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Spellbound
In the realm of Hesian there is Stavros, a detective who has made a name for himself as a dangerous, short-fused cambion; a child of an incubus and a human. Stavros neither wants nor needs a partner, but when the option is taken from him he is left with Elion, a young, cocky elf that knows exactly how to get under his skin.
Exhausted with the butting heads and heated exchanges between the two detectives, the Warden of the Force, Mikhail, takes matters into his own hands; leaving Stavros and Elion bound through magic until their lesson is learned.
With mounting pressures,egos, and jaded pasts hindering them, the two seemingly opposite partners come to realize that maybe the fire that burns between them isn't solely fueled by disdain, but by something more powerful than anything they will be forced to overcome.
Exhausted with the butting heads and heated exchanges between the two detectives, the Warden of the Force, Mikhail, takes matters into his own hands; leaving Stavros and Elion bound through magic until their lesson is learned.
With mounting pressures,egos, and jaded pasts hindering them, the two seemingly opposite partners come to realize that maybe the fire that burns between them isn't solely fueled by disdain, but by something more powerful than anything they will be forced to overcome.
199 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2014
14 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Atley
2 books32 followersMarcus is the author of Spellbound and the upcoming Heart and Home series. He lives and loves on the East Coast in a rural community with his loving partner and family, including the furry four-legged ones. He is a passionate member and advocate in the GLBT community, volunteering with a few organizations to spread equality, education, and love.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
January 29, 2015
I liked this story. The characters were interesting, and well drawn. I liked that neither man was perfect, and that they both had their own issues to work though. Stavros is a deeply, deeply damaged person. There were times I wanted to just shake him, and then I discovered why he had such a hard time connecting with people, understanding feelings, and trusting in anyone, and my heart broke for him. I really liked Elion. He grows so much over the course of the story, and becomes such a strong character. I loved the banter between the two, and how much they grow to understand each other. I like how they balance each other out, and how well they learn to work together. I liked the setting, the plots, and I really loved Stavros' adopted father. Overall a very nice story.
September 27, 2015
4.25 stars
I love it when I pick up a book on a whim and it turns out to be great. This was one of those books. Elion and Stavros are wonderful characters and the author did a fabulous job of giving them depth. Stavros was all curmudgeonly and growly and stoic and just *sigh* swoon worthy. Elion was no slouch himself. I was afraid at the beginning he would end up being a bit of a brat (Stavros certainly called him that enough times) but he didn't; instead he was a surprisingly strong character and captured my heart pretty early on. The plot was well laid out and the world building was pretty good. That's one of the things I like about fantasy/UF/paranormal. You can get away with anything. The villain was sufficiently evil without falling over the line into a 'mustache-twirler'.
So, who is this Marcus Atley dude? I've never heard of him before. I'm guessing this is his debut book as it is the only one listed on his author page. And as far as debuts go, this one is a winner. There are a few grammatical and sentence structure issues (we won't go into the whole 'passed' vs. 'past' thing) but as a whole this was extremely well written with a clearly defined plot and engaging characters. Well done! I eagerly anticipate reading anything else this author may write in the future.
March 19, 2021
This was so unexpectedly awesome! I was completely charmed by Elion and Stavros. The story was fun, action-packed, and unputdownable. My favorite kind of book.
January 6, 2015
How I didn't cry at work when reading this...the feels during that time and then when he said those things.
*sniffles*
*sniffles*
September 8, 2015
The plot is surprisingly good, but the writing needs polishing. There were no proper transitions, and sometimes the delivery of the story was confusing and rushed. This had a promising enemies-to-lovers story going on -- with angsty pasts and palpable sexual tension between MCs. But, I just think it was too cruel to drag it out until the very end for the "lovers" part to finally commence.
Although, the story really boasts of many action-packed adventures, dramatic twists, and sometimes funny moments. The characters were well-developed and the back stories were solid. All in all, I'd give this 3 stars.
September 30, 2015
I liked the beginning of this book. Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes. Plus enemies-to-lovers in forced confinement! UST in spades. But then all these little niggles started ruining the read for me. Like how abrupt the scene changes are, how paper-thin the plot, how inconsistent the characterisation. But that was maybe a 3 star read. Then the last 15% happened, and was just so cheesy and disappointing that I kind of hurt myself rolling my eyes. So 2 it is.
d-n-f
February 27, 2015DNF @ 32%
I thought I was going to really like this one. The premise sounded good and I liked the sample... but then nothing really happened. I mean I am at 30-odd% in and I just don't feel invested in the case they are working or really even them if I'm honest. Something isn't working for me. And seriously, how many times is Elion going to BLUSH for gods sake - is he a 13 year old school girl? I swear he has blushed about 10 times in the last 10% alone. :/ And what was with the really random hair plaiting - this just came out of nowhere and seemed really out of character considering the story/relationship between the two of them so far?
So as I have a load of books waiting for me and this one was a kindle library loan, I think I'm just going to DNF this and move on to something else. Sorry book, you didn't do it for me.
I thought I was going to really like this one. The premise sounded good and I liked the sample... but then nothing really happened. I mean I am at 30-odd% in and I just don't feel invested in the case they are working or really even them if I'm honest. Something isn't working for me. And seriously, how many times is Elion going to BLUSH for gods sake - is he a 13 year old school girl? I swear he has blushed about 10 times in the last 10% alone. :/ And what was with the really random hair plaiting - this just came out of nowhere and seemed really out of character considering the story/relationship between the two of them so far?
So as I have a load of books waiting for me and this one was a kindle library loan, I think I'm just going to DNF this and move on to something else. Sorry book, you didn't do it for me.
July 28, 2015
Poorly written. Used tremendous amounts of trite plot devices . I can like many of the above methods to get the story flowing, but when it's just something to fluff the word-count? Stop. And at one point, Elion says, "Seriously? I'm an elf. It's supposed to be like, my thing." And Elion is the top of his class with that mastery of language?
Very low OCs -- hardly any character had more than a name, if that, which made it ridiculously easy to pick out the villain in this fantasy detective story. I was surprised by little in the entire novel. At 10% completion, I was strongly considering marking this DNF, but the large amount of positive reviews made me stick it out to see if it got any better. It did not; I was suffering the entire way, and by that point, I needed to finish just to say I did with comprehensive dislike.
The main characters are one-dimensional. Stavros and Elion are supposedly extremely intelligent and competent -- they're certainly described as much enough -- and yet any time trouble comes up, there's absolutely no ingenuity/intelligence/competence that is evident. They are inconsistently characterized and weak. Their romance is also painful. Both are adults, yes? I do not need 26 sentences where either one is "blushing" like a virgin. The author even included a passage that encompassed this: And Stavros ends up completely reversing his persona by the end of the novel -- his strong mysterious character? Ends in this:
They also have some short and very uninspiring sex.
Very low OCs -- hardly any character had more than a name, if that, which made it ridiculously easy to pick out the villain in this fantasy detective story. I was surprised by little in the entire novel. At 10% completion, I was strongly considering marking this DNF, but the large amount of positive reviews made me stick it out to see if it got any better. It did not; I was suffering the entire way, and by that point, I needed to finish just to say I did with comprehensive dislike.
The main characters are one-dimensional. Stavros and Elion are supposedly extremely intelligent and competent -- they're certainly described as much enough -- and yet any time trouble comes up, there's absolutely no ingenuity/intelligence/competence that is evident. They are inconsistently characterized and weak. Their romance is also painful. Both are adults, yes? I do not need 26 sentences where either one is "blushing" like a virgin. The author even included a passage that encompassed this: And Stavros ends up completely reversing his persona by the end of the novel -- his strong mysterious character? Ends in this:
They also have some short and very uninspiring sex.
dnf
March 7, 2016Only got to 10% so not rating, kept feeling I was missing parts, couldn't quite fall into the world and beings.
July 10, 2015
4.5 STARS
Awesome read, I can't believe that's his only book I can find. It was excellent.
Awesome read, I can't believe that's his only book I can find. It was excellent.
July 21, 2015
This one gets points for exceeding expectations. It did have some fairly major flaws, but was overall readable and fun.
I had this on my Scribd list for quite some time and never got around to reading it. Why? The blurb was just really poorly written. So even though it seemed like a premise I might like, I just didn't expect it to be good. There is a lot of really bad fiction on Scribd.
But I saw it elsewhere, with an edited blurb and some good reviews and decided to give it a try. It turns out that the style of the book is completely different from the style of the blurb. It is a pretty standard contemporary para cop trope, written in a standard m/m romance style. It doesn't try for epic fantasy or flowery prose or diverge from what works.
So the flaws. Right off the bat, I noticed awkward sentence structure here and there, which made me think that the author either struggles with grammar or speaks English as a second language. Most of the book, however, is well edited and flows nicely. It also is well formatted for Kindle.
The most severe issue, for me, was Stavros as a character. The book starts from his POV and then proceeds to ostensibly alternate between his pov and his partner, Elion's, but Stavros's POV is used less and less as things progress. We've all had those crushes on people everyone else thinks are jerks but we decide are misunderstood and that is the premise here. Unfortunately the reader doesn't really have any reason to believe Stavros is anything but a jerk. Even from Elion's POV it seems like he's a jerk, if an attractive one. So you have to kind of reach into your own experience to imagine why Elion thinks he's actually a good guy, as the author doesn't give you much help.
I usually am not inclined to work so hard for romance, so obviously something was getting through that made Stavros worth reading about. It was just very sparse and could have been more explicit.
(Spoiler alert)
The big climactic scene in the crime subplot had a bit of a "huh?" factor. For example, why would you want to stop a bad guy from molesting the supernatural creature who *feeds/gets stronger on sex?* This could have been explained (maybe Stavros only gets energy from certain kinds of sex or can't feed off some people), but I expected that situation to result in Stavros saving himself because Victor, the bad guy, was an idiot who couldn't keep it in his pants. Instead, Elios suddenly realizes that maybe he could steal the bad guy's knife and kill him with it. That might have been an even better idea several days earlier, before they both had been beaten to a pulp? Why is it suddenly possible only then?
But that is kind of a theme in romance novels. Big fight scenes always end with some totally obvious move with no explanation for why it wasn't possible all along.
Fortunately, the book has good parts.
The scene in which they finally consummate their relationship is very good. I really liked how the author described Stavros's vulnerability and difficulty expressing his feelings.
By the end of the book I found Elios a very likeable character, and the world building and plot were engaging enough that I was able to overlook the weak support for Stavros's likeability in favor of his appeal as a stalwart defender of justice at the least.
I had this on my Scribd list for quite some time and never got around to reading it. Why? The blurb was just really poorly written. So even though it seemed like a premise I might like, I just didn't expect it to be good. There is a lot of really bad fiction on Scribd.
But I saw it elsewhere, with an edited blurb and some good reviews and decided to give it a try. It turns out that the style of the book is completely different from the style of the blurb. It is a pretty standard contemporary para cop trope, written in a standard m/m romance style. It doesn't try for epic fantasy or flowery prose or diverge from what works.
So the flaws. Right off the bat, I noticed awkward sentence structure here and there, which made me think that the author either struggles with grammar or speaks English as a second language. Most of the book, however, is well edited and flows nicely. It also is well formatted for Kindle.
The most severe issue, for me, was Stavros as a character. The book starts from his POV and then proceeds to ostensibly alternate between his pov and his partner, Elion's, but Stavros's POV is used less and less as things progress. We've all had those crushes on people everyone else thinks are jerks but we decide are misunderstood and that is the premise here. Unfortunately the reader doesn't really have any reason to believe Stavros is anything but a jerk. Even from Elion's POV it seems like he's a jerk, if an attractive one. So you have to kind of reach into your own experience to imagine why Elion thinks he's actually a good guy, as the author doesn't give you much help.
I usually am not inclined to work so hard for romance, so obviously something was getting through that made Stavros worth reading about. It was just very sparse and could have been more explicit.
(Spoiler alert)
The big climactic scene in the crime subplot had a bit of a "huh?" factor. For example, why would you want to stop a bad guy from molesting the supernatural creature who *feeds/gets stronger on sex?* This could have been explained (maybe Stavros only gets energy from certain kinds of sex or can't feed off some people), but I expected that situation to result in Stavros saving himself because Victor, the bad guy, was an idiot who couldn't keep it in his pants. Instead, Elios suddenly realizes that maybe he could steal the bad guy's knife and kill him with it. That might have been an even better idea several days earlier, before they both had been beaten to a pulp? Why is it suddenly possible only then?
But that is kind of a theme in romance novels. Big fight scenes always end with some totally obvious move with no explanation for why it wasn't possible all along.
Fortunately, the book has good parts.
The scene in which they finally consummate their relationship is very good. I really liked how the author described Stavros's vulnerability and difficulty expressing his feelings.
By the end of the book I found Elios a very likeable character, and the world building and plot were engaging enough that I was able to overlook the weak support for Stavros's likeability in favor of his appeal as a stalwart defender of justice at the least.
October 26, 2016
I don't read enemies to lovers books all that often but when they're done well they are totally worth it. This particular story was, for me, just okay. One of the MCs, Stavros, can be summed up in three words: Anger Management Issues. I kept waiting for someone to offer him a happy pill but they'd have probably gotten their face ripped off for the trouble. Elion was a good counterbalance to the utter ball of rage his partner was but there was really only so much he could handle before snapping and that happened with fairly alarming frequency.
I never really felt a connection between the characters to the depth that I wanted to and you don't get a lot of Stavros' point of view and I think the story suffered for that; there needed to be more balance given and it just wasn't there. The case itself also took a backseat to, well, pretty much everything else and the plot would've been a lot stronger if more focus had been given to it. Stavros' behavior is eventually explained but by that point in the book I just didn't see he and Elion working together anymore anyway. This just...fell flat for me which is a real shame.
The ending was sweet enough to make up for some things but not enough for me to rate the book higher. Honestly I don't think I'll be reading this one again as there just wasn't enough draw for me the first time through to want to pick it up a second time.
January 10, 2015
I'm vacillating between 3.5 and 4.0 stars. The world building is different, fantastical, and not something I often come across in m/m. While the relationship is a focus, it took a backseat to the mystery-crime for much of the story. Character development and relationship progression is subtle but I was fine with that. This isn't one of those books that lays it all out for you, you have to develop your idea of the characters through their actions and reactions. If you prefer your stories more straight forward where you are told who your MCs are then this probably isn't for you. I was looking for something easy yet a little unusual for me and this fit nicely.
November 26, 2014
Now this story was absolutely amazing. Stavros and Elion were bound by magic to learn how to work together, as working partners, and ended up falling in love. At the end they were coupled pair by love, beautiful. Their HEA was well deserved. Great read!!
RECOMMENDED well written romance!
RECOMMENDED well written romance!
December 12, 2014
There are no words that I can find to describe how amazing this book is and how it made me smile and laugh, then cry along with a deluge of other emotions. All I can say is that I am glad I found this book and you would be missing out if you did not read it.
January 22, 2016
I loved this book so much! This story and the characters were very well written and I really connected with sweet Elion. There is a lot of angst in this story because of Stavros' past and how he doesn't know how to show love or accept it.
I really hope to read more stories by this author.
I really hope to read more stories by this author.
August 29, 2016
I enjoyed this book. Definitely a fun read. The word building is interesting and there is a fun dynamic between the characters.
I found the last third of the book frustrating but forgave it because they work it out in the end.
I found the last third of the book frustrating but forgave it because they work it out in the end.
August 11, 2015
Lost one star for the myriad spelling and grammar issues. Also: inconsistent characters, confusing setting and weak story.
December 10, 2016
This was a nice read, but I think it had the potential to be much better.
November 29, 2018
I have a bit of a trouble with the rating. It's not a bad book, no. It has interesting main characters, alternative worlds, non-human police, slow-burn romance. But at the same time it shamelessly reuses well-worn themes, and half of the time I had a feeling that I had read/saw something similar before. Like the deeply damaged hero with tear-jerking past who builds walls of anger around himself and never lets anyone close. I think I've seen enough of the kind to be seriously moved by it. Overall, I think it will be 3, maybe 3.25 stars.
February 4, 2023
Excellent fantasy
Spellbound is an excellent gay fantasy read. The characters are well developed and I enjoyed them very much. The sex isn't over the top and balanced well. With the story. I highly recommend.
Spellbound is an excellent gay fantasy read. The characters are well developed and I enjoyed them very much. The sex isn't over the top and balanced well. With the story. I highly recommend.
June 29, 2017
Totally worth the angsty feels.
I‘m crying, that‘s all i‘m gonna say. I‘m crying, but totally in a good way~ 10/10 would totally read again.
I‘m crying, that‘s all i‘m gonna say. I‘m crying, but totally in a good way~ 10/10 would totally read again.
May 15, 2018
2.5 stars rounded up.
March 10, 2019
Didn't like the setup.
May 21, 2022
This book is absolutely amazing.
December 19, 2014
There was just something missing from this book. It has a great premise, and both the characters and the world and the plot have good frameworks, but it just needed MORE.
I didn't connect with either Stavros or Elion. I found Stavros very intriguing when I first read him, but then he slipped into the badass-leather-wearing stereotype that always seems to be present in supernatural romance. However then his character just seesawed around that I couldn't really bring myself to care about him, plus his POV was so repetitive. In just about every paragraph he would be like 'and he definitely did not like Elion etc etc he wanted to rip the brat's [insert body part] off etc etc'.
We kept being TOLD that Elion was brilliant, that he was top of his academy, but he was a bit of a nothing character to me, other than a few cute quirks. There were many scenes where a bit more description would've made all the differences in the world. Not a few, but pretty much every scene that could've led to me understanding and connecting more with the character was skimmed over, as if the author couldn't be bothered.
And that leads me to the next point. The world seemed awesome, but it was very confusing and blank because other than a sentence here and there, there was no reference to it. I wanted to know MORE about all these realms and how they interact with each other. Like, I get that the two MCs are detectives, but what else? What unit are they in? They're not in the police force on Earth, so what is this policing force? Is it for ALL of these realms?! Are there special taskforces/units? Other than mentions of a mysterious Council (of course) there was NOTHING. There was so much opportunity to create a vast and rich world, but it seemed to me that Atley simply couldn't be bothered!
And the plot was a bit everywhere. It definitely needed some streamlining, since the only solid storyline was their romance. The detective side of it didn't make much sense to me at all. For one, why would they be patrolling streets for shoplifters etc? That seems completely opposite to what a detective actually does. And Elion's 'breakthrough' with discovering that the necklace linked all the robberies (this isn't a spoiler, it happens at like 20%) doesn't make any sense. If there was this fake necklace at every crime scene, surely anyone would have picked that up pretty quickly. LITERALLY ANYONE. Yet it somehow slipped past EVERYONE?! I mean, come on, the same necklace is at every scene. That's pretty damn obvious straight away, not after days of research. And those random detectives who were just there to provide a bit of shallow action? That was weird. Maybe they come up later, but I stopped this at 40% because I just couldn't connect to ANYTHING in this story.
I didn't connect with either Stavros or Elion. I found Stavros very intriguing when I first read him, but then he slipped into the badass-leather-wearing stereotype that always seems to be present in supernatural romance. However then his character just seesawed around that I couldn't really bring myself to care about him, plus his POV was so repetitive. In just about every paragraph he would be like 'and he definitely did not like Elion etc etc he wanted to rip the brat's [insert body part] off etc etc'.
We kept being TOLD that Elion was brilliant, that he was top of his academy, but he was a bit of a nothing character to me, other than a few cute quirks. There were many scenes where a bit more description would've made all the differences in the world. Not a few, but pretty much every scene that could've led to me understanding and connecting more with the character was skimmed over, as if the author couldn't be bothered.
And that leads me to the next point. The world seemed awesome, but it was very confusing and blank because other than a sentence here and there, there was no reference to it. I wanted to know MORE about all these realms and how they interact with each other. Like, I get that the two MCs are detectives, but what else? What unit are they in? They're not in the police force on Earth, so what is this policing force? Is it for ALL of these realms?! Are there special taskforces/units? Other than mentions of a mysterious Council (of course) there was NOTHING. There was so much opportunity to create a vast and rich world, but it seemed to me that Atley simply couldn't be bothered!
And the plot was a bit everywhere. It definitely needed some streamlining, since the only solid storyline was their romance. The detective side of it didn't make much sense to me at all. For one, why would they be patrolling streets for shoplifters etc? That seems completely opposite to what a detective actually does. And Elion's 'breakthrough' with discovering that the necklace linked all the robberies (this isn't a spoiler, it happens at like 20%) doesn't make any sense. If there was this fake necklace at every crime scene, surely anyone would have picked that up pretty quickly. LITERALLY ANYONE. Yet it somehow slipped past EVERYONE?! I mean, come on, the same necklace is at every scene. That's pretty damn obvious straight away, not after days of research. And those random detectives who were just there to provide a bit of shallow action? That was weird. Maybe they come up later, but I stopped this at 40% because I just couldn't connect to ANYTHING in this story.
March 10, 2015
I love stories of enemies turned to lovers and also of characters bound together when they are less than amicable to one another. I couldn't resist this story with the description of the characters, either.
I was hooked quickly by Stavros. As much as I wanted him to chill out, I wanted to know more why he was the way he was. There was backstory there that I needed to know.
Elion seemed really straightforward and simple at first--not one-dimensional, just a very open fellow. I liked that as cheerful as he was, he had no problem standing up to Stavros and giving back as much as he was getting.
I have such mixed feelings on this book, though. I wanted to know more about the world, I felt a lot of things weren't well-elaborated on... I couldn't figure out what was going on with Earth and... wherever they were located? It wouldn't have bothered me as much if Stavros's desire not to be in the human world or whatever wasn't mentioned so much.
I really adored Stavros and Elion together. The physical attraction between them was obvious and well-written. I liked the gradual build-up of the emotional connection and seeing them slowly start to care about each other and interact without just arguing.
But then I didn't understand why Stavros pushed Elion away when they had been rescued from Victor? Maybe I missed something, or couldn't read into it enough. And it frustrated me that Elion just accepted that and left and I know part of that was guilt because he felt he hadn't protected Stavros... I just wanted to yell at him to at least talk to Stavros about it!
The apologies and getting together seemed a bit rushed. I'd have liked to see them talk things out more since they had been through so much regarding their relationship (though Stavros was as cute as could be having trouble confessing his feelings). Especially because after that quick get together the ended felt a little out of nowhere; I felt it would have worked better if we had at least seen them as a functioning couple beforehand.
It was still adorable, though, if a bit rough in parts. I was frustrated with the characters often and some parts were hard to read because I was just so upset for them. I was heartbroken for them after everything with Victor... So I am so happy they had a happy ending. I'd just like to see more of that happy ending with what apparently became a very loving and adoring friendship.
I was hooked quickly by Stavros. As much as I wanted him to chill out, I wanted to know more why he was the way he was. There was backstory there that I needed to know.
Elion seemed really straightforward and simple at first--not one-dimensional, just a very open fellow. I liked that as cheerful as he was, he had no problem standing up to Stavros and giving back as much as he was getting.
I have such mixed feelings on this book, though. I wanted to know more about the world, I felt a lot of things weren't well-elaborated on... I couldn't figure out what was going on with Earth and... wherever they were located? It wouldn't have bothered me as much if Stavros's desire not to be in the human world or whatever wasn't mentioned so much.
I really adored Stavros and Elion together. The physical attraction between them was obvious and well-written. I liked the gradual build-up of the emotional connection and seeing them slowly start to care about each other and interact without just arguing.
But then I didn't understand why Stavros pushed Elion away when they had been rescued from Victor? Maybe I missed something, or couldn't read into it enough. And it frustrated me that Elion just accepted that and left and I know part of that was guilt because he felt he hadn't protected Stavros... I just wanted to yell at him to at least talk to Stavros about it!
The apologies and getting together seemed a bit rushed. I'd have liked to see them talk things out more since they had been through so much regarding their relationship (though Stavros was as cute as could be having trouble confessing his feelings). Especially because after that quick get together the ended felt a little out of nowhere; I felt it would have worked better if we had at least seen them as a functioning couple beforehand.
It was still adorable, though, if a bit rough in parts. I was frustrated with the characters often and some parts were hard to read because I was just so upset for them. I was heartbroken for them after everything with Victor... So I am so happy they had a happy ending. I'd just like to see more of that happy ending with what apparently became a very loving and adoring friendship.
May 3, 2015
The curse of beauty, the wickedness of sexual conditioning and the power of true love
A random purchase, that has pleasantly surprised me. I read many so-called "paranormal" stories - I find them mostly relaxing, but rarely really well written. Marcus Atley has created in his debut (?) a solid story with complex characters and a refreshingly unromantic nonetheless deeply (com)passionate look at the world "behind" known reality.
Stavros, the "short-fused cambion" is beauty incarnate, like every incubus, with a tormented, through abuse deeply wounded soul that nobody suspects or perceives. Elion, the young "bratty" elf, hides tough experience, a caring heart, a sharp mind and a stubborn will behind his youthful appearance.
They meet and clash, they quarrel and suffer the "usual" misunderstandings because the "manlier" partner is communication impaired and needs time to figure it out:
"You're in love with me," Stavros stated with no room for denial. "I don't understand. No one has ever done that. I don't know what it means. ... I didn't understand. You didn't hurt me. You never hurt me. You said things, nice things. You were bleeding and I was scared. Do you understand? I was so scared. You asked why I starve myself. I hate it. I hate people doing those things to me; I hate what I have to do. ... I thought I deserved the things they did. All of it."
"You are a socially awkward jerk. You infuriate me. You make me go out of my mind. You made me cry!" Elion yelled ... Elion didn't have time to move before muscular arms were around him .... Despite being the saddest thing Elion had ever experienced, it was almost beautiful; the awkward liberation of the jaded man clinging to him."
And they live happily ever after *lol*.
The story is action packed, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, other times infuriating - especially when the lovers are having a misunderstanding because of bad communication ... again. But the whole is entertaining, heartwarming and well written - I did not stumble across bothering mistakes.
Gladly recommend.
A random purchase, that has pleasantly surprised me. I read many so-called "paranormal" stories - I find them mostly relaxing, but rarely really well written. Marcus Atley has created in his debut (?) a solid story with complex characters and a refreshingly unromantic nonetheless deeply (com)passionate look at the world "behind" known reality.
Stavros, the "short-fused cambion" is beauty incarnate, like every incubus, with a tormented, through abuse deeply wounded soul that nobody suspects or perceives. Elion, the young "bratty" elf, hides tough experience, a caring heart, a sharp mind and a stubborn will behind his youthful appearance.
They meet and clash, they quarrel and suffer the "usual" misunderstandings because the "manlier" partner is communication impaired and needs time to figure it out:
"You're in love with me," Stavros stated with no room for denial. "I don't understand. No one has ever done that. I don't know what it means. ... I didn't understand. You didn't hurt me. You never hurt me. You said things, nice things. You were bleeding and I was scared. Do you understand? I was so scared. You asked why I starve myself. I hate it. I hate people doing those things to me; I hate what I have to do. ... I thought I deserved the things they did. All of it."
"You are a socially awkward jerk. You infuriate me. You make me go out of my mind. You made me cry!" Elion yelled ... Elion didn't have time to move before muscular arms were around him .... Despite being the saddest thing Elion had ever experienced, it was almost beautiful; the awkward liberation of the jaded man clinging to him."
And they live happily ever after *lol*.
The story is action packed, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, other times infuriating - especially when the lovers are having a misunderstanding because of bad communication ... again. But the whole is entertaining, heartwarming and well written - I did not stumble across bothering mistakes.
Gladly recommend.
February 8, 2016
****Reviewed for Prism Book Alliance®****
4.25 Stars - This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. It was an interesting world with interesting characters. Lots of action, near death experiences, UST, and magic make for a great read.
Stavros was so surly and Elion so eager they seemed like opposites but they really had core things in common. The unresolved sexual tension was so thick and unrelenting I wasn’t sure we were ever going to get there, but it worked for the story. This isn’t an erotic romance, there are very few “love” scenes and they aren’t very detailed, but you still are able to get the feelings they have for each other. There is a lot of emotion in this book. I felt so bad for Elion at times.
My only real complaint is the head hopping. It often switched POV from one paragraph to another which made it difficult to keep straight who was thinking what. Other than that, the narrative was good.
If you are looking for an entertaining paranormal cop romance without a lot of smut, this would be a good choice!
4.25 Stars - This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. It was an interesting world with interesting characters. Lots of action, near death experiences, UST, and magic make for a great read.
Stavros was so surly and Elion so eager they seemed like opposites but they really had core things in common. The unresolved sexual tension was so thick and unrelenting I wasn’t sure we were ever going to get there, but it worked for the story. This isn’t an erotic romance, there are very few “love” scenes and they aren’t very detailed, but you still are able to get the feelings they have for each other. There is a lot of emotion in this book. I felt so bad for Elion at times.
My only real complaint is the head hopping. It often switched POV from one paragraph to another which made it difficult to keep straight who was thinking what. Other than that, the narrative was good.
If you are looking for an entertaining paranormal cop romance without a lot of smut, this would be a good choice!
February 12, 2015
At the time of writing this review, this book was available for free loan to Amazon Prime and Amazon Unlimited customers.
I enjoyed the concept, setup and settings of Spellbound. That was all interesting and well done. I also liked Elion a lot and rooted for him throughout the story. Mikhail is a great supporting character. Stavros, on the other hand, never quite won me over. The plot was also entertaining, except there were some points that were vague or confusing to me. For example, they have technology (e.g. computers, cell phones) yet a significant plot point was focused around losing a paper file and, thus, a case against a criminal. Why wasn't there an electronic copy? I also could not figure out if the supernatural beings were supposed to be hiding themselves from humans or not. And the changing POVs was difficult to follow at times. Most of the time it was OK, but occasionally seemed to switch back and forth in the same scene. But, overall, I enjoyed the story.
I enjoyed the concept, setup and settings of Spellbound. That was all interesting and well done. I also liked Elion a lot and rooted for him throughout the story. Mikhail is a great supporting character. Stavros, on the other hand, never quite won me over. The plot was also entertaining, except there were some points that were vague or confusing to me. For example, they have technology (e.g. computers, cell phones) yet a significant plot point was focused around losing a paper file and, thus, a case against a criminal. Why wasn't there an electronic copy? I also could not figure out if the supernatural beings were supposed to be hiding themselves from humans or not. And the changing POVs was difficult to follow at times. Most of the time it was OK, but occasionally seemed to switch back and forth in the same scene. But, overall, I enjoyed the story.
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