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The Witch Brothers Saga #3
Ruby Fire
When forced to choose between ending his father’s curse and his fear of commitment, will Kyle embrace his destiny or will he turn away and let the world burn around him?
Kyle doesn’t believe in destiny. In fact, he’s fought against it most of his life. When his homophobic father cursed him and his brothers to never find love, Kyle decided he didn’t need it anyway. As a gay man, why settle with one man when you can have many?
Conley has never clicked with the community his ancestors created in the dimension between worlds. All this changes when he goes on his vision quest, and learns that the community's survival may depend on him and a stranger he’s never met.
As Kyle fights against destiny and Conley struggles to embrace it, can these two men overcome the evil that stalks their journey and accept the spark of love that’s growing between them or will the darkness destroy them and everything they love?
Ruby Fire is the conclusion of the Witch Brother’s Saga… A fated mates, self-sacrifice, urban fantasy novel.
Kyle doesn’t believe in destiny. In fact, he’s fought against it most of his life. When his homophobic father cursed him and his brothers to never find love, Kyle decided he didn’t need it anyway. As a gay man, why settle with one man when you can have many?
Conley has never clicked with the community his ancestors created in the dimension between worlds. All this changes when he goes on his vision quest, and learns that the community's survival may depend on him and a stranger he’s never met.
As Kyle fights against destiny and Conley struggles to embrace it, can these two men overcome the evil that stalks their journey and accept the spark of love that’s growing between them or will the darkness destroy them and everything they love?
Ruby Fire is the conclusion of the Witch Brother’s Saga… A fated mates, self-sacrifice, urban fantasy novel.
253 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 16, 2022
4 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Adam J. Ridley
12 books100 followersAdam J. Ridley is the pen name used by Blake Allwood for his urban fantasy and fantasy novels.
I, Blake/Adam, travel full time with my husband and two dogs in a forty-foot motor home, constantly looking for inspiration in the towns we find ourselves in.
I’ve loved fantasy all my life, and after several years of writing romance, finally took the time to try my hand at a romantic urban fantasy.
The Witch Brothers Saga is my debut series. Next year, I’ll release a Selkie series and possible my first science fiction, superhero novel as well.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and I look forward to reading your reviews on the Witch Brothers Saga.
I, Blake/Adam, travel full time with my husband and two dogs in a forty-foot motor home, constantly looking for inspiration in the towns we find ourselves in.
I’ve loved fantasy all my life, and after several years of writing romance, finally took the time to try my hand at a romantic urban fantasy.
The Witch Brothers Saga is my debut series. Next year, I’ll release a Selkie series and possible my first science fiction, superhero novel as well.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and I look forward to reading your reviews on the Witch Brothers Saga.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 2, 2022
This is the third book of the Witch Brothers series. The first two were captivating and this one did not disappoint at all. This story is about how the youngest brother, Kyle, embraces his heritage and finds his very unexpected mate, Conley. Kyle is the last brother to fight their father’s darkness and of course he is skeptical about it. Both of his brothers and his grandmother have to convince him of the truth. He also does not believe the truth about Conley either but quickly learns. Kyle and Conley learn there is much more at stake than the three brothers. The two men travel to to different places to stop the evil curse from being completed. I enjoyed the whole series.
January 19, 2025
Okay. I had a whole AHA! moment about halfway through this one, and I think it has some merit.
Because while I have enjoyed this series thus far, something has been off. And by off, I mean it consistently feels like I’m missing 70% of the story. I couldn’t put my inside feelings and thoughts into coherent outside ones, but I think I got closer this time.
But then the last half of the book started to sort-of correct itself? A bit? And I started to think maybe it was intentional? The Lack, that is. I’m still not sure, but I mean stranger things have happened, and I don’t really think my theories are correct, but having them makes me feel better so that’s me saying my peace and counting to ten on it.
They may be all fucking wrong and in left field by themselves, but they make things easier to swallow. They are my spoonful of sugar and it’s fucking vanilla sugar, babe.
Nom.
Anyhow, my theory got put into a highlight, so I’m gonna paste it and then elaborate, as I am wont to do. These reviews of mine are still just dumping grounds of my immediate afterthoughts, or like my blog, so do with them what y’all always do and get mad or move on. Easy choices.
I think I just figured out why I feel like I’m not getting the depth/detail I need out of this series.
It’s almost like, yeah, this is a plot-heavy series/set of stories, but the romances are treated as foregone conclusions from the jump, and everything else completely drowns that part of each book/story. It’s lost under everything else, but since everything else is tied so closely to it, everything else suffers from the same general lacking.
The romance is feeding the story, but the story isn’t feeding the romance? Maybe? Is that how I want to put that? Idk… in any case, it’s just not a good balance, and I feel like every book so far could’ve only benefited from a little more attention to that detail—the balance of the romance vs the storyline.
Maybe if the love wasn’t so integral to the story/plot, all of it would just feel like a series of novella-esque books that are succinct and quick-paced. Instead it feels like I bought a new video game, and after I loaded it up I found out I needed like $80 of DLC to make it work/make sense.
I still like it, and I still enjoy my time in this world, but it’s got a sheen of “bummer” on it because it feels like it’s just a basic outline of something amazing.
Okay. That’s actually a lot more to unpack than I originally realised. Let me start by saying I am not dragging anyone or any book. I am not being hateful. I fully recommend and love this series, but I do notice a difference in the way these books feel vs how Cordelia Manor felt.
Cordelia Manor had the MORE. It was still a quicker pace, and had the air of being succinct, but it didn’t LACK. And that lacking is what’s fucking with me so hard. I don’t like The Lack. I want all of the good shit when a series is good because it deserves to have its moment.
And the relationships getting glazed feels like a let-down. Like, there’s the potential for an epic PNR/SNR. It could be grandiose and fantastical, but instead it just feels like each book is a carcass that has already been picked over. There’s still enough good stuff to make a solid bone broth or pot of stock, but not anywhere near enough to constitute a meal, ya feel me?
HOWEVER, comma, around 75-80% through this one, the detail started to get richer. The relationship and love that’s supposed to be the key suddenly took a much larger spot on stage for itself. Interpersonal relationships became even more important with satellite characters, and the brothers continue to mend fences and reinforce/rebuild bridges.
SO THEN I’m sitting here like, well damn. Was that intentional? Because it would track with the energy of the storyline, but with everyone constantly reminding the world that reading comprehension and the capabilities of grasping nuance and subtlety are shockingly low, maybe I’m just feeding my own tendencies into the narrative to force some kind of answers?
I guess this just means I have questions I’d love to get answers to. Was the bare-bones, outline-esque writing of these first three books on purpose? Was it a nod to the disconnect in the storyline that plagued each of the brothers?
3.5/5. This one had a lot more editing misses on the proofreading side, and The Lack was still present. Again, I’m out here reading way too deep into shit, and continue to get way different fucking things out of the books I read. I need my rabbit hole of a brain to calm the fuck down. You’d think I wore tin foil hats and screamed about conspiracy theories from a basement somewhere. I will most likely delete this later when I come to my senses and try again. Or not, because I spent all this time on it, and I am nothing if not lazy with my soapbox. It gets left lying around all the time.
Because while I have enjoyed this series thus far, something has been off. And by off, I mean it consistently feels like I’m missing 70% of the story. I couldn’t put my inside feelings and thoughts into coherent outside ones, but I think I got closer this time.
But then the last half of the book started to sort-of correct itself? A bit? And I started to think maybe it was intentional? The Lack, that is. I’m still not sure, but I mean stranger things have happened, and I don’t really think my theories are correct, but having them makes me feel better so that’s me saying my peace and counting to ten on it.
They may be all fucking wrong and in left field by themselves, but they make things easier to swallow. They are my spoonful of sugar and it’s fucking vanilla sugar, babe.
Nom.
Anyhow, my theory got put into a highlight, so I’m gonna paste it and then elaborate, as I am wont to do. These reviews of mine are still just dumping grounds of my immediate afterthoughts, or like my blog, so do with them what y’all always do and get mad or move on. Easy choices.
I think I just figured out why I feel like I’m not getting the depth/detail I need out of this series.
It’s almost like, yeah, this is a plot-heavy series/set of stories, but the romances are treated as foregone conclusions from the jump, and everything else completely drowns that part of each book/story. It’s lost under everything else, but since everything else is tied so closely to it, everything else suffers from the same general lacking.
The romance is feeding the story, but the story isn’t feeding the romance? Maybe? Is that how I want to put that? Idk… in any case, it’s just not a good balance, and I feel like every book so far could’ve only benefited from a little more attention to that detail—the balance of the romance vs the storyline.
Maybe if the love wasn’t so integral to the story/plot, all of it would just feel like a series of novella-esque books that are succinct and quick-paced. Instead it feels like I bought a new video game, and after I loaded it up I found out I needed like $80 of DLC to make it work/make sense.
I still like it, and I still enjoy my time in this world, but it’s got a sheen of “bummer” on it because it feels like it’s just a basic outline of something amazing.
Okay. That’s actually a lot more to unpack than I originally realised. Let me start by saying I am not dragging anyone or any book. I am not being hateful. I fully recommend and love this series, but I do notice a difference in the way these books feel vs how Cordelia Manor felt.
Cordelia Manor had the MORE. It was still a quicker pace, and had the air of being succinct, but it didn’t LACK. And that lacking is what’s fucking with me so hard. I don’t like The Lack. I want all of the good shit when a series is good because it deserves to have its moment.
And the relationships getting glazed feels like a let-down. Like, there’s the potential for an epic PNR/SNR. It could be grandiose and fantastical, but instead it just feels like each book is a carcass that has already been picked over. There’s still enough good stuff to make a solid bone broth or pot of stock, but not anywhere near enough to constitute a meal, ya feel me?
HOWEVER, comma, around 75-80% through this one, the detail started to get richer. The relationship and love that’s supposed to be the key suddenly took a much larger spot on stage for itself. Interpersonal relationships became even more important with satellite characters, and the brothers continue to mend fences and reinforce/rebuild bridges.
SO THEN I’m sitting here like, well damn. Was that intentional? Because it would track with the energy of the storyline, but with everyone constantly reminding the world that reading comprehension and the capabilities of grasping nuance and subtlety are shockingly low, maybe I’m just feeding my own tendencies into the narrative to force some kind of answers?
I guess this just means I have questions I’d love to get answers to. Was the bare-bones, outline-esque writing of these first three books on purpose? Was it a nod to the disconnect in the storyline that plagued each of the brothers?
3.5/5. This one had a lot more editing misses on the proofreading side, and The Lack was still present. Again, I’m out here reading way too deep into shit, and continue to get way different fucking things out of the books I read. I need my rabbit hole of a brain to calm the fuck down. You’d think I wore tin foil hats and screamed about conspiracy theories from a basement somewhere. I will most likely delete this later when I come to my senses and try again. Or not, because I spent all this time on it, and I am nothing if not lazy with my soapbox. It gets left lying around all the time.
October 21, 2022
Ulysses Dietz Member of The Paranormal Guild Review Team
Rating: 4 stars
Title: Witch Brothers Saga: Emerald Earth, Diamond Air, Ruby Fire
Author: Adam J. Ridley
Publisher: Blake Allwood
Genre: paranormal romance
M/M
Publication date: 2022
Page count: TBD
These three books are technically stand-alone, but they are also a trilogy, involving the destinies of three brothers. Adam J. Ridley, Blake Allwood’s altar-ego, has created a fascinating twist on the paranormal romance and given it a mystical setting that is distinctly American. It is a world of witchcraft and wicca living in the wilderness fringes of civilization; a world where nature-bound elemental power is acknowledged—but not always embraced.
The overarching motif of the trilogy is darkness—the darkness of a terrible curse, hurled at three young boys by their politically-ambitious father when he learns that they’re all gay. It’s no spoiler, because it’s in the prologue that Creagan, Lance, and Kyle Franklyn are cursed to never knowing the love of another man. The boys strike back with a curse of their own—denying their father the love of his sons.
It's quite a set up. Each book focuses on one of the young men, as his destiny draws him inexorably back to the magical landscape of Chemeketa, Oregon, dominated by redwood forests and volcanic peaks. Each of the Franklyn boys must face the consequences of their father’s curse.
Crea, the middle son, in “Emerald Earth,” has become an urban farmer in the midst of the insane real-estate market of San Francisco. On a scouting trip to find an ideal campsite for a reunion of the brothers, he rescues a badly-injured man he finds, literally, by the side of the road.
Lance, the eldest, in “Diamond Sky,” has run the farthest, while ending up a high-powered politician in Oregon. He has to confront the man who became his grandmother’s caretaker in her last years, and who was the only one with her at her death.
Kyle, the baby of the family, in “Ruby Fire,” is a volcanologist in Mexico, forever on the run from both family and personal entanglements, working on an endless PhD and avoiding his brothers. His journey is the weirdest and most complex, entering into unseen dimensions in his native Chemeketa. This volume tips into a sort of magical fantasy, as Kyle faces the ultimate challenge with his brothers by his side.
One thing all three men share is Gwen, their witch grandmother, who took them in when her son cursed her grandsons and threw them out of their home. She is the one constant happy memory they have in common. Given the nature of the trilogy, Gwen is a central character, despite the fact that she’s dead.
Each book is quite different in tone, although they are all linked with common threads. Adam Ridley’s prose is not poetic, but matter-of-fact. The only wonder evoked is that of the beauty of nature, and the allure of the isolated hamlet of Chemeketa. Ridley’s three heroes have all turned their backs on their magical heritage in order to deal with the pain and loss of their father’s curse. They’ve also, quite literally turned their backs on the unspoiled wilderness in which their grandmother raised them and where their family’s history begins. Having been unable to outrun the loneliness caused by the curse, the three find that they have to turn back to their roots to defeat the darkness and find true happiness.
You really need to read all three close together. Plus, to my surprise, there’s a cliffhanger at the end, promising a fourth volume to come.
Rating: 4 stars
Title: Witch Brothers Saga: Emerald Earth, Diamond Air, Ruby Fire
Author: Adam J. Ridley
Publisher: Blake Allwood
Genre: paranormal romance
M/M
Publication date: 2022
Page count: TBD
These three books are technically stand-alone, but they are also a trilogy, involving the destinies of three brothers. Adam J. Ridley, Blake Allwood’s altar-ego, has created a fascinating twist on the paranormal romance and given it a mystical setting that is distinctly American. It is a world of witchcraft and wicca living in the wilderness fringes of civilization; a world where nature-bound elemental power is acknowledged—but not always embraced.
The overarching motif of the trilogy is darkness—the darkness of a terrible curse, hurled at three young boys by their politically-ambitious father when he learns that they’re all gay. It’s no spoiler, because it’s in the prologue that Creagan, Lance, and Kyle Franklyn are cursed to never knowing the love of another man. The boys strike back with a curse of their own—denying their father the love of his sons.
It's quite a set up. Each book focuses on one of the young men, as his destiny draws him inexorably back to the magical landscape of Chemeketa, Oregon, dominated by redwood forests and volcanic peaks. Each of the Franklyn boys must face the consequences of their father’s curse.
Crea, the middle son, in “Emerald Earth,” has become an urban farmer in the midst of the insane real-estate market of San Francisco. On a scouting trip to find an ideal campsite for a reunion of the brothers, he rescues a badly-injured man he finds, literally, by the side of the road.
Lance, the eldest, in “Diamond Sky,” has run the farthest, while ending up a high-powered politician in Oregon. He has to confront the man who became his grandmother’s caretaker in her last years, and who was the only one with her at her death.
Kyle, the baby of the family, in “Ruby Fire,” is a volcanologist in Mexico, forever on the run from both family and personal entanglements, working on an endless PhD and avoiding his brothers. His journey is the weirdest and most complex, entering into unseen dimensions in his native Chemeketa. This volume tips into a sort of magical fantasy, as Kyle faces the ultimate challenge with his brothers by his side.
One thing all three men share is Gwen, their witch grandmother, who took them in when her son cursed her grandsons and threw them out of their home. She is the one constant happy memory they have in common. Given the nature of the trilogy, Gwen is a central character, despite the fact that she’s dead.
Each book is quite different in tone, although they are all linked with common threads. Adam Ridley’s prose is not poetic, but matter-of-fact. The only wonder evoked is that of the beauty of nature, and the allure of the isolated hamlet of Chemeketa. Ridley’s three heroes have all turned their backs on their magical heritage in order to deal with the pain and loss of their father’s curse. They’ve also, quite literally turned their backs on the unspoiled wilderness in which their grandmother raised them and where their family’s history begins. Having been unable to outrun the loneliness caused by the curse, the three find that they have to turn back to their roots to defeat the darkness and find true happiness.
You really need to read all three close together. Plus, to my surprise, there’s a cliffhanger at the end, promising a fourth volume to come.
September 18, 2022
The fight to push back the darkness involved more than just falling in love for the third brother Kyle, there was so much more at stake this time.
This novel had a different feel, Kyle and Conley, who comes from dimension, one that kind of mirrors the one Chemeketa and it's people live. Tied together by volcanic forces and the forces of nature, it's time that these to merge in order for them all to survive.
Kyle and Conley spend a lot of time between the real world and the dream world, which took some getting my head around, but I really enjoyed this aspect of it.
The relationship between Kyle and Conley was really sweet, but near the end the author has me almost in tears, I just didn't know if it was all going to work out for them.
The ending has a big twist, one I wasn't expecting and I can't wait for more.
This novel had a different feel, Kyle and Conley, who comes from dimension, one that kind of mirrors the one Chemeketa and it's people live. Tied together by volcanic forces and the forces of nature, it's time that these to merge in order for them all to survive.
Kyle and Conley spend a lot of time between the real world and the dream world, which took some getting my head around, but I really enjoyed this aspect of it.
The relationship between Kyle and Conley was really sweet, but near the end the author has me almost in tears, I just didn't know if it was all going to work out for them.
The ending has a big twist, one I wasn't expecting and I can't wait for more.
January 31, 2024
I was excited for this book but I've gotta say, it was a disappointment at best. Not only was it confusing as fuck ESPECIALLY the last five chapters or so, but the pacing was God awful. I felt the least connected to this couple and I think there could've been another 20 to 30 pages of story, easily. I'll be reading the last one but I'm not holding my breath. 😕
July 9, 2025
but graaaaandma
Did not finish, 11%.
Another whiny brat of a witch, this time they bring parallel universes into play and find an equally whiny brat from another dimension.
Think it would be better if the boys embraced their magical heritage rather than showing up to fight the Darkness as half trained skeptics.
Did not finish, 11%.
Another whiny brat of a witch, this time they bring parallel universes into play and find an equally whiny brat from another dimension.
Think it would be better if the boys embraced their magical heritage rather than showing up to fight the Darkness as half trained skeptics.
October 7, 2025
Really a 3.5 star, but such a solid head and shoulders better than any of the rest of the series (especially the second, which added nearly nothing) I'll round up.
Ridley has a ton of great ideas here, and starts exploring new worlds and ways of (re)telling the story of the curse with much less re-hash. It feels much fresher, and works better.
Ridley has a ton of great ideas here, and starts exploring new worlds and ways of (re)telling the story of the curse with much less re-hash. It feels much fresher, and works better.
June 21, 2025
So good, and perfect setup for the next book. Love the other world, thought maybe grandma was going to become the volcano, but I like how it worked out
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews