The Lost Horseman

Horseman’s Harem Saga #2

by Freida Kilmari

Four lovers. Four species. One world to save?

The only thing better than having someone who loves you? Having four. My memories returned and the horror of my mortal past confirmed, I can’t hide anymore. Not from the world, not from my feelings, and certainly not from the people I’m coming to call family.

But the world is growing more unstable by the day—the magical communities are picking sides and the humans are growing restless at the early signs of war—so it looks like it’s time for the Horsemen of the Apocalypse to come out of hiding.

Damn it all to hell.

Look out world, Horseman of Magic is here!

***

This is a 120,000-word fantasy polyromance book where the main character will not be forced to choose between their love interests. This book contains lesbian and gay content, excess profanity, a character who can shift their sex (both male and female), is becoming gender and sexually fluid, and who spends a lot of time being an emotional, snarky, swearing badass. Please refer to this book's content guidance page in the front matter for specifics.

Genres: Magic, Fantasy Romance, Demons, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Fae

472 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2021

About the author

Freida Kilmari is an author and editor from the southwest of England, and lives with her fiancé in the peaceful county of Wiltshire. She spends her days editing various works of fiction, and her nights writing her own fantastical pieces. She's the author of Man VS Happiness (book one of the Versus Collection), and the soon-to-be-released Ennéa Vasíleia Universe (a multi-series science-fantasy universe based on her own take of Greek mythology).

To stay up-to-date with the latest news from Freida Kilmari and join in the author fun, follow [Freida Kilmari - Writer and Editor] on Facebook.

Join the magic of the Ennéa Vasíleia Universe, grab free signed copies, stay up-to-date on the latest news and events by joining her reading group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kilma...

Reviews

[Maria Fledgling Author Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beware the Cliffhanger

Okay, I'm totally blown away, and a little bit angry, by the end of this book in the series. But only because it is so incredibly addicting and I just got thrown a major twist in the plot and then, the story is over. For now.

But seriously, Freida Kilmari has me hooked but good on the saga of the Fifth Horseman. I'm so far into this high fantasy, filled with Vampires, Shifters, Fae and Witches as well as immortals that I may never come back.

In this second book, our Horsemen are learning how to love each other in a unique way. I am in awe of the author's boldness in exploring gender roles, gender fluidity and polyamory within a complicated plot.

Although this is definitely an 18+ year range book, I still highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and/or really good LGBTQIA stories.

[another halima]

you know how i said the characters are “okay” in the first book. yeah ignore that. i actually hate them. childish dumbos! like you are over 2000 years old but just realized uniting everyone to work together is solution??? and it took a twenty something year old with no memories to suggest it??? nah i can’t! she/he suggest the most basic things and they act like she’s genius. it so weird and infuriating.

the mc is a mess! spiraling one second acting like badass feminist the other. also misogynist at times and sexist.

the world building is so all over the place.

will not cont… honestly should’ve dnfed!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me longer to finish this book than it should have, you wanna know why? Partially because I loved the story and wanted to savior it but mostly because I couldn't stop laughing and from making my own personal commentary while reading. I am the type of reader, that if I like a book and am at home, I make comments out loud, laugh out loud, and overall generally have a great time. The Lost Horseman was that kinda book for me, I was so highly entertained and loved every single moment of the book.

The Lost Horseman is the second book in the series and I have to say I loved it even more than the first. At this point I know the characters, I am used to some of the worlds and things feel familiar at this point, which is when I really start to enjoy the story. Magic has come a long way in this one, she is taking more of a leading role in the team, I think partially to get her more comfortable in her role as a horseman but also because the team needs to look at things from a new perspective and she is new. Magic is planning things, researching, figuring out all of the crazy politics between the supernaturals themselves and between the supernaturals and the humans. Magic is growing into herself as a person, while she still has anxiety but she also has more confidence now and it shows. However, she still has so much more to figure out, dealing with a completely new gender, figuring out how to work things out in the supernatural community, and working on developing things between each of the supernatural societies is gonna take a lot of work not to mention working on her relationship with the team.

The team in this one is great! They all have gotten a lot closer to Magic, even Arrie who is still an ass but has his moments. They are building something with her and they have a lot of sweet moments. They have this new relationship feel, where people still have to be reassured, checked in with, a feeling of shyness and all the other sweet things but then they all also have this family feeling where everyone gets called out on their crap, naming calling, teasing and a general overall cohesiveness to the group. I think Magic was the messing piece for them and there is one little revelation that surprised me, in another book I would have suspected it but how the relationship is set-up in this book I wasn't expecting this little twist and I am curious to see how it's gonna play out, I hope nothing changes (bad changes anyway) but ya never know.

I devoured this story, I was so fully immersed and am very invested in the characters. Magic figuring out who she is, how she is dealing with both forms, figuring out a complex relationship, and dealing with difficult politics made the story so compelling. I've never really come across gender fluidity in a book before (only once) and it's informative to see it in a book, how people react, how the person may handle that, how they may perceive themselves, and dealing with relationships on top of that. I think those are very important topics and I am glad there is something out there now.

The magic, politics, and technology were also great. I loved how magic and science combined so well, how much magic was used and the interesting ways it was used in was great not to mention the combination of futuristic technology, very cool. Magic met the vampires and witches in the previous book, well this time she meets the fae and the shifters, and things of course were interesting. The fae, are fae and while I do love reading about them I will admit they are horrible most of the time but I loved the shifters, they are my favorite out of all the supernatural factions.

The Lost Horseman was great and left me with so many questions especially after that crazy ending, I mean what was that? Not to mention that in the notes Freida pretty much hinted that book three is gonna cause me emotional turmoil. I am already dying for the third book, I wanna see more of Magic and the gang, I want answers to the question that popped up at the end of this book, and I want to see Arrie figure his shit out. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Jennifer K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Length - 5/5 This book is thick with two c's. I like long books, but not ones that are needlessly long. This book isn't. Every page is absolutely necessary to the story and character development.

Character Development - 5/5 Again, there is a lot happening here and the characters are definitely becoming more 'real' as the story goes on.

Plot - 4/5 The main plot is great if some parts are a little unrealistic/overly simplified because of the overpowered Horseman of Magic. That's fine, though. I just wish she would have struggled a little more to master these super complex spells instead of after like one lesson being able to do miraculous feats of magic. Seems like with so many different types of magic it would have taken a little longer, especially since she's struggling so much with her elemental witch magic. How is the fae magic so much simpler. Unless we get an explanation on something in her Angel descended witch background that explains it in the next book.

Romance - 2/5 So this is the only place I find the book lacking. I don't get any gooey feelings on any of the romance scenes because they seem so forced and overly sweet. I honestly don't understand why they're so in love with Magic so quickly. I want to like it, but it just seems....forced and unnatural. Like they're fighting to rescue Connie from the evil vampires one second and the next she's making out with Arrie in a cave and basically ready to jump his bones. I don't know how to really articulate it, but there you go.

So I really do love this series and I'm definitely going to finish it because I'm invested in seeing how Magic and the rest of the horsemen save the world and stop it from imploding politically. I'd like to see a bit more development in the relationships, although at this point I don't know how it's possible to go back and fix the quick nature of what's already happened. Plus I do like the characters separately and reading about Magic's gender/sex identity development is something that's been handled really well so far.

Overall I'm rating this 5/5 because aside from the awkward romance, the plot and the issues dealt with are done really well and I do enjoy it. This is a book to savor, not to speed read.

[a · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really want to like this series. The plot is interesting, the relation ships are cool as well.
But... and this is gonna be a rant... the fact that these are so good really stress the annoying stuff.

Like when she first learned how to do air, why didnt we see her try to fly with it in the next few chapters? Instead we have to wait 200 pages for it (or something).

Why doesnt she try to activate her other powers? Like okay you are stuck on fire, why the hell don't you try your other powers (water, earth, charms, portal, whatever)? And maybe see more from the fae powers, or at least learn more about them ? (The only thing I know is that they are linked to leylines, thats it.)

Why are they so stupid as well. Like why dont you just keep some of your enemies alive, to go through their minds later? Instead... you decide to come out as the Horsemen while attacking vampire actors in the LAMEST, CRINGEST way possible. While calling them Bloodsuckers and whatnot. Is this really how you want to come out?

Why didnt they use the fact she was anonymous to gather some people they trusted to teach her some stuff. I mean they have lived 2.000 years, they gotta know somebody they can make a deal with at the minimum.

Also the heroine can be a bit annoying. Always getting angry (sure she apologies, but was there a need to get angry to start with?)
And again, sometimes the excuses don't make sense, or there are better ways to do it, and I expect old ass people (who are supposedly super strong and important with strategic and diplomatic abelities) would be able to see.

I'm sure I've some other complaints but for now I'm done.
Btw The fact that I'm complaining shows that I want to like this book, and it is good enough to keep me going

I finished the book. It got slightly better.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little better than book 1

I said in my last review about book 1 that it read somewhat sloppily and like a rough draft. This book was better but still not where a finished product should be. Still a lot of grammatical errors such as missing words or forgetting the “s” on the end of words. I still found some of the scene transitions to be abrupt and lacking some details in scenes.

However, I am really enjoying the plot and the world the author has created. The female lead, has finally decided on what her name will be which is Magic. The constant flip flopping of nicknames for her without a concrete name drove me insane. Magic is learning more about her past and is working more on her gender identity and finding confidence in herself in both forms. I said I felt that book 1 was a missed opportunity for working through gender identity but this book addressed it a little more which I was happy to see. It wasn’t an overwhelming aspect of the book but still an underlying issue that popped up pretty often. I’m eager to see the characters continue to grow and develop as the series continues.

Both book 1 and 2 needs another round of editing to fix the inconsistencies, flow, and grammatical errors but the plot and story is still intriguing and interesting to read.

[Skay Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally Made “Magic”

This was book two and I’m still not sure what to call the FMC. I do have some choice names for this author. I have been counting down the days til this release and it was even better than I imagined. Magic is unlocking some more of her powers and navigating her feelings for the other Horsemen. I loved the little bit of niceness we saw from Arrie but of course that did not last. He is back to being a complete jerk. I’m positive there are things I don’t know about him that are going to make me eventually fall in love with him. Right now though, I want someone to punch him in the... face. (I was totally thinking face the whole time.) That cliffhanger has me upset! Read this series and suffer with me until the next one is published. You won’t regret it!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally published on Myth and Magic Book Club

Myth: 3.5/5

The Horsemen are back, Famine, War, Death, Conquest and Magic. Magic, or Angel still has to come to terms with a lot of identities, her past, her magic and her genders. This book sees her working through all of that as the Horsemen try to stop a coming war on Earth.

I was really pulled into the story in the first book, though there was a lot of world building, there was a clear story arch of finding out who this fifth horsemen was. I didn’t think that was as clear in the second book. The characters were still fun but overall I thought that their goals throughout the book were a moving target. As a series, that could be intentional, and this second book could just be much more tightly intertwined with the third (we were definitely left on a cliffhanger).

Magic: 3.5/5

The magic continued to be very interesting, especially as some of Angel’s magic forms are tied to the different gendered bodies that she has. Angel is much more comfortable in her female form, and seems to only use the male form for the magic that it has. She’s still struggling with parts of her magic, so I have to guess that once she comes to accept all of her forms as herself, she’ll also be able to further unlock her magic.

Overall: 3.5/5

The second installment continues to show off interesting characters and plenty of romantic relationship dynamics within the Horseman harem. The continued balance between trying to save the world and trying to manage four complex relationships.

[cherelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I genuinely liked this story but there is one thing that hits too close to home for me and unfortunately has soiled the entire thing for me.

*S P O I L E R*


Why the author had to put in the rest of the horsemen choosing Nine to be her first has never sat right with me. So what he knows what she wants, so what is running through her head?! How does that make him a more "suited" first time for her I will never understand. All this is agreed behind her back. How is that not gross? I struggled through the rest of the book. I know I may get hate for this but there was LITERALLY no reason for that to be included. I feel let down in a way...

[Corinna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book two, considering we are headed to a harem they are burning so slow that sometimes I feel like the flame is going out😅

All things considered I liked the book, but I was expecting more, everything comes easy to the Horsemen and to Magic specifically even more. She went from zero to lead them, without knowledge or experience, they developed an app, organized an advertising campaign, disabled spells, created new magic supplies, everything without effort like they know everything. I struggle with this a little, but otherwise I still like the series a lot, it's engaging and nice to read.

[Sarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not even sure why I'm still reading these. I'm irritated to fk with the writing style which is constantly trying to be flowery/literary but then uses out of context words, or the author just throws fancy words together in a way that makes no sense at all when you try to tease it out.
Then the characters are inconsistent, and, the plot has very little in the way of foreshadowing so breakthroughs and new information are just randomly thrown in.
Yeah. So. Why am I still reading? I think, maybe, I'm going to stop now.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

great characters, fun plot, terrible writing

I love the 5 horsemen main characters. Their interactions are funny, sometimes poignant and show real emotion. The plot is well developed and interesting, but the writing… I don’t know if it’s an over use of predictive text or if the author is in fact just wrong about her understanding of particular words. It’s frustrating because I really like everything else, but the issues pull me back out of the story. I’ll probably read the rest of the series despite this, but grrr.

[stacey Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nooooo! that ending!

I loved the 2nd book in this series. I didn't see that ending coming! Icouldnt put it down I read the 1st AMD 2md book one after the other. It's such a shame the 3rd isn't out yet. Can't wait to read it.
I loved the characters all growing Abit more together, hope there's more sexy times in the next book

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another exciting episode

Another page turner to be sure. Couldn't put this one down either. Finally the 5th horsemen learns about herself, past and present. But it doesn't make things easier. This story is very well written and gives us knowledge as well as sexually explicate scenes. I loved every minute as I expect you will.

[Bianca M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

This book is very well written. I love the different characters are coming together and how not everything is sunshine and rainbows. The next book is going to be greatly anticipated by me until the day it comes out.

[Tracy Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read. Didn’t want it to finish and already can’t wait for Book 3. Loved the further development of the characters and their intertwining relationships. Also loved learning more about the different pillars. And the cliff hanger ...OMG! No spoilers!

[Cherylynn Tilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

This series is a must read. I love Magic and the guys. I can’t wait for the next book to see what happens next.

[April Herbster · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Rocio Coria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like it was written by a twelve year old

[Carrie Nightingale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually like slow burns, but this is wonderful. Watching her grow with her partners and grow into Magic is so wonderful. I love this story

[Jordane Heal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh.
I wanted to love this but it was a slog. DNF at about 30% or so. Same lack of editing, pacing and plot issues as the first, and an increasingly unlikeable mc.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this second book of the Horseman's Harem Saga, I find Magic still looking for answers as to where her magic comes from and acclimating to her new life while still trying to come to terms with her mortal life.

I am totally in love with all the Horseman as I read this book. Each one has such a powerful and charismatic personality that seems to contradict each other, but they are a family and grow together, fight together and love together.

When Magic feels like she is doing everything wrong, they show her how much she is helping them to grow and find a new place in the world as a group and as a team.

This book ended on a major cliffhanger that left me venting at the end. But I am excited to pick the the 3rd book and see exactly how it all plays out.

[Beka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each book keeps getting better and better! I love when a book makes me laugh out loud and experience ALL the emotions, and this one definitely does! I can safely say I am in love with this world and characters.