Harley Merlin and the Mortal Pact

Harley Merlin #9

by Bella Forrest

The Goddess of Discord finally rules the world…

Without magic, Harley knows the odds of defeating Katherine are stacked against them. Yet a sliver of hope survives in the pages of her parents’ Grimoire. The final, mind-boggling spell entails making a deal with a Child of Chaos. But what must be offered in return?

Finch wants to be the one who ends Katherine. Mother Dearest brought him into the world, and he wants to take her out. He will give anything for that chance—even his life.

Meanwhile, Katherine needs Harley’s body, or her carefully crafted façade will crumble. And she can’t let that happen, not when she’s so close to becoming a goddess walking the Earth.

Unbeknownst to them all, Chaos still has surprises in store—ones that not even Eris herself could predict—in a showdown of epic proportions.

Pre-order now!

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

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

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2019

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

[Amma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll give the author this: she knows how to write a story and expand it (or drag it on) over 9 books. The story itself is good...a bit wordy and at times boring (not sure that’s the right word), but kept me enthralled just annoyingly enough to keep me reading until the end...and annoyingly enough to be debating whether to read book 10 (and I’m sure 11, 12, ...50). Overall, the entire series earned ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

[Melissa Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

omg...This series could have ended a few books ago. Even this book (#9) could have been about 10 chapters shorter.
I really enjoyed this series in the beginning and couldn't wait to see how it unfolded, however it took way to long to get there.

[Keira Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good. I really love this series. I want to finish the whole series.

[Jamie’s Two Cents · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harley’s story closes...but another opens?

This is the closure to Harley’s story, or is it? I’m not sure. There are plenty of gaps and some chapters for a new book with Finch. He had the most loose ends, so I guess this makes sense.

So, how was this book? It was okay. Again, this writer spends too much time inside people’s heads droning on about the same thing multiple times from different people. Katherine’s monologues were old before they started. I enjoyed the final scenes with Katherine’s demise and how everyone’s stories ended (well almost everyone’s, since Finch’s stories seem to just be beginning).

I’m happy to be done with this series. I don’t know if I’ll read Finch’s. He’s not really someone who is enjoyable to read about. This series pales in comparison to Harry Potter. The author isn’t as skilled as JK Rowling. I’m not sure if I would read it again, but it was entertaining at times. Happy reading y’all!

[Mark Adkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will admit that the only reason I finished this book is because I wanted to finish the series. I still believe that this book was not needed, it could have been condensed into book 8. It really felt dragged out with the different POV characters, especially the villains. They just repeated things.

[Suzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and liked the twist at the end, although I still could've done without Katherine's POV! I don't think I'll continue the series now that this arc is complete as I feel the story gets dragged out unnecessarily by the writer which annoys me. I felt I needed to finish this arc considering how far into it I had gone but I would not read further.

[Evie Bergman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book! Sad that the series is over.

[Arisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG… WHAT DID I JUST READ….😭
Wow, just wow like what.. I’m speechless….man was this good
How am I supposed to get over this?!

Bella could’ve had a better ending for Harley’s book cuz I’m guessing Finch Merlin will have Harley in it but still! I wanted to read about her dinner date with Wade’s parents! I was looking forward to that. I just love Harley and Finch’s sibling bond even if at first things were difficult (to say the least). I kinda guessed Finch was going to kill mother dearest like it was super obvious and he deserved it, that psycho was something. I’m super glad Catherine is dead by the hands of her son. HE HAD A DEMSEY SUPRESSOR? Man those Merlin kids are something! But what happened to Davin?!

I can’t wait to get to know Finch more…and his interest in Harley’s half sister Rayann ;) !

[The Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to give it to Bella, she has the amazing ability to keep your curiosity on even if you have already read 8th books and there are many more to come.. it has been amazing to read about Harley journey throughout the first 9 books and now I’m super excited to get to know Finch a little better, even cause I love it’s personality and the complexity of his character.

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally - Great

I really shouldn’t start these books in the middle of the night! This is the second night I’ve been up most of the night reading, this series has been really great and some of the best storylines I have read since Harry Potter came to be. Once again the rag team work together in order to ensure the safety of not just the magicals but the humans too.
You have to start from the first book in the series if you start here you would definitely struggle to follow and understand the storyline. If paranormal series are for you I would definitely recommend this series.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so glad that the Katherine and Harley saga has ended. It seemed liked it was really drawn out and I was finding myself skimming pages over the last few books. And in the end, it seemed way too easy to end Katherine for it to have dragged out as long as it did in this series. I like Finch, but I don't know that I will continue with this series.

[Sue Ben-Dor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally

I finally finished the Harleys. Truth to tell,
after the 3rd or 4th it became a chore to read them. They are billed as a more grown up Harry P but the only more grown up parts are some kissing. Sorry.

[Stephanie Ohsewcrafty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent conclusion to the series. Katherine may be a goddess but that doesn’t mean she’s invincible. The plot has many twists and turns, with plenty of action. The epic showdown does justice to the characters and is very satisfying.

[Samuel Flanigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good

It wasn't exactly the ending i expected but it was really good. This was one of those books that made me laugh and made me cry.

[Clementine Hinlopen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this whole serie! Funny, exciting and with lots of plot twists! The characters have become like friends to me! Can’t wait to start on the next part of the series with Finch!

[M.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, at least the series ended on a bang!

This book was the right pace, had plenty of action, and less of the eeeeendless conversations that filled the previous few books. Harley was still pretty useless and there was a twist to the chosen-one plot (we all THAT saw coming), and Finch's character developed well. There were a few casualties (I won't say who), but I am RELIEVED that this series is DONE.

Well, there's always the Finch Merlin series, but given how long this one was dragged out, I'm not even going to start it.

There was one mention of Arthuriana - not enough to make it Arthurian, in my book.

Overall I'd give the Harley Merlin series a 3/5. I would bump it to a 4 if it just wasn't so drawn out!

But I suppose, it's more for the people who really love every second of this story to read.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well the series FINALLY reached its Catherine conclusion, but is moving on with another character after this book? Oy vey! I think I need a breather from the series for a while before continuing on. I like the characters and everything, but it takes the author a long time to get anywhere with her storylines and I have so many books to catch up on I don’t have the time commitment necessary to continue for now.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong finish to a great series!

[S.A. McClure · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent ending to a great series...


I thought the ending to this series was decent. The ending felt a bit rushed and I didn’t particularly enjoy the exposition style of wrapping everything up at the end. Like... who was she talking to? Us, the reader? It just felt a little too “I don’t know how to wrap up this ending” to me.

That being said, the plot was good and I enjoyed the twist at the end that involved Finch.

Overall, a solid ending to a series I’ve enjoyed reading.

[Tara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series gets more unreadable the longer its dragged on. And the switching points of view (different in every book) is just a terrible way to tell a story. Its like watching a movie of only monologues.

[Desirae]

Great story! Love it.

[Zack Donner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Omg. An amazing ending!

[Melissa Dinwiddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying conclusion to Harley’s story

I discovered Harley Merlin thanks to a free BookBub offer, and got swept up in the world of the SDC, magicals, and Harley’s newfound friends and enemies. There are definite echoes of Harry Potter, but the world Bella Forrest has created is entirely her own, drawing on historical and literary legends to some degree (the bloodlines of Merlin, Mother Shipton, & Crowley for example, plus figures from mythology of different cultures).

Over the previous 8 books we’ve seen numerous twists and turns, culminating in this final face off between the forces of good—Harley and her team—and the forces of evil—Katherine and her cult members.

Along the way we’ve gotten a glimpse of Katherine’s perspective, which I appreciate. She was wronged, after all, and though her actions are inexcusable, every good villain sees herself or himself as the hero of the story, which Katherine definitely does. It’s ever so much more satisfying as a reader to have this kind of villain than a random “bad guy” who does evil things for inexplicable reasons.

And on the other side of the coin, Harley makes choices that feel morally ambiguous at times. Which is also satisfying, because it feels real—nobody is “pure good” or “pure evil.”

And meanwhile, we have Harley’s brother, Finch, Katherine’s son—the most interesting character arc in the entire series! He starts off truly despicable, but transforms into someone who not only earns our sympathy, but grows into an honest-to-goodness hero.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Lots of battle scenes in this book. At times it feels a bit over the top. (“So-and-so looked like he was on his last legs” for the umpteenth time.) And somehow, despite raging battles that seem to rage on and on, almost everyone we care about manages to escape relatively unscathed. A miracle that i didn’t quite buy, though it made me happy as a reader.

Most ends get tied up very neatly, which, again, feels very satisfying, if too good to be true.

Ultimately, the book—and the series as a whole—is good entertainment. It kept me turning pages for many hours, which is the best I can ask of a book series!

And even better: there are more coming down the pipe, as Forrest is continuing this universe with books focused on Finch! Hurrah!

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourites of the series.
It is a great finale for the last 8 books and way better than some of them. I skipped the Katherine chapters until the rag team were physically involved and so probably missed out on all the snail's pace that was with the other book with Katherine's POV as well as some other characters and their POV. Five stars because I really enjoyed this book.

Now, talking of the series as a whole, since this is the finale book, the POVs weren't that great in some areas. In those areas it seems they're just useless filler. I loved - and let me stress "loved" - Finch's POV and I did like Santana's and some of Jacob's. Wade's made me dislike him more somehow. I liked his character at the beginning, but that turned to dislike somewhere along the road, though it's probably due to personal taste, I bet some people love him... But I can't stand him.
As for characters I think that the author did Harley's, Finch's and Santana's brilliantly. I also liked Louella's, Raffe's, Kadar's and Jacob's (to name a few) but the others weren't so great. I found that, overall, Dylan, Tatyana, and especially Garrett towards the end didn't have much if any character. Garrett's character disappointed me in that he turned out to have virtually none when I quite liked his character at the start.
Opportunities were missed. Some conflicts that had already been established could have been there instead of the useless filler... Garrett did out who her parents were to everyone when one was seen as a murderer, he and Wade just seemed to suddenly be okay after years - yes, years - of fighting. The shapeshifting stigma was mostly just said and not shown...
Everyone just got together mostly at the same time early on. Some of them could have happened at different times.

I didn't like Garrett being sidelined so much in this book and also, his backstory seems to have been completely forgotten. Garrett's father is with the same bunch of people as the Crowleys so how come they weren't mentioned?
Other than those, I loved the book. I really loved it. Definitely will read the series again at some point.
Now onto Finch's "Spinoff Series" books... Hope they're way better than some of the books this series had.

[Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this is more a review of the entire series than of this single book.

There are enough twists and turns in this series to keep anyone guessing and overall it is an entertaining series. The target audience is young adult/teen, it has that feel when the interpersonal relations come up in the series.

Entertaining particularly the first half/two thirds of the series. I feel the the last two - three books lagged and became focused more on word count than making sense/continuity. In particular some of the twists feel contrived and make you want to just stop and say "Really?? what a crock..."

The finale with Finch was signaled well in advance and not subtly either. On the useless verbiage that does not progress the story line: the last two books could have easily been one. I suspect this is the publisher's fault more than the author's; they want to sell more books and contract for a book / word count. Bella is hardly the worst offender from the aspect of an author either; David Weber has more than one series that I've abandoned because entire books could have been just a couple of chapters.

That is the tell tale for me on this series; the first books were really entertaining but when I find myself skipping forward trying to find the parts of the book that actually continue the story line (as I did in the last three), I know the author is in trouble. That is why when I reached the end, it was with a sense of relief rather than regret.

[Chris Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is easily the weakest book in the 9-book Harley Merlin series, which is really a shame given that it was the final book for Harley's portion of the overall story. What bothers me is that it feels almost anti-climactic; it took eight books to build up to something that was over so quickly and without much oomph to it. On top of that, it was a little melodramatic and lacking in some proper edits. I'm also just not buying Finch's arc throughout the series. I get that he grows and changes, but the pace feels off for me, especially when we see his relationship with Harley in these last few books. It feels forced and not true to his character. We needed bigger moments between Finch and Harley to make it believable. Overall, it was good/okay, but it didn't blow me away in the way that a final book should.

On a separate note: I toggle between Kindle and Audible for these books and there were some interesting (read: lazy) choices from the producers. For instance, you'd think with so many references to all things nerdy with Finch, the narrator would know how to pronounce Magneto and the producers would have caught it. You'd also think that entire paragraphs in another language would have at least been attempted like they did with the Latin, but they just summed up the Chinese parts as "spoke in Chinese" despite what was in the book. I know it's nitpicky, but it bothered me enough for it to stand out.

[Emily Skermer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the end to this part of the series and I am excited to move onto Finch's books.

The ending was good and I am glad the fight at the was worth it and they took their time with ending Katherine.

I was scared Remington and loads of other characters were going to die from last book but I'm glad they didn't and I'm hoping we see them again in the future although we are now moving away from Harley.

I did not expect Finch to be the one to kill Katherine and he is probably going to go through some hard times now being a servant of Erebus but I'm glad he did end her and unlocked all his powers.

Very sad Alton died as he was a big part of the series and I feel really bad for Astrid losing her father. Hopefully she and Garrett can get over it but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

Davin is definitely going to show up in the future which is interesting as I have no idea how he keeps bringing himself back to life. This book also seemed slightly darker than the others namely Harley crushing Davin into a ball and Katherine's skin literally falling off.

I would rate them overall
6 5 1 9 8 4 3 2 7

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a roller coaster ride. I have finished the first nine books in this series. The series goes on, but this one tied up the first storyline. I will come back to these magicals, but I think I will take a magical break for a little while. This is a very intense and gripping story. Harley, who has been raised care, discovers she is a magical. Many secrets about her heritage will be revealed and she finds real family members as well as the family she forms with her fellow magicals. There are many twists and turns and it is hard to say too much w/o giving away secrets that will be revealed in time. Suffice it to say one real family member she discovers is not very nice and has plans for Harley. You just need to read them. It was advertised as an adult version for Harry Potter fans, but the cast is still pretty youthful.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

**** Spoiler Alert ****

Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead!!!! That is all the ** Spoilers ** I will be giving. Bella did a kick butt job of finishing the whole Katherine thing. Now that the whole Rag Team are together anything is possible. I found that the characters emotions were running very high during two different scenes. I cried like a baby both times, I'm not ashamed. Now the Rag Team does have to face even more loss in the ending battle. Unfortunately, it's a major loss. I absolutely loved the ending. I didn't take advantage of the 5 chapter sneak peck into the next book, Finch Merlin.
•••••• I highly recommend this book/series! ••••••
~~ I have Kindle Unlimited, and I used that service to read this book. ~~

[Marcia Haskell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fitting finish to the last story of Harley Merlin

I rated the series at 5*. This book by itself would have been slightly less, but as an ending to the Katherine/Harley interactions it put the entire story into perspective and brought all the pieces together in a very satisfying way.

There is one further book, which is her brother’s story and I look forward to learning how he grows and becomes his ultimate person. For me, any good series always leaves questions and relationships undefined. I would be satisfied if the series ended with this book 9, but will read book 10 and see what it brings.

A fascinating series, well written, excellent characters and a compelling idea of a world that I enjoyed exploring. Does rank near Harry Potter in my mind.