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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Borders Between Empires by Sasha Hope (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Footwork by T.A. Moore (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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BLOG TOUR: French Fancy by Lily Morton (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Shifting Forces by Cassidy McKay (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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MANGA: Tsuki wa Michikake Kemono no Koi
Tsuki wa Michikake Kemono no Koi – Nojiro Guri
Unable to fit in with the city, Idzuki, a lonely young man, moves into the countryside. However, the land is rumored to be haunted by youkai. As he struggles to get used to life in the mountains, with the abundance of insects and the lack of reception, he is suddenly attacked by a youkai. Cornered, out of the blue, a handsome young man with dog ears rescues him. The man claims to be a komainu youkai, a guardian lion-dog protecting shrines, pressing Idzuki to become his master — !?
A sensitive love story between a youkai and a human!
Phases of the Moon, Love of a Beast is a gentle, transcendental love story between a youkai aching for his other half and a lonely young man who just moved to the mountains.
The manga features a type of youkai called komainu, lion dogs who come in pairs to guard a shrine. Haku’s other half is long gone, and having been abandoned by their master, he is on the brink of turning into a demon.
Idzuki just moved to an old house in the countryside. While wandering lost in the woods, a youkai attacked him. He was saved by Haku who quickly latched on to the young man, begging him to please, please, please be his master.
The plot is a slice of life of the blossoming affection between the youkai and his master, plus a smartass cat who can talk (also a youkai). There are a lot of quiet, cozy scenes with subtle gestures, cuddling and hot cocoa. If this was an anime, I imagined dreamlike, soft focused cinematography and a sense of transiency. The artwork has that vibe to it, the characters drawn pretty and slender, especially the eyes and lashes to die for, but not too twee.
I loved the mix of angst, humor, and that lovely hurt-comfort magic. I felt a pang knowing the fate of immortals with fragile human lovers, and this has a bittersweet ending. However, the mangaka wrapped it up nicely with the promise of the afterlife.
This is one of my top manga of the year.
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REVIEW: Hex and the City by Nazri Noor
Stolen Hearts: Hex and the City by Nazri Noor
Leon Alcantara is a real son of a witch. The last in a proud line of witches, he’s come to test his small magic in the big city. Stealing enchanted artifacts pays the rent, but the competition is fierce. And handsome. And great at magic, too. But Maximilian Drake and his dark, brooding glances are the least of Leon’s problems. A chain of anomalies surges through the city, strange distortions in reality that threaten both Dos Lunas and its people. Suspected by the arcane authorities, Leon is forced to work with his nemesis to clear his name. But Max is so secretive over his shrouded past. Can he even be trusted? Leon must decide before the anomalies destroy the city — and his entire life.
Nazri Noor quickly became a go-to author since A Touch of Fever back in 2021. Many of his books are urban fantasies set in an alt-universe centered around a magical Black Market that moves all over the globe and beyond.
His latest series, Stolen Hearts, is another urban fantasy. I haven’t heard mention of the infamous Black Market, but I’m pretty sure it’s set in the same universe.
Book 1, Hex in the City, stars the feisty Leonardo Alcantara, green carded into the US from the Philippines by his mother. Leon comes from a long line of bruha or witches, the magic passed on from women to women. He is the first witch boy and, so far, the last Alcantara.
A winning combination of spells, street smarts and naivety, Leon currently ekes out a living as a finder, moving from city to city where there is work. In one heist, he butt heads with another finder, the tall, dark, and broody Maximillian Drake, who is also after the magical object he’s tasked to find.
Dos Lunas is a city with a magical underground and many magical law-enforcement agencies, one of which are the Masks. As you can guess, their agents wear certain types of masks depending on their rank, and I immediately wanted to be one when I grow up. Another group that fascinated me are the Spiders, information mongers who dole out jobs to finders like Leon and Max.
One very intriguing aspect are the old magical families like the Brilliantes, powerful and influential enough to be given a lot of leeway by the Masks. The characters have different types of magic as well. Leon’s traditional magic can amplify what is already there. Later, he got a power boost courtesy of certain ancient entities. Max’s magic has something to do with crystals. His friend Tina is very handy with her machete, while the Jade Spider lives and breathes secrets.
I find many of the author’s works fun but wordy. Here, his writing hit the sweet spot between the sass, the info-dump, and the rest of the elements. This is a fast-paced plot with fast-talking characters that skillfully balanced the romantic development, Leon’s Filipino background, the snarky dialogues, world-building, the mystery, and the high-octane, anime-style fight scenes that I am crazy about!
The only reason I didn’t give this a 5-star rating is that the romance on the generic side. I’ve already seen this style of rivals to lovers done in the author’s other books. Apart from that, Stolen Hearts offers a rich magical world I’d loved to get lost in, characters I’d love to hang out with, and more quests and adventures to conquer.
So yeah, Hex and the City would make a great onscreen series. And we all know fictional gay couples have the best and most devoted fandom. We already have angels and demons, princes and first sons, and of course, pirates. About time we have mages and witch boys, so please, if Netflix or anyone could turn this or any of the author’s books into an anime or live-action drama, it would be simply brilliant!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Diamond
Artist: Angelina Jordan
Album: Old Enough
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HEX AND THE CITY: Kindle | Audiobook
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SOUNDTRACK: Diamond by Angelina Jordan
Soundtrack to Stolen Hearts: Hex and the City by Nazri Noor
Diamond by Angelina Jordan for a book about witch boy you can’t put down colliding with a mage who won’t give up in a city where magic went awry.
Bring it on, my heart is strong
There’s nothin’ I won’t do
Try to knock me down, I’ll scorch the ground
The smoke will be my proofYou thought you stole
My fire my soul
What you don’t understand
Is that a pressure builds, but I’m here still
Like diamonds in the sandI glow, like fireflies in the dark
And I know, that even when life is hard -
Bring it on, my heart is strong
There’s nothin’ I won’t do
Try to knock me down, I’ll scorch the ground
The smoke will be my proofYou thought you stole
My fire my soul
What you don’t understand
Is that a pressure builds, but I’m here still
Like diamonds in the sandI glow, like fireflies in the dark
And I know, that even when life is hardI’m shinin’ like a supernova
With my hands up high and my heart wide open
So turn off the lights
I shine even more bright, like a diamondBrush that fear right off my shoulder
I told ya, now I’m ’bout to show ya
So turn off the lights
I shine even more bright, like a diamondIn the night (Betrayed)
So turn off the lights
Shine even more bright, like a diamondEyes on me, ’cause I believe
I’m exactly where I’m meant to be
Young and free, powerfully
I open doors that are meant for me
They’re made for meI glow like fireflies in the dark
And I know, that even when life is hardI’m shinin’ like a supernova
With my hands up high and my heart wide open
So turn off the lights
I shine even more bright, like a diamondBrush that fear right off my shoulder
I told ya, now I’m ’bout to show ya
So turn off the lights
I shine even more bright, like a diamondIn the night (Betrayed)
So turn off the lights
Shine even more bright, like a diamondIn the night (Betrayed)
So turn off the lights
Shine even more bright, like a diamond -
MOVIE FEATURE: Mates
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RELEASE BLITZ: Bellamy by Linden Bell
