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The Maker #1
Mark of the Maker
Wildwood Blackstone believed her dream of being a country blacksmith was coming true. Life would be simple; move to Bannock, restore the abandoned carriage house into a working blacksmith shop, build a new life as a welder and artist, and finally have a place to call home. But shortly after her arrival, she discovers this truth; there are more than ghosts in Bannock . When a teenage crush and childhood friend from foster care, Shay Courtland, answers a call for help, Wildwood finds a part of her past that she longed to rediscover. Never did she imagine Shay’s presence in her life would bring her back to the magical world she’d abandoned. As the flames of their past relationship rekindle, Wildwood, Shay, and Shay’s K-9 companion Dexter experience curious ethereal events that prompt an investigation. Through these supernatural oddities in the new place Wildwood calls home, Wildwood and Shay’s hidden abilities are exposed, taking them on an adventure to realms they’ve never known. As the trio’s exploration of demons and evil unfolds, Bannock’s secrets are unveiled, leading them to their future and the mystery behind the Mark of the Maker . But with these two extraordinary women, there is so much more to this story. **Take home your copy of Mark of the Maker today and embark on this gripping demon-filled adventure!** Mark of Maker is a queer fantasy romance and full-length supernatural adventure told in 55,000 words. This bi romance story transports fantasy fans to an exciting and unexpected world full of mystery, magic, demons, secrets, and romance. Binge the COMPLETE series! THE READING ***Fans of romance fantasy books like Discovery of Witches, House of Earth and Blood, From Blood and Ash, and other thrilling supernatural adventures will love Mark of the Maker. The LGBTQ community will also enjoy this bi romance journey of two women learning about themselves and their love for each other.*** Get your copy of Mark of the Maker today and start this ethereal series.
- GenresLesbian
251 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 20, 2020
27 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Sharon K. Angelici
13 books33 followersSharon K Angelici was born in the American Midwest, but her heart belongs to Colorado. She is a full-time Wife, Mother, Author, Artist, and lover of life. 🌈
She has been writing works of fiction, short stories, and poetry since childhood. Her first book, "Dear Kane; what I wish we would have said," was published by Write with Light publications and is available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and direct from her website.
Sharon has published articles in
Archer Magazine, SBS Australia, The Tribe Magazine, GeekGirlAuthority, TAGG Magazine
Sharon and her son are working blacksmiths and artists. They have been making chainmaile jewelry and creating forged sculptures since 2013. Visit the Blacksmithing/Art page to see our work.
She has been writing works of fiction, short stories, and poetry since childhood. Her first book, "Dear Kane; what I wish we would have said," was published by Write with Light publications and is available on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and direct from her website.
Sharon has published articles in
Archer Magazine, SBS Australia, The Tribe Magazine, GeekGirlAuthority, TAGG Magazine
Sharon and her son are working blacksmiths and artists. They have been making chainmaile jewelry and creating forged sculptures since 2013. Visit the Blacksmithing/Art page to see our work.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 15, 2021
Repetitious, clunky and tedious. Kindle Unlimited.
A really interesting premise, and the overall story would have been great - a demon hunting duo, with a strange supernatural things going on in their town. One woman is a cop, with more wiccan magicks at her disposal, and the other is a blacksmith able to create weapons from demonic leftovers. But the execution was sorely lacking. The way it unfolded was not satisfying.
These women knew each other growing up, and yet they keep tip-toeing around each other, despite stating they love each other and constantly assessing the relationship, as if they are talking about it for the first time, when they have infact had the same conversation several times.
They also keep repeating the same mistake of non-communication of HUGE details, over and over again. By the time it got to 77% I was over it, and closed up the book and gave up. There was no real story happening, outside of "I love you! I love you too! But I'm damaged! So am I! I don't know what we're doing! Neither do I! There's demons! OMG YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THE DEMONS! But you made weapons for this purpose! Yeah but I never knew the full details. I'M PROTECTING YOU BY NOT TELLING YOU... I LOVE YOU!" and repeat...
I was sick and tired of the cop character acting like a know-it-all, yet not explaining anything to Wil, but all too willing to make her a target and an accomplice to her demon-hunting, without giving her the proper information to keep her safe.
The dialogue was often clunky, and their personalities and what they were doing was simply weirdly paced. As was their past. It still doesn't make much sense.
If by 77% of the novel you haven't got a clear plot going on, let alone clear personalities and motives, I'm afraid you've just lost any potential audience you wanted from a series. So I can't say I'll read any future installments.
A really interesting premise, and the overall story would have been great - a demon hunting duo, with a strange supernatural things going on in their town. One woman is a cop, with more wiccan magicks at her disposal, and the other is a blacksmith able to create weapons from demonic leftovers. But the execution was sorely lacking. The way it unfolded was not satisfying.
These women knew each other growing up, and yet they keep tip-toeing around each other, despite stating they love each other and constantly assessing the relationship, as if they are talking about it for the first time, when they have infact had the same conversation several times.
They also keep repeating the same mistake of non-communication of HUGE details, over and over again. By the time it got to 77% I was over it, and closed up the book and gave up. There was no real story happening, outside of "I love you! I love you too! But I'm damaged! So am I! I don't know what we're doing! Neither do I! There's demons! OMG YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT THE DEMONS! But you made weapons for this purpose! Yeah but I never knew the full details. I'M PROTECTING YOU BY NOT TELLING YOU... I LOVE YOU!" and repeat...
I was sick and tired of the cop character acting like a know-it-all, yet not explaining anything to Wil, but all too willing to make her a target and an accomplice to her demon-hunting, without giving her the proper information to keep her safe.
The dialogue was often clunky, and their personalities and what they were doing was simply weirdly paced. As was their past. It still doesn't make much sense.
If by 77% of the novel you haven't got a clear plot going on, let alone clear personalities and motives, I'm afraid you've just lost any potential audience you wanted from a series. So I can't say I'll read any future installments.
March 2, 2024
Magic in a demon-haunted renovated ghost town
This story is more tell than show: dialogue is used more as a device for slowing down the action than to power it along. The MCs reconnect in the ex-ghost town, years after having shared a foster home experience when they were teens. One is a metalsmith, an "artiste" driven by instinct, but also a regular manual laborer who does small handyman projects in the community; the other is a police officer who moonlights as a witch in the anti-demon protection force. They are instantly in love, but the metalsmith gets crabby when she doesn't understand the mysteries she's been drawn into (though she is eager to recklessly experiment with demon remains), and the witch has scars, lots and lots of scars. The story just stops (evidently to make way for volume 2, but there's not even a cliffhanger, just MC #2 telling MC #1 that they still have lots more research ahead, though it's not clear if she even concluded the protection spell she started casting before the story just stopped). In other words, a truncated story arc = no real story.
This story is more tell than show: dialogue is used more as a device for slowing down the action than to power it along. The MCs reconnect in the ex-ghost town, years after having shared a foster home experience when they were teens. One is a metalsmith, an "artiste" driven by instinct, but also a regular manual laborer who does small handyman projects in the community; the other is a police officer who moonlights as a witch in the anti-demon protection force. They are instantly in love, but the metalsmith gets crabby when she doesn't understand the mysteries she's been drawn into (though she is eager to recklessly experiment with demon remains), and the witch has scars, lots and lots of scars. The story just stops (evidently to make way for volume 2, but there's not even a cliffhanger, just MC #2 telling MC #1 that they still have lots more research ahead, though it's not clear if she even concluded the protection spell she started casting before the story just stopped). In other words, a truncated story arc = no real story.
August 2, 2023
Fascinating!
Wildwood restores an old carriage house and starts working as a blacksmith when she learns there are ghosts of her new home. Calling on Shay, and old friend and crush, Wildwood rediscovers the magic of the place she’d left behind and the opportunity to rekindle their connection leads them on a most wonderful adventure.
I loved this. It had lots of magical secrets that slowly resurfaced the more Wildwood reconnect with her past. Everything had a meaning beyond her original interpretation and with Shay they had a power that was otherworldly and absolutely fascinating. They had a connection for the moment they met up again that just helped you know there was something more special about them being in one another’s lives than you could imagine. From that point I had so much hope that they’d find a way to rekindle the spark between them beyond understanding what was happening in Wildwood’s new home.
What was truly unique about this story was the merging of present and past. There were times that even I forgot that they weren’t way back in the day at the times of the origins the ghosts eluded to. It had this slightly futuristic feel that really made the special story and something to become immersed in. It really kept me hooked and intrigued, so I am really looking forward to the next book in the series and learning more about what fate has in store for Wildwood and Shay.
An exciting start to a very interesting fantasy adventure.
Wildwood restores an old carriage house and starts working as a blacksmith when she learns there are ghosts of her new home. Calling on Shay, and old friend and crush, Wildwood rediscovers the magic of the place she’d left behind and the opportunity to rekindle their connection leads them on a most wonderful adventure.
I loved this. It had lots of magical secrets that slowly resurfaced the more Wildwood reconnect with her past. Everything had a meaning beyond her original interpretation and with Shay they had a power that was otherworldly and absolutely fascinating. They had a connection for the moment they met up again that just helped you know there was something more special about them being in one another’s lives than you could imagine. From that point I had so much hope that they’d find a way to rekindle the spark between them beyond understanding what was happening in Wildwood’s new home.
What was truly unique about this story was the merging of present and past. There were times that even I forgot that they weren’t way back in the day at the times of the origins the ghosts eluded to. It had this slightly futuristic feel that really made the special story and something to become immersed in. It really kept me hooked and intrigued, so I am really looking forward to the next book in the series and learning more about what fate has in store for Wildwood and Shay.
An exciting start to a very interesting fantasy adventure.
December 30, 2023
2✨
𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝐉𝐮𝐧. 𝟏𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
The writing and pacing is what ruined this sadly. The writing is choppy and the pacing is way too fast to develop any sense of plot or any background of what's happening. The characters also move just incredibly fast and this would be better with more pages and perhaps some more thought into the world and how it functions as I found it to be quite bland and the faster pace did not help that feeling at all.
𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝐉𝐮𝐧. 𝟏𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
The writing and pacing is what ruined this sadly. The writing is choppy and the pacing is way too fast to develop any sense of plot or any background of what's happening. The characters also move just incredibly fast and this would be better with more pages and perhaps some more thought into the world and how it functions as I found it to be quite bland and the faster pace did not help that feeling at all.
December 29, 2020
Excellent book with a great twist at the end. I look forward to any other books she will have coming in this series!
May 27, 2021
Sharon creates beautiful, magical worlds. Forget your problems and fall in love with her characters. I can’t wait to read the next one!
June 22, 2022
At the heart of this book is a really interesting story. I was drawn in by our MC, Wil — she felt strong, full of ambition, with a clear head on her shoulders as she moved to a new town, pursing her passion for blacksmithing.
A creepy occurrence in her new home has her calling the cops, and the cop who shows up? Her childhood friend from the foster system, Shay, someone she'd always felt a romantic pull towards. Coincidence? Never believed in them personally! Wil certainly didn't question it though, nor does she spend enough time questioning/ demanding answers as demons start popping up. She somehow manages to forge some magical weapons from parts the demons left behind... and is then asked by her demon hunting friends to make more. She... doesn't really question this?!
So. We have demons, a woman who can create magical objects, a demon hunting cop with a suitcase full of secrets — the elements are all there, the execution was just a little off. It was a rare case where we actually needed MORE world-building, because by the end I found myself not entirely understanding why things were happening or what the motivations for doing certain things were.
Overall, I think the premise has real promise. The story was fascinating, the characters (when not being frustratingly communication deficient) were interesting, and I genuinely WANT to know more about their goals and why the town seems to be a hubbub for demon activity. I likely will pick up book 2 in the hopes that I can learn more, but I do think this first book could have done with a quick revision to cut some repetitive details, and expand on the lesser known information.
A creepy occurrence in her new home has her calling the cops, and the cop who shows up? Her childhood friend from the foster system, Shay, someone she'd always felt a romantic pull towards. Coincidence? Never believed in them personally! Wil certainly didn't question it though, nor does she spend enough time questioning/ demanding answers as demons start popping up. She somehow manages to forge some magical weapons from parts the demons left behind... and is then asked by her demon hunting friends to make more. She... doesn't really question this?!
So. We have demons, a woman who can create magical objects, a demon hunting cop with a suitcase full of secrets — the elements are all there, the execution was just a little off. It was a rare case where we actually needed MORE world-building, because by the end I found myself not entirely understanding why things were happening or what the motivations for doing certain things were.
Overall, I think the premise has real promise. The story was fascinating, the characters (when not being frustratingly communication deficient) were interesting, and I genuinely WANT to know more about their goals and why the town seems to be a hubbub for demon activity. I likely will pick up book 2 in the hopes that I can learn more, but I do think this first book could have done with a quick revision to cut some repetitive details, and expand on the lesser known information.
December 13, 2023
Picked this up at a local artist store in Cañon City Colorado and was pleasantly surprised.
Though I didn't have much expectations going in, I didn't expect it to be as cozy as it was. As far as action or danger, there are a few scenes where the characters are in peril and another where a side character is attacked, but the issues were resolved easily and I never really feared for this characters.
This book's strong suit is in character relationships and development.
Pros:
I absolutely loved Shay and Wildwood. Their characters were rich and well thought out. It's not often I read FMCs who I like and relate to but both of these characters carried familiar interests and tugged at my heartstrings. I loved that they didn't rush into their relationship and each of their heartfelt, emotionally mature conversations gave me hope for the world of romantic subplots.
I found the worldbuilding and the use of Wiccan practices both intriguing and comforting. I can't wait to see how the rest of the series develops these aspects.
This is a great starter book for the series and does a wonderful job with introducing characters and worldbuilding without being overwhelming right off the bat.
Cons:
There were some formating/grammar issues that glared and took me out of the story, but not bad enough for me to stop reading.
The writing is average and while it is easy to read since the majority is dialogue, I did find myself struggling to picture the exact settings or wading through speech tags (or actions surrounding dialogue) trying to figure out who was speaking.
For anyone wanting a slow paced, cozy, Wiccan, Sapphic paranormal fantasy, this is definitely a great option.
Though I didn't have much expectations going in, I didn't expect it to be as cozy as it was. As far as action or danger, there are a few scenes where the characters are in peril and another where a side character is attacked, but the issues were resolved easily and I never really feared for this characters.
This book's strong suit is in character relationships and development.
Pros:
I absolutely loved Shay and Wildwood. Their characters were rich and well thought out. It's not often I read FMCs who I like and relate to but both of these characters carried familiar interests and tugged at my heartstrings. I loved that they didn't rush into their relationship and each of their heartfelt, emotionally mature conversations gave me hope for the world of romantic subplots.
I found the worldbuilding and the use of Wiccan practices both intriguing and comforting. I can't wait to see how the rest of the series develops these aspects.
This is a great starter book for the series and does a wonderful job with introducing characters and worldbuilding without being overwhelming right off the bat.
Cons:
There were some formating/grammar issues that glared and took me out of the story, but not bad enough for me to stop reading.
The writing is average and while it is easy to read since the majority is dialogue, I did find myself struggling to picture the exact settings or wading through speech tags (or actions surrounding dialogue) trying to figure out who was speaking.
For anyone wanting a slow paced, cozy, Wiccan, Sapphic paranormal fantasy, this is definitely a great option.
February 21, 2025
This audiobook, received in exchange for an honest review, exceeded all expectations. I anticipated a standard friends-to-lovers romance with a happily-ever-after, but the reality was far more captivating and unexpected. The narrative deftly blends elements of the paranormal and the romantic, weaving a thrilling tale centered around a compelling cast of characters. The story’s intensity is palpable, fueled by a thrilling plot involving manic energy, demonic forces, and a sizzling romance between a charismatic demon hunter—a police officer, no less—and a sweet blacksmith. The interplay between these characters is electric, their connection both passionate and deeply felt. The author masterfully crafts a world that is both richly imagined and intensely engaging, leaving me thoroughly enthralled from beginning to end. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone seeking a unique and unforgettable reading experience that surpasses the typical tropes of the genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2025
This was a nice length audio book. I am a relatively new supernatural/demon type books. That being said this was a great listen and I was wanting more when it was finished. I was drawn to the backstory of both main characters and their professions they pursue in this book. One is more mainstream and a more rural. (no spoilers). I was so glad that I took the opportunity to listen to Mark of the Maker....the one thing I would consider is the content could be challenging if the reader was involved in out of home placement as young person. It is amazing the wonderful books I find when I start stretching my genre legs. Nice sapphic characters and their demon counter parts or antagonists. Enjoy this audio book. I am excited for the next book in the series.
March 6, 2025
I like the storyline a lot, the plot and ideas are great. The characters are alright, I think they're just a little too immature, and the writing may be a little too immature for my liking. They're in their late 20s but communicate, argue, and act like teenagers. I think if they were younger I would understand a little bit more, but a 28-year-old cop and blacksmith? Will I read the next one, yep. lol I like the story and hopefully, they're less 18-year-old personalities. If not, I'll just do what I did with this one and pretend they're college freshman instead of two career women. I also just learned Jen Tidwell narrates the Audio Book and I absolutely ADORE her, so maybe I'll listen while I read. Just to hear her voice, it's so cute.
January 17, 2023
I really enjoyed the premise of the story. I’m a sucker for demon hunting and at its core there’s an interesting story being told. The dialogue is kind of clunky and the relationship between the two main characters feels somewhat underdeveloped and that made it hard to be as invested as I would have liked.
June 9, 2023
Cute characters, but the story does not feel fully fleshed out. The words are repetitive (I hope I never read the phrase "carriage house" again), and the dialogue is chunky and off. Seems to refer to things that have never been referenced or refence things as happening for the first time more than once. It's just awkward. Feels like a draft.
August 20, 2024
Wow I couldnt put this down. I love the title . It fits so well. I couldnt date this story but when I realised Sharon K. Angelica and her son were blacksmiths I realised the time era did not matter. The issue of foster kids and then reconnecting with your first crush is written so tenderly. There is so much trauma todeal with before the relationship can be more equitable Well done
March 23, 2025
Enjoyable read
Lots of mysteries still need to be solved. But the feel good that comes from Wildwood and Shay finally getting aqainted after years apart. The only catch is the city of Bannock.
Lots of mysteries still need to be solved. But the feel good that comes from Wildwood and Shay finally getting aqainted after years apart. The only catch is the city of Bannock.
March 7, 2025
It's a bit different from other books I read. First person telling. The childhood friends met again and learning a lot about them selfs and the other person. I liked it.
June 27, 2023
DNF at 49%
This book is poorly written. There seems to be the outline of a good story buried in there but the pacing is erratic, characterization is nonexistent, dialog is clunky at best, and nothing is shown, only told. I could keep going on about the weaknesses of this work, but I don’t want to waste any more of my time on it.
This book is poorly written. There seems to be the outline of a good story buried in there but the pacing is erratic, characterization is nonexistent, dialog is clunky at best, and nothing is shown, only told. I could keep going on about the weaknesses of this work, but I don’t want to waste any more of my time on it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews