Review: Magick Rising

Magick Rising by Parker Blue

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, these stories were good reads. I’m not usually a big fan of short story anthologies, but the exposure to new authors was worth it. I’ve never read other books from any of them, and have added quite a few of them to my “to-read” shelf after this.

Magick Justice from P.J. Bishop was a really great story of angels, demons, and redemption. Miko is a reporter who is desperate to solve the murders of the homeless around the city. She stumbles upon Hadrian in her search, which leads to way more than she bargained for. The descendent of a Samurai magicker, she discovers her magic while falling for the handsome Hadrian along the way. This story was actually longer than I expected, but was totally enjoyable. I was really rooting for Hadrian and Miko, and would be interested in a series about them, especially if it gave them some more steamy time together.

Spirits Rising from Evelyn Vaughn was a ghost/paranormal investigator love story that was quirky and funny, with quick wit and an engaging story. Penny shows up to “stage” a house (and remove the ghosts haunting it) only to find herself introduced to a wicked spook her hottie trapped ghost ex. This author’s work was really fun to read. She has a writing style that I really loved – it was filled with a lot of very “real” internal dialogue and characters. Penny, Richard, Lance, and Manon are all broken in their own way, but they all find a sort of HEA at the end that made me smile.

Blood Rising from Karen Fox was my usual type of favorite story – the vampire kind. Hayley is a damaged vampire slayer, who picked up the stake when her sister was turned into a crazed “dead vampire.” This book included the Vampire Academy-esque designation of dead and alive vampires, which was familiar enough to me that I really enjoyed it. The steamy scenes between Rurik and Hayley were some great reads and the mystery had me second guessing myself until the end.

A Shift in Magick from Laura Hayden was a spin on the shapeshifter-type story. Jonathan Craft is a PI who can change his face into anyone he sees. Using it on a job from a distraught ex-wife name Serenity leads him to discover a whole shapeshifter subculture tied to Serenity’s ex-husband. There was a bunch of action and a teeny bit of steam, but overall it was a PI story with paranormal elements. Good characters were introduced that I wouldn’t mind seeing again.

Destiny Rising from Jodi Dawson was a mix of historical witches and contemporary romance. Celeste and Erik’s love story is one that spans centuries and was pretty sad to read. There was an awful lot of buildup and a little fizzle at the end, but still an enjoyable read. It lacked any real sizzle, but had a lot of paranormal.

Wolf Rising from Parker Blue was a werewolf tale with smut thrown in as a bonus. Duncan and Beth are both diagnosed with terminal diseases – Beth’s is more of a mortal disease while Duncan’s is lycanthropy. If he doesn’t surrender to his wolf, and also trust in Beth, he’ll die by the end of the next full moon. Their love story was really a great read. I’ll have to check out this author’s other books.





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