Review Isabel Roman's MURDER & MAGICK: The Dark Desires Of The Druids 1

Have you read this yet? Like historical romance? Fantasy Romances? It has both. Adored this book!


MURDER & MAGICK : The Dark Desires Of The Druids 1

by Isabel Roman
from Ravenous Romance

List of main characters:
Raven Drake - Druid Magicker
Mac, Lord Preston - Magicker reformer and shipper
Gareth - Raven's fiance, Magicker
Isadore - Raven's friend, Magicker
Lucien - Raven's brother, Mac's friend and Magicker
Lord & Lady Granville - Isadore and Lucien's parents
Sir John Corwin - Baronet, Witch Hunter of Druids & Magickers, killer
Beckett - Sir John's helper, Witch Hunter

Book one starts where the prequel leaves off. The prequel THE TRYST can be found also at Ravenous. Its not necessary to read before the series but you'll want to know how the hero Mac, Lord Preston, and the heroine, Raven meet and begin their romance at a picnic on Harrington Manor in Bramhope England in 1882. Mac and Raven meet for the first time a a intimate picnic with Raven's best friend Isodore. Isodore's brother Lucien is a close friend to Mac. Its a quick story of how they met and more so the intensity of their tryst! So knowing this, you'll come into the first book of the series and know who these characters are.



Raven Drake is a powerful magicker, one of the last of her lines as a Druid Master and has a duty to carry on her power by marrying her fiance, Gareth who is also a a magicker. Unknown to Raven, Mac is a magicker reformer. He protects those who are magickers and smuggles them to safety undercover while working as a shipper of goods. As a magickers, Raven is unable to reveal herself of what she is to outsiders. As Mac is not aware of her as a druid, she also is unaware of his secrets of smuggling magickers to safety. As Raven and Mac's relationship intensifies, she must break the relationship and commit to her arranged marriage to Gareth, another magicker, so that they carry the power of their magic on to the children they have. Outside of this clan of magickers, Sir John Corwin is a Baronet, speaker of anti-druids/magickers and a witch hunter and killer. Corwin's evil beliefs are that magickers are considered demons and evil with their magick skills and need to be eliminated. As Corwin teaches these false myths to others, he is also hurting those close to the clan. He has other witch hunters working under him to carry out more killings of these people, namely Beckett. As witch hunters are killing innocents to frame them as magickers, the clan of magickers need to find these as well as protect their own.

Many questions to ask, does Mac and Raven believe in Destiny? As Raven has a duty and responsibility to carry on her line as powerful as she can, how does she do that and leave out the love that she finds with Mac? As Gareth holds Raven to her promise to him, it robs her of her happiness to be with Mac. Mac too conflicts with having to give up on his love for her but too fights that understanding he should have with Raven's duty to her people. With Mac not knowing her as a Druid, and being unable to reveal this secret to him, she doesn't realize that Mac would support her in everything she does and sacrifice so much for her.

What a truly wonderful romance! Their passion was breathless but too beautifully sensual and loving. As hard as I wanted them to be together, I too could feel the fight within that Raven was feeling. I loved how insistent and open Mac became to be, his strength in letting her know of his love for her. The suspense of this story was very powerful, strong, captivating, and just totally one not to put down! I loved how this author Isabel Roman could put together all these aspects of the story, historical, fantasy and suspense romance, and keep you surprised and moved as the story unravels. While getting the happily ever after, there's still more questions to answer about the future of this magickers clan and the future for Isadore and Lucien. And I for one cannot wait to find out! I so highly recommend this book that it hasn't left me since I finished it and these scenes keep coming back to me. You will even be able to visualize Harrington Manor as most of the book takes place there and in the surrounding grounds. Thanks for a breath taking story Ms. Roman. This is 5 stars for you!


Now I'm planning to get the rest of this series to read!

Reading & Reviewing & Upcoming Contest

This last few months, I have picked out great reads. I haven't had any issues with any I read. Really, just joyous on so many of them. Love it. I got some things coming up here. Click the books for information and it will take you to the authors site.

Check out this blog for a contest on the first book in S. J. Day's Urban Fantasy series, "Marked" I for one can't wait to read these! I adore Ms. Day's Historical Romances and from what I read of the excerpts of this Urban Fantasy series, I'm already pulled in!

This weekend will be a review up for Isabel Roman's MURDER AND MAGICK - The Dark Desires Of The Druids 1. This is a combo of a Historical, fantasy (Druids) and too a mystery! I really enjoyed this one.




I'm reading right now, Mary Balogh's FIRST COMES MARRIAGE. Just started this but she's one of my favorites. Even the prologue struck me already with a bit of sadness. She has a way of pulling my emotions with her books. My favorite being SILENT MELODY. I don't think its just that it has a deaf heroine that I can connect to by deafness, but so many things she did for this story is how it really is. I can't tell you how much I cried with that book but too so many were happy tears.




Speaking of tears, as I mentioned before, I was reading MARKED BY MOONLIGHT by Sharie Kohler, first in the Moon Chasers books. I cried in this one, and I haven't done that much in a paranormal, but my emotions were pouring out for this heroine. Its a different sort of read because there are books were the werewolves or vampires are positive (a good thing) in the stories and other times they are not (or they are and have some bad ones). I'm not spoiling anything here since its on the back of the cover but it was someone who was changed to Lycan and had to prevent the whole process from happening before the next full moon. So these Lycans were bad. I wanted to read his sisters story right away so after a doctors appointment, I asked my hubby to bring me to Borders. I knew it wasn't a good day to shop for us financially but I need this second book. They had one on the shelf that looked like someone had read it and put back on the shelf. I hate that! Alot do that in Barnes and Nobels because they have alot of seating there. Its ok to read a little to get a feel if you want to read, but some sit and read a whole book and don't buy it and its not fair to those who end up buying a 'used' book. Just one of my pet peeves. So anyways the book was used and they told me that they would order one and send one to be without charging me for the postage and I should have it by Monday! So why not! I ordered it.


I wanted to get these two books NOW they didn't have them in stock. (I should of ordered those too. I didn't think of that until I left the store, ugh. I wantes: Donna Lea Simpson and Kim Lennox's new ones SO STILL THE NIGHT by Kim Lennox and LADY ANNE AND THE HOWL IN THE DARK by Donna Lee Simpson. Have you read these?



I couldn't leave the store with nothing! And I had a huge list, so I ended up finding 3 that were on my list. I got a 2:1 Historical Romance by Mary Blayney. TRAITOR'S KISS and LOVER'S KISS. Since its a big book, I wanted to get at the book club at Rhapsody but they ended up canceling to do that in Hard Cover so I finally got it. I read Anna J. Evans from EC and I believe I read somewhere that she writes as Annaliese Evens. Its called NIGHT'S ROSE. Too its a Historical PLUS a Paranormal! And last I got BOUND TO PLEASE by Lilli Feisty. I saw this book on some blogs and now I finally have a contemporary to read (and it is in mass market paperback and has the warning on the back "WARNING THIS BOOK IS VERY HOT! READ IT ONLY IF YOU CAN HANDLE THE HEAT.) Reminds of me how the books are labeled at Aphrodisia, but this is from Hatchett (Forever line) and in mass market paperback. This is her debut. She thanks alot of EBook authors in her acknowledgments so I wondered if she wrote for EC and now using another name?



I hope to do some contest soon of books. Most will be brand new or 'very gently read looking new books". I'll probably do some of authors or themes. One coming up will be Marjoire Liu and her Dirk & Steele Series. Most likely we will discuss any books we reading in this genre that I post. I love to chat books!

What releases have you gotten for May so far? Too which books you need to get of May releases yet?

A few Blogs, Contest, Free reads

Happy Monday! I'm just about done with MARKED BY MOONLIGHT by Sharie Kohler A Lycan romance series called The Moon Chasers (werewolf, or as the hero says, 'not werewolf, LYCAN!). This is book one and book two is out as well. More shopping I must do!

Then I have some reviews I'll be putting up from Isabel Roman and posting on a few recent reads.

I enjoy going to authors and readers blogs and have visited more readers blogs lately to see what everyone's reading and discuss as well. I'll be adding more to my blog roll of them.

In the meantime, go check out this blog, The Royal Reviews bya few readers! They have a great contest too for THE HERETIC QUEEN by Michelle Moran. I also have a link on the book cover on the side here on my blog. Fun readers blog!


I just visited a new to me reader's blog, Alaine Queen Of Happy Endings, I found and I'm soon going to dig up a Medieval of Julie Garwood that reminded me what I missed and want to read, THE BRIDE! She chatted about THE WEDDING which was my first and only read by Julie Garwood so far and loved that wedding! A memorable scene!


Also go check out one of my favorite authors Marianne LaCroix. She has 3 novella's up on her blog for free. Great way to try out her books. She writes for EC, soon Resplendence and others.

Author Joy Nash Blog Contest & A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC

A Little Light Magic

June 2009

A Jersey Shore Romance

Leisure Books
Mass Market Paperback
isbn: 050552693X

Doesn't A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC by Joy Nash look like a comforting contemporary romance? Too there is a bit of magic within it. I love the cover, so beautiful. Its been a long while since I've read a contempoary romance! I read the blurb (below) and excerpts at Joy Nash's site and blog. Chatting there has me so waiting for those summer afternoons! I haven't been to a beach in forever so seeing this, I got to plan to go this year!


Come on over to Joy Nash's Blog for some great reading and fun! You'll get to dig up those memories of summer and plan for it coming soon.

She giving out 3 books to post on her blog on May 9th so come on over now to post.
CELTIC FIRE by Joy Nash
PLEASURING THE PIRATE by Emily Bryan
IMMORTALS: THE RECKONING Anthology by Jennifer Ashley, Robin T. Popp, & Joy Nash

A LITTLE LIGHT MAGIC Blurb:

When a girl with no family meets a guy with too much.

For Tori Morgan, family's a blessing the universe hasn't sent her way. Her parents are long gone, her chance of having a baby is slipping away, and the only thing she can call her own is a neglected old house. What she wants more than anything is a place where she belongs, and a big, noisy clan to share her life.

For Nick Santangelo, family's more like a curse. His nonna is a closet kleptomaniac, his mom's a menopausal time bomb and his motherless daughter is headed for serious boy trouble. The last thing Nick needs is another female making demands on his time.

But summer on the Jersey shore can be an enchanted season, when life's hurts are soothed by the ebb and flow of the tides and love can bring together the most unlikely prospects. A hard-headed contractor and a lonely reader of Tarot cards and crystal prisms? All it takes is A Little Light Magic.

Blood And Sex, Volume 1: Michael by Angela Cameron

BLOOD AND SEX VOLUME 1: MICHAEL by Angela Cameron
Ravenous Romance
Angela Cameron's Blog
Angela Cameron's Site





BLOOD AND SEX, VOLUME 1: MICHAEL by Angela Cameron, is a book offering a pounding romance and enthralling suspense along a love of a vampire hero!

Michael is the first hero in this series set in Florida centering around Michael's club called The Fallen. As owner of this club, he assures the rules of Allenza, their vampire world, is followed, especially foremost, the protecting of humans. The heroine Tori is a detective pressed in resolving these eight killings by the an evil vampire called the Bay Gnasher. As Tori suspects that it involves a villain that goes against what this vampire world means, Tori enlists Michael's help in getting to that 'underworld'. That 'underworld' is with another club called The Scene that involves crimes against humans from these evil vampires. As Tori has a past with Michael, she's determined to keep her resolve to focus solely on solving this and keeping her wall of temptation up from Michael. Along with a past and a promise, Tori has a powerful pull and passion for Michael that is gives a fevered and romantic story.

BLOOD AND SEX, VOLUME 1: MICHAEL is an engrossing and breathtaking suspense and a romance that seizes the reader from beginning to end. Traveling the road with Michael and Tori was impressive and their relationship both and poignant and grew more and more as the story went on. Jonas, a secondary character, will be the hero in the next book who has secrets of his own about him. I'd have loved to have a bit of a dictionary that would help with some of the special terms used for the book. Similar that I've seen in those with the Cajun words. But as the story went on, I was able to grasp those terms better. With a theme of romance, suspense and paranormal, its a combination that makes for a great series.