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Warlock’s Bond #1
The Mosquito’s Sting
Impending magical disaster? Secrets up the wazoo? Demons using warlocks as disposable meat suits? A hot elf with a mysterious agenda and a blasé warlock commanded to accompany him?
Bring it on.
Ruin Shadowsunder is bored. He’s bored of being Grand Maestro, bored of the palace, and, most of all, bored of the monarchy. He hasn’t left the capital in years so when a handsome elvish lord shows up to take him away, who is he to say no?
Lord Tobiah Vestergaard is on a mission. He needs to save the planet from magical disaster before it’s too late and stop the Fae empire before they destroy everything. His salvation seems to rest in a cocky human warlock and it doesn’t hurt that Ruin is easy on the eyes.
As they work together to stop the impending calamity, ancient and personal secrets are unraveled, affection unveiled and desire bared between them. Perhaps they share a kiss or two along the way.
The Mosquito’s Sting is book one of The Warlock’s Bond trilogy and is a fated mates MM+ romance. Read on for a tale of Fae, elves, warlocks, dragons, demons, intrigue, magic, love, and fate. Ends in a cliffhanger, signaling the next book. Contains mature themes of violence, sex, abuse, neglect, generational trauma, implied rape and SA. Full content warnings inside the cover.
Bring it on.
Ruin Shadowsunder is bored. He’s bored of being Grand Maestro, bored of the palace, and, most of all, bored of the monarchy. He hasn’t left the capital in years so when a handsome elvish lord shows up to take him away, who is he to say no?
Lord Tobiah Vestergaard is on a mission. He needs to save the planet from magical disaster before it’s too late and stop the Fae empire before they destroy everything. His salvation seems to rest in a cocky human warlock and it doesn’t hurt that Ruin is easy on the eyes.
As they work together to stop the impending calamity, ancient and personal secrets are unraveled, affection unveiled and desire bared between them. Perhaps they share a kiss or two along the way.
The Mosquito’s Sting is book one of The Warlock’s Bond trilogy and is a fated mates MM+ romance. Read on for a tale of Fae, elves, warlocks, dragons, demons, intrigue, magic, love, and fate. Ends in a cliffhanger, signaling the next book. Contains mature themes of violence, sex, abuse, neglect, generational trauma, implied rape and SA. Full content warnings inside the cover.
- GenresM M RomanceFantasy
380 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 20, 2024
5 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 22, 2024
Let me start this off with: I cannot wait for the next book! It is extremely difficult for a book to hook me, and TMS did effortlessly. The characters feel alive, as if you're adventuring alongside them and experiencing everything with them. The descriptions are absolutely stunning and are able to allow me to paint pictures in my head - something I struggle to do on the daily. Each chapter added more and more information about the world while weaving in plot ties and hooks that left you wanting more and more. The spicy scenes are well written out too, and while they are scattered throughout, they don't cheapen the writing like I've encountered in other books. I would recommend this to everyone I know, and I am vibrating with excitement while I wait for the next one in the series.
September 25, 2024
Dammit! I wrote a review and lost it. Let’s try again.
I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book in a giveaway. There was no obligation to review but I am choosing to do so freely.
I want to start at the end, with the Author’s Note. Excuse me! Are you kidding me with having to wait “a year or so” for the next book? 😩 I need it now!
This is the author’s debut novel so I really wasn’t sure what to expect however I was not disappointed.
Strong world-building without sacrificing the plot. An interesting story with decent pacing, descriptive and plenty of secrets, little twists and a touch of romance. It does become clear towards the end that there are not enough pages left to resolve things; I don’t generally enjoy cliffhangers but luckily I was aware of this before I started reading and was able to prepare myself (still not impressed with having to wait a year for what happens next though 😉).
I’m not sure this review is quite as good as the one I lost but I think, regardless, it’s fair to say I’ll be looking forward to reading more.
I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book in a giveaway. There was no obligation to review but I am choosing to do so freely.
I want to start at the end, with the Author’s Note. Excuse me! Are you kidding me with having to wait “a year or so” for the next book? 😩 I need it now!
This is the author’s debut novel so I really wasn’t sure what to expect however I was not disappointed.
Strong world-building without sacrificing the plot. An interesting story with decent pacing, descriptive and plenty of secrets, little twists and a touch of romance. It does become clear towards the end that there are not enough pages left to resolve things; I don’t generally enjoy cliffhangers but luckily I was aware of this before I started reading and was able to prepare myself (still not impressed with having to wait a year for what happens next though 😉).
I’m not sure this review is quite as good as the one I lost but I think, regardless, it’s fair to say I’ll be looking forward to reading more.
February 25, 2025
The Mosquito’s Sting is the first book in Alyk Thorne’s Warlock’s Bond series, and it is a story that instantly grabbed my attention. I am always looking for new fantasy worlds to dive into, and this sounded like a unique world that would leave me eager for more. Thus, I went in with high hopes.
I will be honest and say that my feelings for this book changed quite a bit as I worked my way through it. In truth, my overall rating ended up being a two-point-five-star rating – which I rounded up to a three-star rating simply because I was curious about the bigger picture. Despite this, the overall did not work for me quite the way I had hoped. I started super curious about the story and interested in the characters. There were so many elements that I wanted to dive deeper into, and I was excited to see how they would progress. Unfortunately, for me, I felt like everything happened far too quickly. Before one element of the world could be appreciated, a new twist was thrown in. The impact of these twists was often lost because the depth of understanding was not quite at the level it needed to be for the twist to hit as hard as was intended. In many ways, I feel like too many ideas were combined into one book, with some of these elements needing to be saved for later books. I was able to handle this at first, but it became too much, and it impacted upon my enjoyment of the story. When I started to be annoyed by this element, it turned my attention to other things that were also impacting upon my enjoyment. Such as strange writing choices (characters saying things that really did not fit the setting, along with having knowledge of things that did not fit the world) and inconsistencies with how the characters were behaving (focusing on what was needed to move the story forward rather than what reflected how they were developing).
Overall, this was a story with a lot of potential, yet it failed to hit the mark for me. I can see why many enjoyed it, but it failed to tick my boxes in the anticipated way.
I will be honest and say that my feelings for this book changed quite a bit as I worked my way through it. In truth, my overall rating ended up being a two-point-five-star rating – which I rounded up to a three-star rating simply because I was curious about the bigger picture. Despite this, the overall did not work for me quite the way I had hoped. I started super curious about the story and interested in the characters. There were so many elements that I wanted to dive deeper into, and I was excited to see how they would progress. Unfortunately, for me, I felt like everything happened far too quickly. Before one element of the world could be appreciated, a new twist was thrown in. The impact of these twists was often lost because the depth of understanding was not quite at the level it needed to be for the twist to hit as hard as was intended. In many ways, I feel like too many ideas were combined into one book, with some of these elements needing to be saved for later books. I was able to handle this at first, but it became too much, and it impacted upon my enjoyment of the story. When I started to be annoyed by this element, it turned my attention to other things that were also impacting upon my enjoyment. Such as strange writing choices (characters saying things that really did not fit the setting, along with having knowledge of things that did not fit the world) and inconsistencies with how the characters were behaving (focusing on what was needed to move the story forward rather than what reflected how they were developing).
Overall, this was a story with a lot of potential, yet it failed to hit the mark for me. I can see why many enjoyed it, but it failed to tick my boxes in the anticipated way.
September 27, 2024
The Mosquito's Sting is the first book in the new Warlock's Bond series by new author Alyk Thorne. Please read the trigger warnings before you start. This is the story of Ruin a warlock and Tobiah an elf. I love Alyk Thorne's writing style as it brings everything to life for me. I loved all the twists and turns in the book as they move with the story. I don't like that this book ends in a cliffhanger and that we have to wait so long for the next book but the story is so good I will wait as long as it takes. I would definitely recommend this book.
September 27, 2024
I received an ARC for my honest opinion.
This is a debut novel, it is MM romance high fantasy.
I absolutely loved Ruin and Yaris.
Ruin is a human who thinks he is a warlock only to find out he is a dragon rider.
Yaris is a fae who has glamoured himself to look like an elf. He is a rebel from his family
They meet and have an adventure to find out why magic is leaving the world.
They meet others along the path and the books ends on a cliffhanger.
I can't wait to read the next one.
This is a debut novel, it is MM romance high fantasy.
I absolutely loved Ruin and Yaris.
Ruin is a human who thinks he is a warlock only to find out he is a dragon rider.
Yaris is a fae who has glamoured himself to look like an elf. He is a rebel from his family
They meet and have an adventure to find out why magic is leaving the world.
They meet others along the path and the books ends on a cliffhanger.
I can't wait to read the next one.
October 12, 2024
DNF @ 63%
February 25, 2025
The Mosquito's Sting is a debut novel. Something that is hard to keep in mind. It could be from a far more seasoned author. It's a fantasy world with great worldbuilding. The blurb calls it a hurt/comfort story. But I consider it a quest story. There's excitement and danger as Ruin and Tobiah/Yaris seek to identify what's causing magic to leave the world. Ruin is thought o be a human warlock and Tobiah is a Fae glamoured to look like an elf. There's chemistry between the two and eventually a bit of sizzling steam.
Ruin curses like a sailor and doesn't have a respectable bone in his body. Good hero material. His bluntness draws Tobiah and the reader in. It's quite refreshing. Ruin's guards, especially Shadowjaw, add color and support throughout.
It's not a quick read. But it was a lot of fun. Perfect amount of steam, a bit of angst. Book two is in the works for 2026. The book's cliffhanger is definitely a cliffhanger, not some wimpy to -be-continued mess.
I received an advanced copy from GRR and this is my review.
Ruin curses like a sailor and doesn't have a respectable bone in his body. Good hero material. His bluntness draws Tobiah and the reader in. It's quite refreshing. Ruin's guards, especially Shadowjaw, add color and support throughout.
It's not a quick read. But it was a lot of fun. Perfect amount of steam, a bit of angst. Book two is in the works for 2026. The book's cliffhanger is definitely a cliffhanger, not some wimpy to -be-continued mess.
I received an advanced copy from GRR and this is my review.
March 4, 2025
Wonderful world building with Ruin and Tobiah
There is a lot of great world building in this novel by Alyk Thorne and the hints and questions that are given in this book indicate that much more is coming. The whole thing revolves around magic slowly disappearing from this world and I love the way that Thorne takes this basic concept. The pace of the book is really good and I don’t normally comment on that, but looking back on it all flowed so well. I feel like I was captivated by the book from the marvelous cover right until I finished and I never once felt like I was brought out of the story by something that didn’t work.
Ruin is definitely my favorite character, but then I do feel for the downtrodden and I like that he was written so that he never felt sorry for himself and just wanted to help others. Tobiah didn’t stand out as much, but from the hints in this book I figure that we will learn more about him in future volumes.
I think this looks like it will become a terrific series and I would recommend it to anyone as long as they read the warnings.
There is a lot of great world building in this novel by Alyk Thorne and the hints and questions that are given in this book indicate that much more is coming. The whole thing revolves around magic slowly disappearing from this world and I love the way that Thorne takes this basic concept. The pace of the book is really good and I don’t normally comment on that, but looking back on it all flowed so well. I feel like I was captivated by the book from the marvelous cover right until I finished and I never once felt like I was brought out of the story by something that didn’t work.
Ruin is definitely my favorite character, but then I do feel for the downtrodden and I like that he was written so that he never felt sorry for himself and just wanted to help others. Tobiah didn’t stand out as much, but from the hints in this book I figure that we will learn more about him in future volumes.
I think this looks like it will become a terrific series and I would recommend it to anyone as long as they read the warnings.
February 21, 2025
A Joyfully Jay review.
2.75 stars
This is the first book in the Warlock’s Bond series. To start with, there is no cohesive feel to this world at all. It’s vaguely fantasy adjacent, but it’s treated with such lightness and lack of focus — with tractors and carriages sharing the same moment — that I have no idea what the author is trying to get across. There’s the careless use of words without regard to context or culture, like calling a farmhouse a yurt, when a yurt is a tent. And it is says something about how disconnected I was to the story when the small details like this catch my attention.
The writing is functional, but the pace is all over the place and, while the idea of the plot is fine, all the telling and telling and more telling made it uninteresting to read.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
2.75 stars
This is the first book in the Warlock’s Bond series. To start with, there is no cohesive feel to this world at all. It’s vaguely fantasy adjacent, but it’s treated with such lightness and lack of focus — with tractors and carriages sharing the same moment — that I have no idea what the author is trying to get across. There’s the careless use of words without regard to context or culture, like calling a farmhouse a yurt, when a yurt is a tent. And it is says something about how disconnected I was to the story when the small details like this catch my attention.
The writing is functional, but the pace is all over the place and, while the idea of the plot is fine, all the telling and telling and more telling made it uninteresting to read.
Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.
February 28, 2025
I really enjoyed this engaging new fantasy MM story. It has great world-building and well-developed characters. I love fantasy, especially when it features MM characters, and I loved the mix of different beings here. There is a good mix of romance/steam and story/plot, and the action and romance seemed naturally entwined. I didn't enjoy the cliff-hanger, when the next book is so far off, but it was disclosed in the book description, so I won't remove any stars for that. Ruin and Tobiah are compelling characters, and their back-stories provide some angst and trauma, so be forewarned, but I am hooked and can't wait for the rest of their story.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
February 24, 2025
I received a free copy of this ebook from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest opinion.
It is going to be torture waiting for the next book in this series. Ruin is such a loveable main character. So down to earth, but not weak or timid. The world building was very engaging and the plot well thought out. The spicy scenes were very nice as well. I felt there was a good balance between the romance and the progression of the story. I can't wait to find out what will happen next. Hurry up September!
It is going to be torture waiting for the next book in this series. Ruin is such a loveable main character. So down to earth, but not weak or timid. The world building was very engaging and the plot well thought out. The spicy scenes were very nice as well. I felt there was a good balance between the romance and the progression of the story. I can't wait to find out what will happen next. Hurry up September!
February 27, 2025
This is a new author for me and i understand The Mosquito's Sting is their debut novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the Warlock's Bond series but then realised i have ages to wait for the next one so i will definitely have a reread prior as there was just so much going on! A well written storyline full of twists and turns but does include some harsh realities so do read the trigger warnings. Brilliant mc's Ruin who is a warlock and Tobiah who is an elf and i cannot wait for the next book to see where their journey goes!
I received a free arc copy and this is my honest review
I received a free arc copy and this is my honest review
October 1, 2024
The Mosquito’s Sting by Alyk Thorne is such a fabulous read. Ruin and Tobiah are such great characters. I could not have put this book down. It made me want to read and read until I got the 2nd book. The story was always heart wrenching but amazing. The love story between Ruin and Yaris is amazing and such a fun time. It really crescendo-ed and then had me at the edge of my seat needing more. I wish Alyk had book two already out hahaha. I would highly recommend on high fantasy and mm romance.
February 26, 2025
This is a new to me author and it’s their Debut novel and what a great start to the series but it does end on a cliffhanger and the author has said next year for book two so could be a bit of a wait. The world building was good and the story flowed well, I liked Ruin and Tobias as MCs and there was some other good side characters as well, I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading more from this series in the future.
February 27, 2025
Usually modern slang takes me out of fantasy world's so it took me a second to warm up to this book but I'm so glad that I did because it was such a good journey. The humor was really fun and the steam was hot and the fact that it was delicately layered with trauma took a lot of talent for a debut. There were a couple of mistakes but I loved the characters. Ruin is hilarious but also serious and I'm excited to see where he goes from here.
March 6, 2025
This is going to be a great series and I can't wait for the second book! The world building and the integration of magic in all aspects is wonderful and the characters and their quest grabbed me immediately. There are all kinds of twists and turns and secrets both revealed here and hinted at for later in the series. I'm making some guesses about future events and excited to see where I'm right and where the author surprises me.
February 22, 2025
4.5/5 stars! This is the first book I have read by Alyk Thorne. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the world-building and character development. I loved that there was a playfulness to the story, even as more serious topics were handled. I really enjoyed the magical elements and will be reading book 2 when it comes out.
October 8, 2024
Amazing development
In following Ruin's companions quest, l was drawn into the landscape both emotionally and physically and I felt every success as well as failures(merely wrong turns.) One of those series l want to read more now!
In following Ruin's companions quest, l was drawn into the landscape both emotionally and physically and I felt every success as well as failures(merely wrong turns.) One of those series l want to read more now!
February 27, 2025
Amazing debut novel! This is the first book in this wonderful series! I can't wait for book two! Wonderfully written, super engaging characters from the very beginning until the jaw dropping cliff-hanger! I loved it! I read an advanced copy of this book and this is my unbiased review!
February 27, 2025
He is bored of everything in his life and he wants something more from his life. In comes a human warlock and his life is going to become even more interesting. A wonderful read which will leave you wanting more
March 9, 2025
wonderful world building that kick off this new series. the characters draw you into the fantasy world. we get that sometimes they are not perfect and need help
March 13, 2025
New Author
This is an amazing debut novel, the world building was very engaging and the plot well thought out. I look forward to more of their work
This is an amazing debut novel, the world building was very engaging and the plot well thought out. I look forward to more of their work
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews