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First Leash
Jamie Beckett was just another overworked nobody. Dead end job, crappy apartment, and no way out.
Then he met the bleeding elf in the alley.
Turns out Jamie is a Leasher. One of a rare few born with the ability to bond powerful beings to himself. When he forms his first bond with the beautiful, dagger wielding elf, Lilly, Jamie gets dragged into a divine game where power and survival are all tangled up.With assassins on his trail, beautiful women piling into his life, and a magical power he barely understands, Jamie will have to learn fast or lose everything.
Spicy, sharp-witted, and fueled by raw magical chemistry, First Leash is a fantasy adventure full of dangerous women, sarcastic banter, and unexpected heart.
Then he met the bleeding elf in the alley.
Turns out Jamie is a Leasher. One of a rare few born with the ability to bond powerful beings to himself. When he forms his first bond with the beautiful, dagger wielding elf, Lilly, Jamie gets dragged into a divine game where power and survival are all tangled up.With assassins on his trail, beautiful women piling into his life, and a magical power he barely understands, Jamie will have to learn fast or lose everything.
Spicy, sharp-witted, and fueled by raw magical chemistry, First Leash is a fantasy adventure full of dangerous women, sarcastic banter, and unexpected heart.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 31, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 4, 2025
This book was just ok. The biggest issue was that too much was stuffed into a single book that's not quite 300 pages.
The MC is a normal guy working a crap job, and on his way home, he hears a woman cry out in pain. Running into an alley, he sees an elf being attacked by two men. His distraction allows the elf to kill the two men, and then he takes her back to his apartment, since she's injured. And as part of this, he finds out he's a "Leasher", someone who can form bonds with magical and non-magical people. And thus he's off to the races.
The women are just ok. The elf is nice, but she's having sex with the MC by page 50, which is pushing it for "jump right into bed" lack of romance. His best friend forever is not a lover, but is bonded to him. He has 2 other lovers by the end of the book, and there are a multitude of sex scenes. Probably more than there should be for a 300 page book. One he spends time with in a separate dimension and at least gets to know some, but their initial sex scene is under the influence of something neither had a hand in trying to use. The third has sex with him upon meeting to be bound to him, so there's zero effort there. Quite frankly, the MC put no effort into any of the relationships, which hurts the overall book a lot.
There were quite a few typos and misused words in the book. I may read a second book, but I doubt it.
The MC is a normal guy working a crap job, and on his way home, he hears a woman cry out in pain. Running into an alley, he sees an elf being attacked by two men. His distraction allows the elf to kill the two men, and then he takes her back to his apartment, since she's injured. And as part of this, he finds out he's a "Leasher", someone who can form bonds with magical and non-magical people. And thus he's off to the races.
The women are just ok. The elf is nice, but she's having sex with the MC by page 50, which is pushing it for "jump right into bed" lack of romance. His best friend forever is not a lover, but is bonded to him. He has 2 other lovers by the end of the book, and there are a multitude of sex scenes. Probably more than there should be for a 300 page book. One he spends time with in a separate dimension and at least gets to know some, but their initial sex scene is under the influence of something neither had a hand in trying to use. The third has sex with him upon meeting to be bound to him, so there's zero effort there. Quite frankly, the MC put no effort into any of the relationships, which hurts the overall book a lot.
There were quite a few typos and misused words in the book. I may read a second book, but I doubt it.
August 15, 2025
Like a bad DnD game
I made it about 50% and just couldn’t anymore. This was basically just a crappy dnd game. We’re traveling, monster fight, we’re traveling, monster fight, rinse and repeat.
Also the suspension of disbelief had to become we buried the disbelief out back after it had a stroke! The random muscle being killed at first with no one really saying anything, ok sure guys get killed, but once you have building walls being ripped open, machine guns, and more people are going to ask questions! It doesn’t matter how rich or connected the billionaire bad guy is, videos will circulate, people will demand answers, and the government will be involved!
As if that isn’t bad enough the plot armor was thicker than a Dyson sphere! A huge troll grabs his leg and yanks, all he does is complain it hurt really. Wait this is the same troll that tears through a motel, lifts a club (with him on it like it’s nothing) and slams holes in the highway! It would have ripped his leg off like snapping a toothpick!
But wait! There’s more! We also have a damn dragon showing up! Because that’s so subtle and easily hidden from the world! MC easily fends off a super powerful dragon attack and they get away again. At this point I was out.
Extremely poorly written with more plot holes than leaks on the titanic!
I made it about 50% and just couldn’t anymore. This was basically just a crappy dnd game. We’re traveling, monster fight, we’re traveling, monster fight, rinse and repeat.
Also the suspension of disbelief had to become we buried the disbelief out back after it had a stroke! The random muscle being killed at first with no one really saying anything, ok sure guys get killed, but once you have building walls being ripped open, machine guns, and more people are going to ask questions! It doesn’t matter how rich or connected the billionaire bad guy is, videos will circulate, people will demand answers, and the government will be involved!
As if that isn’t bad enough the plot armor was thicker than a Dyson sphere! A huge troll grabs his leg and yanks, all he does is complain it hurt really. Wait this is the same troll that tears through a motel, lifts a club (with him on it like it’s nothing) and slams holes in the highway! It would have ripped his leg off like snapping a toothpick!
But wait! There’s more! We also have a damn dragon showing up! Because that’s so subtle and easily hidden from the world! MC easily fends off a super powerful dragon attack and they get away again. At this point I was out.
Extremely poorly written with more plot holes than leaks on the titanic!
August 27, 2025
a fantastic first offering
Bannerman manages to hit the nail on the head in one try with this novel, and proves to have talent not always seen in this genre. Despite a relatively short length, this book manages to portray each character with depth and nuance not usually seen in 6-800 page books in the genre!
All of the love interests in this novel have personality outside being objects of the main characters affection.
One of my favourite characterizations in this novel is Amber, the best friend of the protagonist. She is confident, funny, and assertive, and her friendship with our MC feels not only realistic, but grounded in how long term friends interact with each other, including ribbing, teasing, and inside jokes.
In an effort to avoid spoilers, I won’t speak about specific relationships, but this novel approaches inter-harem relationships in what I feel is the best way- by not regulating the women in the relationship to be solely an object for our MCs attraction.
Bannerman manages to hit the nail on the head in one try with this novel, and proves to have talent not always seen in this genre. Despite a relatively short length, this book manages to portray each character with depth and nuance not usually seen in 6-800 page books in the genre!
All of the love interests in this novel have personality outside being objects of the main characters affection.
One of my favourite characterizations in this novel is Amber, the best friend of the protagonist. She is confident, funny, and assertive, and her friendship with our MC feels not only realistic, but grounded in how long term friends interact with each other, including ribbing, teasing, and inside jokes.
In an effort to avoid spoilers, I won’t speak about specific relationships, but this novel approaches inter-harem relationships in what I feel is the best way- by not regulating the women in the relationship to be solely an object for our MCs attraction.
August 6, 2025
Amazing new series!
I love everything about this book. Characters are amazing (I'm torn between Netti and Lilly for Best Girl, but i love all of them). The story is similar to many other books, but it doesn't mean anything, I've said in Multiple reviews that it's not the story. it's how it's written. I much rather read well thought out books with similar stories than something thrown together around a very outlandish plot. I'm looking forward to more of this series!
I love everything about this book. Characters are amazing (I'm torn between Netti and Lilly for Best Girl, but i love all of them). The story is similar to many other books, but it doesn't mean anything, I've said in Multiple reviews that it's not the story. it's how it's written. I much rather read well thought out books with similar stories than something thrown together around a very outlandish plot. I'm looking forward to more of this series!
November 3, 2025
Fun and enjoyable
Pretty enjoyable read. The troops are there but with a twist that makes them like new. The characters are interesting and fun. The only thing I really didn't like is the Leash/Leasher termalogy. Just stories the wrong chord with me. Perhaps that will be explained in later books.
The best girl is my opinion is Amber, I would like to have seen more action with her.
Pretty enjoyable read. The troops are there but with a twist that makes them like new. The characters are interesting and fun. The only thing I really didn't like is the Leash/Leasher termalogy. Just stories the wrong chord with me. Perhaps that will be explained in later books.
The best girl is my opinion is Amber, I would like to have seen more action with her.
September 10, 2026
Fun and light-hearted, with likeable love interests
This is the first book in an urban fantasy harem fantasy series about a "Leasher": a young man who has the ability to "Leash" others to him, thereby both gaining power from them and granting them power. The harem is beneficial because the more Leashes he controls, the more power he and each of the Leashes gains.
The main character is a typical sort of nice guy nobody, and many of the other characters are tropes, too, but they're still mostly likeable, and rather hot. The story is also fairly typical of the genre, but it's handled well, with enough twists and turns and variations to keep it interesting, and the love interests are very easy to care about.
There's a fair bit of action and a handful of explicit but fairly short intimate scenes. Oh, it also has a lot of swearing, just as a FYI.
Writing quality is fairly typical of self-published KU, with a wide assortment of grammatical errors and typos, and in particular, lots of problems with tense changes. I think they'd probably average somewhere between one and two per page. Some would have been picked up by an automated checker, so it's a bit disappointing that the author didn't use one before publishing. It is nice to read a self-published book with correct use of lie and lay, though! That is much rarer than it should be.
Dialogue is mostly good, but at times it falls into a sort-of uniform speech pattern regardless of the speaker, which doesn't quite ring true for some characters. Continuity is mostly good on major plot points, but there are a few little inconsistencies. The book also suffers a little from the stereotypical "every hot girl suddenly wants to bond with the previously ignored MC" trope, and it feels as though things are a bit (or a lot) too easy at times. I would have preferred a little more effort, rather than so many things just falling into his lap.
Overall I enjoyed this. It's not perfect, but for a light-hearted action harem fantasy it's not too bad at all. I'll be moving straight on to the next one.
This is the first book in an urban fantasy harem fantasy series about a "Leasher": a young man who has the ability to "Leash" others to him, thereby both gaining power from them and granting them power. The harem is beneficial because the more Leashes he controls, the more power he and each of the Leashes gains.
The main character is a typical sort of nice guy nobody, and many of the other characters are tropes, too, but they're still mostly likeable, and rather hot. The story is also fairly typical of the genre, but it's handled well, with enough twists and turns and variations to keep it interesting, and the love interests are very easy to care about.
There's a fair bit of action and a handful of explicit but fairly short intimate scenes. Oh, it also has a lot of swearing, just as a FYI.
Writing quality is fairly typical of self-published KU, with a wide assortment of grammatical errors and typos, and in particular, lots of problems with tense changes. I think they'd probably average somewhere between one and two per page. Some would have been picked up by an automated checker, so it's a bit disappointing that the author didn't use one before publishing. It is nice to read a self-published book with correct use of lie and lay, though! That is much rarer than it should be.
Dialogue is mostly good, but at times it falls into a sort-of uniform speech pattern regardless of the speaker, which doesn't quite ring true for some characters. Continuity is mostly good on major plot points, but there are a few little inconsistencies. The book also suffers a little from the stereotypical "every hot girl suddenly wants to bond with the previously ignored MC" trope, and it feels as though things are a bit (or a lot) too easy at times. I would have preferred a little more effort, rather than so many things just falling into his lap.
Overall I enjoyed this. It's not perfect, but for a light-hearted action harem fantasy it's not too bad at all. I'll be moving straight on to the next one.
September 4, 2026
It's established early on in the story that the bond between leashed and leasher is til death do us part. It's also been established by his own admission, that the main billionaire baddie has already killed 5 previous leashers. So why, in the name of the lord, does he just kidnap MC's two leashed ladies, while leading the MC himself alive? What possible good does it do to have those two girls, bonded to another guy, in his possession? Sure, he told his goons to kill MC, but he doesn't stick around to see it done, when he's RIGHT THERE, and he needs MC to die in order to claim his leashed? No, instead he gives the order and takes off, and MC is saved before the main baddie is even out of line of sight. WTF? There's plot armor, and then there's plan stupid plot. And that was stupid as balls. Seriously, just kidnaps the two girls, dresses them up nice and what? Waits for MC to show up, even more powerful, with more leashed, so they can fight? He was RIGHT THERE, with his mana pool pretty much tapped. And to make matters worse, baddie saw the healer girl, KNEW she was an unclaimed leash, and doesn't go through the effort to bring her along? Just tells his goons to do it, so they can die in the attempt. SMH. That guy deserved to lose. So stupid.
Otherwise, it was a decent story, except for that stupid plot point. It was heavily similar to the anime Sekirei, which, surprises me it didn't get a shoutout at least briefly, since so many anime were mentioned in the story.
Otherwise, it was a decent story, except for that stupid plot point. It was heavily similar to the anime Sekirei, which, surprises me it didn't get a shoutout at least briefly, since so many anime were mentioned in the story.
October 10, 2025
Technically well written
I really wanted to like this book. The writing and dialog are above average for the genre.
However, for a book that titles itself as an Urban Fantasy, the majority of the content is smut. I think some is fine, especially in a book with a premise like this but it felt like there was more smut than plot. The MC also bonded with too many women. I liked all of them individually but five in barely over 250 pages is too much, too fast. This harem is already the same size what I would consider the premier series in the genre (Mob Sorcery) but in a couple hundred pages instead of thousands. It doesn't feel like we got enough time to truly feel like our MC deserved anything he was given in this story.
It's a shame that I can't rate this higher than a 3, the writing and interesting settings (I quite liked the weird other world) are actually good but the harem and MC have too many issues.
I really wanted to like this book. The writing and dialog are above average for the genre.
However, for a book that titles itself as an Urban Fantasy, the majority of the content is smut. I think some is fine, especially in a book with a premise like this but it felt like there was more smut than plot. The MC also bonded with too many women. I liked all of them individually but five in barely over 250 pages is too much, too fast. This harem is already the same size what I would consider the premier series in the genre (Mob Sorcery) but in a couple hundred pages instead of thousands. It doesn't feel like we got enough time to truly feel like our MC deserved anything he was given in this story.
It's a shame that I can't rate this higher than a 3, the writing and interesting settings (I quite liked the weird other world) are actually good but the harem and MC have too many issues.
May 22, 2026
Lol I love this and it is heavy on the anime references " the one piece is real " i love it one of my favorite animes but besides that its a good listen I love the mc and the characters so far good job. And im pleased that the mc is a giver you'd be surprised how many haremlit books I have listened to and the mc just goes straight in for the pump and dump no foreplay no nothing women need more than just a poke so excellent work author 😀
August 21, 2025
This was fun
Now this is a harem novel. It was a blast. Interesting magic framework. No martial at all. Really wanted to see our MC grind out some experience and maybe another leash or two in the Jungle. That open ending with Amber leaves me dissatisfied as well. Other than that it was a great epilogue.
Now this is a harem novel. It was a blast. Interesting magic framework. No martial at all. Really wanted to see our MC grind out some experience and maybe another leash or two in the Jungle. That open ending with Amber leaves me dissatisfied as well. Other than that it was a great epilogue.
October 25, 2025
Nice!!
This was a fun read. The disgruntled worker bee MC suddenly thrust into the Fae world. The quirky cast of supporting characters. The “BadGuy” with his army of ‘security’ and a host of deadly Fae assassins who constantly harass the MC and his small (but growing) crew.
I liked this tale, Author Bannerman. Liked it a lot. Looking forward to the next installment.
This was a fun read. The disgruntled worker bee MC suddenly thrust into the Fae world. The quirky cast of supporting characters. The “BadGuy” with his army of ‘security’ and a host of deadly Fae assassins who constantly harass the MC and his small (but growing) crew.
I liked this tale, Author Bannerman. Liked it a lot. Looking forward to the next installment.
January 19, 2026
It was both...
Interesting and annoying. The main protagonist whined like a little girl if anyone had more than him or treated him in a neutral manner. Unless they were kind to him, he was an a-hole about it. I did like the system and most of the characters, but the whiny main was a crappy center to the story.
Interesting and annoying. The main protagonist whined like a little girl if anyone had more than him or treated him in a neutral manner. Unless they were kind to him, he was an a-hole about it. I did like the system and most of the characters, but the whiny main was a crappy center to the story.
August 26, 2025
If you need a proofreader?
It was a great book but I found at least 6 errors in spelling which character was being referenced and I think a quotation open ended I'm no Grammer police but they are glaring
It was a great book but I found at least 6 errors in spelling which character was being referenced and I think a quotation open ended I'm no Grammer police but they are glaring
October 8, 2025
Not as fleshed out as I like
Interesting premise, but not well executed. I felt that some scenes were excluded, and the author relied too much on certain references... Could've been a good story
Interesting premise, but not well executed. I felt that some scenes were excluded, and the author relied too much on certain references... Could've been a good story
November 11, 2025
fun sexy romp with magical creatures
Lots of action, likable characters and some decent erotic scenes. The individual women who the main character seduces are sexy and attractive. Looking forward to the next episode
Lots of action, likable characters and some decent erotic scenes. The individual women who the main character seduces are sexy and attractive. Looking forward to the next episode
January 3, 2026
Somehow fresh and tropy at the same time...I managed to finish it by skimming through some sections. The forced separation I felt is going to be contentions for most. I think the series has potential, I will give the second one a try to see what this author has to offer.
September 5, 2026
i enjoyed this
I’ve read ard’s oath, primal conjuror, warlock, and several others and I enjoyed this as well. Spice was good and the story kept me reading. Will definitely read the next one
I’ve read ard’s oath, primal conjuror, warlock, and several others and I enjoyed this as well. Spice was good and the story kept me reading. Will definitely read the next one
August 14, 2025
Very good book
This is a fine fantasy harem adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Fawn. I anxiously await the sequel.
This is a fine fantasy harem adventure novel. It is well written and edited. I especially like Fawn. I anxiously await the sequel.
August 15, 2025
Not the usual....
All sorts of women and problems to work through. It is more story than simply harem lit. I will buy the ne,t to see where the story goes from here.
All sorts of women and problems to work through. It is more story than simply harem lit. I will buy the ne,t to see where the story goes from here.
August 16, 2025
seriously interesting 🤔
I was highly impressed and entertained with this book. I hope you continue to write as I would enjoy reading more from you. Good job 👍🏻
I was highly impressed and entertained with this book. I hope you continue to write as I would enjoy reading more from you. Good job 👍🏻
September 6, 2025
Just far enough outside normal to be fun
Good premise and just a good balance of action and romance. Very enjoyable.
Hope to see another installment soon. Highly recommended.
Good premise and just a good balance of action and romance. Very enjoyable.
Hope to see another installment soon. Highly recommended.
November 8, 2025
I really enjoyed this book! The MC was really well balanced, and I could barely put the book down. excited for the next one
November 16, 2025
Well, dang
This was certainly a pleasant surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Don’t know why, just the writing and the genuine affection between the characters.
This was certainly a pleasant surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Don’t know why, just the writing and the genuine affection between the characters.
November 21, 2025
Jesus, can't he go five minutes without dribbling on about that woman's tits? God knows what he's going to be like when they introduce a second woman. No thanks.
December 22, 2025
Huge fun
Outstanding, I loved every moment and couldn't put it down. Great story, loveable characters, what more could you ask for, except more!
Outstanding, I loved every moment and couldn't put it down. Great story, loveable characters, what more could you ask for, except more!
May 18, 2026
Unique premise fast paced story
Other than a few obvious typos which makes it seem hurriedly published the story itself is well-cased and keeps you involved.
Other than a few obvious typos which makes it seem hurriedly published the story itself is well-cased and keeps you involved.
September 13, 2026
upside is that its easy to read and creative. backrooms/liminal space is original in haremlit. execution is kind of bland and rushed
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews