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

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!