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RELEASE BLITZ: The Bonds Of Family by Christie Gordon (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Breaking The Shackles by Mell Eight (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Bonded by Alana Timms (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Hearts of Destiny by Kay Doherty (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: The Enchanter’s Soul by Michele Notaro
The Ellwood Chronicles: The Enchanter’s Soul – Michele Notaro
Many fall as the last enchanter rises…
The first line of the ancient prophecy keeps playing over and over in my head, but I’m afraid to remember the rest. I don’t want to think about what’s coming for us—what’s coming for him. I’ve been keeping Brinnswick safe for years; I’ve been keeping my coven safe my whole life; and now I was responsible for keeping Sebastian safe, too. It shouldn’t have been a problem, he was my vitmea viramore, after all, and I was used to having the weight of the world on my shoulders.
What Seb doesn’t know is that everyone in the magical community is after him—even if they don’t realize it yet. They’ve been looking for him for centuries; not only for him, but for his soul. But they never counted on him having me. I will protect him with my every breath and take down anyone that gets in our way. His soul belongs with me, not in the arms of evil.
The Enchanter’s Soul is the second book in The Ellwood Chronicles and is a continuation of Sebastian and Ailin’s story. It contains explicit material and is intended for mature adults 18 years of age and older.
Recommended Reading Order:
The Enchanter’s Flame
The Witch’s Seal
The Enchanter’s Soul
The Enchanter’s Soul is the second book of The Ellwood Chronicles and picks up after the events following the big revelation about Sebastian. It talks of a prophecy that warned about enchanters and what their magic could bring to the world.
I liked this second book a little bit more than The Enchanter’s Flame. This has a lot of Ailin’s POV and it’s more compelling to see the story unfold from his perspective. We get more insights into the magical world. We also see the mighty Sage’s vulnerable side and his deep love for his soulmate, his vitmea viramore who needed a smack in the head majority of the time. The feelings ran deeper and cut more painfully because Sebastian needed a lot of convincing that what they have is real, magic bond or not and Ailin has to be the patient and understanding one. I enjoyed the push and pull between the viramores but the “I love you, I’ll protect you with everything I have” declarations did get a tad too repetitive.
Seb’s going about this whole enchanter business the wrong way. Dude, you got magic! MAGIC!!! Embrace it.
Sometimes he reminded me of Scooby Doo, a big guy who gets freaked out too easily by tiny critters but, still, loyal and brave where it counts. So I can’t get annoyed with him too much.
The book has a big cast, I can’t even remember how many kids Ailin has in his coven, and you bet he’s willing to die for any of them. It’s easy to like the Ellwoods, even the little shit Basil, who’s breaking Thayer’s heart. But hands down, the best secondary characters were Emerys, Ailin’s ex, and Julius, the vampire, who stood out with so much going on between the two of them that is yet to be revealed. I can’t wait for their book to come out.
The Enchanter’s Soul started slow then kicked into high gear at 65% when they discovered who’s responsible for the explosions. Then it erupted into all out magical battles that almost burned out their magic. And that wasn’t even it! They barely had time to breathe when Seb was captured, skinned alive and worse! What they did to that dragon… The bad guys were EVIL AF!!!
This was quite the roller coaster. Emotional ups and downs, complicated relationships and enjoyable family dynamics all wrapped up in magic and romance.
I am so hyped up for the next Ellwood adventure. More and more evil creatures are coming out of the woodwork, all of them after Sebastian and that prophecy. War is coming.
P.S.
Dragons on the cover (b~_^)b
Book 1, The Enchanter’s Flame here
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: The Magic Hour Is Now
Artist: Hellogoodbye
Album: Everything Is Debatable -
REVIEW: The Enchanter’s Flame by Michele Notaro
The Ellwood Chronicles: The Enchanter’s Flame by Michelle Notaro
Strange things are happening all around Brinnswick. Things that remind me of a piece of my past I’d rather forget. Girls are being killed, drained of blood, and left with strange markings on their bodies. When I finally connect the cases together, a specialist is called in—though, what he’s a specialist of is beyond me.
When the chief assigns him as my new partner for the case, I can’t help but groan on the inside. Why of all people would I be assigned to Ailin Ellwood? The man is a disaster waiting to happen and a jerk to boot. A sexy jerk, but a jerk nonetheless.
What will Sebastian think when he discovers Ailin’s specialty? Will he make a run for it or will he stick around and discover a world of magic hidden beneath the city’s surface?
***The Enchanter’s Flame is the first book in the Ellwood Chronicles. It’s a paranormal romance that contains explicit material and is intended for mature adults 18 and over.***
The Enchanter’s Flame is the first book of the highly enjoyable Ellwood Chronicles, a fantasy series about witches and other magic users blended with a chockful of romance, mystery, humor and a dash of police procedural.
Some niggles though. Ailin Ellwood, a very powerful witch, was partnered with Sebastian Fitz, a police detective, to solve a series of murders. At first, Sebastian didn’t know Ailin’s true identity. All he was told was that the man was a specialist. Seb was dragged along with only half an idea of what’s going and had to endure his partner’s assholic attitude. The witch gave cryptic non-answers and made life-altering decisions, ex. magically binding Seb for life, without even consulting him. Also, he constantly read the detective’s mind with no regard for his privacy.
This, understandably, drove the clueless Seb crazy. The story was written from his POV and most of it was him and his hilarious WTF reactions to whatever shit Ailin came up with. The poor guy simultaneously wanted throttle the jerk and get in his pants because Ailin’s got that cool Goth boy look to match the rude ‘tude. The result was a lot of sniping and griping and USTs all over the place. The two literally crackled when they touch!
The world-building wasn’t as immersive as I would have liked but still very intriguing. The setting was deliberately vague, going with that somewhere-in-the-US-but-not-really style. It’s set in the contemporary world where magic users live in secret and work with the government to keep that secret and keep dark forces at bay. The magical part was hinted early on and later became clear to Sebastian as his relationship with Ailin progressed.
We learn that many kinds of magical creatures exist and there are different magical affinities. These include nature, death, light, and shadow magic. They are associated with a certain color which matches the user’s eye-color. And because I’m a sucker for stuff like this, I immediately started imagining what my affinity would be.
We meet the Ellwood clan/coven. They’re a cocky bunch. Shipping Basil, Ailin’s lil bro, and Thayer, a coven member. Shipping them really hard.
We learn about Ailin’s true responsibilities and his deeper connection with Sebastian. Totally loving this vitmea viramore thing they had going on.
The backstory was also revealed. It spoke of war and how an entire specie of magic users become extinct. How these tie with their case unveiled more shocking revelations that turned Sebastian’s life and their entire world up side down.
That epilogue!
I had fun with this one. There’s were many good points that overcame the niggles and overall, the story was very entertaining. Recommended for those who like their urban fantasy with a lot of kissing and bickering.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Soul Mates
Artist: Grant Nicholas
Album: Yorktown Heights
