Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins

Harley Merlin #2

by Bella Forrest

A dark past. A hidden power. A dangerous enemy.

Harley Merlin has a lot of unanswered questions in her life. What drove her father to kill her mother? How can she know the true extent of her magical abilities? Has Wade Crowley always been this annoying?

After the violent gargoyle incident that left many dead, Harley fears what other evil tricks her psychotic aunt has up her sleeve. When she discovers that magical foster kids like herself are in danger, she knows she must do whatever it takes to protect them.

And it turns out that Tatyana, the Coven’s resident ghost-whisperer, is also willing to make sacrifices and has secrets of her own…

Continue the journey. Buy now!

*Beware of spoilers in the reviews below that are without spoiler alerts*

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic, Fiction, Audiobook

406 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 30, 2018

About the author

UPDATE MARCH 11, 2024:

BELLA IS BACK!

*** New, updated online store at https://BellaForrest.com

*** New books coming soon

*** Possible Film/TV series coming soon

*** Stay up to date by joining our e-mail list at https://BellaForrest.com/join

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Bella Forrest is a lover of fantasy, romance, action, and mystery infused stories with twists you don’t see coming. She has sold over fifteen million books since her first novel was published in 2012.

Check out her website for a full list of her books: https://BellaForrest.com

Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BellaForrest...

Here's a list of some of Bella's books:

DARKLIGHT

Darklight (Book 1)
Darkthirst (Book 2)
Darkworld (Book 3)
Darkblood (Book 4)
Darktide (Book 5)
Darkbirth (Book 6)
Darkfall (Book 7)
Darkwilds (Book 8)
Darkhunt (Book 9)

A LOVE THAT ENDURES (Trilogy)
A Love that Endures 1
A Love that Endures 2
A Love that Endures 3

HARLEY MERLIN AND THE SECRET COVEN

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Book 1)
Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Book 2)
Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals (Book 3)
Harley Merlin and the First Ritual (Book 4)
Harley Merlin and the Broken Spell (Book 5)
Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris (Book 6)
Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix (Book 7)
Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos (Book 8)
Harley Merlin and the Mortal Pact (Book 9)
Finch Merlin and the Fount of Youth (Book 10)
Finch Merlin and the Lost Map (Book 11)
Finch Merlin and the Djinn's Curse (Book 12)
Finch Merlin and the Locked Gateway (Book 13)
Finch Merlin and the Forgotten Kingdom (Book 14)
Finch Merlin and the Everlasting Vow (Book 15)
Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie (Book 16)
Finch Merlin and the Legend of the Luminary
Persie Merlin and Leviathan's Gift (Book 18)
Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere (Book 19)
Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters (Book 20)
Persie Merlin and the Dying Song (Book 21)

THE CHILD THIEF

The Child Thief (Book 1)
Deep Shadows (Book 2)
Thin Lines (Book 3)
Little Lies (Book 4)
Ghost Towns (Book 5)
Zero Hour (Book 6)

HOTBLOODS

Hotbloods (Book 1)
Hotbloods (Book 2): Coldbloods
Hotbloods (Book 3): Renegades
Hotbloods (Book 4): Venturers
Hotbloods (Book 5): Traitors
Hotbloods (Book 6): Allies
Hotbloods (Book 7): Invaders
Hotbloods (Book 8): Stargazers

THE GENDER GAME

The Gender Game (Book 1)
The Gender Secret (Book 2)
The Gender Lie (Book 3)
The Gender War (Book 4)
The Gender Fall (Book 5)
The Gender Plan (Book 6)
The Gender End (Book 7)

THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK

The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)
The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)
The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)
The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)
The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)
The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6
The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)

A SHADE OF VAMPIRE

Season 1: Derek & Sofia’s story

Books 1 to 7

Season 2: Rose & Caleb’s story

Books 8 to 16

Season 3: The Shade continues with a new hero...

Books 17 to 24

Season 4: A Clan of Novaks

Books 25 to 32

Season 5: A Dawn of Guardians

Books 33 to 41

Season 6: A Gift of Three

Books 42 to 50

Season 7: A Call of Vampires

Books 51 to 59

Season 8: A Voyage of Founders

Books 60 to 68

Season 9: A Birth of Fire

Books 69 to 77

Season 10: An Origin of Vampires
An Origin of Vampires (Book 78)
A Game of Death (Book 79)
A Veil of Dark (Book 80)
A Bringer of Night (Book 81)
A Circle of Nine (Book 82)
A Bender of Spirit (Book 83)
A Memory of Time (Book 84)
A Shard of Soul (Book 85)
A Break of Seals (Book 86)

Season 11: A Shade of Mystery
A Shade of Mystery (Book 87)
An Isle of Mirrors (Book 88)
A Sanctuary of Foes (Book 89)
A Ruler of Clones (Book 90)
A Gate of Light (Book 91)
A Dawn of Worlds (Book 92) ➜ Coming soon!

Reviews

[Tosha Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I have to read the words “Katherine Shipton” or “smirk” again, I’ll scream. The story is good, but the verbiage and actual writing fall VERY flat. I was hopeful that the first book was that awkward settling in that every series has, but I’m beginning to think this really may be the authors writing style. She seriously needs a thesaurus and a few creative writing classes.

Bella’s idea for this story is wonderful. However, her writing is very juvenile. With incorrect use of common phrases (“in the wind” being one of them), consistent over-explanation of scenery and characters, use of the same descriptors and actions over and over, it’s very difficult to take this story or writer seriously.

I really wanted to like these books, but unless the writing style changes, I will not be continuing with this series. It is understood that Young Adult is the genre, but that does not mean that poor writing styles should be excused. I felt the same with Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray. I tried to read them, but didn’t get past the first few chapters of the first books due to the terrible writing styles. Yet here they are, millions of copies and a load of movies later. It’s sad, but understandable I guess.

Bella may be successful otherwise with her other books, which I will be checking out. I do hope that her writing style grows and that her vocabulary expands. It’s sad to see such good ideas wasted on bad writing.

[Ashley McLeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, fast-paced paranormal fantasy read. I enjoyed this book more than book 1 because of the added POVs and politics. Plus, things got darker (in an obvious AND subtle way) and that’s my cup of tea!

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harley Merlin and the Cursed Child Mystery Twins is the second in the series, and first sequel to its equally underwhelming urban fantasy predecessor Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven. If you haven't read the first book in the series, don't worry. The first couple chapters of this sequel are a very detailed recap, which makes starting this novel feel a lot like putting on a pair of waders and jumping into a lake of molasses.

First off, in my review for the first novel, I expressed a desire for a deeper exploration of the foster system. I'd like to travel back in time by about 500 pages and punch myself in the face. This novel features the word foster (followed by kid / system / parent etc.) 62 times and boy oh boy do you feel every single one. Foster kids are a central plot of this novel, so this shouldn't really be a complaint, but I think it speaks to how clunky and uninspiring the writing is that you truly find the over use of 'foster kid' egregious. Because it's a main feature, you might think that it merits a deeper exploration of being in care, and the way that it truly did influence the central protagonist's quest to find somewhere that she belongs, and I believe it was supposed to, but instead it just seems to cause a load of "You don't know what it's LIKE" wankery from Harley, our main protagonist. Disappointing.

I say main protagonist because, joy of joys, we're joined by a new narrator! Tatyana is a Russian witch with the ability to communicate with the dead. We were introduced to her in the first novel, but she lost all interesting qualities as soon as we got inside her head and she turned out to be Harley 2.0. This is a serious problem with the author's attempt to include a second narrator. We, the reader, should be able to tell the two perspectives apart without relying on having noticed the chapter heading telling you whose POV you're in. If you are truly enthralled, you often skip extraneous headings. Even if you're not actually enthralled, you still glance over them. Louise Erdich, in her novel Tracks is a really great example of code switching between two narrators without using a trick of a different font, but rather tense and language. In Patrick Ness's Monsters of Men there are three separate narrators and even though font sets them apart visually, they are linguistically unique from one another and each equally engaging. In this novel, however, Tatyana and Harley narrate in the exact same way, and it was often only some way into the chapter I'd actually realise that they'd switched. Tatyana also had markedly fewer chapters to focus on her story. It seems that rather than having two equal narratives, the split narrator was a lazy trick to avoid having to logistically explain several occurrences from Harley's POV. If Taty had a more distinct voice that reflected her background, this would have probably been less of an issue. Fundamentally, I find her more interesting than Harley.

Harley was not my favourite protagonist in the first book, as she teetered on the precipice of being a mary sue. By this one, she has toppled over the top. She's got potential to be one of the most powerful witches ever, the big bad is gunning for her personally, and even the interesting backstory of her father murdering her mother (it's not a spoiler if the book description already mentioned it) is suddenly "Oh well he was CURSED. He didn't TRULY MEAN IT." clearing up the potential for drama this early in the series is a bit predictable.

We've still to meet the series' Big Bad but we get two minor villains this time and what can I really say except they were interesting enough until the final showdown where they turned into a standard over-confident, quippy, wisecracking archetype of a villain and I was left feeling "oh wow is that really my lot?" We've all see it done before. This was nothing exciting or new. I will also say that one of the fundamental issue with the villain in this novel, that is to say, KATHERINE SHIPTON, SCARIEST NAME IN THE WEST (don't worry if you forget, she's mentioned by name 146 times -- 87 of those in full, first and surname), is that it's two books in and it's still not exactly clear what her deal is. There's mention of Darkness and Light and that she wants to be Child of Chaos , but that's all just words. We're trying to stop her but I'm not sure WHY.

To expand on this, let's zoom out to some of the advertising for this book. "Harry Potter for Grown Ups", as I've seen it touted. However, it seems so desperate to Not Be Harry Potter that it rips off some things from that series whilst glancing over the aspects of worldbuilding that make Harry Potter and, particularly, its villain work. The books fumble through explaining the makeup of "magical" society and the coven system, but when you break it all down it seems to be Whatever Is Convenient at Any Given Time.

We don't see a lot of it, and when we do it doesn't seem to work well. Therefore, the disassembly of this society doesn't seem like a high enough stake. In Harry Potter you realise that a victory for Voldemort means a facist dictatorship that puts muggles (a position you, the reader, can generally relate with) on the bottom rung of society, followed by the persecution of muggle-borns (Hermione is the main character you have for reference here; a likeable character who is also the best and brightest sort of witch, and would be punished for no reason under Voldemort's regime), and positions people like the Malfoys (who at face value, come across as generally unpleasant) at the top of society. And despite the slow reveal of the depth of Voldemort's plans, over the course of the books, the characters and conflicts are established from the get go. At first the stakes are laid out: Harry stopped Voldemort's plans as a baby, Voldemort will try and kill Harry again as soon as he has power. Hermione is looked down upon by Draco Malfoy-- and specific muggle born related slurs exist in this society. Though it is over the next few books that more is revealed, the way society operates is present from the beginning. For Harley Merlin, however, there are no clear answers as to what is at stake and why we should care, because things are all over the place. Instead of starting with a simple conflict, we're thrown in at the deep end when we are not particularly invested. Our "misfits" aren't misfits at all. They're all physically powerful, and several have family in high places. What does Katherine's takeover threaten to change for them? What does she really represent? What does any of this "Child of Chaos" nonsense really MEAN?

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

Also just in case you got down this far, the book is poorly written. The ideas aren't bad but the presentation of the whole story is hampered by how lacklustre it is presented. No one wants purple prose, but it is nice to get some flair. Whilst it is grammatically sound, the style is simplistic to the point of being dull. There's a lot of telling and not showing, and as I already hinted, a LOT of repetitive use of language and certain words. Put it this way, when I was at 93% complete, I forced myself to listen to Tubthumping by Chumbawamba on repeat until it was finished. I listened to it 5 or 6 times in its entirety and still almost couldn't power through the last 5% which really didn't need to be included in this book, but rather exists to try and force the reader to buy the next one in the series.

Well.

I get knocked down.
But I get up again.

[Racysteed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a fun read, although I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. Sadly, it gave into the trope of a character withholding information to protect others when common sense called for the opposite. I didn't enjoy the changing perspectives very much - the two characters' voices were too similar and I had to keep going back to the start of the chapter to remind myself whose perspective I was in. The storyline's mysteries were intriguing and the action was well-paced. I've moved onto the third book, which already shows great characterizations.

[♦♣ queen of faerie ♠♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good Harley adventure.

On to book 3!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I really think Im gonna actually finish the series this time. I have started it three times, but then something always got in the way and I would only get through the first few chapters. But look! I finally got through the second one!

So it has been a year since I first started this series and I am noticing things I didn't before. This world seems to revolve around Harley, which kind of annoys. Even now with more POV's, its still all about her. Which I understand, but it is also unrealistic. Getting Tatyana's perspective was fun, but once again it did talk a lot about Harley and I really just wanted to focus on Tatyana. Still fun books! Though I am getting frustrated with how slow the romance is going!

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Read

All in all this was a good read. Harley has a lot of room for improvement. She really got on my nerves with her impulsive behavior and total lack of respect for the rules. I was glad to have more than just her point of view but I would have liked to have Wade's as well. Hopefully I'll get that in the next book....

[Chris Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magic with a twist.

Another fast paced, imaginative book from Bella. The characters leap off the page and the magic feels new. I cant wait for the 3rd installment.

[Tex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very mediocre book for an adult reader but a young person might not be put off by the stilted dialogue...and as I type that I realize that they would. This is the second in the series and is is very important to have read the first to ‘now anything about what is going on. Tries very hard to be diverse and be Potter-esque in the magical department, but not very successful.

[Laura..devouring books like crumpets · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one dragged!!!!!

It took until about 60 percent for anything truly interesting to happen, we had to Povs Harley and another group member Tatyana basically doing the same thing for the better first half of the book, looking for fostered magics, who had been visited also by a mysterious duo.

It did pick up and once it did... an easy 5 star read... its just a shame about the first 60%

[Librad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it...

Characters are interesting and likeable, magic system is well thought out and the storyline pulls you in... Very very pleasant read...

[Caryn Zdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really liking this series so far. Can’t wait to continue it!

[The Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I really think I’m in trouble! I love this series so much, and I really feel like I’m going to have some sleepless nights to get through it as fast as I can!! Even cause the second book gripped me even more than the first 🙈 someone help!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

prediction for the next books:

I bet Imogen is really Katherine

[Aarann · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, just like with the first book, this was... fine.

We pick up very shortly after the first book ended, with Harley still considering whether she would join the San Diego coven (although it's clear she wants to, it just felt like she was stringing them along just to string them along). The mission in this one is for the "rag team" to find underage magical children and recruit them. This means that if they are foster children being raised with mortal parents who love them, they have to take them from the parents and raise them under boarding-school-like conditions where the parents have their memories erased and the children, some of them very small, sometimes get taken from foster parents who actually love them.

And for some reason, the obvious answer has never occurred to anyone until Harley comes along.

That's what really bothers me about these books. When the situation was being explained to Harley, I kept thinking, "Okay, but why can't they do it this other way if the parents love the kid?" Why force such a traumatizing experience for small children who are finally in stable homes and then put them somewhere they get no parental affection? Sure, the parents get their memories erased, but the kids still remember those parents. It seemed needlessly problematic. And apparently, of all the people in this world, for all the centuries of keeping magic secret, Harley is the first person to stumble into the rather obvious idea of maybe letting the kids go to magical school during the day and coming home to their loving parents at night and on weekends?

She's just such a speshul snowflake.

So anyway, while trying to obtain these kids, they come across a pair of eeeeevil "Mystery Twins" who are impersonating the covens and stealing foster kids before they can get to them. What follows was... fun enough to keep my interest, but still felt like filler. Harley also has a new foster brother who I am 99% certain is also Harley's biological cousin with magical abilities she has to decide whether to keep secret from the coven, Harley discovers why she's listed as a "mediocre" in spite of having super-OP abilities (technically she shouldn't have any abilities at all), and we have to pretend she and Wade aren't panting after each other.

But also, we got a bunch of the book from Tatiana's POV, and I really dig Tatiana. Something about her dark, overly pragmatic Russian-ness (or at least how Americans perceive Russians), I just loved her in the first book and despite some TSTL moments on her part (that really just seemed like bad plotting because I don't believe Tati would have fallen for that) I loved her too.

There were some plot lines that I'm really hoping were left hanging because the author was planning ahead (the little ghost altar boy comes to mind) and not because they were just endlessly dangling. You can't leave a ghost kid without a resolution, come on.

Either way, I got the audio book and the next one on one of Audible's 2-for-1-credit deals and I'm not sorry. But I also don't see me binging and getting a ton of these books at once because I've read a few reviews ahead and I doubt I'll finish this series, even enough to get to Finch's books.

[KatiEllen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

“Poison can be drunk slowly and feel incredible.”

This is the second book in the Harley Merlin series and in this one magical children who aren't affiliated with the coven are being targeted by the mysterious Ryder twins. The children are of different ages and backgrounds, foster children living with non magicals.

In this book we get to see more into the world of the coven and the rules it is built on, how they deal with human interaction and relationships. The covens rules say that the children should be taken from their non magical foster parents and have any trace of them wiped. Harley being of a foster background immediately rebels against this idea, like she does with the majority of their rules, and suggests leaving the children where they are.

“The past is the past, and you can’t change it. Let it go, already.”

Harley acts before she thinks, and doesn't talk her thoughts or ideas with others in the group. She puts them on the spot without thinking about the consequences, and by then she can't back down. It's traits like this I find hard, I understand she comes from a non magical background and yes the magical system probably needs a good shake up from an outsiders point of view.

Like Harley this book still has a lot of potential and work that needs doing before I really love it, but it's an easy read. This book introduced Tatyana as a new POV and I'm hoping in the books to come the author adds more voices or changes the character each time to keep it fresh and help build and drive the story. Not everything can happen to Harley. A lot of her friends come from interesting and prominent families/backgrounds and their abilities aren't all the same.

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[Crystie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book had way too much of a recap at the beginning. It was written as if the reader had skipped the first book, but that is very annoying IMO since it is a series. The reader should be expected to read in order and not waste two or more chapters being spoonfed.

I also didn't really care for the swapping of viewpoints. I'd rather just get Harley's viewpoint. The other characters are cool, but I don't need their views. I felt like I was getting cheated out of the main storyline. I've read other books where I liked getting multiple POVs, but for some reason I resented the swaps in this book.

Also, I wanted more time with Harley and Wade. This is written as a YA, so I totally get the slow burn approach. At the same time, that shouldn't mean they can't have more scenes just between them. They could just go out to eat more, or something. More friend time and almost date time would have been better than the side plot with Tatyana.

Still, once I got past the recap and the plot actually started, this book was almost as good as the first. I look forward to starting the third book.

[Enzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harley entered the San Diego coven with a punch. Just a few days in everything went terribly wrong. but her new friends and her managed to save the day. Now the Rag Team is called back into action. They need to roundup young magicals that have not joined the coven ye. Most of them coming thru the Foster System as they t.
So they are now going out and trying to see if they can help.
During one outing they discover a mysterious card from the Twins. Harley is conflicted about taking the kids away from their adoptive families. She also learns the Smith's are fostering a new young man. Jacob seems to be a nice guy. He takes to Harley and they both feel a lot of love towards the Smith's.
What follows is a lot of action and magic.
I really like this series. Yes, its similar to Harry Potter. But the differences are telling.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a good sequel to Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven, and continued the story. I loved the magic present, which is very interesting. I also am really enjoying getting to know all of the characters and their pasts and what makes them tick. I'm happy Wade and Garrett might be getting past some of their issues. Overall, I thought this book was well written and highly entertaining, with a good mystery. 4 stars. Oh, and Harley has a power suppressor, which is very intriguing. I hope they get it out of her, because I want to see what happens when she's at full strength!

[Lea Kane · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Ryder twins target Magicals in foster homes as part of Katherine's plot against the covens. Harley's emotional decision to keep the kids with their family has consequences they must overcome. I was frustrated in this read. So many obvious things they did wrong, decisions that were ludicrous. And the big finale of hurting Harley could have been done in the beginning of the book, therefore making most of this read pointless. If the next one is not more organized, I don't think I will be continuing.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - to a degree. What annoyed me was the 'incompetence' of the people responsible for keeping the kids/human parents safe from the twins (Katherine Shipton). It was often like an episode of Keystone Cops. I felt like they should have contained the situation better - the Mage Council be damned!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book and the plot. We are getting to know all the characters better as the series progresses. I like Harley. I find the writing style repetitive at times, but I let that go because the story is fast-paced and fun to read.

[Ursula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really getting sucked into the plot of this series. The writing style could still be better but its improved from the first book.

[Kena Huber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. It's an amazing series, I love the characters and everything.

[Maria Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ficou um pouquinho mais dark, mas ainda é muito light demais. Podia ir por um caminho mais denso. Até o HP foi, gente!

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Had top get the next one.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I liked the different POVs. The story was fast paced and yet not predictable. The main character is very likable, as are most of the characters. Will definitely read the next one. Two thumbs up.

[Danna · Rating 5 out of 5]

נחמד, ממשיך את הקודם.

[isapower · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was amazingly awful. The only thing I can say is that it wasn't as awful as some books that I couldn't even finish. This author comes off as about 13 years old in her ability to write. It's a fantasy book so we expect the implausible but the level of magical thinking is extraordinary. For example, why is it that 19 year olds are the ones in charge of an investigation? How is it that a 19 year old can pay for the restoration of a totaled classic Mustang (thousands of dollars if a flattened car could be restored at all) as a gift for a perspective girlfriend? That's total 13 year old thinking! How is it that so many people in the coven can be killed off with no real emotional upset? And I just wanted to slap Harley when she kept saying that she was so upset that Mrs. Smith was being killed and that she wouldn't stand for it but at the same time she just wrung her hands and did nothing.