Magic Forged

Hall of Blood and Mercy, Book 1

By: K. M. Shea

Narrated by: Natalie Duke, Alister Austin

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

I'm one scrappy wizard.

As someone with barely a flicker of magic, I've spent my life being mocked and surviving fights with bullies. But when my parents die in an accident, and I find myself responsible for our whole wizard house and family, I know my usual tactics aren't going to cut it.

The situation veers from bad to catastrophic when my backstabbing cousin stages a coup and takes my family hostage.

I barely manage to flee, but the only supernatural willing to help me is Killian Drake - the most feared vampire in the region, and a far more deadly villain than the jerk threatening my family.

Is Killian sexy and charismatic? Heck yeah.

He's also so powerful that my flight or fight instincts kick in every time our eyes meet. And he's definitely using me as his personal magic detector in his feud against the local fae.

But Killian is also the first person to believe I might have more than just a scrap of magic. And if I can convince him to train me, I might get strong enough to free my family and get my house back.

I'm not sure what happens when a scrappy wizard is taught how to fight by a hall of deadly vampires, but I'm about to find out.

Magic Forged is the first book in the completed Hall of Blood and Mercy trilogy. It takes place in the Magiford Supernatural City universe and features vampires, wizards, fae, and werewolves! This trilogy is packed with humor, adventure, and a sweet, slow burn romance between a vertically challenged wizard and the most lethal vampire in town.

©2020 K. M. Shea (P)2021 K. M. Shea

Surprisingly Good

I hesitated using a credit for this book because, to be honest, vampire fantasies are not my favorite. Also, being slightly deaf, accented narrators (Mr. Austin) sometimes causes me trouble. But both the story and the narration was very good, well worth the credit. I loved our heroine’s quirky attitude and the hero’s gruff behavior. The two just clicked.

One of the Best!

This series is FUN -- honestly, one of KM Shea's best. It has it all: memorable characters, fast pacing, original storyline, outstanding banter, and KM Shea's trademark humor. What could be better? Oh, I don't know ... how about throwing in a PERFECT narration as well? Both Natalie Duke and Alister Austin are a pleasure to listen to, and they made a wonderful story even better. Most of the first book, Magic Forged, comes from Hazel's point of view, so Natalie carries almost all of the narration this time around (if you're familiar with the story, you'll remember the character headers at the top of each chapter. The narrations follow that guide, with Alister reading the chapters that are in Killian's point of view, and Natalie gets the rest.). Both differentiate the voices nicely, and I had no trouble keeping track of the fairly large cast of characters. I particularly liked Natalie's voice for Hazel -- it's just how I envisioned the character. Snappy, sassy, bold, and the tiniest bit shrill when shifting from Virtuous Idiot to Yapping Puppy mode. ❤ Super fitting!

Cannot wait for the release of Magic Redeemed and Magic Unleashed.

Series Content:
Violence: Present, but non-descriptive and not gratuitous
Language: A handful of extremely mild swears
Relationships: Squeaky clean
Rating: Would likely fall somewhere in the upper PG range to very low PG-13

K.M. Shea is the BEST!!

I love K.M. Shea's books, and I am so excited that we are FINALLY getting some of them on Audible. Please tell me that Court of Midnight and Deception is next (Please, please, please)!!!!

Hall of Blood and Mercy is a fun, quick, clean* series about the magical community in the real world (between Chicago and Michigan, to be exact). I enjoy Hazel as the main character – she's a hilarious, spunky little wizard. Killian – the dark, brooding vampire, is probably my least favorite of Shea's main heroes. I've never really been a fan of vampires, and Killian is cutthroat and manipulative. Still, his character does get better throughout the series. The unlikely duo are hilarious and entertaining to follow.

Thank you, Audible, for finally giving us K.M. Shea audiobooks. Please give us more. :)

*Depending on your level of cleanliness, here is a parental guide:
-There are a few steamy kisses in books 2 and 3
-A few minor swear words (d--n, and h-ll ... if I'm remembering correctly) I just remember being surprised because Shea doesn't usually do that.
-Killian makes quite a few suggestive comments to rile Hazel up.
(Shea books are usually squeaky clean, which is why I'm adding the disclaimer above.) :)

Needs a new female narrator

I love this book and was so excited when I found out it was being made into an audiobook. However, the female narrator is unpleasant to listen to. You can hear each breath she takes and her voice is obnoxious. Please get a new female narrator for the next book!

(4.5 stars) - engaging intriguing & amusing YA pnr

Hazel's life as a wizard with almost no magic hasn't exactly been a walk in the park; it's been more of a frantic run, with bullies on her tail. But that's nothing compared to the attempted coup by her very distantly related cousin.

She's forced to seek help from a source that's almost as bad - vampire Killian Drake - by swearing fealty to him.

Killian is amused by the idea of having a wizard at his bidding & thinks she might even prove useful. What follows is a pretty radical change to Hazel's life & a rather entertaining adjustment to everyone's thinking.

Killian is a cynical & powerful politician who finds Hazel's sense of right & wrong "cute". He treats her like a pet.

They are trying to solve a series of murders in what appears to be the work of a serial killer. During this time, Hazel learns a lot about the Drake family of vampires, but even more about herself, her abilities, & a secret that her parents were hiding from her.

It's an engaging, intriguing & amusing paranormal romp that, despite the murders, doesn't take itself too seriously & encourages the reader to do the same.

While the plot is a little weak in spots, I didn't take much off for it because it still managed to totally draw me in to the point that I didn't want to put it down, & even after finishing the trilogy, came back to reread it all over again - that's the best quality to find in a book!

*Clean romance level: sweet & clean, nothing graphic
*Language: one use of bad-ss, one use of h-ll

[On the audio version, the narrator was a little different than what I was "hearing" as I read, but she was still very good & managed to distinguish the different characters' voices without overdoing it, so I could immerse in the story without being distracted by the narration. It was as fun to listen to as to read]

must buy!

Kitty has the best taste in book readers! I love all of her books and I have been waiting for her to get into audiobooks so I can listen to them while I drive. Amazing book and awesome narration a definite must buy!

Hilarious urban fantasy drama!

Shea's clean storylines & snappy characters create an excellent tale of mystery & friendship.

When Hazel Medeis faces an unexpected enemy in her Wizarding house, she turns to allies and others who are supposed to help. When all abandon her and her people, she finds help from the unlikeliest source--Killian Drake, Eminence of the vampires and the most terrifying magical being in the Midwest.

Shea's creation is quite factual about magical elements--no sparkly vampire or glorified violence. Instead, the balance between justice and mercy is explored, as well as discovering that true friends might come in the most unusual of packages.

Book 1 of a Trilogy (Hall of Blood & Mercy), the first series in the Magiford Magical Universe

Great book and good performance

Love the book and series. I hope the next book is available soon. Also looking forward to the last in the series. The performance is good but the British accent isn't quite right. It's like he takes a few words or sentences to get started. Once he gets it started it's a good accent. I also like that there's little to no profanity. Writing is great without it so it's not used to pad the storyline.

Clean, beautiful, and can't wait for more!

There is magic and supernatural. There's a clean and beautiful love. K.M. Shea has a fantastic talent in acknowledging how ugly life can get, but she didn't let it stay there. She shows that even in life's tragedies, heartache, and confusion there is beauty. It's well written. I laughed and shared parts with those around. While crying at the heartaches. So blessed and happy that my Dad shared these books with me. I am also hoping that more of her works are tuned into Audiobooks.

The performance of these books are brilliant! The readers help make this come to life!

Love the story

I first read the book a couple years ago and wanted to reread it again because I really enjoyed the story. With limited time to sit and read I instead bought the audible book so I could listen while I did chores. I have found that a narrator can ruin a good story so I was worried about it. I was delighted to discover that the narrator did a great job and I found the story just as enjoyable as the first time I read it! I recommend this if you are looking for a slow burn romance that has more to the relationship than Insta lust and is clean and fun. There is also a well developed plot with people being murdered and questions on who is doing it.

Great Series

I had already read the books and enjoyed them so I was delighted when the audiobooks came out. They are very well narrated.

As I expected

I really enjoyed it, the narrators helped to bring it to life in a different way to reading the book. I will definitely be buying the others in the series.

Fantastic fantasy

This series is such fun. And as a bonus, considering it centres around a wizard among vampires, it makes a good Twilight joke or two.

Finally one which is near perfect

I am listening to a lot of these, from a lot of authors... I drop them more often than not after chapter 3-5 these days as FL becomes super annoying (might be me mind- maybe I became jaded or something). Might be the whole 'I always had issues with authority and doing as I am told, but everybody better do as I say' kind of female leads.
This one so far has been lovely surprise, the FL behaves her age- a bit naive still, but also adjustable as she reasons like the adult she was forced to become by circumstances. I enjoyed the side characters, although I wish we had a bit more bad baddies or more happening in the book rather then outside it with them if that makes sense. But two more to go...
A bit scared to start the 2nd one, I hope I won´t be let down like sometimes happens alas but excited to get started. It is 5 out of 5 for story, the setting of the story and the writing. Great narrator for this kind of book.

Loved it!

Having a few spare credits I was looking for something that had a good rating for both the story and narrator. it took a few hours to find and I took a chance on this and am glad I did, I really enjoyed this, Natalie Duke is a fantastic narrator, she makes each character believable. The story is good, an underdog, a predator, wizards, werewolves, fae and of course vampires all mixed in with a touch of magic and a sprinkle of humour. I've already downloaded book 2. Definitely recommend 👌