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Gay Ever After #4
Magic & Mirrors
When King Lucius is imprisoned in a magic mirror by an evil wizard, he is forced to watch as his life is destroyed and his kingdom brought to the brink of ruin. Trapped in his own reflection, he only has the freedom to move and talk when the wizard sleeps.
With his subjects under the dark spell of the wizard, Lucius is forced to rely on the most unlikely of heroes if he hopes to get his life back.
Harry comes from a long line of assassins and prides himself on being one of the best in the kingdom, but when he is hired to kill King Lucius he discovers that all is not as it seems in the Kingdom of Cinders.
Harry agrees to help Lucius in return for a full pardon for his crimes, but to complete his quest he may have to give up everything, including his freedom and the king he has come to love.
With his subjects under the dark spell of the wizard, Lucius is forced to rely on the most unlikely of heroes if he hopes to get his life back.
Harry comes from a long line of assassins and prides himself on being one of the best in the kingdom, but when he is hired to kill King Lucius he discovers that all is not as it seems in the Kingdom of Cinders.
Harry agrees to help Lucius in return for a full pardon for his crimes, but to complete his quest he may have to give up everything, including his freedom and the king he has come to love.
91 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 2, 2019
6 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
L.M. Brown
65 books77 followersI live in England, in a quaint little village that time doesn't seem to have touched. No, wait a minute- that's the retirement biography. Right now I am in England in a medium sized town that no one has ever heard of, so I won't bore you with the details. Keeping me company are numerous sexy men. I just wish that they weren't all inside my head.
Please note, L.M. Brown is no longer active on Goodreads. Although she does occasionally check in to comment on another's blog the visits are few and far between.
Please note, L.M. Brown is no longer active on Goodreads. Although she does occasionally check in to comment on another's blog the visits are few and far between.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 14, 2023
1.5⭐️
Even with all the extra pages, “Magic & Mirrors” doesn’t give me much more than the Disney version of the fairytale other than GAY! and BJs! The premise is interesting and Harry’s intro makes him seem like an interesting protag to follow, but alas before Harry met Lucius is the best part of the story. Harry is hired by Lucius’s brother Phillipe to kill him, not bc he’s ruining the kingdom but bc he stole his fiancé. Harry gives little thought to the difficulty of getting to a king, but I guess he knows he’s just that good, and clearly he is bc he sneaks into the kings chamber no problem and is able to have a long chat before an alarm is raised.
Harry is quickly convinced to abandon is assassination mission and help Lucius escape the spell he is under, and with a personal mirror of Lucius and Lucius ability to appear in any mirrored surface, they set of to find a way to break the spell. But for such a great setup, the story is pretty boring, except for the ending which is silly enough to make me pay attention.
There’s no real action, the characters aren’t very fleshed out or interesting, and the thing they talk about the most is Lucius pardoning Harry for his murdery ways and basically waving his fairy godmother wand over Harry to remake him into someone new. But given that Harry’s personality is “proud assassin from a long lineage” until the end where he’s a malleable doll whose life as an assassin “feels like a dream”, I guess that makes sense.
They head to a neighboring kingdom bc the prince there has a magic mirror, they get their instructions and head off to a mystical island to break the spell. They do some on page talking but not much and soon they are in love with a perfect in-universe reason for this despite their absent chemistry and any on page bonding—Lucius is a Cinders, a family known for falling in love at first sight so even when Harry was getting ready to stab Lucius’s sleeping body, Lucius was probably like “wow, get it baby”.
They get to the island; Harry proves how much he cares for Lucius when their plans go awry then they eventually defeat the wizard, but before they do, they declare their love for one another in front of the wizard and take so long he has time to make a potion! As eye-rolling as this is, for some reason, they then decide that the best thing to do to ensure a dangerous relic doesn’t fall into someone’s hands is to… even though anyone could sneak into the dungeons…like Harry did?
Like you’re on an island; you’re telling me that in a world of magic and manacles, no one can make a weighted box with a cushioning spell to keep the relic from unleashing havoc and seal the box with magic and drop it into the ocean? There are plenty of places deep enough that the pressure wouldn’t affect the box and it would stay there indefinitely. Eventually, they’ll die and whoever comes into ownership of the castle may find the artifact since they decided all the ways to hide it wouldn’t work long term. Will they adopt and task each generation with keeping it safe? That’s the only way their choice makes more sense than the other options they came up with.
Had this book not been so meh, this ridiculous ending probably wouldn’t have riled me so much into writing a review so long it seems to have more effort put into it than the story it's about.
Even with all the extra pages, “Magic & Mirrors” doesn’t give me much more than the Disney version of the fairytale other than GAY! and BJs! The premise is interesting and Harry’s intro makes him seem like an interesting protag to follow, but alas before Harry met Lucius is the best part of the story. Harry is hired by Lucius’s brother Phillipe to kill him, not bc he’s ruining the kingdom but bc he stole his fiancé. Harry gives little thought to the difficulty of getting to a king, but I guess he knows he’s just that good, and clearly he is bc he sneaks into the kings chamber no problem and is able to have a long chat before an alarm is raised.
Harry is quickly convinced to abandon is assassination mission and help Lucius escape the spell he is under, and with a personal mirror of Lucius and Lucius ability to appear in any mirrored surface, they set of to find a way to break the spell. But for such a great setup, the story is pretty boring, except for the ending which is silly enough to make me pay attention.
There’s no real action, the characters aren’t very fleshed out or interesting, and the thing they talk about the most is Lucius pardoning Harry for his murdery ways and basically waving his fairy godmother wand over Harry to remake him into someone new. But given that Harry’s personality is “proud assassin from a long lineage” until the end where he’s a malleable doll whose life as an assassin “feels like a dream”, I guess that makes sense.
They head to a neighboring kingdom bc the prince there has a magic mirror, they get their instructions and head off to a mystical island to break the spell. They do some on page talking but not much and soon they are in love with a perfect in-universe reason for this despite their absent chemistry and any on page bonding—Lucius is a Cinders, a family known for falling in love at first sight so even when Harry was getting ready to stab Lucius’s sleeping body, Lucius was probably like “wow, get it baby”.
They get to the island; Harry proves how much he cares for Lucius when their plans go awry then they eventually defeat the wizard, but before they do, they declare their love for one another in front of the wizard and take so long he has time to make a potion! As eye-rolling as this is, for some reason, they then decide that the best thing to do to ensure a dangerous relic doesn’t fall into someone’s hands is to… even though anyone could sneak into the dungeons…like Harry did?
Like you’re on an island; you’re telling me that in a world of magic and manacles, no one can make a weighted box with a cushioning spell to keep the relic from unleashing havoc and seal the box with magic and drop it into the ocean? There are plenty of places deep enough that the pressure wouldn’t affect the box and it would stay there indefinitely. Eventually, they’ll die and whoever comes into ownership of the castle may find the artifact since they decided all the ways to hide it wouldn’t work long term. Will they adopt and task each generation with keeping it safe? That’s the only way their choice makes more sense than the other options they came up with.
Had this book not been so meh, this ridiculous ending probably wouldn’t have riled me so much into writing a review so long it seems to have more effort put into it than the story it's about.
December 7, 2019
Not as good as the rest
This was the least convincing fairy tale in the series, feeling very full of gaps and holes in the story that brings the two men together. King Lucius has been trapped in a mirror by a wizard, though we never really learn why or how. In fact it isn't even really clear what the wizard is doing. While he isn't a great king, people just seem disappointed by the actions rather than them being truly bad, so it seems odd. When Harry is sent to assassinate Lucius he is caught easily by mirror Lucius which seems odd for a professional assassin, especially when later it is pointed out that he has good enough skills to get them through the other trials in the book. As the two men travel together is doesn't really feel like they build a connection and certainly not one strong enough to decide to give up everything for each other. It was simply hard to really feel they were a good match which makes the rest of the story hard to buy.
This was the least convincing fairy tale in the series, feeling very full of gaps and holes in the story that brings the two men together. King Lucius has been trapped in a mirror by a wizard, though we never really learn why or how. In fact it isn't even really clear what the wizard is doing. While he isn't a great king, people just seem disappointed by the actions rather than them being truly bad, so it seems odd. When Harry is sent to assassinate Lucius he is caught easily by mirror Lucius which seems odd for a professional assassin, especially when later it is pointed out that he has good enough skills to get them through the other trials in the book. As the two men travel together is doesn't really feel like they build a connection and certainly not one strong enough to decide to give up everything for each other. It was simply hard to really feel they were a good match which makes the rest of the story hard to buy.
January 19, 2020
On paper they are villain's, but in reality they are each other's support. But they have a slow burn connection that cannot be ignored. I loved the romance between them and how they will give each other to keep the other safe. I was glad to see Harry risked his life for Lucius and that Luc tries to help Harry in return. I am glad to see a cameo from a certain couple from book 1.
November 14, 2019
Enjoyable
There were magic mirrors galore in this tale of an imprisoned king and his would be assassin. A great addition to the series.
There were magic mirrors galore in this tale of an imprisoned king and his would be assassin. A great addition to the series.
November 11, 2019
Love this series.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews