Spellbound

Magic in Manhattan Series, Book 1

De: Allie Therin

Narrado por: Erik Bloomquist

To save Manhattan, they'll have to save each other first....

1925 New York

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.

Contains mature themes.

©2019 Allie Therin (P)2019 Tantor

Great story

The story was good. Nice character development. That said, the narrator not so much. You couldn't tell the two main characters apart about 50% of the time. He probably should stick to narrating physics text books.

Utterly fantastic - an absolute must "listen"

Have mercy. It’s official, y’all. I have found my new favorite book. Hands down best read of the year. I can’t say enough how much I absolutely loved and adored Spellbound by Allie Therin. In fact, if I sat here and spewed all the fan-girling nonsense my fingers keep trying to type, y’all wouldn’t keep reading. Which would be a disservice to you, me, and this phenomenal book.

So, what was it exactly that had me swooning from page one? I can’t honestly nail it down to one single thing. It was kind of everything. I’m not sure about you, but as a reader who is also a writer, there’s always a thing or two that rubs me the wrong way—after all, not everything is for everyone, and that’s perfectly okay! But with Therin, I couldn’t find anything to fault. Everything from her writing style to her characterization to her plot had me all heart-eyed and happy, heavy sighing.

If you know me at all, you’re aware I’m generally not a fan of historical or paranormal. Both genres truly have to be written at the top of their game for me to enjoy them. So what does that say when I’m proclaiming this historical paranormal as my new fav??

The setting of this book was absolutely superb. Therin captured all the literal and figurative magic in her fictional depiction of 1920s Manhattan. She included just enough nods to history that it felt accurate and genuine, yet didn’t overburden her scenes with excessive details that overshadowed the story. And her characters—every dang one of them, from the MCs to the supporting cast—were woven with intricate and heartfelt brilliance. I fell hard and fast and didn’t want to let go. Then there was the plot and the awe-inspiring twist on the paranormal that had my eyes wide and my readerly heart beating staccato the entire read. Both times. (Because, yes, I’ve already read this bad boy twice and have no doubts it’ll be a frequently repeated go-to feel-good part of my life.)

The love scenes are all fade-to-black yet so insanely emotional and steamy, they will undoubtedly satisfy all levels of romance readers—including those on both ends of the sweet romance/erotica spectrum. It’s magic, I tell ya. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book that shows so little yet provides such a solid sexy punch.

I would recommend this book to ANY romance reader. Period. I don’t care if you aren’t a proclaimed historical fan, or if paranormal isn’t your gig. Heck, even if you haven’t ventured into the MM romance world, this would be a sensational introductory read in any of those genres. This book is so full of heart and passion and jaw-dropping intrigue, it’ll have at least something for everyone.

I didn’t want it to end.

A love story of two unlikely characters, interwoven with magic and beautiful imagery of New York City in the 1920s.

more fantasy than historical

the story is nice and inclusive, which does not match reality of the time period. I would rather have a similar plot set in the present or future. otherwise, it's pretty good and has believable characters.

Bound to Cast a Spell on You

I adored this book. It took a little bit to adjust to Erik's narration. I wasn't terribly fond of it at the start, but that could also be due to coming off a narrator I very much enjoyed. Once my ear adjusted I liked the narration very much, so in the event anyone finds the audio a little off putting I would suggest giving yourself some time to get used to it, as the story is wonderful.

I loved the snark and sass of Rory contrasting the sophisticated and duty bound character of Ace. I'm much more a fan of a slow burn rather than an instant ignition, so Rory snarking about and Ace being a mature, responsible adult was a great way to make that burn happen. And, once they do give into their feelings, their easy chemistry is so enjoyable.

The story is also very interesting. So often we just see a backdrop to a romance, but the story itself is enthralling. You want to know what will happen next as much as you want to see Rory and Ace get together. The conclusion of the book feels well paced, and complete, but still allowing for a clear continuation.

I was sorely disappointed to see that the next book was not available on audible at the time of this review.

Cute with interesting world building

This is a sweet story that created an interesting magic system in 1920s NY and gives a good feel for that time period and different areas of the city. the romance is lovely and not explicit (I'm fine with explicit but this story was much more about characters than sex). I liked the narration quite a bit. the 2 main characters have distinct voices and hearing 1920s American slang is funny. there were a few words that were mis pronounced but not enough to detract from the story and it happened less as the book went on. I'm ready for the next book!

A romance novel with minor supernatural subplot

I'm not sure why I thought this would be supernatural suspense and not a romance novel, but I managed to disappoint myself. The romance was a little heavy-handed for my tastes, and it seemed like too often the romance took center stage instead of the plot. If you take out all of the romance from this book, the plot only occupies maybe 20%. I don't typically enjoy romance novels so I didn't really enjoy this.

The narration was confusing at times because, what I'm sure makes perfect sense visually, is confusing verbally. Several times the characters thought and spoke nearly simultaneously and I struggled to differentiate between the two.

Also, a pet peeve of mine; near the end of the book the main baddies stopped the whole plot to unload a f*ckton of exposition about the main characters, for the main characters. For what? Why? It seems like, if this information were to be meaningful, maybe the main characters should have acquired it on their own. It makes no sense for the main bad guy to spend so much time making sure they know everything about it.

Fantastic world, characters, story

Narrator is decent, book is fantastic. Definitely worth the listen and I can't wait to hear more. Ciao!

Audiobook Review

This is a review of the actual AUDIOBOOK, because way too many of the existing reviews only talk about the printed book, which I found completely useless when trying to decide whether or not to spend a credit on it. Yes, yes, the book is a five stars if you like paranormal gay romance at all. But we've all read books we love, then go to buy the audiobook so we can enjoy it again hands-free, only to find it ruined by a dreadful narrator.

In this case, the review of the narrator is especially important because the sample is NOT impressive. The guy sounds like he's never been so bored in his life. I am relieved to say that the full reading is better than that. Kudos to the reviewer who said that the reading is greatly improved by boosting the speed. This is, I think, critical to enjoying it. I liked it at x1.25, and that was still a pretty relaxed read.

The narrator doesn't have a wide range of voices, and Mrs. Brannigan sounds like something out of a British 70s sitcom, but it's amusing rather than annoying. (Really. She's very likable and she's read that way.) Even though the range of voices was less diverse than I like, I never struggled to tell which character was speaking. After a minute or two of listening, as another reviewer mentioned (see how important it is to talk about the narrator in an audiobook review??) my initial misgivings about the narrator faded, and I forgot about him and enjoyed the story. Is that a glowing review? No, that's why I gave the book 5 stars and the audiobook 4 stars.

Authors don't always have control over who reads their book, and new authors don't always get a Joel Leslie or Michael Farraiuolo. This guy is OK, like, "I can live with this" OK. No more, no less. I realized after I looked him up that he read another series for which I own all four books. I felt similarly about his work in that series, too. He'll probably read the next in this series, and I'm happy enough with the work to know I'll buy it, too, because he does OK with a great story. I will almost certainly listen to this one again as the next in the series are released.

Short version: 3 stars performance, 5 stars story, up the speed for better enjoyment.

Pretty good from chapter 5

“You’re not that short.”
“You’re not that funny.”
You might consider starting an hour in, at chapter 5, where Rory and Archie have their meet-cute after Rory made the mistake of snooping into a relic locked in a box. Before then, it’s pretty dull.

“It’s not your business.”
From chapter 5, with the speed at 1.5x, the narrator and the story settle in, and this delivers a mostly cozy, slightly immature oil-n-vinegar MM romance with a magical mystery as merely a backdrop.
I’d almost consider this magical realism for the measly screen time given to paranormal effects.
I would have enjoyed a lot more descriptions of how the magic works, 1920s world building, and backstories/features for the supporting cast. Jade, for instance, is black, but is she tall and thin or short and stocky? Zang I’m assuming is Asian, but if he was described, it was blink and I missed it.

“Still not your business.”
The romance was sweet, even if a bit of a stretch. Archie behaved like he was a 40 year old debauching a kid instead of him at 28 navigating differences with 20 year old, streetwise Rory. They both behaved like teens with their inner doubts as to whether the other guy liked him. However, their push-pull chemistry was great and there was great smolder heading into the fade to black bedroom scene.
Although the mystery was weak, the overall story was charming, once I got to chapter 5.