The ABCs of Spellcraft Collection, Volume 1

By: Jordan Castillo Price

Narrated by: Nick Hudson

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dixon Penn’s family wasn’t terribly shocked when he announced he was gay, but they were devastated to learn he’s the only one without the gift of spellcraft. Fortunately, that doesn’t stop spellcraft from reaching out to him.

Dixon’s prospects have gone from bad to worse, but a contest at the biggest greeting card company in the tri-state area would be just the thing to turn his luck around. So what if he’s not technically a Spellcrafter - he’s been scribing pretty words and phrases all his life. How could anyone possibly write a better verse than him?

Yuri Volnikov, the taciturn Russian security guard at Precious Greetings, is determined to keep the charming contestant out. But Dixon has always been a sucker for big guys with exotic accents, and he won’t take no for an answer.

Whether or not Dixon wins the prize he hopes for, when he and Yuri work their magic together, it’s clear that luck is on their side.

The ABCs of Spellcraft is a series filled with bad jokes and good magic, where M/M romance meets paranormal cozy. A perky hero, a brooding love interest, and delightfully twisty-turny stories that never end up quite where you’d expect.

This collection contains the first five stories in The ABCs of Spellcraft series: Quill Me Now, All that Glitters, Trouble in Taco Town, Something Stinks at the Spa, and Dead Man's Quill.

©2019 Jordan Castillo Price (P)2019 Jordan Castillo Price

Scrivener and Seers and magic, oh, my!

Quill Me Now
This first came out as a Valentine's story, although is not your usual Valentine's story, far from it. But it has it all: humour, magic, romance, and adventure, and I loved it.
Dixon is such a wonderful character, even when everything in his world is going wrong he keeps trying. And yet, when he sees someone who needs help, he won't hesitate, he would go head first straight into danger. The fact that who needs help is a handsome Russian, tattooed and muscled and a Seer on top of all that just... happens :P
And it sets the rules of this new, wonderful Universe in which we can believe that goodness and love will win, always :)

All That Glitters
Meeting the family can be... challenging. Particularly when your take on strangers is please, no! :P And Dixon's overprotective and tight-knit family doesn't help. But, let's be honest, who could resist Dixon enthusiasm and joy?
And let's not forget the mystery of the red spatula!

Trouble in Taco Town
After the events in the first book, Dixon and Yuri are decided to find Dixon's uncle, Fonso. With that in mind, they go to Taco Town... and from then on you won't be able to stop laughing. The characters they find there are eccentric and simply delightful, the plot great, and Dixon and Yuri are quickly becoming a favourite pairing. Watching how Dixon is managing to melt Yuri's rocky surface is pure joy. And the thoughts of Yuri at the end? Awwww! So, so sweet!

Something Stinks at the Spa
Uncle Fonzo must be stopped!
Well, okay, maybe they just need to find him, but c'mon! The man leaves a trail of disasters wherever he goes! And, of course, Yuri and Dixon are the ones who have to deal with the consequences.
I love this series. I love the way in which Yuri and Dixon's relationship is evolving, the way in which Yuri is opening his heart to Dixon's light. He's so worried about the whole Fonzo debacle and so protective of Dixon's feelings...
In this book we get to see how the magic works from Yuri's side, and it's such a different way to create a spell!
I love the fun! No, really, there is so much fun in this book (Yuri's treatments, anybody?) that you'll spend most of the time laughing, or, at the very least giggling.
The story ends on a sort of abrupt mini-cliffhanger, which provides the perfect set-up for the fourth book. :P

Dead Man's Quill
Filled with weird characters, crazy adventures and the cutest couple ever, this book is a joy to read.
We get to (FINALLY!) meet uncle Fonzo, and oh, he was absolutely worth the wait :P Although I must say it: I wasn't really fond of him at first, and sided with Yuri on my distrust of the man.
Dixon and Yuri's relationship keeps growing and deepening, and Yuri is getting used to being part of a big family which sometimes is not as great as he was made to believe :P
And, as if that was not enough, we also get a twisty, darkly funny plot. And curses. And twins, one of which Dixon dated as a teen *laughs*

This is a fabulous Universe, the way the magic works there and the societal views about the practitioners and their work, the whole Scrivener and Seer thing; I love its.originality and the logic in its madness, and I have enjoyed it every single bit of it. I really, really hope that having closure in this arc won't mean that we won't get more of it.
And I Iove Jordan Castillo Price's writing, she can submerge you into a story from the first paragraph, compelling you to keep reading with her characters and the worlds she imagines.
And Nick Hudson's narrative? OMG! He is simply fabulous! His range of voices, the way he manages to give individuality and personality to each of the voices is something marvellous. Yuri's accent! That's a thing of beauty =D
A new favourite narrator, no doubt about it ♥

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Dixon and Yuri

QUILL ME NOW Super cute Valentine's story. Dixon made me giggle with his ramblings when he got nervous. I liked Yuri and his attempts at protecting Dixon. Together these two undo a lot of wrongs and fit together just perfectly. I'm excited that the author intends to add more adventures for these two.

ALL THAT GLITTERS Poor Yuri! Being introduced to Dixon's parents is a bit unsettling. Dixon is his usual effervescent self the perfect counterpoint to Yuri's stoicism. The dinner with the parents is something interesting. It tickled me that Yuri's 'seeing' was scrutinized by Dixon's mom.

TROUBLE IN TACO TOWN This second book in the ABSs of Spellcraft follows Quill Me Now. We get to see Yuri and Dixon further along in their relationship. Dixon is his usual bubbly self, seeing the joy in everything. Yuri is the definition of stoic, but Dixon is managing to melt that. Chasing after Dixon's wayward Uncle Fonzo they happen to encounter all kinds of people and problems in Taco Town. The domino effect of situations bordered on the absurd. It was all great fun. I loved the sweet sentiment that Yuri added to the guest book.

SOMETHING STINKS AT THE SPA I'm so loving this series! Tons of laughs and cute moments. Dixon is his usual effervescent self; bright, sunny and always looking for the best in everything. Yuri gets a chance to open up a little as he softens from his usual stoic self. The stories are best read in order and so much fun.

DEAD MAN'S QUILL The trek to find Uncle Fanzo comes to fruition only to be fraught with more peril. Dixon remains his true chipper self, seeing only the good in everyone and every situation. Yuri is still stoic and still deeply in love with Dixon. He indulges all of Dixon's hairbrained ideas and tries his best to be gracious to Uncle Fanzo. The storyline is great with a bit of cloak and dagger, a creepy carnival owner, a bitter rival and a nasty curse. Loved every minute.

Highly recommended author and series

Audiobook: I really enjoyed the narrator. He occasionally loses Yuri's 'Russian' accent but it almost makes it more enjoyable.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Amazing listen!!

Now I have read all these books and I absolutely love them so much. Dixon and Yuri are so perfect for each other and I just love how funny they are together. Even when Yuri isn't trying to be. Just all the things they get into has me laughing out loud. So I am so happy that Nick Hudson has brought these stories to life. He is absolutely amazing in his narration. I love how he does the voices and all the sound effects. I also couldn't stop laughing with how he brings the characters even more to life. Just everything he did is so perfect for this story!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

So Much Fun!

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed Nick Hudson's performance. I loved his interpretation of the characters and events. He's a narrator I would search just to purchase other titles in his list...but this is a first (maybe this is a new performer name?) so there are no other options out there yet. But I'll be looking!

I've read quite a few stories by JCP and really can't say enough about how much I enjoy them. Each of her series has its own unique world and tone. This collection is no exception. The Spellcraft world is a world of its own and I've listened as much to learn the world as to get to know the characters and see how they will overcome the challenges they are faced with. There is one mystery that runs through the series, but each episode/novella has its own puzzles to solve. If I had to choose, I would say that the mood of this series in light-hearted and highly humorous, but the characters are well-rounded and there are moments where I've had tears in my eyes because of the depth of emotion JCP can evoke through her characters' inner journeys.

I highly recommend this series - whether you read it to yourself, or you let Nick read it to you. It's a great adventure.

TO THE PERSON WHO GAVE THE RECORDING A ONE STAR RATING BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T PLAY FOR YOU:
I have had problems getting things to play on an iPod, but the Audible techs helped me. Their customer service is awesome. You can chat or call on the phone and get help. I had some challenges with Windows 10, too. They were able to actually link into my computer and fix some settings that were thrown off by Win 10 updates. That said, since I switched to using my phone and my Alexa app, I haven't had any trouble at all. But I can also recommend asking for help at the library. The librarians are very happy to help with tech. I promise! I hope you get to listen to this, because it is awesome! <3

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Entertaining

Light and sweet cozy type paranormal mysteries. The characters are lovable and if there are future volumes, I’ll listen to those as well. I just can’t give 5 stars because I give 5 stars to the psycop books. These are good and made even better by the narration by Nick Hudson. I’ve never listened to him before and I was amazed. He gets Yuri’s accent like it’s natural to him. He does fantastic work distinguishing all the different voices. I will definitely look for more by him.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Loved!

I previously read the ebooks and rated the series 5*. I was delighted and thankful to be gifted the audible version by the author. This is my first fiction audible book and I loved it. Wow, Nick Hudson did a great job narrating. He gave a whole new dimension to these beloved characters and brought them to life before my very ears, lol. It amazed me how he was able to jump from from one character to the next, each one with their own distinct way of talking, without skipping a beat. I found myself literally squealing with delight as I got to hear the voices of Dixon and Yuri as they went through all sorts of trials on their madcap trek to find Uncle Fonzo. Jordan Castillo Price is one of my fave authors and I don’t know if Nick Hudson has narrated any of her other books but he’s a gem. I’m rating this series 5* for the plot, the characters, the all around uniqueness that I’ve come to expect from this author and last but not least, the superb narration.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Wonder heartfelt stories!

This collection of stories will leave you smiling and feeling warm and happy. They are wonderfully written with Dixon and Yuri embarking on adventures together that only make their relationship stronger.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Rom com romp

This is a nice meaty collection, pulling together the first five short works in the SpellCraft series. The stories themselves are highly entertaining, sort of a paranormal mystery romance mashup featuring a very fun magic system, with two great main characters. I love Dixon’s crazy energy as much as Yuri‘s jaded cynicism. And Dixon’s talent for fixing SpellCraft gone wrong creates so much potential for great stories!

The narration captures the essence of both characters very well. My only quibble is that I wish Yuri’s accent was a little thicker, and my mental image of him has a slightly deeper voice. All in all, I truly enjoyed this collection and would happily welcome further entries in the series!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Won’t show up in my lineup

Just wasted $21 something to listen to this. I tried everything from turning my I-pad off and restarting it to refreshing the audible library page and it still is not showing up. Would like to have my money refunded, but don’t see where I can.

1 of 20 people found this review helpful

Hilarious

Anything by JCP is brilliant, dry, and wonderfully written, but Nick Hudson makes this hilarious! His Yuri is simply perfect. Want pure entertainment? Buy this (and if you haven’t got the Psycop series by the same author? These are also must have listens).