Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Reporter Ian Evers, obsessed with magical creatures since childhood, never experiences satisfying proof that the magical realm actually exists until he falls into an entrapment spell set by a handsome but dangerous elf. Barely escaping with his soul intact, Ian is able to undo the hex, but he can't escape the very real infatuation he's developed for the fierce, alluring elf.

Ezekiel Stormshadow is a svarta, a dark elf who serves the queen of the dark realm. The realm of darkness needs the power of light to survive, and while hunting the last few magical beings on earth, Ezekiel discovers Ian, a light elf who's unaware of his true nature and ripe for the plucking. Their brief encounter awakens a great hunger in Ezekiel, and he's determined to feast on the light elf's power and body before the queen intervenes and claims Ian for herself.

Ian knows only he can save Ezekiel from the grasp of the dark queen. Driven apart by the ancient imbalance between the dark and light realms, an evil queen starved for power, and their fear of each other, Ian and Ezekiel are relentlessly drawn together even though their union might destroy them both.

 

Book Review

I quite enjoyed this sparkling tale of enchantment, which I happily placed under “Escapism” in my Kindle library. The book’s title is quite apropos for its story, which swept me into a shadowy netherworld of dream and nightmare to witness a heroic and mind-bending battle for love and deliverance.

Ian Evers, a seemingly human reporter with a personal quest to prove that magic and magical creatures exist, finds himself love-spelled by the dazzling dark elf, Ezekiel Stormshadow. On a quest of his own, Ezekiel has ventured to the land of humans to capture some light magic to feed his incarcerator, the queen of darkness. When Ian falls into his trap, Ezekiel finds himself unreasonably captivated by his captive. Just who bewitched whom? With the help of Ian’s family and friends Ezekiel and Ian ‘s desire to love one another morphs into an epic war to unite a centuries old split between darkness and light.

For me, this story read like I had slipped into a vivid, fantastical dream. Much like Alice [in Wonderland] I tumbled ever deeper into a glittering magical realm of thorny, oozing darkness and sparkling, silver-webbed starlight. Lovers Ian and Ezekiel were terrific in their roles as bewildered loners caught up in the insatiable desires of first love. Both were human deliciousness, but exquisite scenes of the two sexing to save themselves and the world were matched by truly marvelous images of both transforming to living wood, writhing and struggling to free themselves from the dark queen’s treacherous thorns. I loved the images of the starlight spiders! Rich, descriptive passages of their glistening, moonlit bodies scuttling to save the lovers inspired me to hum Coldplay’s Trouble for several days.

Packed with creepiness of the best kind, the dark world built by the author sparked memories of fantasy film Pan’s Labyrinth, while the book’s villainous queen was reminiscent of a sinister “Maleficent” aka Angela Jolie, bolstered by the greed of Cruella De Vil. A potent image of evil especially if you add a pinch of Tim Curry ‘s devil from the movie Legend, which I did.

Well-meaning, but dysfunctional supporting characters added warmth and humor to this imaginative and captivating tale. The ragtag group of magic practitioners reminded me somewhat of the witches in the film Hocus Pocus, and I could only smile as they struggled to save Ian from the dangerous Ezekiel, but later plied their talents toward uniting the romantic pairing. All in all a first rate, fast-paced male/male fantasy romance that left me inhabiting a realm of silver-spun light and luminous obsidian for days after I turned its last page.

Thank you, Alexis Duran, for sharing this wondrous journey of two lost beings finding themselves and love through acceptance, trust and courage.

“Exhilarating, Imaginative, Bewitching stuff of dreams!”

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Loose Id for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 133 pages/38622 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	30-June-2015
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.loose-id.com/edge-of-night-1-betwixt-and-between.html