Day: March 18, 2020

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.

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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.

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