Melissa reviews books 1 (Queer Magick) and book 2 (Fairy Tales) of LC Davis’s Queer Magick series. Published June 2017.
Book 1
An LGBT+ fantasy of apocalyptic proportions.
Twenty-something Holden Adams never asked to be the harbinger of the apocalypse, or for the seven lovers who come with the job. All he wanted in Stillwater, Vermont was a fresh start, but his past as a preacher’s kid turned witch threatens any hope he has of a normal life in the idyllic town. A fateful encounter with a strange cat on the brink of death earns Holden a new enemy and some unlikely friends, but as Stillwater reveals itself not to be as conventional as it appears, the line between the two becomes irreparably blurred.
Daniel St. James is getting too old for this crap. The love of his life turned out to be a cold-blooded killer and while Dennis got away with murder thirteen years earlier, Daniel and the rest of the town are still reeling from the tragedy. Now some kid who claims to be a witch waltzes into town and all of a sudden, Daniel’s unflinchingly straight best friend is head over heels for Holden. Chaos has a way of following Holden, revealing a web of supernatural secrets around Daniel that makes him question everything he believes about the town he’s lived in his entire life–and everything he doesn’t.
Welcome to Stillwater. Things are a little queer here.
This book is intended for mature audiences only.
Book 2
Daniel St. James is dead, Holden Adams just sold his soul to a demon, and the sleepy little town of Stillwater, Vermont is on the verge of a rude awakening.
Struggling to come to terms with living on the other side of life, Daniel is more involved in the supernatural chaos that hovers around Holden than he ever wanted to be. Not only did his werewolf best friend imprint on Holden, but Nick’s Alpha instincts drive him to see the undead–and Daniel as a newly minted zombie–as prey.
According to the demon Locke, there are perks that come with being the Whore of Babylon, but Holden has yet to discover them. He’s still Heaven’s public enemy number one and Locke is closer than ever to assembling an ensemble cast of the damned that Holden must bed in order to become the Harbinger of the Apocalypse. It’s all a bit much for a former preacher’s kid from Arkansas to swallow, but a redneck angel and the increasingly suspicious motives of Dennis Mills make it even harder to separate friends from enemies.
As Holden soon learns, the line between the two isn’t always solid. Not in a town like Stillwater.
The Doomsday Clock is ticking, and a revelation from Holden’s sealed past could be the revelation that changes the fate of the world. Unfortunately for the world, the Seven are closer to a nightmare than a dream team.
A complimentary copy of both books was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Why I read these books: The blurbs really spoke to me and I just had this feeling that I would like them. 🙂 And I find the covers beautiful, even if they are not the traditional glamour we are all used to. I am now posting my review in celebration of our Halloween theme this week, and while these are not scary, they are perfect for Halloween because…well you’ll find out below. 😉
I am going to review the books together as they are a series and are so closely tied together. *Note: Book 3 is still to be published however I have word from the author that it should be released sometime January/February 2018.
OMG, this was amazing!!!! Highly, HIGHLY recommend. This is a very well written story about werewolves, witches, prophecies, angels, demons and zombies!!! AND, transgender and cross dresser characters too! It has it all! And oh yeah, eh-hem – Holden may be The Whore of Babylon. But that’s something you need to read more about on your own. I am soooo not spoiling all the fun. I laughed so hard with this book! I really can’t reveal the plot because it would spoil the whole story. I had no idea where I was being taken on this journey but I couldn’t wait to pick this up again.
Here are just a few of the bits that made me snort, laugh or outright want to slap the table. 😀
“As it turned out, the parole terms for keeping your kid locked in a basement for five years were pretty lenient when you had an entire church association bankrolling a celebrity lawyer and publicist. Friends in high places and all that.”
“Something told me the brusque yet kind landlady would have been reluctant to share her remote home with most guys, but my overt twinkishness had always worked against me. For once, it seemed to have worked in my favor. With long, unruly brown hair and a less-than-impressive build, I couldn’t intimidate a church mouse if I tried.”
“Mystery man? Crud. Maybe I needed to be a little less reclusive. If I had to fill out one more set of change of address forms, I was going to stick a ballpoint pen through my occipital lobe.”
“She linked her arm in mine, which seemed like a strangely intimate gesture for someone she barely knew. Stillwater must have been having a gay best friend shortage. “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone tomorrow night,” Carla chattered. I began to wonder when I had officially accepted the invitation…”
“He was looking at me like I’d just run over a newborn puppy and then reversed a few times just to make sure.”
“Nick turned back to me with a closed-mouth smile. I took his offered hand hesitantly, almost surprised when I received a handshake rather than getting shanked with the letter opener on the counter.”
“A small wound was one thing, but it would take some serious mojo to heal an animal that had been laid open, and that would be a flagrant violation of Rule Three before my first week in Stillwater was even up. You could only get chased out of town by an angry mob so many times before it got old.”
“Some little voice in the back of my mind railed at me for what I was doing. Probably my common sense.”
“Tui gratia Iovis gratia sit cures,” I whispered. Because shit always gets real when there’s Latin involved.”
“What kind of deal?”
“You have something I want, and I have something you want,” he said in a voice like silk. “Protection from your father.”
“No offense, but I don’t think trading one psychopath for another is something I’m interested in.”
He pressed a hand against his silk shirt, as if deeply offended. “Psychopath? Histrionic Personality Disorder I could see, but that’s just hurtful.”
“Your virginity.”
“Excuse me?”
“Hm, let me rephrase that,” he mused, pressing a finger to his lips. “I need you to lose your virginity in a specific ritual context.”
“Thanks for clarifying that, because otherwise it would’ve just been silly.”
“So sassy,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “I was hoping you’d be sassy.”
I groaned. “I knew this had something to do with that bullshit prophecy.”
“Quarter in the swear jar,” he sang.
“I’ve been freaking out about you showing up again, and all this time I’ve been feeding you and letting you sleep in my bed.”
“Don’t be such a martyr. The food sucks and you snore.”
I lunged for him and Nick held me back, which was probably a good thing since I was out of shoes.
Bahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of these are probably not as funny taken out of context of the whole scene, but trust me, they are hilarious!! I just loved Holden – he is just great. And the rest of the characters – Nick, Daniel, Dennis, Locke, and toss in an angel or two – this is going to be a super great series.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and soooo recommend. Now, the continuity isn’t always seemingly there (I was confused at times because a character would call another by a name I am not sure they are supposed to know yet), but the plot, the writing, the characters, the everything, was just so good!
Demons, vampires, changelings/fae, angels, apocalypse, whores of Babylon, Heaven and Hell, Lucifer and Michael, and Nick is also transgender. Oh, and a demon mother who is now loose. Add in some time travel and secrets being revealed, this series is action packed and it’s not even close to over.
I can’t wait to read the next (and last) book and I hope LC Davis can keep up the good momentum. I highly recommend this series so far. 10 pots/ 5 stars for such a well thought out story.
Umm, I did find a few things that seemed like errors and weren’t caught during the proofing session(s), but overall not many. I do hope more of the backstory is revealed in the next book because I have so many questions about what is going on! 🙂
Where to buy: Amazon
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