Roger Hyttinen

A while ago, I purchased a series of books entitled “The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge” by Jacob Z. Flores and I ended up forgetting all about them until recently when I was browsing through my “To Read” list on my Kindle. For some reason, I’d purchased the entire four-book series at once, something I typically don’t do unless I’ve read at least one of the books in the series. But I must have been encouraged by positive reviews to get them all at once.

The Blackmoors

Anyway, I finally started the series with the first book, “Spell Bound”, a young adult (rated R) paranormal story. The main character is Mason Blackmore, a high school tough guy and one of three warlock brothers (their dad is a warlock as well). While Mason’s father and brothers are powerful warlocks, Mason’s active power has yet to surface, so his spells never turn out quite the way he intended, leading him to feel that he is a disappointment to his family.

The Blackmoors along with two other families: a family of witches who use white magic and a family of wizards who use gray magic are charged with protecting the source of all magic in the world call “The Gate”. Mason’s family uses black magic, though it’s not the type of “evil” magic we see with Voldemort on Harry Potter; instead, a warlock’s black magic is dark, powerful and sometimes selfish.

The Murder and The Stranger

The story kicks off with a dead body showing up on the football field at Mason’s high school. At the same time, Mason encounters a new kid at school: cocky, self-confident Drake Carpenter, who immediately rubs Mason the wrong way.

Drake appears to dislike Mason as well, and Mason can’t help but wonder whether Drake’s appearance has anything to do with the dead girl found at school. He suspects that Drake may be a magical being of some kind and sure enough, Mason later encounters Drake out in the woods running and jumping in a somewhat non-human manner. Mason assumes the new kid is a shifter.

Mason & Drake

Thus far, Mason and Drake appear to have an intense dislike for each other, but that seems to change after Mason saves Drake’s life in the town square. Though our young warlock tells himself that he dislikes the cocky Drake, he also can’t deny his attraction to him.

The two eventually get together, finally acknowledging their mutual attraction and overcome their initial misunderstanding of one another. It also appears to be no coincidence that right after Drake showed up on Mason’s life, Mason was able to tap into his active power.

But it’s not going to be an easy road for either of them.

Danger, Danger!

Another murder leads to the appearance of The Conclave — a council of mysterious, hooded and extremely powerful warlocks, witches, and wizards who typically only show up in dire circumstances. Their strange behavior concerns the magical families, and instead of helping with the danger, the Conclave seems to be ignoring it.

Things become more dangerous for the Mason and Drake in the coming days, leading to a nearly lethal battle with a powerful foe, which threatens the existence of all three magical families. At the end of the book, the battle may be won, but not the war. We distinctly get the feeling that there’s more danger ahead. But for now, there is a rest from strife and a “happy for now” ending.

Verdict

Though Mason initially comes across as a surly teen, his overly tough exterior melts once Drake comes into the picture and he transforms into a likable, complex character. This well-told gripping story contained elements of mystery, romance, danger, suspense, young love, grief and magic with excellent plot and character development. I loved the chemistry and innocence between Mason and Drake and enjoyed seeing both of their characters grow. The romance in the story wasn’t rushed but proceeded slowly and cautiously.

I look forward to reading more about the warlock brothers and look forward to the next book in the series. Recommended!

You can check out Spell Bound HERE

“Within this story, it’s clear that the dragon is the weak one. He is completely at the mercy of the boy, even when the boy is depicted in the story as his servant.” ~ Dr. Philbert Jones

The World

I’ve read many shifter books over the years. I’ve also read many books about dragons. But this is the first dragon shifter book that I’ve read and found it to be not only original but also very well done. In the world where this book takes place, all of the magical creatures (called “Beings” in the book) have recently come out of the closet: Fairies, Elves, Werewolves, Trolls, and Dragons.

The Interview

The book starts out with a job interview – young research assistant Arthur MacArthur is interviewing for a job working for a Dragon-shifter, Dr. Philbert Jones (“but please, call me Bertie”). Dr. Jones greets Alex while in his dragon form and Alex, who’s more than a little freaked out by the enormous dragon in front of him, fears that Dr. Jones is going to eat him. But of course, the dragon doesn’t eat him (which would have made for a very short story).

A Sexy Dragon?

Once back in his human form, we learn that Bertie, our dragon-shifter, is a brilliant (and sexy!) historian in the process of writing a book about the now extinct Red Dragon and he’s in need of someone to assist him in organizing his research and his books. He hires Arthur on the spot and Arthur can’t deny the strong attraction he feels for his new boss.

As the days progress, Arthur tries to make sense out of his feelings for his boss. It sometimes seems that Bertie is flirting with him – or is it just Arthur’s imagination? Arthur can’t be sure. But he vows to deny his feelings/attraction for Bertie and keep his relationship with his boss strictly professional, which turns out to be not at easy thing to do.

Burning for the Dragon

This is definitely a sensual, slow burn romance as the two characters slowly get to know each other and grow closer as the book progresses No insta-love here! The interaction and the slow build between the two of them is sweet and romantic and left me feeling as though I really knew them by the end of the book. I really loved the dynamic and the chemistry between the two characters.

One thing I especially liked about this book was that there wasn’t a sex scene every ten pages like you see in so many romance novels. In fact, we have to wait until nearly the end of the book until these two finally get together in a lovely, sensual scene — but it’s definitely worth the wait.

The Verdict

This sweet and playful story is not only about love, but also about the true meaning of treasure. It’s a story with plenty of heart, humor, and self-discovery. I was pleased to learn that this book is part of a series entitled “Beings in Love” and I definitely plan on reading more books in this series. Recommended!

When I was a kid, I fell in love with an old television movie (and the subsequent television series) entitled “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” about a woman who purchases an old house that is haunted by the ghost of a Sea Captain. So I was delighted when I recently stumbled across the book entitled “The Ghost and Mr. Moore” by Ryan Field — a modern tongue-in-cheek gay retelling of the original movie. Mr. Field has written several other books in a similar vein (parodies of popular films), and I’ve enjoyed several of them so I thought I’d check this one out.

Famous child actor Dexter Moore moves into an old house in Provincetown along with his daughter and housekeeper. The house was once owned by a handsome sea captain (Captain Lang, who according to Dexter, resembles Hugh Jackman) and according to local rumor, the house is haunted. Sure enough, strange things begin happening shortly after they move in: cupboard doors open by themselves, strange breezes pop up out of nowhere in the house and the sound of laughter echoes through the rooms when there’s nobody around.

The ghost eventually makes an appearance and in no time at all, the ghostly Captain Lang and Mr. Moore have sex – lots of sex. Some might say, too much sex. But still, there is an interesting storyline, especially once a camera crew begins following Mr. Moore and his family around the house for a reality show. To make things even more interesting, Mr. Moore’s ex shows up and tries to win him back — which doesn’t sit too well with the jealous captain.

Like the original movie, Mr. Moore and Captain Lang sit down and write several books together about Captain Lang’s wild adventures at sea. But at the end of the day, the two need to think about the reality of their relationship and the feasibility of a human with a ghost lover.

I definitely enjoyed this light-hearted, low-angst story with fun characters and a storyline (with several subplots) that held my interest. The Ghost and Mr. Moore is a story with lots of heart and may even bring a tear to your eye from time to time. If you’re a fan of the original Ghost and Mrs. Muir (or ghost stories in general) and don’t mind more than a generous sprinkling of sex in your stories, then you may want to check out The Ghost and Mr. Moore. Mr. Field did an excellent job of this retelling of an old favorite and as usual, did not disappoint.

You can check out the Ghost and Mr. Moore HERE

This month, my Goodread’s book club featured book of the month was a delightful story entitled One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva and I found it to be not only a refreshing tale of young romance, but so much more.

The blurb is as follows:

Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Why bother, when their home cooking is far superior to anything “these Americans” could come up with? Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshmen year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.

Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. When Ethan gets Alek to cut school and go to a Rufus Wainwright concert in New York City’s Central Park, Alek embarks on his first adventure outside the confines of his suburban New Jersey existence. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again. Michael Barakiva’s One Man Guy is a romantic, moving, laugh-out-loud-funny story about what happens when one person cracks open your world and helps you see everything—and, most of all, yourself–like you never have before.

Thinking on how I would classify this beautiful story, I’d probably say it was along the lines of a young adult gay romanic comedy, for there are more than one scenes that made me laugh out loud. Each page of this novel made me want more and beckoned me to keep reading. I was in fact surprised at how quickly I tore through this book, anxiously awaiting to see how the tender new relationship between Alec and Ethan would develop.

Speaking of develop, the author gives us extremely well-developed main characters and by the end of the novel, I felt as though I were saying goodbye to old friends. These vivid, well-drawn characters come to life on the pages of this book and stay with you well after the book is finished. The supporting cast of colorful characters are also memorable and entertaining: Becky – Alek’s rollerblading, old-movie obsessed, say-it-the-way-it-is BFF is a welcome addition to the story, as was Alek’s fussy, nitpicking mother and his older brother Nik, the “dutiful son” who embarks on voyage of self-discovery himself.

I love a slow romance (rather than a “love and first sight, marry me now kind of romance) and One Man Guy didn’t disappoint. It was a delight to watch Alec’s journey of self-discovery, especially the witty manner in which he managed to overcome the roadblocks to his and Ethan’s relationship and I was relieved to see that the author kept the heavy angst to a bare minimum. I tend not to be a fan of angsty novels. It was also fun to see the orderly, by-the-book world of Alec turned upside down by this enigmatic new boy who came into his life.

Now that is not to say that this novel is simply a sweet little romance. While it is that, it is also more. It’s a study of two cultures coming together and the clashes that can sometimes result of that coming together. It’s about the hurdles of family drama, of embracing your heritage and accepting who you are while maintaining your connection to your roots. Moreover, it’s about the need to understand that sometimes, it’s okay to break the rules – just as long as you know when it’s NOT okay to break them.

While the book is geared toward young adults (high school age) I feel it’s a book that all ages can enjoy and I find this romantic and humorous coming of age tale to be a remarkable addition to the YA/LGBT genre. It’s a charming, captivating and entertaining tale with likable and memorable characters, with just the right amount of romance peppered throughout. What more could you ask of book?

Recommended!!

You can check out One Man Guy HERE