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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: The Q by Rick R. Reed (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: A Little Fairy Dust by Mell Eight (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Damned If You Don’t by Hairann (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Treasure Trail by Morgan Brice
Treasure Trail – Morgan Brice
Erik Mitchell traveled the world uncovering art fraud and relic theft, which pitted him against spoiled billionaires, unscrupulous collectors, mobsters, and cartels. He worked with law enforcement across the U.S. and Europe, but then a sting goes wrong, Erik ends up injured and returns to find his partner cheating. He decides to stop globetrotting and buy an antique shop in scenic Cape May, NJ, rebuild his life, and nurse his broken heart.
Undercover Newark cop Ben Nolan went down in a hail of bullets when a bust went sideways, after a tip-off from a traitor inside the department. When he recovers, he spends a couple of years as a private investigator, only to tire of seeing the worst of human nature. So when his aunt offers him the chance to take over her rental real estate business in Cape May, it seems too good to be true. Now if he could just believe he could ever be lucky again in love.
Sparks fly when Erik and Ben meet. But when a cursed hotel’s long-ago scandals resurface, the two men are pulled into a web of lies, danger, and deception that will test their bond—and might make them Cape May’s newest ghosts!
Treasure Trail contains sexually explicit material intended for adults 18 and over. This is book #1 in the Treasure Trail series.
Treasure Trail is off to a great start!
This new paranormal series by Morgan Brice is part of her inter-connected world of supernaturals. It’s something I’ve always liked about her work.
The story starts with Erik Mitchell just moving in to Cape May, NJ and setting up Trinkets, the antique shop that came along with the house he bought. He also just started on his blog, Treasure Trail, to promote his merchandise.
Erik had traipsed all over the world as part of his work as consultant with the FBI. It’s a dangerous job which had him crossing paths with people who had no qualms with deadly force. On one of his missions, he was shot. He decided to live a quieter life in a town he often visited in childhood.
Cape May is a charming seaside town. Unlike in most stories, the paranormal elements were dealt with quite openly. They even say it’s rare to find a person who has not seen a ghost. There are psychics, a coven of witches, cursed antiques and a very cursed hotel that was torn down 20 years ago.
This hotel plays a central role in the story, a villain of sorts that has caused the deaths and misfortunes of several owners and hotel residents. It has been owned by mobsters, corrupt televangelists and shady new age gurus, all of whom died violent deaths. Even after it was demolished, its evil presence is still strongly felt. It is part of the town’s history and many memorabilia were collected by various interested parties.
The mystery involved some of those memorabilia. A box containing assortments of ephemera from the hotel was sold to Erik. It was a veritable Pandora’s box, containing objects related to famous deaths. Not long after, somebody tried to break in his shop, tried to shoot him and attempted to run him over by a van.
The why was easy to guess, the who was what they needed to find out. While the bad guy was somewhat obvious, I still enjoyed how the various elements tied in together. It’s a book where you savor the process of getting to the answer, more than the answer itself.
There’s seems to be a red string of fate that runs throughout, fate being the main theme. Everything fell into place for Erik. He saw the house and Trinkets online the moment it was put up on sale. The ad even seemed tailor-made for him.
Then he met a very attractive guy he connected with right away while he was waiting at the bar for an online date which turned out to be an epic fail. And what are the chances that said attractive guy would knock on his door the next day?
Ben Nolan was a cop, turned private investigator turned real estate manager. His aunt passed him their rental business. Ben came to Trinkets to have an antique dealer assessed an object he found hidden in one of the houses he manages.
Erik and Ben had a lot of similarities. They were men who could handle themselves in a fight. Erik has a PhD and rocks the well-read, well-traveled, professor look but he had martial arts training and license to carry. Ben is all bad boy ex-cop with ink but is really nice. Both of them had dealt with traumatic experiences that made them change careers. Both were not close to their families. They came to Cape May for a fresh start.
The romance between the two was as insta as they come. They already had the L-word percolating in their minds within one day of being together. I’m not a fan of this fast a pace but the way they synced together that quick was in keeping with the hand of destiny thing the story had going.
It also headed down the miscommunication route especially with the trust issues but happily avoided needless conflict. I really liked how the author set-up my expectations for that awful scenario then deftly turned it into a reasonable plan of action. Shout out to Erik’s cool neighbor, Susan Hendricks, who talked some sense into the guys.
The world-building was a very enjoyable experience as always. Being part of the Morgan Brice/Gail Z. Martin shared world, various characters from other series popped up, including psychic Simon Kincaide and vampire Soren. This is a nice set-up because it opens the series to many possible story lines. We could expect everything from ghosts, witches, demons and fae.
There were no big reveal shockers. Cape May residents were a liberal-minded bunch. People were used to the spooky. More often than not it was a case of Erik being reluctant to reveal his supernatural experiences only to have the other person be easily accepting of the fact. And share similar experiences.
The best thing of all is there is a vast improvement in the writing with new narrator, John Solo, breathing new life into it. While I mostly enjoyed most of the author’s works and Kale Williams’s narration, I do find a certain blandness in them which was highlighted by Williams’s sometimes too calm cadence. Solo’s delivery made the prose’s energy come through.
Also, there were no TSTL moments here. They contacted the police. They did not make any reckless attempts at heroics. And yet the story succeeded in having a chilling, suspenseful climax that managed to make both heroes shine.
Treasure Trail opens this new series in the best way possible. It treaded a familiar path but went in directions that were not exactly new but tended to get bypassed in favor of creating conflicting and excitement. I am eager to see where the author will take this. I say it’s definitely worth the follow.
P.S.
Posts on Morgan Brice books here.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Ghost of a Chance
Artist: Rush
Album: Roll the Bones
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RELEASE BLITZ: Good As Hell by Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid (Excerpt)
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RELEASE BLITZ: When I First Saw Red by Kasia Bacon (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Suckerpunch by Elyse Springer (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 -
I meet your eyes
you don’t even see me
You hardly respond
when I whisper
hello
Could be my soul mate
two kindred spirits
Maybe we’re not
I guess we’ll never
knowMy own mother
you carried me in you
Now you see nothing
but what I wear
People ask you
how I’m doing
You smile and nod
don’t let it end
therePut me
underneath God’s sky and
know me
don’t just see me with your eyes
Take away
this mask of flesh and bone and
See me
for my soulalone
Jay Asher