3.5 stars

Mind Magic by Poppy Dennison
1st book in the Triad series. Paranormal M-M romance with magic and wolf shifters.

This book starts with Simon, a mage, rescuing 5 shifter children from a demon. Who wouldn’t love this man for that alone? Maybe it was an emotional day or something, but I cried through the first half of this book. “Oh, he hears the children crying for help”, (sob) “the oldest child is grateful and helps with the rescue”, (sob) “the children help Simon when he’s hit with a spell by the demon”, (sob) “the children make Simon a friend of their pack”, (sob). Oi.
This turned into a one sitting read when the mage and the werewolf Alpha become an item, and the demon comes back and something is strange with the magic.
Entangled, enthralling, and enticing. And some sexy hot scenes too. And the ten year old werewolf getting up at dawn and trying to mediate with Simon but falling asleep? Adorable.

#CMCon22-reading-challenge. #Pride-month ( )

4.5 ( )

This was truly a fascinating world. I love seeing the way that magic works in this world. I think Simon and Gray are pretty much perfect for each other. I can't wait to see what happens next. ( )

Now this is what I was looking for in a shifter romance - the romance! ( )

I liked Simon and Gray (and the rest of the pack). Cormac is interesting.

I find (so far) the most interesting thing about this universe is the universe itself. The way everything is so separated. Wolves only mix with wolves (or perhaps they mix with other types of Weres, it isn't clearly stated), Mages (or magic users in general) only mix with their own kind, and for the most part, they don't even do much of that. They, as a group, are very isolated. Not a whole lot is mentioned about vampires yet. I mean, are they like myth and relegated to the dark? Cormac said he could eat food and he was basically like a human most of the time, he just required blood sometimes to maintain his magical levels (I'm paraphrasing here).

Simon seems to be under the impression he wasn't very powerful, and while some of that could be misrepresentation from his Master, or from his magic being stolen, at the very beginning he implied he was only good at two spells. Yet those compulsions he put on the humans when he made his rescue seemed pretty strong. Plus, Cormac seemed to think it unlikely Garon would be more powerful than Simon.

Of course, I still have questions (since it's the first part of a series, I assume they'll be covered at some point). Like, where did the demon come from, and how did it die, exactly? I have my theories, but without more information, I'm not sure. Thomas most likely stole some of their magic from the Demon, but that doesn't explain where the demon originated from.

Also, though the pack, for the most part, has been fairly welcoming to a Mage in their midst. Was that because of the aid he provided and the danger they were still under? With Gray now mated, will things change?

That Mage council seems a little hinky. I hope some sort of balance can be reached between Simon's life within the pack and his life as a Mage. This separation of different types of magic is interesting. Why? Was there a reason (historically) that the different species separated themselves? Clearly, the different types of magic are compatible. ( )

Though at times it not a top quality werewolf story, it holds its own throughout. A decent read. ( )

4 stars. Really enjoyed this book! I loved the idea of three different types of magic that was the idea behind the story. The cover is gorgeous (and exactly how I pictured Gray in my head!). My only complaint is that it ended! I felt like there was so much more the author could of told of their story! I want to know what happens next. :) ( )

Hmmmm, 3 or 4 stars? When I stared reading the book, the plot was interesting but the writing was choppy in the free part. Something made me take the chance and buy it. I was expecting to enjoy the book, but not love it based on the quality of writing.

And then, somewhere through the book it just clicked into place. I think it was when the author didn't make the tropey "grrr we mates" insta love/sex" plot line. There was attraction, but it was just normal attraction not some fated mate crap.


Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of unanswered questions about the "Mage council" and I saw the conflicts a mile away. But, this is a first book in a series and I will check out the next one.

( )

Great story and great world building. ( )

2.5 stars.

This story had an interesting beginning, but then it started to get a little predictable, with an obvious bad guy and most of the characters getting divided into either very understanding or very unreasonable types.

It had some cute moments with the werewolf cubs, but overall, I was a bit disappointed.

This story had an interesting beginning, but then it started to get a little predictable, with an obvious bad guy and most of the characters getting divided into either very understanding or very unreasonable types.

It had some cute moments with the werewolf cubs, but overall, I was a bit disappointed. ( )

Nice and almost “familiar” paranormal romance, it was like the author was thinking, it’s already a paranormal story, why I have to overdo it with special effects? And so Simon is a next door guy who happens to be a mage, and Gray is a single dad who happens to be the Alpha of a werewolf pack. But both Simon than Gray are leading a simple life, Gray is not some sort of general in command, and while he has enforcers, they are more like friends than soldiers.

When Simon rescues 5 kids of the pack from a rogue demon, he also puts himself in danger and of course Gray will extend the pack’s protection to the young mage. And no, there is not a magical mating pull that pushes Gray towards Simon, again it’s all in the individual choice: if, and when Gray will choose his mate, there will be a binding ceremony, but Gray is totally free to pick up his mate, woman or man, friend or stranger, human, shifter or mage.

There is danger for Simon, but again, that was not the main focus of the story; it was more Simon trying to adapt to the life in a pack than them worrying for the outside menace. Really, sometime I wanted to smile to the naiveté of some of Simon’s attitude, like when he has to contact an ancient vampire he doesn’t know… he leaves a post-it attached to the front door!

One nice touch in the story is that not Simon or Gray are “heroes”, but ordinary men; Gray has even grey hairs (yes, I know, he is a grey wolf, his name is Gray and he has grey hairs… well, he is living his name ;-)) and he has trouble managing his kid who is approaching teenage years.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/161372456X/?tag=elimyrevandra-20