Syn in the City: The Synemancer Series

by Mertianna Georgia

She was born a witch with no powers . . .

Cara Augustine came from a long line of powerful witches, so it was a huge disappointment when her family discovered she might as well have been a human. Only her cousins Evika and Sonya, born on the same day as Cara, treat her as an equal.

On their twenty-first birthdays, Evika convinces Cara to go to San Francisco to celebrate. To Cara's horror, she awakens the next morning in bed with a handsome-and apparently dead-stranger, and Evika is missing.

As Cara searches for her missing cousin, her powers suddenly manifest, spinning her life wildly out of control. She is not just a witch-she is a Synemancer, a witch who can draw energy from other magical beings and weave them into immense energy. And her powers have a mind of their own, drawing supernatural men to her so they can grow in strength. Before she knows what's happening, Cara has bound three men to her-a Nightkind, a Werewolf, and a Wizard.

If that isn't enough, deadly, animalistic sub-demons are now trying to kill her, and someone has awakened an ancient Aztec demon-god who wants to bring back the good old days of human sacrifice-and only a Synemancer can stop it. In a race against time, Cara has to learn to juggle her three men, control her power, find her cousin, and stop the Aztec demon. If she doesn't, she'll lose everything and everyone she loves. But if she manages it, the cost will probably be her life . . .

Genres: Urban Fantasy

244 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2011

About the author

Mertianna currently lives with her husband and three dogs (1 huge, 1 large, 1 small) in Northern California. She has a son who is attending college. After many years working as a professional manager while secretly wishing she was a writer, she took a detour from the corporate world to immerse herself into fictional worlds of her own making. Mertianna has accumulated multiple graduate degrees in business and survived years of doctoral studies in psychology, all of which undoubtedly has influenced how her characters behave or not behave as the case may be.

Reviews

[Jeannie Zelos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Syn in the City (A Synemancer Novel) Mertianna Georgia

I received this from the publishers in return for an honest review. I don't gush and give false praise – I don't believe that helps readers or authors so what you read is what I truly feel about a book.
I've book two to review and the publishers were kind enough to supply me with book one also so I'm feeling lucky – my love of paranormal fantasy novels getting a real boost recently. Sometimes its hard to get into the world building of a new series but Mertianna manages to keep the world she is creating very clear for the reader to follow. There's lots of magic, spells, and otherworldly characters but they all gel well together to create an entertaining read and a believable adventure. I guess with any fantasy read there's always the temptation for the author to take the easy way out fo a hard corner they've written characters into by creating some quick magic or rescue creature but Mertianna doesn't so that cop out but writes a complex and riveting story. Cara the main character comes from a long line of witches and her family are very disappointed when as the potential next leader she shows no sign of any magical powers. The she goes for a night out with her cousin to celebrate their birthday and... everything changes, she wakes up in the bed of Roman – a handsome and powerful Nightkind, and what's more it seems they've become engaged. She seems to have gained mysterious and out of control powers and somehow manages over the next few days to bind not only Roman, but also Paul, a powerful gorgeous Wizard and hunky Tom – a werewolf. Its seems her powers have come in with a vengeance and she's now a powerful synemancer, a witch who can draw energy from other magical beings and that her magic seeks what she needs regardless of her intentions ( though as it seems sex fuels the exchange of power it helps that the men are all hot blooded and gorgeous!)
add to all the the danger she suddenly faces with weird sub-demons out to kill her and the protectivity she faces from her three men, the lack of information coming her way abut what her power will do next and the threat of an Aztec demon out to rule the world and you have a story that powers through adventures and keeps the reader engrossed.

I really enjoyed this book, felt for poor Cara who for years had faced belittling because of her lack of power and then suddenly thrown into a world of magic and adventure and trying hard to understand it and stay alive. She's strongly moral about trying to always do the right thing but her powers are only interested in taking what they need and this leads for some hot erotic sex....I'm looking forward to where those powers take her in the next book!

Its well written and edited, the end of the plots tie up nicley and there are no horrible cliffhangers, just suggestions of what could happen in next book. At £1.99 for 244 pages on kindle its good value and its also available at £11 for paperback version.
Stars: solid four from me – almost a five star read and will join my keepers list.

[Book Review Diva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mertianna Georgia- “Syn In The City”

Cara Austine just wanted to celebrate her 21st birthday with her cousin Evika with a nice night out on the town. What Cara got was more that she wanted for her birthday. Cara ends up waking up in some strange man's bed wearing one heck of a diamond ring on her finger. Cara thinks to herself, well atleast the man has good taste in jewelry.

Cara has no memory of this man or how she ended up with a diamond ring on her hand. She also has no idea where her cousin Evika is. Cara starts wondering if her cousin made it home alright, or did she go home with some hunky man? Care is about to learn the truth when she finds out that she is now bound to a nightkind and her cousin has just been kidnapped by some demon. Cara now must try and rescue her cousin and figure how to she going to unbind herself from this nightkind name Roman, who is very yummylious.

Cara has no idea that she is the one being hunted by the demon who kidnapped her cousin. She now has to leave San Fran and stay with her Aunt Amelia in hopes of detouring the demon from finding her. You would think that is a smart idea of detouring the demon and staying with Aunt Amelia, except that Cara ends up getting herself into more trouble. Cara ends binding herself to a hunky werewolf named Tom as her familiar, and that is a big no no when it comes to Witches. Cara also has seemed to bind herself to a Wizard named Paul. It would seem like Cara is some kind of guy magnet and she can't seem to stop attracting men towards her. What Cara doesn't know is that she is now coming into her Witch powers, and because of that, she is binding herself to men and using their powers to strengthen her own. Cara is a one-of-a-kind magical being called a Synemancer, that uses other magical beings powers. Her powers are going to be tested when she ultimately will have to save humanity and all magical beings alike against a powerful demon named Aztec. Will Cara save everyone including her cousin, or she die saving humanity and her loved ones from harms way?

Powerful, sizzling and enthralling is “Syn In the City”. Get ready to be captivated from page one to the very last page with this magnificent novel by Mertianna Georgia. This is Mertianna Georgia's debut novel in her “Synmancer Seres” and it rocked. I loved every page of this book and I guarantee you will as well. This book is an all nite reader, you simply will not be able to put it down. A must read for all Paranormal Romance lovers out there.

Reviewed by: Raven Kelly- ParanormalRomance.ca

5 Lips out of 5


Click Here to Visit ParanormalRomance.ca

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Received this eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

DNF

I am sorry to say I just couldn't bring myself to like Syn in the City. How so? For one thing, at 38% the heroine Cara, already managed to have sexual intercourse with three different males (a Nightkind/Vampire, a werewolf and a Mage).

Sometime reading a first book of the series I might feel overwhelming by the overload information. However, in this case I really wished there was at least some kind of proper world building, character introduction and relationship developments. I struggle going through the story, had to put it away several time and try reading the book again. I couldn't connect with Cara, nor have I read anything that were memorable or interested enough for me to want to read further. Finally I had to call it a quit.

Supposedly Cara was an impotent witch, coming from a powerful bloodline she was a disappointment in her parent's eyes. Then after she turned 21 years old, she start showing sign of power. She then starts to attract males left and right after her power awake.

So this where it all start getting crazy...

When Cara go stay with her aunt, on this very say day if not only few hours after her arrival. She made out with Tom (a werewolf), preceded to dry-hump each other, then somehow bonded Tom to her, made Tom's wolf her familiar (or both Tom and Tom's wolf, I can't remember if there were any explanation on this or not.)

I am not sure how, but after making Tom her familiar, Cara acquire a she-wolf inside of her as well. (HOW??)

Then one night while she was dreaming, the NightKind/Vampire (Roman) visits her again , She have sex with him in the "dream", then waking up having sex with Tom. (Wait, what?)

Shortly after this event, perhaps a day or so (I can't really remember), she go and stay with Paul, then have sex with Paul as well.

Yeah, you see I am surprised I made it this far, I skim through after this and finally I just couldn't continue with a book that doesn't make any sense to me. I don't even know where this book is going.

I know Paul's friend suggested Cara being a powerful being, and will attracted different type of power. I suppose that's the key point and somehow should justify her behavior. But I am not convinced at all.

And what about her missing cousin??? I was at a midpoint of the book, and Cara showed no sign of looking for her cousin. How odd...

[Eva Millien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young woman’s path takes her on a perilous journey of self discovery in this thrilling action packed adventure. Cara Augustine has no idea of what she’s capable of, but the enemy does and sets out to stop her before she comes into her powers.

This fast paced and smooth flowing plot keeps readers on the edge with action, suspense, drama and romance. The author brings the story to life with well written scenes and details that capture the imagination and the well orchestrated action and suspense draw the reader deeper into the story. The characters are strong and compelling and invite the reader join them as they discover just where the magic is going to take them.

Cara finds herself bound to Roman, a Nightkind, Tom a Werewolf, and Paul a wizard all before she discovers just what kind of magic she has. Being bound causes lots of red hot passion to flare between her and the three men, but also causes some jealously and possessiveness that Cara just isn’t going to stand for, she has too much going on to have to deal with the emotional stuff. With her cousin missing an Aztec demon on the rise and constant attempts on her life, finding out just how to control her magic seems to be a hard task to complete.

The reader can’t help but get caught up in all the excitement and trouble that seems to follow Cara around and the passion of the men that she accidentally binds to her adds lots of spice to the story. The author has certainly created a fascinating and magical world with some unique elements and some surprising twists and Cara is a spunky but klutzy young heroine that really reaches out and grabs the reader’s attention from the very beginning. I couldn’t put the story down until I had read the very last page and I can’t wait to read the next one.

4 ½ STARS

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reminds me of Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series, in the sense of the reverse harem and the bound men, which she also has a sexual encounter to bound them, except it's a R-rated instead of the X-rated version. It's a pretty fast pace book and tends to jump around a lot. Our main character is young and has lived a very shelter and ignorant life...so a lot of her actions and decisions, in my opinion, are thoughtless and selfish, especially where Tom is concern. It has that young adult genre feel to it.

Her parents...and I hate these type of parents...knew that Cara could potentially become a Synemancer, but decided to keep her ignorant since she never showed signs of coming into power. And even when she did come into power, her irresponsible mother had the nerve to tell her she was being selfish and that it's not all about her, because Cara wanted to know about Synemancers...and she still wouldn't tell her anything!! That b*tch, no wonder Cara never wants to go home. Sooo, when Cara finally came into power on her 21st birthday, she has no control over it. Her powers are bounding powerful men left and right for her use. In a sense, she really doesn't have any power...she's like a leech. She draws on the power of her bound men to make it her own. The story goes that she's looking for her cousin Evika, but for most of the book ii's about Cara hiding/running away from Roman, the Nightkind...it's only towards the end of the book that she's actually trying to do anything to find her cousin. It's got a weird twist at the end.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cara has long thought that she’d be a powerless witch from a very powerful witch family. Her cousins, that share her birthday, whisk her away on a fun filled night to celebrate their 21st birthday. When Cara wakes up next to a handsome Nightwalker with a huge diamond on her hand, she panics. Her birthday celebration is a blur and her cousin Evika is missing. She struggles to remember her night on the town, and finds that she’s suddenly more powerful than she thought. She has no control over her powers and finds herself wedged between several men. She is suddenly the hottest thing on two legs to a bevy of supernatural creatures, which you can only imagine causes some strife between her suitors. Her synemancer abilities have bound the men to her and attracted an Aztec demon-god hell bent on escape from his prison. Cara has become the epicenter of the end of the world. She knows she’s the only one who can stop the demon god, but will she come out alive?

Syn in the City is fun, thrilling read. I applaud Mertianna Georgia for creating such a unique story. The idea of a synemancer is simply magnificent. I’ve never been introduced to such a magnitude of powers wrapped into one character. The Syn in the City has major potential to become one of the break out hits of Summer 2014.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

Wow! I don't know why more people haven't read this book series (and why *I* hadn't read this book series) before now!

Imagine, if you will, all the yummy smutty goodness from the Anita Blake series, coupled with a magic filled Rachel Morgan-esque "after the turn" world and that's where you end up in Cara's world. She's a spunky clutz who is also a really strong female character. I loved her point of view and I especially loved the author's way of answering all my questions/complaints before I even had time to think of them.

I started the book this morning and finished it this evening, so that should tell you something about how addictive I found the storyline. First I love Roman, then I hate Roman, then I love Tom, then I hate Tom, then I love Paul, then I hate Paul -- I felt like I was being pulled in a million different directions, all the while trying to solve the "mystery" of the book.

Really -- why did it take so long for me to read this book?? I can't wait to read the next one!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. IF you have ever read The Hollows by Kim Harrison this book will seem pretty familiar. It reminded me so much of the Hollows! I did enjoy the story surprisingly but the heroine apparently is a hussy. I swear every few pages she was sleeping with a different guy. Other than that the only other thing I did not enjoy was that the writing style at times seemed to simple for lack of better words. I will probably still read the next one this book pulled me in enough that I am interested to see how the series will pan out.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I appreciate the opportunity to read an ARC of "Syn in the City" and I'm very sorry to say that I wasn't able to finish the book. The premise was promising, but I couldn't connect with Cara at all, mostly because she slept with 3 different guys in the first 1/3 of the book shortly after meeting them.

[wingdreams pheung · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea that she's going to change and be powerful/desirable, but it was kind of slow pace for me. Sometimes I want to skip to the action scenes. I like that it have a storyline, but would have love more yummy scenes.

[Crystin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book but for some reason may consider reading book 2.

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ridiculous, but somehow I finished it and wanted to - took me a bit, but did. Won't be reading another though.

[Schelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5