Tag: author A. J. Sherwood

Review: Fourth Point of Contact: The Warden and the General (Legends of Lobe den Herren #1) by A. J. Sherwood

Rating: 5🌈

I don’t know how I missed this one when it first came out but I’ve read it now and what a fantastic story.

The first of a duology for this couple, Sherwood’s is a tale of two soldiers from different countries who became everything to each other over the course of a war. At the end , they then have to find a way back together outside of established relationships roles from wartime. This is a simply amazing epic that encompasses a number of countries, tenuous post war political realities, cultural differences and conflicts, found families, and sexual awakenings.

And the reader is able to intimately explore all those elements through the experiences of the characters in the story, Shiirei General Sho Renjimantoro and Aart General Arman Brahms.

Sherwood chooses to open the novel with a prologue, which captures the moment at the end of a long devastating war that Ren agrees to leave his country of Shiirei behind to follow General and best friend Arman Brahms to his home and country. It’s a highly emotional scene, full of drama and history about the men and their lives.

Ren, who’s always been open about his sexuality, has never accepted for it in his own country. But within his own company of soldiers and that of Arman, he’s been able to be open about his preference for the company of men. That freedom and deep connection with Arman is forefront in his decision for leaving for Aart as well as the fact his Emperor can no longer employ his army.

Arman is more a subtle character than Ren. Ren’s voice is more prevalent here both as a character and for the reader as the main POV. Arman is a man of few words, Ren being his interpreter in the relationship for others, and often the talkative one in their dynamic.

Sherwood uses Arman’s language to convey his love for others and ease in their presence. It’s extremely effective and becomes even an integral aspect of his personality in the second book, Zone of Action.

But here it’s Arman’s journey to understanding his relationship with Ren, its evolving stages from deep friendship to deepest romantic love. Sherwood makes it believable without us being in on all the emotional mental work Arman goes through. It works because of the discussions had between Ren and Arman about his feelings for Ren, and that realness comes through beautifully.

Sherwood lays in the background and foundation for Aart’s reigning family and the other governing bodies to make plans that the war they just fought and won won’t be repeated.

There’s political intrigue, assaults, assassination attempts, and more. All woven into the story of the evolution of the deep relationship between Ren and Arman.

I couldn’t put this down. Fourth Point of Contact: The Warden and the General (Legends of Lobe den Herren #1) by A. J. Sherwood turned into a favorite of mine.

I highly recommend it to all readers of this genre and fans of this author if you haven’t discovered it already. It’s an absolute gem.

Legends of Lobe den Herren :

✓ Fourth Point of Contact: The Warden and the General #1

✓ Zone of Action #2

Buy Link:

Fourth Point of Contact (Legends of Lobe den Herren Book 1)

Blurb:

Ren’s fantasy wishlist includes:

A sexy lover (preferably of the male variety)

Peace inside of the palace

Possibly an onsen

His best friend never deployed again, and always beside him

It does not include:

Assassins inside of his palace

Far too many conspiracies

Being proposed to while hungover. In bed. By his straight best friend.

Arman Brahms falling in love with him is a fantasy Ren’s buried for over six years, so to have it come true seems unreal. He has questions. All the questions. Mainly because Arman is bad at using his words.

But the most important question?

Is the fantasy worth risking everything?

Tags:

Friends to lovers, GFY, Arman is the king of demisexual, Arman is absolutely done with this nonsense and lets people know it, no fainting damsels here, proposing is difficult, indecent proposal, Arman uses words, not too many, that’s what Ren is for, Ren’s up to rule twenty-five, Arman’s still violating three, five, and sixteen, too many potential conspiracies, too many assassination attempts, Ren would like less assassins please and thank you, being warden to a palace is not as much fun as it looks, Fourth Point of Contact doesn’t mean what you think, don’t mix alcohol with a teenage princess, accidental princess corruption, royal meddlers, fantasy world but no magic

Review: A [Non] Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents (Sorcerer’s Grimoire #1) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 5 🌈

I’m never quite sure which way one of Sherwood’s series is going to go , whether it’s a bit dark or lighter in tone, but I’m always excited to dive in for the journey .

A [Non] Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents could have gone dark so deeply with our introduction to how Sorcerer Adrien Danvers rescued not one but two young street boys who will become his apprentice and found family. There’s Julian, who’s extraordinary unschooled powers drew Adrien to him and MacMallin, a streetwise kid with a love for machinery, two kids who have endured heartbreaking pasts in their young years which led to the horrible/life threatening conditions that Adrien found them in.

Usually there’s some great humor or hilarity to be had in a Sherwood novel, but this series and its time frame doesn’t really lend itself towards that. From the scenes of rescue, the themes are serious, and heart heavy to immediately engage the readers.

Sherwood puts us into a scurvy, dirty alleyway in an English locale, London to be precise, around the 1930’s. Magic is real and regulated. There’s an alternative history so some of our history is along the same timeline. What’s also important to note that homosexuality is illegal, with consequences varying according to class and support groups.

The reader absorbs all that information just as much as they concentrate on the emotional scenes on the page. We will connect to the broken boy, Julian, and then his “brother “ by choice, MacMallin, as Adrien saves them. And then slowly learns how to let all three of them adjust to their new surroundings and relationship.

So, so many scenes that are well done and thought out that show exactly how much damage each character has suffered in their lives, whether it’s long or short. The cast of characters includes other sorcerers, twin siblings ,Cynric and Anastasia, who are fabulous. And there’s Huge, a terrific main character, who will be the romantic interest of this slow burn love story over the series. I am so excited to see how Sherwood is going to develop their relationship as it’s built into magical mysteries and a great understanding of Adrien’s wounded heart by Hugh.

The author has also given us two rough collies as characters, an ever growing number of different magical beasts to fight as well as human criminals to battle. Epic encounters and high sorcery are extremely powerful to escape into but Sherwood never forgets that it’s the people, their deepest fears and hopes that the reader really cares about. And so the author delivers moving emotional moments that have both the characters and readers in tears .

This is a very slow burn romance so nary a kiss to be had, and it’s quite wonderful that way. Every small step towards a recognizable flirtation is a remarkable journey and one I can’t wait to see more of. And these boys are growing so fast, physically and mentally.

I fear we won’t see book 2 until 2024 with all the series this author is juggling, but it will be well worth the wait.

I’m highly recommending A [Non] Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents (Sorcerer’s Grimoire #1) by A.J. Sherwood for its excellence in characterization, plotting, and just making me feel like I wanted to both hug these people and join them on their adventures.

Fabulous!

Sorcerer’s Grimoire:

✓ A [Non] Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents (#1)

â—¦ Dealing with Mapinguari and Dogged Engineers #2 – TBD

Buy Link:

A (Non) Comprehensive Guide to Sea Serpents (The Sorcerer’s Grimoire Book 1)

Blurb:

Two new apprentices. One charming engineer. A potential battle with both sea serpents and evil sorcerers.

When Sorcerer Adrien Danvers takes on a job that leads him into the slums of England, he never imagined he’d end up with not one, but two apprentices. Despite his doubts in himself, he’s the only chance the two pre-teens have to escape their hellish life.

When Sir Hugh Quartermain contracts him to deal with the mysterious circumstances surrounding his home on the Isle of Man, Adrien finds the more time they spend together, the more his walls come down around the beguiling engineer–an unusual occurrence and a terrifying prospect.

But as it turns out, this case is about to take a turn–a battle with both beast and man, the ultimate test of Adrien’s willingness to accept help. When he does, Hugh proves to be a fierce protector and friend, more so than Adrien could’ve ever bargained for, and he finds himself longing for something he shouldn’t.

Falling for his new friend is not a complication Adrien needs. (His matchmaking apprentices disagree.)

Tags:

Magical AU, Adrien’s way of dealing with bad days is to curse things, repeatedly, fortunately lots of targets keep presenting themselves, Hugh has precisely zero chill where Adrien is concerned, as people will learn the hard way, here we have Extremely Competent MCs because that is my jam, set after WWI, but no worries, I can’t write angst to save my life, curses, magic, bit of mystery, apprentices are acquired, something of a slow burn, Hugh’s a sweetie, right up until you endanger his boys, then he’s your worst nightmare, man’s a knight in multiple ways

Review: A Mage’s Guide to Wicky (R’iyah Family Archives: Volume #3) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.75🌈

Scattered, wacky, Wicky, adorable perfection!

What happens when a magical seeking spell won’t leave Wicky alone? Well, as much as his curiosity is killing him, Wicky knows this time , he needs to call in his team and found family to find answers.

With Bel, Nico, and Garan involved, Wicky’s team are going to find out who is magically stalking their wonderful, flighty friend. And the reason why.

This is such a fabulous story. It flies by on wings of combined cultural magic and values, soars with the joy of discovery, of finding one’s true purpose and path, with characters infused with humor, intelligence, love, and sheer outrageousness.

Sun , Wicky’s soulmate, is amazing, and I look forward to seeing how a wind elemental will fit into the team. Plus the journey into parts of Thailand, along with the food made my mouth water.

Each aspect of the story contained some great elements that made you want to linger a bit longer. And still hurry forward towards the next stop . Incredible.

You giggle, you smack your head, laugh, and keep on appreciating the world that Sherwood has created that has such fantastic characters within it.

My only quibble? I wanted more.

Who wouldn’t?

And now Mobius decides to speak?

Pls we need more. More adventures of the team as they adjust to the new status quo.

I’m highly excited for that story to arrive. And recommend this until it does!

R’iyah Family Archives:

✓ A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars #1

✓ A Mage’s Guide to Aussie Terrors #2

✓ A Mage’s Guide to Wicky #3

Buy Link:

A Mage’s Guide to Wicky (R’iyah Family Archives: Volume Book 3)

Description:

Wicky’s never been magically stalked before.

He kinda likes it, to be honest.

For some reason, it’s upsetting everyone else though. Maybe he should figure out who it is?

Ooooo, maybe his fated one is on the other end! In…Thailand?

Tags:

Wicky use your brain challenge: Failed, author has lost discretion in this, Wicky is in Thailand, pray for Thailand, the trio is along for the ride, fated mates, Thai magic, don’t mind the author I’m just over here building a ship, Sun is the younger of the two but he’s also resigned to being the responsible one, chosen family, Mobius talks, in Thai, Wicky feels so betrayed, look this is pure romantic crack, Sun is cute that’s all you need to know

Review: The Magic That Binds (Haelan Book 1) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.75🌈

The Magic That Binds is the first in a new series by A.J. Sherwood and it’s an excellent story. By the author’s own admission, it’s been a long time coming. A fact made clear by the detailed nature of the book’s world building and the way in which Sherwood slowly creates this incredible, intimate bond between three unusual, and extremely distinct individuals.

This bond, a threefold relationship that forms from wary friendships and tenuous business/political connections then strengthens through mutual attraction, deepening connections, mysterious events, and ultimately love.

Sherwood’s beautifully plotted tale of a poly romantic journey is founded upon a backdrop of intricate magical intrigue and political power struggles. We are given a prologue as a base for our world knowledge before we jump into the high drama and mysteries that will bring the three men together in a fascinating, satisfying romantic tale.

It’s starts with Dag Gates, rogue healer, on the run in Nova Scotia, a country only recently having found peace and stability under new rule. Dag, an orphaned boy, a powerful healer, and a bit of an enigma, might start off as a favorite character. He’s all damaged soul, PTSD, and yet so bright and caring. A great character. Yet the two men coming into his life shortly after are different, in looks, backgrounds, and power. And will slide into the reader’s heart as well. Maegan Stefan Bjorne, powerful mage, of a large loving theatrical family and possessing a heart wary of affection and commitment. Dark, strong and instantly drawn to Dag.

I felt their chemistry immediately.

Then came the bad boy or man. Businessman Mikkel Vinters, with two families, of which one is his chosen found family of a less lustrous reputation. Vinters so layered , his found family so fascinating , his mind so open to the possibilities both men represent to him and the future, that you are all in where he’s concerned.

With each perspective, we get to know intimately the way each man thinks and feels, about the others and the increasingly precarious situations they find themselves in .

I just couldn’t put this book down.

They grow together, Dag ‘s new stable life lets him start to settle down emotionally, and that impacts the others. I really don’t see how Sherwood missed out on the natural progression here with the men and their poly relationship. Even the sexual scenes, which have the added element of one man being a virgin, feel believable , sexy, and loving.

I’m thrilled that Sherwood isn’t done with these men and this universe. I honestly need more . The author teases us with fabulous glimpses of family life, personal history, and castle home life. But we know that there’s so much more happening.

And we want to be a part of it. And them. Whenever we may get it.

The Magic That Binds (Haelan Book 1) by A.J. Sherwood is a fabulous book and one I’m highly recommending!

Buy Link:

The Magic That Binds (Haelan Book 1)

Description:

All Dag Gates wants is a place to call home. (And to practice magic freely.)

All Stefan Bjorne wants is peace in his adoptive country. (And less paperwork.)

All Mikkel Vinters wants is both of them. (No, really, he could do wedding bells.)

So why, pray tell, is half the magical community set on denying them all their wishes?

Tags:

Urban fantasy anyone?, slow burn, Mikkel is dying its so slow, pray for him, age gap, millionaire CEO is loose with no limits, cinnamon roll protection squad assemble!, polyamory at its best, Dag wants to eat all the things, all, magic, healing, childhood trauma, who’s chasing who is the question, Dag’s shy, Stefan’s a little insecure, thankfully Mikkel is neither, there is far too much food in this book, short but mighty, rules are established, Mikkel’s type in men is sexy and dangerous, it hasn’t killed him yet, accidental husband acquisition, magical bindings, shenanigans shall now commence

Review: Jon and Mack’s Terrifying Tree Troubles (Jon’s Mysteries Case Book 5) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.75🌈

A crossover story with Sherwood’s Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations series, Jon and Mack’s Terrifying Tree Troubles is a great entertaining, somewhat terrifying white knuckle thriller of a murderous paranormal mystery story.

That it contains laughs, some kinky sex, cats, yeeted tombstones, multiple characters we’ve come to love between two series, and ghosts out the wahzoo! You should sort of expect that.

It all starts with Grant (who does get a story, see below) being called in to find a missing teenager, only to discover that she’s dead.

That leads to a phone call to the Psy gang , that includes Reader extraordinaire Jonathan Bane, his fiancée and anchor Donovan Havili , computer genius Cho and more.

Sherwood quickly turns a simple murder case into something that keeps building up into a chilling conspiracy of hate and violence. One body at a time. It’s a great element and storyline.

And it makes perfect sense to bring in all the other characters, like FBI medium MacKenzie Lafayette and his anchor and partner in every way,

Brandon Havili, to help with the cases and ghosts.

More familiar faces arrive to assist as the suspects, anxiety, and sheer body counts ramp up. So does the danger to our group.

The final chapters are really impressive in building to a narrative climax,making a high action, suspenseful, screaming banshee type of last play before everything is solved and the good guys can go safely home and enjoy their lives.

In other words, a fabulous tale.

Sherwood has mentioned she has one more book in each series and then they each are done.

So I’ll treasure this and wait for that.

And highly recommend the series. Read them in the order they are written.

Jon’s Mysteries Case series:

✓ Jon’s Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case #1

✓ Jon’s Crazy Head-Boppin’ Mystery #2

✓ Jon’s Spooky Corpse Conundrum #3

✓ Jon’s Boom Shaka Laka Problem #4

✓ Jon and Mack’s Terrifying Tree Troubles #5

Buy Link:

Jon and Mack’s Terrifying Tree Troubles (Jon’s Mysteries Case Book 5)

Description:

It’s like a bad game of Telephone.

Grant locates a murdered teen in McMinnville. He calls Jon.

Jon locates the girl’s ghost. He calls Mack.

Mack talks to the ghost who leads them to more ghosts. Who lead them to even more ghosts.

And why are all the murder victims buried under trees?

The boys are ready for this game to end, please. (Donovan especially.)

Tags:

Jon’s World crossover, hail hail the gang’s all here, oh look we meet Grant, trees are not to be trusted, according to Donovan, ya’ll pray for Donovan, there’s so many ghosts, the ghosts have some WORDS to share, car sex, bondage sex, Mack has plans, so of course they get ruined, BAMF female cops, Jon and Mack are ready for this case to be over, please and thank you, serial killer(s)? running amok, people get tombed, literally, Eli’s mad she missed the fun, Mack would like to say: Don’t use Jon as a battery, seriously don’t do it

Related series/books:

Alan’s Utterly Accidental Dream-Cute: A Jon’s Mysteries Side Story (Jon’s Mysteries Case)

Review: How I Stole The Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy: The Coronation: The Complete Works Bonus Short Story by A. J. Sherwood

Rating: 4🌈

The drama is over, the evil princess (and her father) is so so dead. So what’s a handsome knight and his newly wed sorcerer to do? Why be crowned King of course!

Here the party , all the hijinks, the kitties, and the HFN’s because, luckily, A.J. Sherwood isn’t done with Tan and Devan yet!

So enjoy! And wait for the shenanigans to begin again.

Part of: How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned him to Villainy

Special short bonus story to the following, now a boxed set.

How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned him to Villainy by AJ Sherwood Miracles 1-6

Review: How I Stole The Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy: The Coronation: The Complete Works Bonus Short Story by A. J. Sherwood

Rating: 4🌈

The drama is over, the evil princess (and her father) is so so dead. So what’s a handsome knight and his newly wed sorcerer to do? Why be crowned King of course!

Here the party , all the hijinks, the kitties, and the HFN’s because, luckily, A.J. Sherwood isn’t done with Tan and Devan yet!

So enjoy! And wait for the shenanigans to begin again.

Part of: How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned him to Villainy

Special short bonus story to the following, now a boxed set.

How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned him to Villainy by AJ Sherwood Miracles 1-6

Review: Unholy Trifecta X The Tribulations of Ross Young, Supernat PA: Common Sense Deserts Once Again by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.5🌈

For me, a fan of both series, Unholy Trifecta and Ross Young, Supernatural PA, this crossover was a howling success. In fact, I’m already crying for more. Assassins, dwarfs get yeeted, werewolves and vampires in battle, grenades, magic, and all our fabulous characters present and accounted for! That includes an almost grownup Remi aka Widow, 17, charismatic, and someone I very much need to see more of.

The plot itself is almost negligible, we just need an excuse to bring everyone together and have an explosive blast of craziness. Which is exactly what occurs.

If you haven’t read either series, this won’t make any sense to you. There’s too much missing background and depth of information that only available if you’ve read the series and know all the complicated relationships involved.

Do yourself a favor, and if you’re a fan of sarcastic humor, action, and hilarious characters and plots of snarky stuff with occasional depth into serious issues, grab both up.

Then head back here for a rollicking fun story.

Unholy Trifecta X The Tribulations of Ross Young, Supernat PA: Common Sense Deserts Once Againby AJ Sherwood

Description:

Remi steals something she shouldn’t. Oops?
In her defense, Ivan thought it was a good idea.

Tags:

Ivan, cause Ivan is his own tag, Remi is all grown up, cursed objects, Kyou wonders how this is now his life, Glenn is amused, Ross has no fucks to give, this is just pure crack okay, don’t take it seriously, Remi stole something she should not have, everyone blames Ivan, ruby necklaces should not float and give off lightshows, Glenn owes Ivan a favor and he’s calling it in, dwarven mead, warlocks, Remi is adopted by dwarves, Ari gets to shoot something so he’s happy, Ross refuses to be in charge of a warlock’s inventory, because no.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: How I Stole The Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him To Villainy: Miracle 5 By A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4🌈

It’s the penultimate story and Sherwood is giving us heartburn!

From Tan’s explosive attempts to fix his biggest mistake to being a jailbird then , well , nothing prepared us for this short frustrating story of fighting, explosions, heart eyes, and an evil princess.

It’s got a big cliffhanger ending too!

Sigh.

Actually that’s pretty typical of serialized stories but argh!

Just sayin.

How I Stole The Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him To Villainy: Miracle 6 will be out on November 25, 2022. I’m so ready for a Royal smack down.

The covers have been changing. Notice the heart! Hmmmm, maybe a clue?

I’m highly recommending the series, frustration and all. Bring on the finale!

How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy: Miracle 5

Description:

What’s Tan to do when an experiment goes wrong? Nothing. He’s unconscious and captured.

What’s Devan to do when his lover shows up in the palace prison? Keep calm and smuggle on.

Tan would say don’t put him into a box, but he actually does fit. Devan despairs.

Tags:

Tan gets himself into trouble, what? No one’s surprised by that?, Tan maybe forgot a teensy weensy promise, it bites him in the ass, in Tan’s defense, yeah I got nothin’, boyfriend to the rescue, Protective Devan, light angst, mostly as an excuse for cuddles, smuggling, cancuns saying inappropriate things, Serenity has successfully pissed Devan off for the last time, and then she does something even worse, magic battle, minotaurs, portals, Fa actually fixes her hair, it’s a miracle.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: How I Stole The Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him To Villainy: Miracle 4 By A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.75🌈

We are now into Miracle 4 of How I Stole The Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him To Villainy, a fabulous fantasy serial by A.J. Sherwood and things are heating up in the slow romance between Knight Devan and sorcerer Tan.

It all happens during a mission to investigate the disappearance and sinkings of multiple vessels as they sail through a Strait near Devan’s family.

Sherwood starts to use this journey to deepen the relationship between Tan and Devan. A longer history is revealed and the turmoil of Devan’s thoughts regarding his long service to the kingdom come to the surface.

All serious elements while not forgetting the humor and new sexuality that’s entering into their relationship.

It’s a great story and also sets up some perilous times ahead for all.

I can’t wait for the next installment. There are 6 in all. I’m highly recommending the series, including this one. But read them in the order they are written for story and relationship development.

https://www.amazon.com › stole-Pri…How I stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy : Miracle 4 eBook …

…

Description:

What’s Devan to do when his cousin’s ships and the crew go missing? Set sail with Tan to figure it out.

What’s Tan to do when Devan finally makes a move? N.S.F.W. Many times. On many surfaces.

Damn creatures are trying to interrupt them. Murder ensues.

Tags:

The crack ship armada sails again, literally, Tan fell first, Devan fell harder, communication, because miscommunication is the devil’s trope, Devan puts himself first for once, Tan approves, LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!, unless Devan beckons you to bed, then planning can wait, relationship progress, flirty Devan has been released, Tan is thrilled, Wells feels betrayed, just lots of fluff in between murder, tipsy Tan does things to Devan, first kiss, The VOID explained.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.