Random Review: Mages & Mechanisms by Devin Harnois #Review #Giveaway

Title: Mages & Mechanisms
Series: Jak & Leander book 1
Author: Devin Harnois
Publisher: October Night Publishing
Publication date: May 18, 2018
Length: 245 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

Leander Weatherford doesn’t want a mage, but he needs one. Enchanted mechanical animals are all the rage among the upper classes, and selling them will save his struggling family business. Enter Jak, whose enchanting ability is second only to his talent for flirting. It’s dangerous to keep such a tempting man close, but Leander can’t resist—in more ways than one.

Jak needs money to continue his aimless life of running. A partnership with Leander provides both income and a lovely diversion. Their masterful creations catch the attention of an eccentric baroness who offers them an enormous sum for an ambitious project—a full-scale mechanical dragon.

Swept into a life rubbing elbows with nobility, Leander is pleased but overwhelmed. Spending both workdays and evenings with Jak, he finds himself drawing closer to the charming mage. But Jak is hiding a dangerous secret, and the truth could tear them apart

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Review

The whole idea of hiring a mage unnerves Leander but enchanted mechanical animals are all the rage and being able to sell them would mean leveling up from the proletariat class his family is now struggling in to a more lucrative and stable living. Leander builds beautiful mechanical works of art but taking that next step and having them come alive, so to speak, will draw the attention of the nobility class and make it so that Leander can assure his brother and sister will have a good education and his father and grandmother will be financially secure—not to mention make his business successful once again. But the first mage that answers Leander’s ad is not only younger than he expected but a huge flirt—and somehow unafraid of anyone Leander recognizes as their better. So Leander takes a chance with Jak but little does he ever guess that it will not only be his business that he puts into Jak’s magical hands but his heart as well.

Jak is on the run. He is a deserter having left his home and the battlefield after the level of disgust and shame overwhelms him at the sight of so many lives lost by his magic. Jak doesn’t only have the ability to call forth spirits who wish to live within the gorgeously constructed machinery Leander constructs but the mage also controls fire at will—something that makes him lethally dangerous. But he is done with killing for a land that wishes nothing more than to greedily invade others and take what is not theirs. With Leander he can create something of beauty and magic and even if he may not be staying for very long he can enjoy being with Leander despite the man’s belief that love between two men is wrong.

Devin Harnois has created an incredibly complex and fascinating steampunk world in his novel Mages & Mechanisms. A land where someone with mechanical skill such as Leander can create clockwork machinery and whimsical creatures for sell. The only problem is that in this era of all things mechanical, the wealthy aren’t just interested in beauty and fine craftmanship—they want magic—pets to keep at their sides that are made of metals with elements of gold and silver woven in. That means Leander must hire a mage—something that he is loath to do—not only because he fears them but also because he lost his mother to their craft during the war she fought in.

But he must do it if he is to make a living in his shop and possibly be able to move up in the society’s class structure that determines who is successful. Not in his wildest imagination did he ever expect someone as brash and wild as Jak. Jak sparks something deep within Leander-feelings he has kept dark and buried for shame of being exposed as a man who loves other men—something that only the highest of nobility seem to be able to get away with indulging in. For everyone else, being found out as such could spell disaster for their business and private lives. But Jak makes Leander want so very much and before long the two men are embroiled in an affair that sees them falling deeper in love with every passing day.

There was so much to enjoy in this novel. First the world building was incredible—from the steampunk overtones to the various class levels and the intricate animals that Leander builds, I was utterly fascinated by the whole idea of a world where some would have a mechanical pet at their beck and call. For instance, Little Silver, a cat Lee and Jak create is just adorable and the next creature they create after that is amazing. But it was the marvelous relationship that builds between the two men that really captured me. I loved that Jak was a bit of a scoundrel and informed anyone who would listen as such. I was so glad that the author chose not to have Jak turn away from his old ways of ‘love em and leave em’ so quickly just to be with Leander.  Instead Harnois chose to allow Jak to grow and mature; to fall in love and see the value of not bedding anyone else. That didn’t stop him from flirting though and that to was critical to the authenticity of his character.

This was a slow burn of a romance with incredibly erotic yet tame sex scenes—they were intimate and sensual but not necessarily graphic. Just enough was described to give us the full impact of how important each moment together with Jak physically and mentally impacted Lee who was very deep in the closet and vehemently denying his sexuality. I loved watching these two men change and their love develop.

Mages & Mechanisms is an outstanding steampunk fantasy novel and its sequel is about to be released. Suffice it to say I cannot wait to enjoy the next visit with Jak and Leander.

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New Release Review: Merman & Magic: Part One Box Set by L.M. Brown #Review #Giveaway

Title: Merman & Magic: Part One 
Author: L.M. Brown 
Publisher: Pride Publishing 
Publication Date: April 14, 2020
Length: 931 pages 

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

This fascinating series continues to captivate and entertain with a world full of magic, passion and sexy mermen. ~ The Romance Reviews
Mermen & Magic: Part One – a box set
1 - Forbidden Waters For the dying race of mer people, homosexual relationships are prohibited. When Kyle falls for Prince Finn he knows he is navigating forbidden waters.
2 - Tempestuous Tides Bound by a curse, two mermen find the greatest love of their lives, but can they keep it?
3 - Dangerous Waves A blind merman fleeing the sunken city of Atlantis is torn between the family he left behind and the love he swims toward.
Centuries ago the city of Atlantis sank below the waves, lost to the world above forever. With the help of their gods and the indigenous mer people the Atlanteans survived on the floor of the ocean for many years, until the day they vanished.
Now the sunken city of Atlantis is home to the largest colony of mer people left in the world. Hidden from all by the magical sea dragons they only venture up on land to mate.
Cursed by an Atlantean goddess, the mer people are slowly becoming extinct. Believing they are safe in the sunken city, they have no idea one of their own is inadvertently waking the sleeping gods and the original inhabitants of their city are merely biding their time until they can reclaim their land once more.

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Review

L.M. Brown’s Merman & Magic Part One is a compilation of the first three books in her series, Forbidden Waters, Tempestuous Tides and Dangerous Waves. While you might think you can read these in any order or as standalones, I think you will get the richest experience and less confusion overall if you read this series in order. These novels do have recurring characters and gods and goddesses so that too means you lose the backstory of these folks if you read this series out of order.

From the first book which boasts a love triangle, humor, and magic, to the last one, the author creates a fascinating undersea world that spills over onto dry land in every story. We begin by meeting a nomadic tribe of merfolk who move from one area of the ocean to others avoiding or evading shark attacks. It’s one of these such attacks which will virtually wipe out most of the mermen of the tribe leaving a young man, Kyle, to take on the mantle of leadership. There is a safe haven for the merfolk but it entails giving up all their rights and forbids the practice of same sex relationships—and Kyle is, you guessed it, gay. After the shark attack wipes them out, they head to Atlantis and essentially prepare to sign away their independence. This is the basic plot vehicle for book one and leads Kyle to meeting the two men who will become his partners in life.

The second book picks up with a character we meet in the first one. Lucas is an advisor to the king of Atlantis and closeted. Each book deals with what happens to merfolk when they come into “heat” and the need to mate. For merman like Lucas and Kyle they find no satisfaction with women so that time is particularly painful for them. Lucas meets Justin—who wants nothing to do with his merman heritage and here is where the gods come into play—they levy a curse on Justin that will potentially keep he and Lucas from ever finding their happy ever after in each other.

The third novel brings the character, Dax, Kyle’s former lover from book one who went off on his own rather than travel with the others to Atlantis, back into play. We also meet the oracles and once again a goddess is called on for help. As you can see this is why it’s really important to read this series in order, in my opinion. I have deliberately not spent any time telling you details from any of the novels in this collection because to do so would make this review four pages long. Instead I want to give you my overall impressions of the three novels.

First, the world this author creates is a fascinating one—highly detailed with multiple locations and a wealth of characters. Without going into lengthy prose passages detailing the various locales, the author manages to give us a rich and colorful depiction of each place our characters live and visit. Quite a feat. Secondly, I found the series easy to read despite each story having multiple twists and turns and fast-paced action sequences. I take my hat off to this author keeping everything and everyone in order from book to book—that is quite the task considering how many folks are in these novels and how they eventually intertwine. I had no problems whatsoever recalling characters from previous novels and keeping track of the new ones.

Then there was the humor found in each novel. Despite the problems our mermen encounter in these three books, the author finds multiple ways to infuse each story with lighter moments and even some snark that keep the books from getting too heavy despite the serious scenarios explored. How Justin and Lucas meet comes to mind immediately—it was just fun—and with a curse looming over poor Justin’s head that made for much needed comic relief. I found myself really enjoying how the author brought much needed levity into the serious plotlines.

I did find that the endings in these novels often felt a little rushed. I also think there were some plot elements such as the trident thing in book one that seemed to go nowhere—at first, important then dropped. Then there was the use or non-use of the gods and goddesses. It felt as though they should have had a bigger role in resolving conflict issues but instead they seemed to appear on the scene and not really be used fully. For instance, the goddess Medina was built up as one being really powerful and yet we really didn’t get to see that—maybe that will be more fully explored in the other books in this series.

Overall, I really enjoyed these first three books. There were times I felt a bit of editing could have helped as sometimes the stories dragged on a bit and I found myself getting a little bored with the story but then something fascinating would occur and draw me right back in. I think author L.M. Brown has created a marvelous world of magic and folklore that will entice may readers to stay the course and enjoy all six books in this lovely series.

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Random Review: All Souls Near & Nigh by Hailey Turner #Review #Giveaway

Title: All Souls Near & Nigh
Series: Soulbound #2
Author: Hailey Turner
Self Published
Publication Date: March 19, 2019
Length: 364 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

You can’t bargain with death if you’ve already sold your soul.

Special Agent Patrick Collins has been reassigned by the Supernatural Operations Agency to New York City. Navigating his new relationship with Jonothon de Vere, the werewolf he’s now soulbound to, is nothing compared to dealing with territorial disputes between the vampires and werecreatures who call the five boroughs home. But the delicate treaties that have kept the preternatural world in check are fraying at the edges, and the fallout is spilling into the mundane world.

Manhattan’s club scene is overrun with the vampire drug known as shine and the subways have become a dumping ground for bodies. When the dead are revealed as missing werecreatures, Patrick and Jono find themselves entangled in pack politics twisted by vampire machinations.

Learning to trust each other comes with problems for both of them, and the gods with a stake in Patrick’s soul debt aren’t finished with him yet. Bound by promises they can’t break, Patrick and Jono must find a way to survive a threat that takes no prisoners and is stalking them relentlessly through the city streets.

Old and new betrayals are coming home to roost but the truth—buried in blood—is more poisonous than the lies being spun. Trying to outrun death is a nightmare—one Patrick may never wake up from.


All Souls Near & Nigh is a 104k word m/m urban fantasy with a gay romantic subplot and a HFN ending. It is a direct sequel to A Ferry of Bones & Gold, and reading the first book in the series would be helpful in enjoying this one. Please see the disclaimer at the beginning of the book for content some readers may find triggering.

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Review

SPOILER ALERT: Please if you haven’t read the first novel in Hailey Turner’s Soulbound series then do not read this review as it contains spoilers based on information revealed in A Ferry of Bones & Gold. This second novel, All Souls Near & Nigh, did the near impossible by being even better than the initial book in this group. We are back with Patrick Collins and Jono de Vere and I couldn’t be happier.

Picking up pretty much where the last book left off, Patrick and Jono are living together and still secretly a pack. Their soulbond is still intact although Patrick never discusses it and avoids thinking about it at all cost. It still hurts him to know that, though by accident, he has essentially enslaved the man he cares for just as his father has his sister. That fact has Patrick determined never to call on the bond—but, as in most things, never say never when you are a damaged mage with a debt owed to the goddess, Persephone. This time out, it will be the vampire Lucien who is calling in the debt he feels Patrick owes him so that together they can tack back the Manhattan ward his errant child has corrupted for his own.

The errant child in this case is the vampire Tremaine—sired by Lucien himself, and having escaped him once, Tremaine now has control of the city where independent werecreatures have gone missing and ended up dead at an increasing rate. It will be Patrick’s job to bring Tremaine back into Lucien’s hands. What neither he nor the ancient vamp knows is that Tremaine has made a pact with some powerful friends and they are not interested in what Lucien wants. A battle is brewing between the gods and Patrick and Jono are about to end up solidly in the crosshairs. This time Patrick may very well find it difficult to survive the fight.

Once again, much like a broken record, I find myself apologizing for this skimpy summary and yet it would be ever so wrong of me to give away any of the incredible action that takes place in this second novel. Jono comes into his own in the book and it was wonderful to not only learn more him but watch him go up against the hated alpha god pack leaders and force them to acknowledge his pack—that pack at the time consisting of only Patrick—but that is about to change. I loved that the focus, while still on Patrick, broadened more to include Jono and how the bond between them affected him. Jono proves once again to be everything a man could want in a mate—he is kind, powerful and loyal to Patrick. Without ever speaking the words, it’s obvious he loves Patrick and he reminds the mage every day that he is with him to the end. While I understand the HFN endings to these stories I really want to see these guys declare their love for each other soon—I just love the two of them together.

We also get to meet a new character in this novel, a teenager named Wade. Hailey Turner, please, please give us a break-off novella just about Wade—I absolutely adore him. This is the character that provides much needed comic relief and I can only hope we will see him in future installments. Turner’s ability to write teenage whining as reflected in Wade is on point and the fact that Wade is a bottomless pit when it comes to eating only adds to the fun. Honestly you can’t help but fall in love with this kid.

All Souls Near & Nigh is an action packed, heart in your throat story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. More than once you are filled with the fear that Patrick may have lived his last life but never fear this mage is tough and Jono will stand between him and danger every time. Fans of this series are going to love this one—I know I certainly did.

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