March 2020 – Love is Love Reviews

Review: Misfit Mage (Fledgling God #1) by Michael Taggart

The concept isn’t bad, but the book is in serious need of a good editor. DNF 49%

3 out of 5 stars

Ebook. Kindle Unlimited. 339 pages. Published April 26th 2019

Blurb:

He went searching for a fresh start. He didn’t expect to find unusual friends, fierce enemies, and primal powers.

Jason thought that it was the end of his life after being hunted and attacked by a band of ruthless thugs. Instead, he tapped into the source of creation and emerged from his Death Experience with magical powers.

As a new mage, Jason finds himself part of a wonderful – and dangerous – new supernatural world. He also finds himself in the middle of a mage war as he becomes part of an unlikely group of protectors who are defending a mystical mansion from those who want to destroy it.

Jason has little power, and the band of misfits are on the losing side, until he discovers he can see and manipulate magic at a remarkable level. What he detects begins his journey into discovering how his new powers really work, and just might be the edge that they need to survive.

Likes:

Started off great.
The Fog of Jonah.
It’s obvious that the author put a lot into building the world and magic system.
Unique story premise.
Interesting characters.

Dislikes:

Graphic torture scene.
Not a romance.
Constant info dumps.
Lack of contractions make dialogue feel stilted.
Huge chunks of explanatory dialogue were a slag to read.
Too much repetition.
None of the ‘teachers’ actually had all the answers.
Book needs to be edited by a ruthless professional.

DNF 49%

I’ve never given a book I didn’t finish three stars before. Usually, if it’s bad enough for me not to finish, it’s so bad I didn’t enjoy it. I did enjoy this book…to a point.

The premise of this book is interesting. It hooked my attention right from the start. The naked chase scene was funny. I was curious about what was going on.

Then the graphic torture scene happened. I don’t consider myself squeamish, but it was almost too much for me. This book popped up on Amazon when I went looking for a romance. The torture scene almost made me dump the book. Romance and torture is not a fusion I enjoy. But I forced myself to get through the scene because I wanted to see of the book could hook me again.

It didn’t, not like at the beginning. I began reading this book on February 15. I gave up on it March 24 after reading 49%. There were just too many things that turned me off. I’d pick up the book, read a few pages, get annoyed at the info dump or the repetition, and put it down again.

I think there is a fantastic book buried under all the amateur mistakes. It’s like a diamond in the rough. But like a diamond, to get it to sparkle you have to cut away the excess and polish the rough spots.

The biggest issue is the info dumps. It’s not just one or two. They’re everywhere. It’s like the story moves forward as something dramatic happens, usually involving Jason getting hurt, followed by long passages of explanations about magic. Normally I’m all for world building. I love it. But this was too much. It slowed the story down to a crawl. The explanatory dialogue was the worst. It was dense and I knew I wasn’t going to remember most of it. Maybe that’s why there was so much repetition.

A lot of the need for explanation came from Jason being special. He can do things that Sandy – Jason’s magic ‘teacher’ – has never encountered before. That got annoying as well. Just once I wanted someone to give Jason – and me – a simple answer instead of having to investigate every little thing because it’s totally new to them.

That being said, I did like the side characters. They were all interesting. As was the Fog of Jonah, the magical protection that prevented normal humans from finding out about magic.

It’s probably a good thing this book wasn’t an actual romance. It has a thread of romantic possibility, but nothing big. There’s honestly no room for a fully-fledged romance, not with all the magic.

If this book ever got the professional edit it needed, I would absolutely give it another shot. I don’t picture that happening since a lot of people rated the book five stars. Good for them for sitting through the info dumps. I just couldn’t. With so many books out there that have fewer problems, it wasn’t worth forcing myself to finish Misfit Mage.

Review: The Aloysius Tales by Tara Lain

Do not recommend. The base idea is good but the final product is deeply flawed.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Books include:

Spell Cat – 2 stars
Brush with Catastrophe – 3 stars
Cataclysmic Shift – 3 stars

Likes:

Aloysius as a cat.
Most of the characters, individually.
Good smut.

Dislikes:

Non-con.
Rape.
Non-con and rape wasn’t addressed.
Lack of world building.
Lack of magic.
Not good rereads.
Bland romance.
Many characters lacked maturity.

I would not recommend this series. It’s from an author that I usually enjoy, and the basic idea of the series is interesting, but the final product is deeply flawed.

There isn’t really a standout book in this series. Usually, at least one book will shine even if the others don’t. That didn’t happen this time. With all three books, my dislikes outweighed my likes by a mile.

Individually, most of the characters weren’t bad. They were different and diverse, and all had something likeable about them. Too bad they had raging cases of insta-lust, clichéd pasts, and didn’t act like powerful witches.

The basic idea of the overarching plot wasn’t bad, but the world building was almost nonexistent and the magic was sparse. It didn’t feel like a lot of thought and attention had been put into fitting all the pieces together. When I finished each book, the inconsistencies and plot holes were huge, even if I didn’t notice them as I was reading.

Two of the three books had instances of either rape or non-consent that was never addressed. The bad guys weren’t punished for their transgressions. It bothered me a lot, partly because the bad guys did get punished for other things, making it feel like the rape was so minor it didn’t even get mentioned. But also because this is not the first time Tara Lain has included sexual assault in her books without addressing it later on. It’s because of the sexual assault and how it makes me think negatively of Lain, that I’ve decided to step away from reading her books for a while.

Lastly, as I discovered, these books don’t make for good rereads. The plots all have mystery elements that drive the action forward. Once the mystery is solved, it’s obvious how shaky the romance itself is.

I had high hopes for this series. There are good urban fantasy romances out there, but The Aloysius Tales isn’t one of them.

Series Review – The Triad of Magic by Poppy Dennison

Overall a good series, but not without its flaws. I liked the overarching plot running through everything.

4 out of 5 stars

Mind Magic – 4 stars
Body Magic – 4 stars
Soul Magic – 4.5 stars
Wild Magic – 3 stars

Likes:

The characters.
The world of mages, vampires, and werewolves is different from what I’m used to reading.
The plot and pacing.
The kids.
Everything was wrapped up well in the end.
The relationship between Simon and Gray.
The relationship between Cormac and Liam.

Dislikes:

The ending of each book feels abrupt, as does the ending of the series as a whole.
The final villain battle was unsatisfying.
Cade and Rocky’s relationship was underdeveloped.
Wild Magic felt unnecessary and was a poor ending to the series.

This series is one that, if you like it, you’ll want to read it quickly. The series has one overarching plot, with little time passing between books. If you, like me, tend to forget little plot points if you wait for a while, I would suggest not waiting. This would be a good series to take on vacation if you know you’ll have time to go through them in a couple of days.

While this series has its problems, Simon and Gray are strong characters who are present through all three full length books. Their constant presence as main characters for the entire series makes this trilogy different from the romance series I’m used to. I expected the first book to be about Simon and Gray, the second to be about Rocky and Cade, and the third to be about Liam and Cormac, with each couple clearly being the main focus of their respective book. That wasn’t what this series did.

I didn’t mind getting to see more of Simon and Gray’s relationship, because there was a lot going on that couldn’t be neatly wrapped up in one book. But the blurbs of Body Magic and Soul Magic underplayed the presence of Simon and Gray’s relationship in each book.

With regards to Wild Magic, I almost wish it hadn’t been included. It doesn’t do much for the big plotline, and forces the series to end on a whimper, not a bang.

Overall, I enjoyed the series. It was different from a lot of other romance books in several key ways, and that made it feel fresh and new. I wouldn’t mind reading more from Poppy Dennison in the future.

Review: Wild Magic (The Triad of Magic #4) by Poppy Dennison

Felt a little tacked on, and definitely not as good as the rest of the series. But it does plug a few small plot holes.

3 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 1st edition. 108 pages. Published September 25th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Joseph Anderson was heartbroken when his childhood best friend Dominick Levent moved away. Years later, Joseph is a successful real estate broker with good friends, an easy smile, and a stunning house. When he finds a dying mountain lion who miraculously shifts into Dominick’s sister, Joseph must find Dominick and reunite him with the two young sons she left behind.

When mountain lion shifter Dominick gets a call telling him his sister is dead, he rushes home to protect his nephews and avenge his sister. Seeing Joseph brings back the feelings Dominick tried to bury and he dares to hope Joseph’s newfound knowledge of shifters means they can finally be together.

Likes:

Plugs a few small plot holes.
Is short.

Dislikes:

It’s not anywhere as good as the other books in the series.
Romance and characters are lacking depth.

There’s nothing I don’t particularly like about this book. But (and it’s a big but) compared to the first three books in the series, Wild Magic feels like it was tacked on at the end to fill up some plot holes.

I usually don’t say that I’m glad something was short, but the novella length of this book was appropriate, because it didn’t have much to say. The story universe didn’t get bigger, and the characters, while not bad, just didn’t have enough substance to make me want more from them.

I’ll be perfectly honest. I didn’t need this book. The plot holes at the end of the first three books weren’t big enough to bother me, especially since the biggest one – where the other two mountain lion shifter boys were hiding – came at the end of Soul Magic so I didn’t have time to dwell on them.

In all honesty, I just assumed the other two mountain lion shifter boys had been an extra little touch just to give Riley a happy ending of his own. He’s not alone and he has the start of his own pack. Yay! And I was happy with that. I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed with knowing exactly how Blake and Avery escaped being killed by Silas, but I didn’t get as connected to them as I was to Riley. The story was so short that the romance between Dominick and Joseph took center stage.

Speaking of the romance, it was … fine. Childhood friends reunite and discover that they both liked each other back then but never said it. It was predictable and the one sex scene was bland. So predictable that, looking back, I can’t think of a single flirty or romantic moment between the two before they get into bed. Sure, there’s caring for each other but it could also be seen as platonic, which is what Dominick thought all along because he thought Joseph was dating Vicky.

I think this book is especially disappointing because I liked Soul Magic so much. To go from the high of Soul magic to the ‘meh’ of Wild Magic is a definite downgrade. All in all, I’d say that Wild Magic isn’t a necessary addition to the Triad series.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Mind Magic, Body Magic, Soul Magic, and the series review.

Review: Soul Magic (The Triad of Magic #3) by Poppy Dennison

My favorite book in the series.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Ebook, 220 pages. Published May 6th 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Blood runs soul-deep. Cormac hasn’t been the same since the night the High Moon Pack was attacked. With his magic weakened, he’s consumed by a bloodlust he hasn’t felt since he first became a vampire. His need to replenish his power makes him a danger to his last remaining family member, and his hunger makes him careless. And that’s just the beginning of his troubles. Feeding from pack beta Liam Benson was supposed to slake his appetite, not leave him craving more.

Simon Osborne and Gray Townsend are trying to fight a being history says shouldn’t exist—one with all three types of magic. The pack must use all of their resources to combat the mysterious triad, even turning to the shady Council of Mages for help. While Cormac struggles to reconcile his past failures with his current desires, Simon must attempt the impossible: an alliance between mind, body, and soul.

Likes:

Everything that was good about the previous books was good about this one – pacing, story, familiar characters.
Questions were finally answered and the book wrapped up nicely.
Cormac and Liam’s relationship.

Dislikes:

The ending felt abrupt.
I don’t quite understand how Simon defeated the villain.

This is my favorite book in the trilogy. I read it in one day.

Cormac has been an interesting character from the beginning, and we finally get a book about him. And it is about him, thankfully. He and Liam are definitely the main characters in the book, even though Simon and Gray still get their page time. I’m really glad this book wasn’t like the previous one and that Cormac and Liam got a fully fleshed out romance.

With the appearance of the mastermind villain, who feels kind of like a final boss, the High Moon Pack is facing the most trouble yet. And not just from the villain. The Were Council members are still around, the Mage Council sends its representative, and another mixed race couple have come to the pack seeking a place to belong. Add in Cormac acting strange after the attack at the end of the last book, and there are plenty of problems to sort out.

This book has a lot going on but it’s paced so nicely that nothing feels out of place or rushed. I liked that the very start established Liam’s attraction to Cormac and that their relationship had a dramatic change in the second chapter. And even though their relationship was still new and would probably need work like Simon and Gray’s did, Cormac and Liam had a solid foundation to their romance by the end of the book.

Since I was reading the four book bundle, I didn’t expect the epilogue at the end. I thought the story of the High Moon Pack would continue well into the next book. And I have to admit, the epilogue was a little bittersweet. It’s set decades after the end of the book, and showed how happy everyone was – fitting for an epilogue. But it was all about things that I honestly would have liked to see.

I think this kind of a series, where there will undoubtedly be trials and tribulations for some time to come, would have benefitted from a number of novellas to wrap things up and also to really show what happened to everyone. It’s nice to hear about it in the epilogue, but reading about it firsthand would have been better.

My biggest complaint is that the final battle with the villain felt a little… like it needed to be dramatic without killing anyone important. So how Simon actually won and lived was a little vague. Willpower and love. It was kind of unsatisfying. As was how relatively short the fight was. Like, this was the big fight that the series has been working up towards, and they only won because Simon is special.

Overall, I’m glad I picked up this trilogy. It was my first time reading Poppy Dennison and I’d pick up a book of hers again.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Mind Magic, Body Magic, Wild Magic, and the series review.

Review: Body Magic (The Triad of Magic #2) by Poppy Dennison

Because the plot continued from the first book, Rocky and Cade didn’t get as much page time as they deserved.

4 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 206 pages. Published September 10th 2012 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

A pack is only as strong as its weakest member. Rocky Harris knows how the system works. He’s been on the bottom rung his whole life. But when his alpha consigns him to the High Moon Pack to help them improve security, he finds his beliefs not just challenged but outright assaulted.

Cade Montgomery’s confidence took a hit when the pack’s cubs were kidnapped on his watch. He’s prepared to do anything to protect his family, even if it means working with Rocky. Maybe Cade doesn’t trust Rocky, but with the turmoil surrounding pack Alpha Gray’s unpopular decision to break tradition and mate with a mage named Simon, Cade knows more threats are coming.

Then someone declares war on shifters and puts the entire pack in danger. Cade and Rocky will need each other’s strengths to survive the impending battle—and the power of their growing attraction.

Likes:

The plot continued from the last book, answering questions and keeping my interest.
The introduction of Riley and the expansion of the shifter world.
Introduction of a new villain and more problems, all of which continue to push the plot forward without dragging anything out.

Dislikes:

Rocky and Cade didn’t get as much page time as I had expected.
Their relationship felt little flat and underdeveloped.

I went into book two with a lot of unanswered questions. Some of them were answered, though more were introduced. I don’t mind because it keeps me interested in what will happen next.

Most of the romance series I’ve read before focused heavily on each couple during their book, leaving the rest of the characters as side characters. Not so with this book, which was a surprise. Rocky gets the first chapter, but his and Cade’s romance is really nothing but a subplot. This book’s main characters are very much still Simon and Gray. Which makes sense because they’re at the heart of the strange things happening, and I’m not mad that they’re the focus of this book. But it does make me feel a little cheated.

I came into this book expecting a story about Cade and Rocky and I didn’t really get that. Sure, they have an occasional chapter about the two of them, but they didn’t get nearly as much time as Gray and Simon. It’s frustrating, because the book blurb made it seem like it was all about Cade and Rocky.

Aside from that complaint, I did like both Rocky and Cade. Rocky’s situation within his own pack has put a major chip on his shoulder but it’s nice to watch him come to realize what a good pack should be, and I’m happy with how things ended up for him. Introducing a bit of racial conflict with Cade being mixed race and the only black man in the pack was both a nice way to have him understand a bit of what Rocky felt by being different, but also didn’t really have much of an impact. I feel like it could have been done better.

With the introduction of the very cute Riley, the shifter world got a bit bigger, as well as showing that the High Moon Pack’s problems are far from over. Throw in the Were Council members, a betrayal, and an attack, and there was plenty of tension at the end of the book.

Overall, while I was glad that the plot continued seamlessly from the first book, my main complaint is the lack of time spent building Cade and Rocky’s relationship. The physical attraction is there, but the more emotional part, the part where the relationship really gets a nice solid foundation, is lacking. It would actually have started right about where the book stops, after Rocky heroically defends the cubs from the new villain. With this, their relationship can really begin, except that the book ends.

Honestly, as much as I was fully geared up for Rocky and Cade’s relationship, what I remember most from this book was Gray and Simon’s part. And I’m writing this review the day after I finished reading the book! Maybe it’s because I know more about Simon and Gray, but I really feel like it was because Rocky and Cade didn’t have enough page time for me to get attached to them.

Looking back on their relationship, I think that part of why Rocky and Cade had such a weak relationship is that nothing they did really had any effect on the overarching plot. Sure, Rocky had secrets, but they didn’t mattered in the end.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Mind Magic, Soul Magic, Wild Magic, and the series review.

Review: Mind Magic (The Triad of Magic #1) by Poppy Dennison

A good start to a series, but ends with lots of unanswered questions.

4 out of 5 stars

Paperback. 200 pages. Published April 23rd 2012 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb.

Magical species must never mix. According to the rules, Simon Osborne should ignore the children’s cries for help. After all, they’re werewolf cubs, and he’s an apprentice mage. But for once in his life, Simon breaks the rules and rescues the cubs, saving them from a demon intent on draining them of their magic.

Of course, all actions have consequences, and Simon’s bold move earns him the displeasure of his peers and the attention of the cubs’ alpha, a man named Gray Townsend.

The last thing Gray needs is a mage in his life, but Simon did save his son. Since Simon is now a friend of the pack, Gray doesn’t have much choice about it—or the forbidden attraction that goes along with it. Unfortunately for the alpha, he needs Simon’s help to track down the demon behind the kidnappings—before it strikes again. Simon and Gray must join forces to protect the pack, even as they struggle to resist the temptation that threatens to destroy them both.

Likes:

Good start to a series.
Interesting characters all around.
Unique take on the relationship between werewolves, mages, and vampires.
Great mystery.
Decent romance.

Dislikes:

Lots of unanswered questions about what is going on more broadly (the mystery itself was wrapped up).

This book is a good start for the series, introducing the mages, werewolves, and vampires that seem to make up the three different types of magic users in this world. The book also focuses on the fact that the three species don’t interact with one another, which is not only a main point of this book but also seems like it will be a main point of the other books going forward.

Most of the tension in this book comes from the fact that werewolves and mages don’t mix. It’s the main reason why Gray and Simon are a little hesitant to give in to their instant attraction. And it is instant attraction, not instant love, which is nice.

This book provides a nice deviation from some typical tropes, with the fact that Gray has a son, Garon, and also nicely explains why Gray isn’t involved with Garon’s mother. The werewolf laws and hierarchy are different enough to be interesting but not super important to the story, except to explain why Gray is basically on his own when it comes to finding a solution to his problems.

Big plus for making Garon seem like a kid without being super annoying. Also a big plus that Gray, while being an alpha, wasn’t an asshole, or condescending, and didn’t treat Simon like some weakling that had to be protected. Their relationship developed at a good pace and was really a meeting of equals. It wasn’t the most exciting romance, but it wasn’t bad.

Probably the best part of this book was the mystery aspect. Who kidnapped the kids? Will they be back? Are there more sinister forces lurking in the shadows? At least this part was nicely wrapped up even if there were a lot of other unanswered questions.

The sex scenes were steamy, if a little predictable.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Is this my favorite werewolf book ever? No, but it’s also not bad. I don’t have any major complaints, except maybe that there was a lot of time spent searching for answers. It’s kind of like no one has ever questioned the way things in the supernatural world/community were done, and that just annoyed me on a personal level.

I’m hoping that the coming books don’t also involve lots of time spent searching for answers to questions that arise because there’s a lack of interaction between the species, but something tells me there will be. I mean, it does add tension just by its very nature, but it’s something that could get old quickly.

Also, the end of the story caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting it to end so soon, with so many unanswered questions, but it was a nice little hook to get me going onto the next book without being a cliffhanger.

Be sure to check out the reviews for Body Magic, Soul Magic, Wild Magic, and the series review.