky, quick dialogue, and the smoldering tension between the main character and her wolf-y counterpart, this book gets as a glorious embrace-middle-age score of 4 and a half stars.

P.S. I sincerely hope this comes out as an audiobook. To hear some of these lines said out loud?? Oy vey!

Throwing Shade is the first book in Magic After Midlife series, following a heroine in her forties that is figuring out that there is still life to be had in her mid-life. Miriam seems to have conquered being divorced and co-parenting but she is now going to add some magic into her life and that will shuffle things up good.

Miri seems like your everyday mom making things work for her and her kid. She goes to work and is in a book club for fun. But when her best friend goes missing and she is attacked, the magic she has been pushing down for decades comes snapping back and opens her eyes to the world around her. It also introduces her to Laurent, a grumpy French wolf who seems to have an interesting past and could be someone Miri might be able to form some kind of connection to.

The world in this is set in Vancouver Canada and most of the magic seems Hebrew mythos based. I don’t have a strong background in that so I’m not sure if it is following established lore or not. I did like that the Heroine is older and has a little more life experience under her belt and some other issues that come up with being in her forties.

Overall, the worldbuilding, characters and plot is good. I think there were some ways the dialogue and scene transitioning could have been made a little smoother. I was also disappointed we didn’t get more development on the romance front of the book, but since this the first book of the series I’m sure we will see some more fleshing out later in the series. I did find most of the characters interesting and would like to see where Miri’s magic and new place in the world go in the future.

A fun book, I liked that Miri is a 40+ woman instead of a teen.
A lot happens in the book, you meet a lot of people and learn together with Miri how the world of magic works.

3.5 stars
I really liked this book.
I adored that Miri wasn't in her teens or twenties but in her forties! Yes! We love a journey of self-discovery and confidence! And to top that we sprinkle a bit of magic? Perfect!
The chemistry, banter and chemistry with Laurent were just additional things for me to enjoy this book.
My only complaint would be that sometimes the writing style got in the way of me fully enjoying the book because it pulled me out of the story. And I'm not saying its bad, I'm saying the wording sometimes is complex.
Overall this was a fantastic story. Super excited about the next installment.

Thank you to Netgalley, Xpresso Tours and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a more mature heroine. Its not just young twenty-some things who get to start over, have adventures and kick ass. Miri has hidden her magic since her parents tragic death and so we are seeing the magical world from the perspective of someone who while aware of the magical world is still a newbie.
The beginning was a little confusing as the author introduced characters by their name but didn't always explain who they were. The most glaring is Eli, Miri's ex husband. Miri mentions him a few times but its only when he appeared in person that we actually know who she is referring to.
I really want to know more about Laurent and his past. I expect a lobe connection to start developing with Miri in the next book. The author has certainly piqued my interest and I will be checking in with this series again.
I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a new to me author and I loved her contribution to this new genre. Miri is an interesting character and I love how she embraces her life. The relationship between her and Eli was fun to get a glimpse of and I look forward to more. I also want to see more between her and a certain surly wolf. There is some excellent world building starting here with a glimpse at several characters that promises humor, intrigue, and more. I will be anxiously waiting for the next book.

I’ve read this author before and really liked her books. I saw this series, and being a mid-lifer myself, I jumped on the opportunity. I think this is the best book I’ve read by her. It wasn’t perfect, but sometimes I get tired of the young 20s MCs who don’t have a blemish. I don’t read for real life, but sometimes it’s nice to see a more “realish” MC. Anyway, Miri is a great character, and I just adore her relationship with her ex and her teen. The other characters are great, too. Oh, I guess I should also probably mention the plot is fun, exciting, and I was hooked from the first page. This is definitely a series to try, and I am really looking forward to the next one! Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.