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NEW RELEASE: Eternally Her by Ariel Marie, Renee Hewett, K.L. Bone, & Tiana Warner
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SERIES REVIEW: Spellbound & Edge Lines by Ava Marie Salinger
The thing with most urban fantasy/paranormal series is that the premise pique my interest, but actually putting in the work to read them or finish them, well, most of the time, I never see the end. It happened with Whyborne & Griffin (the last book! gah!) and Soulbound. It gets to the point where so many things are happening for a prolonged period that it becomes a toss-up between laziness and boredom.
So far, Fallen Messengers is doing a great job of keeping me riveted. If this keeps up and hopefully wraps up soon, I can complete the series. I’m giving major props to narrator Alex Kydd. My first impression was he spoke too slowly. It turned out to be an advantage because his slow even delivery helps me through the info-dumps without brain overload. And he gave the million and one cast their distinct voices and personalities, which is impressive given that there are numerous female characters.
This is a review of Books 2 and 3.
Fallen Messengers: Spellbound by Ava Marie Salinger
Can Cassius and Morgan overcome an elusive enemy and save a young girl’s life?
Eden Monroe has spent her entire existence believing she has no magic. Shunned by her mother Brianna and the magical bureau Hexa, she runs away from home when she is forced to embrace a future she never chose, only to fall into the hands of ghastly monsters from the Nine Hells. After being rescued by a mysterious Dryad with secrets of his own, Eden realizes there is more to her past and future than she could ever have imagined.
When San Francisco PD asks Argonaut to assist them in solving a series of strange bank robberies, Cassius Black and Morgan King uncover a disturbing plot that points to an unknown artifact hidden somewhere in the city. Their investigation soon has them crossing paths with a desperate Brianna, who seeks their help in finding her missing daughter. When the witch reveals the shocking circumstances surrounding her daughter’s birth as well as the deadly magic sealed inside the young girl’s body, the Argonaut agents realize their case is linked to Eden and the weapon of devastating power the bank robbers are after.
Can Cassius and Morgan defeat the malevolent organization behind it all and save Eden from her cursed fate? Or will the young girl suffer a destiny worse than death itself?
Spellbound is the second novel in the gay urban fantasy romance series Fallen Messengers. This is an MM paranormal adventure full of action, magic, snark, and a host of steamy angels and demons.
Spellbound is the second book, introducing new characters and multiple POVs. I’m assuming each book will focus on one supernatural agency. Book 1, Fractured Souls, has the MC, Cassius the imperial, joining the Argonauts, the agency overseeing otherworldlies. This book features Brianna Monroe, head of Hexa, the organization of witches. She has a rather complicated relationship with her daughter Eden. The teen ran away after having had enough of her mother’s controlling ways.
What I love most about this series is that whenever people use magic, they go BIG! Even those who just discovered they have the ability don’t start small, which makes the fight scenes super mind-blowing. Although here, it’s a tad bit less intense than in Book 1, but still awesome. Possibly because a chunk of the plot is Eden struggling to survive the streets while being hunted by monsters. Reading about people on the run isn’t my favorite thing. Also, I had to wait for events to connect to Cassius, Morgan and their team. It’s a me problem because, objectively, this sequel rocks!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits
Soundtrack: Bound Together
Artist: Kate York feat. Vanyo
Album:
Fallen Messengers: Edge Lines – Ava Marie Salinger
The Gods have come to San Francisco…
Cassius Black and Morgan King’s trip to Ivory Peaks to uncover clues about their past takes an unexpected turn when a rift materializes and war demons attack the capital. Having saved one world by the skin of their teeth, they return to Earth, only to find it has been rocked by ominous quakes bearing a close resemblance to the phenomenon that nearly destroyed the Dryad kingdom.
After defeating demons that emerge from a crevasse in San Francisco, Cassius and Morgan rescue the Wild God Pan from the bottom of a rift with the help of Victor Sloan and the city’s otherwordly. But instead of thanking them, Pan makes a startling demand: rescue his lover and prevent the Spirit Realm from being destroyed, and he will reveal the truth about who Cassius and Morgan are.
Help comes from an unexpected source when a pair of Reapers visit the city and Cassius, Morgan, and Victor soon go hunting for a missing deity who may hold the key to saving all the realms. Can they free the immortals from their prisons and find the powerful artefact that can bend the mind and will of even a God? Or will the enemy who has long manipulated them from the shadows win this war and destroy everything they have come to care for?
Edge Lines is the third novel in the gay urban fantasy romance series Fallen Messengers. If you like your paranormal adventures full of action, magic, snark, and a host of steamy angels and demons, then you’re not going to want to miss this enthralling, fun-filled ride!
Edge Lines is the highly anticipated 3rd book because Victor Sloane!!!
The story also has multiple POVs but the majority is from Cass and his angel boyfriend, Morgan. This is where gods and demi-gods make themselves known. The team, along with Victor, has to deal with rifts and war demons appearing in various realms. It has something to do with the disappearance of the winter god and Pan’s lover, the winter god’s nephew.
As mentioned in my review of Fractured Souls, I’m not a fan of Morgan. His brand of assholery doesn’t appeal to me. Here, I go back and forth because, yeah, he’s super protective of Cass, but also an inconsiderate horndog who wouldn’t let his perpetually sleep-deprived boyfriend get proper sleep.
I am team Victor. Cass’ demon ex is a nicer guy than Morgan. That teeny tiny glimpse inside Victor’s thoughts revealed dark possessive desires of owning Cass, mind, body, heart, and soul. I suppose this was meant to show Morgan as the better man but Victor has the goodness in him to know doing so would kill the light in Cass that he loves. If Morgan has to stay go poly, please! Love triangles are never ever fun and tiresome as fuck! This could kill the series for me if it continues.
I’m wondering how much more epic the series could get because this one brought it up another notch! There are the crazy level-ups we love, long-awaited identity reveals that got me hyped for future events, and of course, the action scenes that always go nuclear. The writing strikes a great balance between info dumps, character progression, plot, imagery, and fight scene choreography. And with a talented narrator, this tale of the fallen and the otherworldly continues to be a spellbinding experience that kept me enthralled.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: The Curse
Artist: Agnes Obel
Album:P.S.
Fallen Messengers has a cute custom of giving many supporting characters their little happy endings. Cheesy but fun! So Victor might get one too, if he doesn’t end up throupling with Cass and Morgan. Can the angel and the demon share the imperial, please?
Fallen Messengers should be read in order. The adventure stars with Fractured Souls.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Fallen Messengers. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.Fractured Souls: US | UK
Spellbound: US | UK
Edge Lines: US | UK
Oath Breaker: US | UKYou can also use my Bookshop affiliate links to buy paperbacks and MP3 CD audiobooks and help support independent bookstores.
FRACTURED SOULS | SPELLBOUND | EDGE LINES | OATH BREAKER
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COVER REVEAL: Gargoyle Birthright by Jessamyn Kingley (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: The Devil’s Lover by Alexa Piper (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Earl Hathbury’s Vessel by S. Rodman (Excerpt)
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COVER REVEAL: Sundowners by R.L. Merrill (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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COVER REVEAL: Famine by Sienna Moreau (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Blood & Dirt by Corey Niles (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Unraveling the Threads of Fate by Alice Winters
Unraveling the Threads of Fate – Alice Winters
Alex
Some people are born lucky.
Then there’s me, destined to be loved by the man who knows my darkest secret.
My gift has followed me my entire life—the ability to see the threads of fate. I can see the red thread tying together two people destined to love one another.
But my gift has another side to it. A darker side.
I can also see a simple black thread tied to the fingers of those who aren’t aware of it, connecting them to the person destined to kill them. And when I look down at my own finger, I can see the red thread stretched over to Bishop King. The man who is my soul mate.But then why is the black thread also wrapped around our fingers?
Bishop is sweet and caring, and I can’t stop my heart from loving him. I just need to thwart fate before it separates us forever.
Bishop
I swore to never let myself be drawn back into Alex’s world, but the man is funny and charming and the moment we’re together I fall back into the familiarity we shared as teenagers.
I know this time is different; he’s hoping that I can help him walk through his dreams to figure out how an innocent girl is going to die.
While his dreams tell of the future, mine allow us to find the truth. But what happens when we save a life and change fate–will it affect our own future? I can’t keep myself from falling for Alex, but what if helping him leaves one of us dead?
Unraveling the Threads of Fate is a standalone romance with action, mystery, humor, and a happy ending.
I was introduced to the red string of fate via anime. This is a belief that two people meant to be together are linked by a red string tied around their pinkies. So I was ridiculously excited for this Alice Winters standalone novel that features the magical threads.
Unraveling the Threads of Fate is a story of a high school teacher, Alex, whose gift is the ability to see the red strings. It has a neat little twist wherein he can also see the black strings linking people to those who will kill them. To make Alex’s life even more exciting, a.k.a. hellish, his red string AND black string are attached to the same person, Bishop King, his billionaire high school friend. The man is both a hopeless crush and the last person he wants to see.
The world-building reminded me of another urban fantasy series by the author, In The Mind, where people have gifts. The writing doesn’t dwell too much on the hows and whys. It’s just a given that some people have gifts. Bishop’s gift is the ability to walk dreams.
The chapters switch between past and present with brief glimpses of the future. One thing that soon became apparent is that everyone’s got MAJOR daddy issues. Young Alex was manipulated by his drug-dealing father to run drugs. The teen also had to take care of his baby half-sister because his dad couldn’t be bothered. Bishop has his own rich people problems to sort out with his dad.
The book is humor, mystery and suspense with the romance seamlessly falling into place without too much fanfare. It’s driven by the MCs’ desire to stop the deaths of people close to them with the past events heavily impacting the present.
As much as I loved the concept, I wasn’t completely blown away. The beginning to about 60% was really riveting! The plot was tight and fast-paced. I loved how Alex and Bishop learned to make their gifts work together, turning from grudging partners to secret superheroes who saved people from untimely demise.
I’d also like to commend the author for hitting the sweet spot for her trademark humor vs. moving things forward. We got the hilarious snark for snark gags but toned down and short enough that they don’t distract from the plot.
However, the last 40% sorta meandered and lagged. These are the parts where they had to save more people and settle their daddy issues. It would have been exciting, except I got impatient for the story to wrap up because it’s becoming long drawn out.
As for the strings, I loved how they were used in the story, especially Alex and Bishop’s connection. They were changing the course of fate by saving people, but were they really?
Unraveling the Threads of Fate took a deeply romantic concept of soulmates, turned it upside down, and gave something of a Schrödinger dilemma. All in all, a funny, suspenseful, surprisingly gritty tale tying past, present, and future together.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Red String
Artist: Aldious
Album: Dazed and Delight
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Unraveling the Threads of Fate. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
Unraveling the Threads of Fate: US | UK
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
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BLOG TOUR: Devil’s Mark by Lark Taylor (Excerpt & Giveaway)
