Tag: author Cari Z

Review: Reckless (Luckless Book 3) by Cari Z

Rating: 4.75🌈

“Evan Luck was a dragon rider with no dragon. Now he’s got Lee, a rare and powerful dragon who can take the shape of a man or a dragon with equal ease. However, the fight to keep Lee’s son Jason safe, as well as the city of Forge protected from the monsters that roam the Front Range, will test Evan and Lee’s bond to the utmost, and send them on a quest that they might not come back from.”

Reckless is the finale story for Cari Z’s tremendous urban fantasy series, Luckless. And it’s been so great and so well written, that it’s short length and imaginative elements that have been left unexplored just make me more than a little frustrated with the author. 

I want this to double in length or at the very least offer additional stories in the series.

This novel picks up from the surprising events of Dauntless, where Jason’s crisis came to a dramatic resolution with new characters arriving from the city of Chicago with devastating news. 

Chicago has been spoken of as a veritable fortress city of multiple dragon pairs and a successful defense against the monsters. But the news brings a different reality.

It’s one that necessitates Evan and Lee leaving Forge and their son in search of answers about the increasingly complex and deadly monsters their city is facing and what happened in Chicago.

For a short story, this packs a shocking emotional punch. It’s got unexpected elements and a very powerful plot twist that, of course, is so great that this book could be twice it’s length and still not dive into this plot line’s full potential. It’s that intriguing.

Which brings me to the conclusion. It’s satisfying in a way yet not. With all the traumatic events that’s happened, it’s felt simplistic. Lovely, HFN, and heartfelt but missing something. 

I truly wish Cari Z would revisit this series and universe and give it and us an update. So tremendous a world that this series and the characters deserve it. 

Highly recommended! 

Cover Art by Vivid Covers

Luckless series:

Luckless #1

Dauntless #2

Reckless #3

Buy link

        Reckless: Book Three in the Luckless Series

    

Blurb 

Refugees have been streaming into the city of Forge from around the country. Monsters are coming down from the mountains and staking out new hunting grounds. Even as the dragons of Forge grow stronger and more numerous, the challenges they and their riders are facing are only increasing, and there’s only one place to look for answers.

Chicago is the strongest remaining city in the Midwest, home to thousands of people and protected by powerful dragons … or at least, it was. By the time Evan Luck and his dragon, Ladon, arrive there, it’s clear that something’s gone terribly wrong. People are starving, dragons are dying, and nobody knows who’s behind it all.

It’s something they’ve never faced before—something they thought didn’t exist, yet that’s terrifyingly familiar. It’s up to Evan and Ladon to stop it … or lose their city, their son, and their lives.

  • Publication date: April 26, 2022
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 124 pages

Review: Dauntless (Luckless Book 2) by Cari Z

Rating: 5🌈

The second book in Cari Z’s excellent fantasy series, Luckless, about dragon rider Evan Luck , his mate/dragon Lee Caldwell, known in his dragon form as Ladon and his son Jason. 

Dauntless builds on the foundation that the first novel laid out, but now the author has relationships and a mystery to explore further.  There’s also Jason’s unique physiology that’s a major dramatic element here, for his family and the story. It’s superb as the boy’s struggles and deep pain for acceptance is relayed by the author’s scenes so beautifully. 

There’s new monsters to fight and the action sequences are suspenseful and compelling. All the while, the Fortress City of Forge, formerly Denver, Co, the location for books 1 and 2, is a bigger presence. The author gives us more details, including possible dragon politics to how the very structures of the Forge, making it more a reality.

By the ending, a family struggles become a wider story, new insights into the world are added, new characters introduced and a mission launched.   I’m even more invested than ever before. 

What an amazing story and series. Highly recommended! 

Cover Art by Vivid Covers

Luckless series:

Luckless #1

Dauntless #2

Reckless #3

Buy link

        Dauntless: Book Two in the Luckless Series

    

Blurb 

Evan Luck is a dragon rider who, after years of thinking he’d never bond with another one, now has a dragon again. His empathic connection with the powerful silver dragon Ladon, known in his human form as Lee Caldwell, has made them the most valuable defenders of the city of Forge against monstrous invaders. The fact that they love each other and dote on Lee’s ten-year-old son, Jason? Those are blessings Evan never saw coming. He knows life is good…even as he realizes that the world is becoming more dangerous by the day.

With monsters leaving the mountains of the Front Range to roam the plains for food and the influx of refugees to Forge increasing by the day, Evan has his hands more than full defending the city and training new recruits to fight. When Jason, desperate to bond with a dragon of his own but continually refused by the dragons of Forge, begins to lose control of himself, Evan and Lee make plans to do the unthinkable: leave Forge to fend for itself and take their son to Chicago, the nearest human and dragon stronghold to their own city.

But Chicago has its own terrors to deal with, and their last hope for Jason’s future might be lost before they can save it.

  • Publication date: September 21, 2021
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 133 pages

Review: Luckless (Luckless Book One) by Cari Z

Rating: 4.5🌈

Luckless, a fantastic fantasy short story from Cari Z, reads like a much longer novel.  It’s got a depth of characters, and its world building surpasses its length in exploration and dimension. 

A absolute fan of anything dragon or dragon rider related, the tale of Evan Luck, now called Luckless because he survived the unimaginable. The loss of his dragon and their bond. 

The author brings Evan grief and shattered memories vividly, painfully to life, including the hate and fear that comes from the people around him.

It’s a dystopian Earth fighting for survival against monsters and humanity’s only major hope is the dragons who came and fought with them. 

Told completely from Evan’s perspective, we see the remnants of the city, the creatures they are fighting, the dragon and rider pairs, and Lee Caldwell, a new important arrival.

Lee and his young son are both great characters. They balance out Evan in multiple ways, and while it’s easy for a reader to understand or guess about Lee’s role, nothing takes away from the story and the journey that these characters have to go through. 

While, the end is a bit abrupt, it helps to know that there’s 2 more books ready to read in this series.  

I highly recommend this excellent book, with its fantastic characters and terrific story. 

Great cover too. 

Luckless series:

Luckless #1

Dauntless #2

Reckless #3

Buy link 

        Luckless (The Luckless Series Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Evan Luck is a dragon rider with no dragon. Five years ago, his dragon gave her life defending the monster-ridden remnants of Marble, and ever since, his ability to connect empathically to another dragon had been as broken as his heart. Now he spends his days dodging his disappointed mayor, crafting arrows, fighting off the not-as-legendary-as-they-should-be beasts that’ve overrun America, and just trying to get by in the city of Forge.

But when he meets newcomer Lee Caldwell, Evan thinks his lonely luck might be changing. Lee is the only person in the city who doesn’t blame Evan for his dragon’s death, and he welcomes Evan into his own little family. There’s more to Lee than meets the eye, though, and between his refusal to talk about himself, pressure from the mayor to split them up, and a monster attacking the city’s foundations, Evan isn’t sure he’ll live long enough to learn the truth. But not learning the truth will almost certainly be fatal, both to Evan and Lee’s budding relationship, and to the entire city.

  • Publisher: Cari Z. (June 1, 2020)
  • Publication date: June 1, 2020
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 80 pages

Review: Under The Gun (Accidentally Undercover Novel) by Cari Z

Rating:3.75🌈

Part of a LGBTQIA espionage/spy thriller romance series, Under the Gun by Cari Z delivers the exciting action packed scenes and storylines we’d expect from this genre.

The romantic suspense plot line arrives in the form of museum art archivist, Joey Cole. He’s taken a side job for a Russian oligarch to catalog his private art collection for insurance purposes. However, everything about this job has Joey on edge and regretting taking it. From being on an isolated island to the man himself, who is making Joey uncomfortable.

Cari Z has an excellent setup and creates an empathetic character in Joey. He’s in trouble and everyone knows it.

The explosive energy and element that makes its way into the situation is the character of Adam, long ago ex-boyfriend and current spy with a complicated history of association with Joey’s family.

The author ramps up the explosive action and the emotional reunion as the story builds to a suspenseful finale.

It’s very entertaining and the characters are both engaging if not exactly grounded in their various careers. The grandmother, however, was exactly what she was supposed to be. Steely determination, cold intelligence, perfect.

While I had a few questions about the story, my real issue was the matter in which Joey’s hard won reputation and career was discarded. Or what happened with his career was better explained at the end, especially as it was such a big deal to Joey and the author made it a large part of the narrative. But we never find out if things were fixed with his friend, Melanie, the Museum, and the loss of the expensive equipment. Or what he’s even doing a year later. This is feels unfinished and unsatisfactory. Especially as we are told what happened to Adam’s career. And the grandmother.

Under the Gun by Cari Z is an enjoyable romantic suspense story that suffers from a ending that’s not exactly satisfying. Read it for the fun characters and action scenes.

Accidentally Undercover-6 books of a LGBTQ+ romantic suspense series.

✓ Under the Gun by Cari Z (m/m)

◦ Under Her Roof by Allison Temple (f/f)

◦ Under His Sheets by R.L. Merrill (m/m)

◦ Under the Table by Layla Rayne (f/f)

◦ Under His Name by MA Grant (m/m)

◦ Under the Radar by Linden Bell (m/m)

Buy Link

Under the Gun

Blurb:

Life is plenty exciting for Joey Cole. Everything that isn’t his day job revolves around having fun, but “fun” becomes complicated when Joey’s latest side gig turns into a gunfight between the handsy billionaire he’s working for and the ex-boyfriend who broke his heart and who’s now…smuggling drugs?

Turns out that Adam, Joey’s ex, is a spy for His Majesty’s government, and that Joey has fallen into a sting operation meant to take his shady employer down. Joey and Adam are hounded by assassins as they escape to a safe house in England, home to the woman who introduced Joey to Adam in the first place—his grandmother.

Who, it turns out, is also a spy. Huh, no wonder she made him get so good at untying knots with his hands tied behind his back.

Joey and Adam rekindle the romance that burned between them, but Adam is still a spy—he’s not his own man, and he’ll certainly never belong to Joey. The safest thing would be to break it off before Adam breaks his heart again…but the way they’re being hunted, safe is out of the question, and love may mean the difference between life and death.

Under the Gun is part of the Accidentally Undercover shared romantic suspense series.

• Publication date: April 2, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 166 pages

Review: Dominion : The Triad Series: Book Three by Cari Z

Rating: 4.5🌈

With Endurance, Cari Z’s Trilogy, The Triad, comes to an end. Maybe.

I say that, because it sounds as though from the author’s notes towards the end as though she’s not yet ready to say goodbye to these characters and this universe. That must have been weighing on her mind as she wrote this because it doesn’t exactly feel like a series finale to me.

A series finale is held to another higher standard than any other book in a series. It has a certain set of expectations to meet before the author can call a series wrapped up. The majority of plot lines should be tied up, no humongous storylines left dangling, no major or significant cast members left behind or their own stories left unfinished.

While the main characters should be happy with their own romance, the main issues should have narratively been laid out and carried forward in such a manner that the reader feels that everything, the other events in the other stories, were worth waiting for.

Did that happen here? I don’t think so. Dominion is a really good third story in a series, but it’s not a great series finale.

Cari Z does some wonderful stuff here starting with keeping the three person separate format she began in Endurance. It really let the reader into the mindset of each individual of this polyamorous relationship. We got to know and connect with each of them in depth. That becomes especially important here as the author sends each man off in a different direction and with huge implications for their relationship and stresses that they must deal with.

That’s aspect of this book is both a weakness and an interesting way of moving the arc forward. Before, the three way break in the book let us into the way each man starts to accept each other’s place in their lives. We watched , each figuring out their strengths and weaknesses, especially when there’s magic, shifters, political plotting, and a long term relationship that’s having to shift to accommodate a new partner and commitment.

Now just as Symon, Petur, and Deyvid have found a deep connection and relationship, they are pulled into different directions by family responsibilities and dire kingdom needs. Part of the joy was watching each become a part of the new family , revealing their true selves and growth.

Especially Symon whose magical abilities are apparently surpassed by almost none. That’s a storyline that gets lost here. Sy can do some amazing things, and the reader “hears” third hand about the magic he’s creating in a few sentences in events mentioned towards the end. That’s an issue seen here regularly.

Cari Z has set herself such a huge goal narratively for themes and plots to tie up that even with this file/page size, there’s no room for everything to be finalized.

So there’s a fair amount of battles that happen offscreen, important elements that should have been handled (the entire aspect of Deyvid’s journey afterwards , no mention of what happens to Deyvid’s father), Symon’s ex’s disappearance , etc. That’s pushed aside or just ignored in favor of getting the men back together.

Did I feel shortchanged in that area? Yes. I won’t go into details but for me it didn’t hold the emotional payoff it should have because of one element that was absent. I understand why the author chose to go in this direction but it negates some of the points made previously with this polyamorous family.

I did love Symon, the entire section with his father and dealing with the events at that castle. So beautifully written and it captures the essence of their father/son dynamic and love for each other perfectly. The same for Alie and Deyvid. Only Petur and his dysfunctional royal family is left behind here in terms of the emotional heft.

So Dominion has :

✓ A great 3-character format

✓ A three-character different location format that works in depth for two of them

✓ Multiple storylines that are only loosely finalized

✓ Missed opportunities to push and further character development (Symon’s magical abilities) and relationship dynamics between the three men.

✓ Some secondary plot points endings ignored, which bothers me even now.

✓ Disappearing character (Symon’s ex and best friend)

✓ A author who admits she’s not ready to let this universe go.

So enjoyed Dominion as a story. Not so much as a finale. I would definitely love seeing it continue as it feels unfinished with warring clans and plotting within Petur’s family clearly an issue.

Endurance was the outstanding novel of the trilogy. But the three books are remarkable and I highly recommend all three. Read them in order they are written to understand the events and relationships.

Triad Series:

✓ Alliance #1

✓ Endurance #2❤️

✓ Dominion #3

Buy link:

Dominion: The Triad Series: Book Three

Description:

Three parted lover who can only reunite once the war is won…or lose all hope of a future together.

Symon, Petur, and Deyvid have been torn apart, running in different directions as they work to prevent all-out war. Symon returns home to Bekkon only to find himself thrust into the role of king—whether he wants it or not.

With Petur hundreds of miles away raising an army of shifters and Deyvid pursuing his runaway daughter to make sure she’s not assassinated the moment she crosses the border, Symon must put his magic and his life on the line to keep the Harriers from overrunning his kingdom.

Petur and Deyvid are racing against time to come to his aid…but new enemies lurk around every corner. Before they can save Symon, they’re going to need to save themselves.

Dominion is a polyamorous M/M/M fantasy with enemies to lovers, graphic violence, snarky humor, and explicit sexual content.

Review: Endurance: The Triad Series: Book Two by Cari Z

Rating: 4.75🌈

With Endurance, Cari Z’s Trilogy, The Triad, just overcame the second book hurdle and became stronger and more moving a story.

Changing her format here, the author divides the book into three sections, one for each of her main characters and members of the polyamorous relationship. This arrangement where each man receives an equal amount of narrative time with the reader allows her to explore each personality so much more in depth than previously seen.

The story has moved forward, the men now in a loving polygamous relationship but only two of them , Princes Symon and Petur, legally married, the third , Deyvid, the ex Harrior warrior bodyguard being seen by others outside the triad as a hidden lover.

The stakes facing them are high as the Harriors, Deyvid’s former Head of Clan , are coming for all the other Kingdoms, using assassins, betrayal, and political attacks. Including one killer very close to Deyvid.

Petur’s nephew Prince Arven’s wedding, an alliance necessity, into a Kingdom whose culture doesn’t welcome or respect shifters or same sex relationships is adding unbelievable stress . Especially as attacks happen that seem to try to prevent them from getting there for the marriage.

And Symon is getting sick , and thinks it’s his mother’s debilitating curse attacking him.

The author handles all these important issues so well, letting us see how the untold stress , the unrelenting pressure is impacting each man and their relationship. From the attacks on each other and their bonds, to the expectations that they think they must live up to, their own responsibilities, their obligations, and the new revelations each event seems to throw at them, we get to see how, well or or how badly each man tries to deal with the fluctuating reality of their situations.

In Alliance, Symon and Deyvid were clear favorites. Petur had less narrative page time, so we really didn’t see him clearly as a man, ruler, or true member of this polyamorous group.

But in Endurance, Petur becomes seen, an equal partner, a man who’s capable of showing both his strengths and admitting his weaknesses and fears. And there’s plenty to be fearful of in this book. All his beloveds are being threatened. His very marriage and family are at risk. We see his foundation being shaken. And not just his.

As we go from man to man, threat to threat, deep fears and the anguish of loss permeates the entire storyline.

Symon and Deyvid have strong compelling stories of their own here that intertwine with all the complex plotting of their other mate, Petur’s.

The end is both a cliffhanger and a heartbreaker. It makes us quickly yearn for the finale to come, Dominion.

I highly recommend this story, but it’s one that must be read in order for the characters, their relationships, the the complicated plot developments to make sense.

This is just beautifully done all the way, in every aspect. I hope she keeps the new format as it has really captured her characters fully and made the author’s imagination and plot soar!

Triad Series:

✓ Alliance #1

✓ Endurance #2

◦ Dominion #3 – June 13, 2023

Buy Link:

Endurance: The Triad Series: Book Two

Description:

Three royal lovers, one goal: to make an alliance with their neighboring kingdom before war takes away their chance for peace.

Now that Symon is happily married to his husband Petur and in love with Petur’s longtime lover Deyvid, things should be easier…right? Not with the Harrier clans of the north stirring up trouble. Tasked with escorting Petur’s nephew Arven to his wedding in neighboring Mersaighe, Symon hopes that things will go smoothly.

He ought to know better.

Not only are they heading into a nation where shifters like Petur are distrusted, Petur and his nephew fight constantly, an assassin is still trying to kill Deyvid, and Symon is hiding a secret of his own…one that could mean his days of happiness are numbered before a family curse drives him insane.

With enemies to lovers, graphic violence, snarky humor, and explicit sexual content, Endurance is a polyamorous M/M/M fantasy that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Review: Soul Bound by Cari Z

Rating: 4.25🌈

Soul Bound is a moving fantasy tale, a short story that just begs for a sequel because of the intriguing universe and fascinating characters.

Two desperate men, each in need of a magical solution to a horrible fate. They meet on the road to enter The Marvel, where the person chooses to undergo a series of trials to earn the right to a prize of their asking. However, the chances of being awarded the right to enter are limited and even less are those who survive The Marvel and exit to win the prize.

Cari Z’s story drew me in for many reasons. She did a wonderful job creating a world where magic had gone, or was disappearing. What was left was a world of the mundane, the suffering, poor people, the powerful and the rich. We understood the characters, especially that of the warrior Caz. A scarred mercenary hiring himself out to help where needed, how he became cursed immediately puts us on his side. As does his actions every day. He’s a good hearted man, weary of being a warrior.

The other one wishing to enter The Marvel is a courtesan, Lias. Lias is traveling with a tiny bird companion on the way to the Marvel when they meet. His history is revealed slowly through out the story and conversations with Cas.

Of the two characters, for me , even when important details are revealed about their lives and reasons for the need Marvel trails, Cas remains the more sympathetic personality. I can see clearly how Cari Z’s story will play out, although not the minutiae.

But she’s such an empathetic writer, that, even knowing how it will most likely proceed, I’m still invested in the characters, their emotional state, and their relationships.

I like the world, the people and want them to succeed.

Was I ever fully on board with Lias? Probably not. Was I still satisfied with the ending? Yes. Sometimes that’s the way it happens.

I’m recommending Soul Bound by Cari Z for its sympathetic characters, moving scenes, emotional depth , and fascinating themes.

Check it out!

Love the cover.

Buy Link :

Soul Boundby Cari Z

Magic has faded out of everyday life. Only in the darkest corners of the world, or the richest coffers, does the power of magic endure.

Everyone says it’s for the best.

When rogue magic lashes out, though, there’s only one place the afflicted can go to solve their problems—the Marvel.

Whoever is chosen to enter the Marvel has to endure a trial unlike any other—a trial that most people fail, leaving their hopes and their bones behind to feed the wild magic of the place.

When two people are chosen, soul bound, to endure the trial simultaneously…well, either the gods have a sense of humor or the magic is angling for a feast. Can warrior Caz and courtesan Lias, men with wildly different magical problems, survive the trials if they work together?

Or will the magic feed on two souls instead of one?

Review: Necromancing with a Ghost (Haunted Love #8) by Cari Z

Rating: 4🌈

I just can’t resist a dog story. Even one where the dog is dead. And a ghost. Or two ghostly dogs.

The Haunted Love series are stories of ghostly romance told by ten different authors.

Cari Z gives us a alternate universe where necromancers were used on both sides of WWII, magic , especially necromancy, is common place as to have specific roles and abilities, even a power qualifier that would enable one to get into the highest ranks of society and business levels.

Having skills that allow one to communicate with animals, specifically dogs, or having companions that facilitate the interaction with ghostly animals, doesn’t rate high for most people. Except those with the need for help and love that involves dogs in some case’s.

Pet psychic Carsen McAllister works for a company that handles all types of cases that call for a necromancer. In his case, he , along with his two trained canine companions get handed those specific files that involve animal spirits.

The author has a special backstory for Carsen’s trained canines. One, Ruby is a Belgian Malinois, who just happens to be a ghost herself. The other is Bess, a darling very much alive Pomeranian especially breed to work with spirits. Carsen’s himself has a fascinating history with a near tragedy that he shares with his brother.

I really wanted to know more about what happened to cause Ruby’s death, and the events surrounding the incident that’s caused a rift between brothers. This short story just can’t handle the questions the great elements the author’s set afloat.

It starts with a job to clear a haunted property of its ghost. The family that owns it and a developer need the ghost gone so they can get in to clear the place. Problem is the ghost is a scary dog who’s kept everyone out for decades, even physically threatening them.

The author’s story turns into a layered investigation into a historical romance. Two soldiers and a dog.

I’ll be honest and say I definitely needed some tissues. Carsen’s intervention into one , make that two ghosts grief and then the recognition that love , being loved is enough.

The ending is lovely but I was left with questions. It’s in the details. As in what happens to that moving grave marker and Rafael Medrano’s body?

I’m mean, the plan is to bulldoze the place. It’s the small items like those that I need closure for.

On the whole? Necromancing with a Ghost (Haunted Love #8) by Cari Z is a heartwarming ghostly tale and I’m delighted to recommend it for all lovers of the paranormal stories.

Yes, dead dogs. But they’re splendid! And ghosts! And already dead when the story starts , so don’t let that stop you from reading. ( As it does me in the movies and TV shows).

Haunted Love series (10 books)

◦ Stargazing With A Ghost by K.L. Hiers

◦ Sexting With A Ghost by Ashlynn Mills

◦ Screwing With a Ghost by Morgan Mason

◦ Gardening with a Ghost by Amanda Meuwissen

◦ Baking With A Ghost by RM Neill

✓ Necromancing with a Ghost by Cari Z

◦ Dancing with a Ghost by Alex J. Adams

◦ Haunting With A Ghost by B. Ripley

◦ Flunking with a Ghost by Baylin Crow

Note: I realize 9 books are listed but unfortunately unable to find the 10th.

Buy Link:

Necromancing With A Ghost: An MM Paranormal Romance (Haunted Love)

Carsen McAllister isn’t much of a necromancer. He doesn’t lay spirits to rest or handle dangerous hauntings. He’s more of a dog guy—a pet psychic, to be precise, with a tiny Pomeranian familiar on one side and his childhood (un)dead dog on the other. So when his boss asks him to handle a haunting at an abandoned farm in rural Kansas, his first instinct is to say “Not only no, but hell no!” But when the spirit doing the haunting is a dog, Carsen can’t just leave it to suffer.

The farm turns out to have far more secrets than anyone knew, even the ghost of the man haunting the place. Rafael Medrano is handsome, funny, kind…and he died more than seventy years ago. What’s keeping him here? Why did his dog stay, driving away anyone who came here? And how does he keep pulling Carsen into visions from the past—not only the violence of war, but the tenderness of true love?

Most importantly…will their dogs get along?

Review: The Trials (The Spell Saga Book 4) by Cari Z

Rating: 4 🌈

The Trials is the fourth and looks to be the final story in Cari Z’s Spell Saga series. The author’s note sort of leaves it open as to whether we will return to this universe and couple or not.

So I’m treating it as a finale. And that comes with additional expectations. The Tank, the previous book, showed us different characters, a unique location, and deepened the histories and dynamics between the people involved. But in some respects it restricted it’s narrative down to further explore on a different, more detailed front what was happening with the war, magic, and our characters.

Here we get to see the consequences of those actions and decisions in The Trials. The Trials refers to the magical spell weapon Anton Seiber promised to deliver, under threat, to the Emperor of France. A spell not even his lover, Imperial Investigator Camille Lumière, wanted to see in their hands.

The Institute, that locked down tight magical fortress, is the main location once more, albeit more research prison than educational institution.

Where this story absolutely excels is in the tormented status of Anton Seiber, the horrifying reasons behind it, and the new dynamics it forces into the relationship between Anton and Camille.

The author’s creativity when crafting both the new spell and it’s effects upon others, Anton included, are so terrifying because it’s the readers imaginations that fill in all the horrors and unimaginable emotions that the spell initiates. Then we see what is doing to Anton, someone we’ve come to connect with, and the spell becomes vile beyond belief.

When Anton and Camille, and the spell are at center, the story is incredible.

However, for one that’s a finale, other aspects seem lackluster, rushed, or just one dimensional.

The entire element with the old and new emperor is lacking any grounding here. The actions of various characters (important ones) seem oddly flexible considering it’s war, the fact that the Lord in question is acting beyond rational thought into obsession about the magical weaponry and it’s devastating effects. Dr. Grabler, in particular, goes from one stance in The Tank, to another where his prize former student/friend is almost expendable without any foundation laid out for any of the elements here. These haphazard storylines (magical corruption, major characters who sort of disappear at the end, rushed exposition in the epilogue) all works against the finely crafted parts of the series and main storyline. That of Anton and Camille’s romance and history.

It all feels just so unfinished. Not at all what a finale book should be.

It was exciting, truly excellent in sections, and absolutely entertaining.

For that I’m definitely recommending The Spell Saga series and this novel.

The Spell Saga series:

✓ The Train #1

✓ The Tower #2

✓ The Tank #3

✓ The Trials #4

Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com › Trials-S…The Trials: The Spell Saga: Book Four – Kindle edition by Z, Cari. Romance Kindle eBooks …

Blurb:

All Anton Seiber, newly-minted Master Thaumaturge, wants is to use his training to support himself out in the world. Well, that and to see the man he loves, Imperial Investigator Camille Lumière, more than once every six months.

What he gets instead is an invitation to visit L’Institut D’Ingénierie Technologique in Paris, the foremost research institution for thaumaturgy and the arts of war in the world. It’s an offer he can’t turn down…quite literally.

Getting to the Institute is a mess that Anton barely survives, and that’s just the beginning of his troubles. Drawn into a web of lies and betrayals, Anton will have to use every trick he can conjure to survive—and perhaps hand over the most diabolical spell in the world in exchange for saving the life of someone he loves.

—-

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

Review: The Tank (The Spell Saga Book 3) by Cari Z

Rating: 4.5 🌈

The Tank, third novel in Cari Z’s terrific steampunk romance adventure series is perhaps the best conceptualized, best written of the three stories so far.

It brings her characters great emotional growth, allowing for betrayals, thought provoking moments of ambivalence of the nature of the work that a Master of Thaumaturge finds himself and his associates engaged in for the services of war. And the cost to relationships of all kinds.

The histories of the war, the Enemies, and even main characters are filled in and given fuller dimension.

The series and the growing relationship between Anton Seiber and Imperial Investigator Camille Lumière becomes deeply layered within the restrictions of their service and the growing demands of an enlarging war.

I was absolutely engaged by the drama and poignant moments of the storylines here. The war that overtakes the needs and loyalties of many.

There’s another book to come. I can’t wait to read it .

I highly recommend this story and series but start with The Train and read through as they were written.

The Spell Saga series:

✓ The Train #1

✓ The Tower #2

✓ The Tank #3

◦ The Trials #4 – Nov 8, 2022

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Tank-S…The Tank: The Spell Saga: Book Three – Kindle edition by Z, Cari. Romance …

Description:

All Anton Seiber, newly-minted Master Thaumaturge, wants is to use his training to support himself out in the world. Well, that and to see the man he loves, Imperial Investigator Camille Lumière, more than once every six months.

What he gets instead is an invitation to visit L’Institut D’Ingénierie Technologique in Paris, the foremost research institution for thaumaturgy and the arts of war in the world. It’s an offer he can’t turn down…quite literally.

Getting to the Institute is a mess that Anton barely survives, and that’s just the beginning of his troubles. Drawn into a web of lies and betrayals, Anton will have to use every trick he can conjure to survive—and perhaps hand over the most diabolical spell in the world in exchange for saving the life of someone he loves.

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