First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft. I’ve been so excited to read my first Bancroft novel! I’ve also seen several glowing reviews of this book from other bloggers. So, I was anticipating something great. Read on to see if it lived up to my lofty expectations…
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Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing OverLondon by George Penney and Tony Johnson. This was my first time reading work by these authors, but it definitely won’t be the last. Thank you to the publisher for reaching out about participating in the promotional tour for this book!
Read More »First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Hello, everyone! Today I’m starting the week off with a review of A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey. I stumbled across this one on NetGalley and fell in love with the cover. So, of course, I had to request it. 🙂
Read More »First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing Lion’s Legacy by L. C. Rosen. I was so excited to find out about this book because I love history, archeology, and queer stories. So, this seemed like the perfect mix for me.
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Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim, the sequel to last year’s The City of Dusk and the middle installment of The Dark Gods trilogy. I’ve been looking forward to this one. So, let’s see how it stacked up against my expectations…
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Hello, everyone! Today I’m doing something a bit different. Usually, I review books individually, but I just finished this series, Magic in Manhattan, and wanted to gush about it. It is a trilogy of MM romantic fantasy stories set during prohibition in New York. I picked them up on a whim and never planned to review them or feature them in any special way on the blog, but here we are…
As this is a trilogy, there are three books in the Magic in Manhattan series. Although, a spin-off series is also currently ongoing, which I’ll be reading soon. Basic info for each book can be found below, and the covers link to the book’s Goodreads page.
Spellbound by Allie Therin
Print Length: 275 pages
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Historical, LGBT
Publication Date: July 29, 2019
Goodreads Average/My Rating: 4.04⭐ / 4⭐
To save Manhattan, they’ll have to save each other first…
New York, 1925
Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.
Rory Brodigan’s gift comes with great risk. To protect himself, he’s become a recluse, redirecting his magic to find counterfeit antiques. But with the city’s fate hanging in the balance, he can’t force himself to say no.
Being with Arthur is dangerous, but Rory’s ever-growing attraction to him begins to make him brave. And as Arthur coaxes him out of seclusion, a magical and emotional bond begins to form. One that proves impossible to break—even when Arthur sacrifices himself to keep Rory safe and Rory must risk everything to save him.
Starcrossed by Allie Therin
Print Length: 307 pages
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Historical, LGBT
Publication Date: May 18, 2020
Goodreads Average/My Rating: 4.22⭐ / 5⭐
When everything they’ve built is threatened, only their bond remains…
New York, 1925
Psychometric Rory Brodigan’s life hasn’t been the same since the day he met Arthur Kenzie. Arthur’s continued quest to contain supernatural relics that pose a threat to the world has captured Rory’s imagination—and his heart. But Arthur’s upper-class upbringing still leaves Rory worried that he’ll never measure up, especially when Arthur’s aristocratic ex arrives in New York.
For Arthur, there’s only Rory. But keeping the man he’s fallen for safe is another matter altogether. When a group of ruthless paranormals throw the city into chaos, the two men’s strained relationship leaves Rory vulnerable to a monster from Arthur’s past.
With dark forces determined to tear them apart, Rory and Arthur will have to draw on every last bit of magic up their sleeves. And in the end, it’s the connection they’ve formed without magic that will be tested like never before.
Wonderstruck by Allie Therin
Print Length: 295 pages
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Historical, LGBT
Publication Date: February 9, 2021
Goodreads Average/My Rating: 4.25⭐ / 4.5⭐
New York, 1925
Arthur Kenzie is on a mission: to destroy the powerful supernatural relic that threatens Manhattan—and all the nonmagical minds in the world. So far his search has been fruitless. All it has done is keep him from the man he loves. But he’ll do anything to keep Rory safe and free, even if that means leaving him behind.
Psychometric Rory Brodigan knows his uncontrolled magic is a liability, but he’s determined to gain power over it. He can take care of himself—and maybe even Arthur, too, if Arthur will let him. An auction at the Paris world’s fair offers the perfect opportunity to destroy the relic, if a group of power-hungry supernaturals don’t destroy Rory and Arthur first.
As the magical world converges on Paris, Arthur and Rory have to decide who they can trust. Guessing wrong could spell destruction for their bond—and for the world as they know it.
Magic in Manhattan honestly surprised me. I don’t remember where I first saw the books, but I thought the synopsis sounded cool. I’m also always down for a historical MM romance, and the fantasy element made me want to read it even more. So, I was delighted to see that my library had all three books on audio. I’m so glad I decided to check them out.
Now let’s talk about all the things I loved about Magic in Manhattan… First things first, the setting was great. It was one of the things that attracted me to the book in the first place. The characters and places felt very 1920’s New York to me, but keep in mind I’m no expert on the time period. lol. I enjoyed the inclusion of the speakeasy, and I actually wish the author had amped up the prohibition-defying antics a bit more. I had no problem visualizing the characters as they traipsed around the city, and I found myself wanting to be there with them.
The magic in Magic in Manhattan was also really great. It wasn’t too complicated, and I loved the inclusion of the relics that amplified certain powers. The relics also gave the characters something to hunt, which helped keep the plot moving forward at a good pace and gave the characters something interesting to do. I liked that each paranormal had different powers because it was possible to mix and match the abilities to come up with some cool plans and maneuvers. The best thing about the magic, though, was that it centered psychometry, which is one of my favorite abilities. One of the main characters possessed it, which allowed the author to use it for so many fascinating things.
Magic in Manhattan had some wonderful characters with plenty of depth and sparkling personalities. I quickly fell in love with the two leads, Rory and Arthur. Rory was the poor son of an immigrant, and he had been through some really traumatic stuff, including institutionalization, because of his magic. He was a worrier and always wanted to be self-sufficient so that he could survive when things ultimately fell apart. Arthur, on the other hand, was the wealthy son of a congressman, and he had his own baggage from his time serving in the Great War, which gave him an inclination to want to protect everyone and keep them safe.
One of the major strengths of Magic in Manhattan, though, was the excellent cast of secondary characters. They all had depth, and even some of the villains ended up surprising me with their complexity. I enjoyed the found family feeling of Rory and Arthur’s tight knit group, and the story had such a special and unique energy when they were all together in a scene.
I’d be remiss to end this review of Magic in Manhattan without discussing the central relationship between Rory and Arthur. Arthur just wanted to give Rory the world, but Rory wouldn’t let him because of trust issues rooted in his past traumas. I loved the two of them together, and it was so endearing to watch them overcome their baggage and build a relationship where they both relied on each other. Rory had to learn to trust he wouldn’t be abandoned, and Arthur had to open up and allow for the possibility that maybe he needs to be saved every now and then, too. They helped each other grow SO MUCH.
All in all, I loved Magic in Manhattan because of its awesome characters, the fascinating magic, the cool setting, and the growth facilitated by the central relationship. The magical relics plot was interesting, as well, but I did care less about it than all the other elements. The ending of that relic hunt also felt a bit like a cop out because the characters never actually did what they set out to do. They just gained the ability to do it. That didn’t overshadow all the things I love about the series, though, since everything else did feel concluded by the end.
In case you couldn’t tell, I definitely recommend the Magic in Manhattan series. Have you read it? If so, let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Hello, everyone! It has been too long since I’ve read one of Rebecca Crunden’s books. So, I decided to remedy that this month with A Game of Wings and Marks. 🙂 I’m a huge fan of this author’s Outlands Pentalogy, and I’ve yet to come across any of Crunden’s work I didn’t like. Did that streak continue with this book? Read on to find out!
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