Magically Delicious

A Sarim Prince Novel, Book 1

By: Jaylee Austin

Narrated by: Susanna Burney

Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

They’re caught between the fates of two worlds - and saving both realms may mean losing each other.

Moira Naesatra has never felt like her fighting skills are up to par with the rest of her fae clan. Maybe that’s why she runs a bakery in Pasadena, where human customers buy her mouth-watering confections...and receive a dose of positive magic as a bonus. When a dangerous side of her magic surfaces in dreams and premonitions, she has to rely on the angel Uriel to help her find and protect the source of sacred magic for her people.

Even though Moira has never felt drawn to anyone like she is to Uriel, his vast knowledge is unnerving, particularly when it comes to her past and the magical abilities she has yet to unlock. Moira doesn’t know if she can trust him with her heart when they’re on such uneven ground. For now, she has no choice.

Cursed by his celestial father to lose his soul mate centuries ago, Uriel Connor serves as a human lawyer and as a heavenly arbiter between Eden and Hell. He thought he would be alone forever - until he meets Moira, an unwittingly seductive fae whose magic is more powerful than she can know. Moira is the key to possessing a stone sacred to the angels, and Uriel knows he must reclaim this relic from the sidhe, even if it seals their fate.

As they close in on the fairy grimoires Moira seeks, Uriel is torn between his desire to claim Moira and his duty to the otherworld realms. No matter what he chooses, the cost of preventing catastrophe will be higher than either one of them can bear....

Magically Delicious is a steamy paranormal romance where high stakes, Norse mythology, and magic combine to shape the destiny of the human world.

©2020 Jaylee Austin (P)2022 Jaylee Austin

Just didn't hit the spot.

A Sarim Angel Prince + Sweet and sassy baker with a hidden side = A destiny written in stone.

Plot and World-Building: Magically Delicious is a dual first-person point of view paranormal romance about two individuals overcome a curse and find love to save the earth. While there is a focus on Nordic mythology throughout the story, Jaylee Austin also includes multiple panthea within this universe. As someone with a fascination with and has spent the last three years learning about various myths, I was excited to read about a world in which they coexist. Eventually, though, it became difficult to keep track of everything going on in the story while also trying to remember the characters, their pantheon, and their relations. So I just stopped trying and figured if it were significant, it would be mentioned again. Another issue I found with the use of the multiple panthea was the way some of the terms were used with little to no definition.

Characters: The characters were interesting, but they didn’t resonate with me. During the climax, I didn’t feel the tension of worry or fear for the characters as they fought against the antagonists. I also was entirely on board with the romance between the pair. (I’ve tried writing this without spoilers and failed twice, so instead, I’m just going to tell you what I felt regarding the romance in the book.) Honestly, it felt flat, almost like the romance was there because the plot needed it, and if destiny didn’t say that they needed to join romantically to save the earth, then it probably wouldn’t have happened. The secondary characters were interesting, and a few were memorable, like Brigit and Luc. Still, there were times in the story where the secondary characters would pop back into the story with little to no introduction.

Writing: The book was just generally confusing; I wasn’t sure what was happening when, where, how, or why. In some instances, it felt like things were important because we’re told that it is important. I really wanted to know more about the purpose of the things they do and why it had to be done that way and everything else that came to the magical and supernatural part of this story. What I really didn’t need was an entire chapter of Moira baking and cooking diner for Uriel, followed by the actual dinner where they discuss things that have already happened in the story that the reader knows about. Maybe I’m just annoyed because the chapter came after a more momentous and interesting scene and did very little for me in regards to propelling the story forward.

Ending: The ending was satisfying but was foreordained.

Audio Performance: While the narrator has a pleasing voice the narration is probably one of my least favorite things about this book for three reasons 1) almost everything was read dramatically 2) it wasn’t always clear whose point of view I was reading from 3) at one point all the characters just kind of blended together. I feel like this book would have worked better if it was narrated by a woman and a man due to the multitude of character seen throughout the story.

Throughout the story, I balanced on a line of whether I wanted to know more or if I wanted to know less, and even as I write this review, I still don’t know.

Would I recommend this book? Unfortunately, no, that being said, I would more than likely read another book from Jaylee Austin.