Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals

Harley Merlin #3

by Bella Forrest

How does one become an all-powerful Child of Chaos?

That’s what Harley desperately needs to find out before her unhinged aunt raises the death toll.

All she knows for sure is that magical kids are missing, and they somehow fit into Katherine Shipton’s grand scheme. Now that Harley is an official member of the San Diego Coven, she feels more responsible than ever for its protection—and that of the magical world.

But she’s got a whole lot more on her plate than that.

There’s a traitor lurking within the Coven. She still yearns to know the secrets contained within her parents’ Grimoire. And there’s also the fact that she might actually have feelings for a certain stubborn, green-eyed dude…

All the while, Santana faces her own demons, with a magical Purge building within her and a crush on a boy with a dark side, one that might just lead them to real answers.

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

395 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 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

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all of the other Harley Merlin books, I have no idea why I like them...but I do. Are they amazing, high-quality, thought-provoking literature? Definitely not. The characters are at best pretty canned (who even cares at all about Dylan or Raffe? Anybody? Bueller?). The plot is confusing and in places nonsensical. The main male lead has an Irish accent but is from Texas. The main female character is so overpowered and #blessed that it's beyond absurdity. There are an inordinate number of parentless teenagers in the plot. Things just don't make sense, and yet I love them anyway. I've been tearing through this series pretty happily - definitely an excellent, fun summer read.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series, I only have one complaint and that is it needs to be picked up by a major publisher to I can sell it to my customers at the bookstore where I work.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoever decided that this series is for adult Potter fans is nuts. This third book reads more like a teenager girl's diary then a well formulated story by J.K. Rowling. Witches, warlocks and a couple of monsters is not enough to put a series in the same league as Harry Potter.

The first book started with an interesting idea. The second expanded the idea but didn't develop much intrigue. This third book became more implausible with the teens being given an unrealistic assignment considering their skill level. Then it bogs down in the love stories.

I do not plan on wasting any more time with Harley Merlin.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

I really enjoyed the humor and witty sarcastic comments. There were times I giggled or laughed out loud. Always a nice touch to add some humor in an intense situation. One thing that is starting to annoy me is the lack of character development. Harley still seems the same as book 1. Yeah, I know she has the device that's not allowing her to use 100% of her powers but she is also incredibly powerful. For her to still only be able to perform in high stress or in an aggressive/emotional state I book 3 is grating on my nerves. Also, she is still making impulsive decisions. Hoping to see some improvements next book on her character and her budding romance.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow am I getting annoyed with how slow the romance is going in this! I feel like we were given Santana's POV just so we could have a little romance. Though I did enjoy that it concentrated more on Santana's life, than a side character just talking about Harley the whole time (which there was still some of that). I thought it was interesting to see which character the author chose for which scenes.

One thing I do like is the change in Harley. In the first couple of books she seemed arrogant and tried to hard. I like that she is a little less sure of herself. It humanizes her a bit more. BUT I JUST WISH THEY WOULD KISS ALREADY! If I have to go through another book where their relationship doesn't move forward i'm gonna throttle somebody!

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are kind of addictive. I mean, they're well written books, with engaging characters and interesting magic, but when I'm reading them I have a hard time putting them down. This book was pretty good. Harley is worrying me a bit. I hope she doesn't go all evil or something like that. 4 stars.

[Anne Wingate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at Your Own Peril

Because you won't be able to get anything else done until you finish the book, and then . . .
Wait a minute! Did I say I was going to review this book? Fuggetaboutit! I am going to go read the next one. Right now. See you there!
Recommended for --oh, go read it, okay?

[Amy Deacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant Series

I've been really enjoying this series and will be starting the next one ASAP. You really believe the complex world Bella Forrest has created.

[Alex(Books-In-A-Storm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://books-in-a-storm.tumblr.com/p...

[Aarann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book featured Harley and Santana, who proved to be an excellent side character. We got to know more about Rafe and his djinn (guessing on the spelling the book used), we got more information about Hiram and Hester, as well as Katherine and her horcruxes plans to become a Child of Chaos. Sirius Isadora even shows up for a minute, but that doesn't go great. Also, even though the kids who were kidnapped in the last book were not all saved, I'm pretty sure at least Micah-the-cute-five-year-old was finally saved. (I think. I kind of lost track of him in the last fight.) Also, is Alton evil? I feel like Alton is going to end up being evil. He sure is acting strangely.

The suppressor thing is ridiculous. Harley is so OP at this point, I'm not sure the story can even continue once it gets removed, which it sounds like the books are warming up to. Plus, I found myself more invested in Santana and Rafe than Harley and Wade. At least Santana has some gumption, ya know? And her byplay with the djinn (this was an audiobook so I'd butcher his name if I tried to guess the spelling) was a lot of fun. I liked how she doesn't shy away from that side of Rafe. As for Harley and Wade, I mean obviously there's interest there, but it's moving so slowly it's hard to care about it. Especially since it doesn't seem like I have enough of the series to actually see them get together. And on that note...

I totally forgot when I picked this up that this series has not just been discontinued, but entirely removed from existence (unless you can find used paperbacks somewhere or something). I'm not clear on the details (seems like there might be a plagiarism issue, but there are no details out there, at least not in the 20 second google search I did), but basically, the four books I have in my audible library are all I'm ever going to get. And given that WB/Discovery/whateverthefuck is demonstrating that the money we pay for digital media is worth absolutely nothing when they can take it away for a tax writeoff (yes, you I-told-you-so-ers, I know it's in the ToS), I'm not convinced other companies won't follow suit and this will someday disappear from my audible library too -- especially since there may be a legal dispute about this one. Which kind of sucks. This series is never going to be more than three stars for me, but after my last disappointing -- and rapey -- foray into Harry Potter-like universes, this felt... not great, but at least light and familiar. At the very least, I wasn't worried that Wade was going to ignore a "no" from Harley if things got too serious. If anyone knows what the "Bella Forrest" crew apparently ripped off to get this series, let me know. I'd like to know where the Harley Merlin series goes (at least until I get to Finch and Persie, who I don't know enough to care about) and if I need to read other books from authors who got ripped off to get there, that's fine with me. I'd rather give my money to those guys than what sounds like a ghost-writing-sweat-shop that apparently steals other people's work anyway.

UPDATE: For anyone interested, I did a little more digging after my mini-rant and found out I can still get the rest of the books through the library. Bella Forrest also has them available through her website. Audible would still be my preference, but if I someday really want to know where the story goes, it's good to know I have the option.

[Kate McMurry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent audiobook, Harley and Santana are dual protagonists

Book 3 begins immediately after the events of Book 2 in this series. Holly has just visited her half-brother Finch Shipton in Purgatory, a magical, maximum-security prison. She informs him she knows that her father was not actually a murderer. He was cursed into obedience to murder for the Big Bad of this series, Finch’s mother and Harley’s maternal aunt, Katherine Shipton. It is clear Finch had previously had no idea about this curse. Harley also makes her decision, after her one-month trial period ends, that she will officially join the San Diego Coven (SDC).

Holly continues to grow in friendship and loyalty to a team of young magicals who are all in their late teens like her. They include Tatyana Vasilisa, Santana Catemaco, Raffe Levi, Astrid Hepler, Dylan Blight, and Wade Crowley, who is Harley’s romantic interest throughout this series. In addition, Garrett Kyteler, who was formerly close friends with Finch before his betrayal of the SDC, is now a member of their team. Up until now, he has been presented as continually acting like a sneering jerk, so it is a difficult transition for the team incorporating him into their midst.

Harley and her teammates are dedicated to halting Katherine’s terrifying goal of obtaining godlike power and enslaving the whole world. Their current crucial, intermediate mission in that regard is to rescue dozens of magical children whom Katherine has kidnapped for her nefarious ends, and who continue to be missing, in spite of attempts to rescue them that began in Book 2. There’s a traitor lurking within the SDC who clearly must be a shapeshifter, which puts all shapeshifters under suspicion, including Garrett. In addition, Holly yearns to gain access to her parents’ Grimoire, a magical spellbook, which she learns is located in the New York Coven which, before their deaths, her parents were head of. Holly also has learned that she has had a device called a Suppressor implanted inside her body since infancy which is suppressing her magical powers. She wants to get it removed, but the process is difficult to achieve and quite dangerous.

Similar to Book 2, which is narrated in the alternating first-person points of view of both Harley and her teammate, Tatyana, this book is narrated in the alternating first-person POVs of both Harley and her teammate Santana, whose magical powers come from powerful spiritual entities called Orishas.

Though Harley and her friends are legally of age and none are in high school, which would logically cause a reader to assume that this series is “New Adult” rather than “Young Adult,” it is in fact marketed as YA. Perhaps that is because it shares the following characteristics with books typically written for an audience aged 12-17: (1) the story is told from the first-person POV of characters who are in their late teens; (2) there are no drugs, booze, smoking, swearing, wild parties or sex—only a few kisses between Santana and Raffe, her love interest, and no kisses at all between Harley and Wade; (3) the two heroines are social misfits, and their teammates—other than Wade—are all, in their own way, social misfits as well; (4) the powerful, experienced, adult witches and warlocks in the San Diego coven continue to incomprehensively sit on the sidelines throughout the dangerous action of this story in relation to Katherine Shipton, leaving it up to Harley’s relatively inexperienced team to save the coven and the human race from horrible danger. This is known as “orphaning” the protagonist(s), which is a hallmark of all action-adventure plots in general—including adult action adventure.

Harley’s most important characteristics, which make her a very sympathetic protagonist, are: compassion, courage, and enough conviction in her mission that she never gives up or sits on the sidelines. This is true of Santana as well, though, right from the first, it is obvious that, of the whole team, including Wade, Harley potentially has the most magical power of any of them.

Given that there are nine books in this series in which Harley is the main character, and given the fact that this book is urban fantasy and not paranormal romance, it is not surprising to me that the author continues to move the romance between Harley and Wade at a snail’s pace. In this installment, they are at about the same place they were in the previous book, viewing each other as someone to admire and count on in the thick of fierce battles, with only a few tiny, unspoken glimmers of romantic attraction along the way.

The magical world-building in this series continues to be well conceived and executed given how, relatively speaking, streamlined this series continues to be, compared to adult urban fantasy. This magical world is limited to witches, warlocks, and a few different types of monsters, including a djinn, a type of demon coexisting inside Raffe’s body. There are no vampires and no animal shifters, but there are shifters who transform into the appearance of any human at will, including clothing and idiosyncratic speech patterns.

Similar to Books 1 and 2, the pace of this story moves quickly. The author avoids extended, boring exposition, instead telling the story through dialogue and plenty of brisk action. The central mystery about what exactly Katherine Shipton is up to and how to go about stopping her continues to be the main focus of this novel.

I experienced this book both in Kindle and audiobook format. The narrator is Amanda Ronconi, who does an excellent job acting out the dialogue for all the various characters, portraying with equal skill male and female voices and various national accents.

These are all the Harley Merlin books in this extensive series in which Harley is the main protagonist:

Book 1: Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven, 2018 (from Harley’s POV)
Book 2: Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins, 2018 (from Harley and Tatyana’s POV)
Book 3: Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals, 2018 (from Harley and Santana’s POV)
Book 4: Harley Merlin and the First Ritual, 2018 (from Harley and Astrid’s POV)
Book 5: Harley Merlin and the Broken Spell, 2018 (from Harley and Wade’s POV)
Book 6: Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris, 2018 (from Harley and Finch’s POV)
Book 7: Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix, 2019 (from Harley and Jacob’s POV)
Book 8: Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos, 2019 (from Harley and Katherine’s POV)
Book 9: Harley Merlin and the Mortal Pact, 2019 from Harley, Finch and Katherine’s POV)

I rate this book as follows:

Heroine: 5 stars
Romantic Interest: 5 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Action Plot: 4 stars
Santana Romantic Subplot: 4 stars
Harley Romantic Subplot: 3 stars
Lack of Plausible Motivation for Adults Defaulting Their Duty: 2 stars
World-building: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Audiobook Narration: 4 stars
Overall: 4 stars

[Pam Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are getting good, mostly this book is about Harley and Santana. I liked getting 2 POV's again.

Why do I like these so much it kinda boggles my mind half the time I am confused and then the last hour and half comes and poof I am invested.

One only knows. But I am going to jump in to book 4, wish me luck.

[Maria Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assim, a história é legal, mas sinto que falta uma pegada mais dark mesmo para série. Algo que emocione um pouco mais. É tudo tão censura livre quando queria censura 18 anos, sabe? Vou continuar, mas não com a mesma empolgação de antes.

[Heidi Marvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.
Meh. I like the story line with Raffe, that’s interesting. However, I’m a bit over the inner dialog with all the girls with the whole “does he like me” crap. Ugh. I’m probably going to back off this series for a bit because I’m kind of sick of that aspect of the story.

[shannonbookishlife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous read the story continues and gets better each book . Keeps us on your toes well done again Bella. Love most of your books and theses ones are amazing

[Danna · Rating 5 out of 5]

סוף סוף קצת רומנטיקה

[The Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! I was on the edge, consumer by the suspense for the whole time I was reading.. Ready for the 4th book 😍

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ugh, who ends a book on such a big cliff hanger like that. I mean I know it's a series but damn. It wouldn't have hurt to end the book with what the letter said and left us hanging on that...

This book was good but I don't feel like we've moved much in the story. Hope the next one is better.

[Kim Stringfellow Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good

I am really enjoying this series. I like the characters and can overlook a few inconsistencies. Can’t read to read the next one!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good 3rd book, but it bothers me that there are still so many questions unanswered.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book, but this one wasn't my favorite of the series. It kind of dragged.

[Desiree Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally! Some saucy moments are happening. And the plot is really building up. Sometimes I feel like going ahead with book 8, but a part of me wants to slowly watch the story unfold.

[Enzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really liking this series. Harley the her team have gotten lucky so far but they still need to recover some of the Magicals that Katherine Shipton has been able to abduct. But the main issue is still a mole inside the San Diego Coven. They are still looking inside for problems instead of concentrating on stopping Katherine.
The team is running all over the place and this puts them in grave danger. Harley finally is a full member of the San Diego Coven and her team loves it. But the other members still have their own issues. The upcoming Family Gathering at he Coven makes this a very important date for Santana. Can she keep her head in the game?

[Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dear pretties,
I like the character, Santana. She's sassy and lends perfect comedic relief.
What I'm not a fan of is the feeling of having read this before and I think I'm going to have to take a break from reading this genre. Everything I'm reading is starting to seem too formulaic. I suppose it's time to read something out of the comfort zone. Political science or RomCom here I come!
Lots of Love,
shizuku

[KatiEllen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The more people you know, and the more people you let in, the greater the risk of betrayal.”

I feel like something big is coming with this series, but we're just not quite there yet. This book picks up straight after the second book, the magical children are missing and they're starting to piece together Katherine's' plan to become a Child of Chaos.

I did expect a bit more in the way of things feeling more tense and fraught, the magical council is starting to take more notice of the San Diego coven in light of everything that's happened and decide to leave two agents to oversee the investigation into the missing kids. Oh, and there's still a spy lurking in the coven.

That being said, the continuation of having a new POV works really well, so many of Harley's friends come from such varied backgrounds that their magic itself is different. It's a nice way of expanding the world without just info dumping and constantly meeting new people with new abilities. In the last book we had Tatiana and this one we have Santana and it's great to see how their magic affects them and them and the expectations of coming from different magical and cultural backgrounds their parents put on them.

I can happily say things aren't being too dragged out, we're starting to learn Katherine's plan, more of Harley's past and we actually meet Katherine. I was worried that we wouldn't see our bad guy and would continue lurking in the shadows forever a looming figure. She's actually pretty fun and I really like her, she's at that point of crazy where she's more annoyed that Harley got her dress dirty. I'm looking forward to Katherine becoming part of the story.

The Harley Merlin portion of this series is 9 books, but I'm hoping for things to pick up in at least the next two. I'm not going to give up on this one, the books are pretty highly rated and they're an easy read/listen, and to be honest I'm just enjoying being back in a magical world like this.

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[Tonstant Weader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals picks up right where Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins ends. The mystery twins stole several magicals and now Harley and her friends are sent to find them with the aid of a couple grim and militaristic members of the Los Angeles Coven. It is a tough investigation as it seems Katherine’s troops are always a few steps ahead. Clearly, there is someone sabotaging, a mole in the coven!

Harley visits New York Coven with Santana and discovers a trove of material about her family and discovers her father may be innocent. There’s a lot of action, particularly when they come face to face with Katherine.


Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals is still fun and exciting, but the author really made me angry with her cliff hanger endings to sell more books immediately. I may come back to the series, but I felt very manipulated and angered when the book comes to an end with Harley getting a tell-all letter from her aunt and not opening before the end. Ah, buy book four so you can know what’s in the letter. That is cheap and crass.

Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals at Amazon
Bella Forrest author site
Harley Merlin series reviewed
Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven
Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...

[Ladyreadalot · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Bella Forrest got rid of all the teen drama and "does he like me" nonsense, we could take out 1/2 of each book and combine it with another, creating an action packed story that could keep your attention. Does the reader really need to know how much a bunch of teen age girls want to be kissed by their crush? Or would they rather have clues to what is actually going on and clever and brave ways they have found to overcome the antagonist? Just another warning--much of it is unrealistic in the sense that a rag team of teens on the edge of adulthood can overcome, albeit through lucky breaks, one of the most powerful witches in recent history.

Sigh, unfortunately the stories are not packaged for adults, so if you are not a preteen or teen, be prepared to skip through a lot of teen angst to get to the best parts of a story that are interesting enough to be told.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again too much time spent on the romance side, the action is rushed. The mystery is what's keeping me reading

[Melindeeloo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine, and I did like that with a POV for another of Harley's gang we get to know the rest of the crew better. My only nit is that I'm not as engaged with this after three books.

[Jenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does one become an all-powerful Child of Chaos?

That’s what Harley desperately needs to find out before her unhinged aunt raises the death toll.

All she knows for sure is that magical kids are missing, and they somehow fit into Katherine Shipton’s grand scheme. Now that Harley is an official member of the San Diego Coven, she feels more responsible than ever for its protection—and that of the magical world.

But she’s got a whole lot more on her plate than that.

There’s a traitor lurking within the Coven. She still yearns to know the secrets contained within her parents’ Grimoire. And there’s also the fact that she might actually have feelings for a certain stubborn, green-eyed dude…

All the while, Santana faces her own demons, with a magical Purge building within her and a crush on a boy with a dark side, one that might just lead them to real answers



Bella Forrest did it again! All of you are aware by now; how much I love this series. I’m not even sure how much more to say; without repeating myself. Harley Merlin is the series that I wished that I discovered sooner, a magical world that I wish I could escape into. I feel like I am there while I am reading the books but wish that such a world existed. This series is impossible not to love, especially if you love books about witches and warlocks. I loved books about witches since I read Harry Potter , and this book has become my second favorite about witches. I might only finish the 3rd book, but I will re-read this in the future. One of my favorites is that there one new character perspective is added in each of the books. Reading from characters from the Coven; gives readers a better view of that certain character. I loved Santana from the start, and I was excited for a chance to read from her perspective in this book. I wasn’t disappointed.

Santana. She’s a character that you cannot help but love. I loved Tatyana’s story, but I loved Santana’s even more. It did not take me long but to fall with her character more. She was always there for others, like Harley, when she realized that she might need someone. I’m glad that Santana went to her to the New York Coven; I don’t want to imagine what might happen if she didn’t go with her. I am afraid of what might happen with Harley if Santana wasn’t there to stop her. Santana reminds me of one of my best friends. She’s fierce, loyal. There is part of me hoping that we hear more from her perspective. I loved the relationship between her and Raffee; I have wondered about the two of them from the start. I loved that Rafee had a demon in him; it did not stop Santana; it did not change how she felt about him. I do have a feeling that she cares about the demon almost as much as Rafee; at least, it’s the feeling I got. It does seem that he listens to her more than he does Rafee. I’m eager to see what happens next.

I loved Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals , but I felt it did not have as much action as previous books. It did have action, but it took a bit of time to get to it. I feel like the romance between Harley and Wade is a bit slow. I understand why they are trying to deny it, but everyone knows by now how they feel. I’m hoping that it will pick up the pace in the next book. I’m having mixed feelings about Harley in this book, mostly because of her actions, the way she keeps getting herself in trouble. After what happened with her at New York Coven, I’m worried about her and how powerful she seems to be. Katherine, I was starting to wonder if we would meet her. I wondered what would happen when the two of them met. I could almost feel the tension when the two of them came face to face. I know that this battle is far from over. When I reached the end, I wished I had the other book in the series to see what happens next. That ending…I cannot help but wonder what’s in store for everyone; what Harley will discover in that letter. If you love books about witches and warlocks with a twist, this is series to get!