3.5 out of 5 stars
E-book. Kindle Unlimited. 187 pages. Published January 21st 2021 by Smoking Teacup Books
Blurb:
A hitman and a fae walk into a café…
Callum always gets the job done—whether he likes it or not—but this job isn’t like any other. The target’s too young, too pretty, and too appealing for comfort, and the clients are offering more threats than cash. And either the target poisoned his hot chocolate or he’s going crazy, because now magic stores and wizard-looking dudes are appearing out of nowhere. It’s really not Callum’s day.
Linden’s on the run, and the human realm’s a good place to hide from evil sorcerers who think Linden’s the answer to a prophecy. But his enemy has found a way to send a very human and very dangerous assassin after him—a man who could kill Linden with one hand. Linden should be terrified, but his knees go weak for all the wrong reasons.
When Linden’s family is taken hostage, spending the night with Callum ought to be the last thing on his mind, but Linden can’t resist the chance to fulfill his deepest fantasies before sacrificing his own life. Callum knows he should walk away—it’s not his fight. But the beautiful fae is under his skin and now protecting Linden and his family feels more important than his own survival. A human learning to feel. A fae learning to trust. Can two worlds merge into one true love?
Brought to Light is part of the Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains explicit scenes, a magic flashlight, a prophecy that doesn’t quite work out the way anyone expects, and a guaranteed HEA.
Likes:
- Good hook.
- Interesting item from the emporium.
- Callum was surprisingly likeable for a hitman.
- Linden was nice.
- The non-romantic plot was good.
- The last few chapters had a good amount of tension.
Dislikes:
- Not a ton of world building.
- Easy for the reader to know how the prophecy would be satisfied.
- Linden felt a little passive.
- I’d like a short story follow up.
I’m always a little leery about books that have a main character who would typically be called a bad guy. So I wasn’t sure how I’d like this book, given that Callum is a hitman, and a good one at that. Luckily, Callum was very likeable. Yes, he kills people for a living, but he had a code of conduct. The fact that he immediately realized that Linden wasn’t like his usual targets definitely earned him brownie points, as was the fact that he cared for his friend and work partner Jesse.
I also found myself enjoying Callum’s reactions to learning about magic and multiple realms. It wasn’t over the top, more of a grudging ‘guess I have to add this into my world view’ type thing. Callum was practical no matter what happened, and watching him go through the story was fun.
Linden was also a likeable character. The fact that he removed himself from a dangerous situation so that the people he cared about weren’t caught in the crossfire was noble. Plus, Linden was a genuinely sweet person. Did he do much to protect himself? No, but that’s what Callum was for. Linden just got swept up in a mad man’s delusions and was trying his best to survive.
The romantic tension simmered beneath the surface between Linden and Callum for a while before they acted on it. Despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, the two fit together really well. The smut was good, and I wouldn’t have minded more.
The non-romantic plot was solid, and did a good job of keeping both men together as well as giving some serious stakes if they failed. The bad guy was the perfect amount of unlikeable, and his minions were plentiful.
There’s not a ton of world building in this book, which I kind of expected given that it’s a standalone. Enough was explained that I didn’t feel at a loss while reading, but looking back, I do have some minor questions.
What I do want is a short story or novella follow up, showing how Callum and Linden have adjusted to their new lives. Both experience some drastic life changes at the end of the book. There is also a hint of romance between two other characters who I’d love to see get their own story.
I loved the item that Callum got from the emporium. I had an idea of how it would be used, which turned out to be completely wrong. I can’t be mad at that, though. The ending was very satisfying, with a good amount of tension through the final chapters. It was easy to tell how the prophecy was wrong, but that just made me eager to see how everything would end up.
I’ve read a lot from Elliot Grayson in the past, and while I prefer their longer series, this was a fun book.
Love is Love Reviews 