As author Hailey Turner says, this is an absolute treasure of a gift to her fans, those who love and have followed the long journey Patrick Collins and Jonothon de Vere from their original book and meeting to this their final chapter where they get married, their happy epilogue.
Many of the favorites are also in attendance and we get a quick drama before the ending.
It’s been incredible and for me it’s a series I’ll be rereading.
Patrick Collins earned the peace he’s found in New York City with his pack through sacrifice. Six years out from the end of the world, he’s satisfied with the life he’s built and doesn’t think about what else the future might hold until he stumbles his way into a hostage situation he didn’t ask to be part of.
Jonothon de Vere would like nothing more than to wake up each morning with the love of his life and never deal with trouble again. Except Patrick has always been a magnet for such crises, and Jono isn’t one to stand idly by when his lover could use some help.
It feels just like old times when that’s the last thing they want, but maybe it’s also the reminder they need that the future isn’t set in stone. Maybe, just maybe, Patrick and Jono are finally ready to take the next step and walk down the aisle together.
Born to be Legends is what fans of Hailey Turner’s best-selling Soulbound series have been waiting for.
I forget how much I love the Soulbound series until Hailey Turner brings out another great story about the characters from that complicated magical universe . Then I want to go back and read them all over again.
Especially when it comes to Wade Espinoza, a character who we watch get rescued as a young, horribly abused otherworldly teen. When Wade is practically adopted by Patrick and Jono, and the rest of the core of the NYC god pack, the reader follows his recovery, growth, and progress , book after book, through the events , years of therapy and support, to the circumstances we find him in today.
Wade is that character we loved from the beginning and we always remembered. And wanted to see what happened to him next. That he’s a young dragon? In a universe where dragons are rarely seen, we get the amazing emotional journey from scarred damaged youngster to the confident loved 23 year old Wade, one who’s experienced unbelievable battles, met Gods, helped saved the world, and found himself part of a warm, loving family and pack.
Now he’s being trusted with a mission to save missing alphas in Boston, and he leaves with a smile, a belief in himself, a ton of snacks, and the backing of his pack.
Can you tell I adore Wade? I could read books about him. But Turner goes and delivers an entirely different city of otherworldly beings that honestly I found intriguing and great characters on their own. Plus a fascinating selkie clan that includes Riordan Maguire.
Riordan is a well written character, layered, so beautifully crafted with his selkie personality/fae history embedded into him, with the sea and Irish heritage as much a part of him as his physical appearance. Turner has always been able to capture the essence of the otherworldly characters in the stories, whether it’s selkie, werewolf or dragon. They become real and vibrant.
The struggles against the villain of this piece are genuinely fierce and complicated by political forces that have to be dealt with in a timely manner. It makes the narrative more compelling, the drama more powerful, and all the various aspects of the story more complex.
That includes a romance that has to balance the knowledge of Wade’s past abuse with sensitivity before anything can happen between fated mates Riordan and Wade. Plus that ending is logical for them both given their respective roles and responsibilities.
I love this story so much. I really hope that Turner is up for more stories in Boston with Riordan and Wade because all this did was whet my appetite for more.
Nothing says you can’t steal a heart. Keeping it though? That’s another problem.
Wade Espinoza knows a thing or two about hoards. As a dragon, he’s got plenty. What he doesn’t have is a relationship, and he swears he’s not looking for one. But when he’s sent to Boston to answer a cry for help from another pack, he’s drawn into a mess of fae bargains centered around a selkie who Wade instantly becomes obsessed with.
Riordan Maguire is struggling to keep his selkie clan out of the clutches of a fae lord who will do anything to take over their territory. Partnering with the Boston god pack means coming face-to-face with the first person he’s ever wanted to willingly give his sealskin. Too bad Wade isn’t local and is something altogether strange that Riordan isn’t sure he can trust.
Amidst a growing danger in the streets and Boston Harbor, Wade and Riordan are desperate to find a way to keep everyone safe. For bargains are dangerous things to break, but so are hearts. Wade isn’t willing to shatter either of theirs in a race against time that could see Riordan torn from him forever.
Secondhand Skin is an exciting new standalone novel set in Hailey Turner’s best-selling Soulbound Universe focusing on Wade Espinoza.
I love Turner’s Soulbound series and so wanted to see the author revisit this universe. I am thrilled it’s the complicated Spencer Bailey, a favorite in that series, who’s been chosen to get a new story.
The complexity that is mage Spencer Bailey and his relationship with his companion, Psychopomp ocelot , Fatima is a difficult task to describe in one story because readers of the series have gotten to know him over seven books. That goes for Fatima, the Psychopomp too, another layered character.
Not quite a necromancer that raises the dead but a soul breaker, that magical difference being the thing keeping Spencer from the death penalty in the world’s government’s opinions. His type of magic is considered so powerful and rare, so little understood, that most agencies would rather lock him away or kill him than take the chance on his magic working against them.
As with the other government agencies who don’t come off well in Turner’s series, filled with bureaucratic cliques, people’s willingness to take things at face value, it’s no surprise we immediately fall into Spencer’s side of things here as he starts his investigation into a missing artifact. He’s gone from one agency, the PIA (Paranormal Investigations Agency) who handles international investigations and doesn’t want him after that last big battle, to Supernatural Operations Agency, which is the agency that handles the investigations within the country’s boundaries. In other words, don’t leave the country after helping save the world.
Does it help to have read the Soulbound series. Yes. I really don’t consider this a standalone. You need to understand the relationships, events, and even the smallest of references to have a deep appreciation of this story and what happens to Spencer here. That includes the people that show up from the Soulbound series.
Even Spencer’s relationship with Takoma, the Master Vampire of Seattle, has a prior basis in his prior experiences with Lucian, a Master Vampire from Soulbound, unlike any other , and referred to here.
Hailey Turner took her foundational elements from Soulbound and used them as a launching point for an intriguing new story about a mysterious artifact that has gone missing from the federal vault with potential catastrophic consequences . Spencer is the one of the few people who’s had experience with this type of object and operation. The reasons why soon become clear.
The investigation, the events are suspenseful , dangerous, and vastly complicated. Takoma and Spencer have a great chemistry and a hot sexual relationship that makes them a fantastic couple. I would love to see one more story about them with Takoma,working with the New York God pack , removing Spencer altogether from all the federal agencies rosters completely and getting his new life outside of that one. What a tale that would be!
Until then, I’m ready to dive happily back into the Soulbound series, and start over again. Remembering the first time I met everyone, was astonished at the mythology, the labyrinthine storytelling, and the characters I still can’t get enough of.
Soulbound is fabulous stuff, absolutely always on my to be recommended list. Adding this to it.
Spencer Bailey has spent his entire life under government oversight for something he can’t change: his magic’s affinity for breaking souls. After surviving the end of the world, Spencer joins the Supernatural Operations Agency with the intention of keeping his head down and his hands clean.
Tasked with tracking down a stolen artifact, Spencer wants to run his first case with the SOA by the book. The master vampire of the Seattle Night Court won’t make that easy. Takoma is demanding and possessive, used to getting what he wants, and he lures Spencer into his Night Court with the seductive promise of freedom.
In the Pacific Northwest, ghosts are crawling out of the woodwork, demons are on the rise, and Spencer can’t afford to make a mistake. Torn between the life he should lead and the one Takoma is offering, Spencer has to make a choice that won’t break his soul, but it might just shatter his heart.
Resurrection Reprise is an exciting new standalone novel set in Hailey Turner’s best-selling Soulbound Universe.
I’ve been eagerly anticipating this story as this author’s previous series have been enormous hits with me. But almost immediately I was struggling to finish this book which was written in a different format from the author’s books.
In a nutshell, it’s wordy, dry, very dense, narratively overwhelming with too many characters. And, while imaginative, it’s format of a huge amount of POVs makes it almost impossible to connect with or even follow all the many plot lines.
Turner is clearly striving for that epic cast of hundreds type of fantasy steampunk adventure. Where masses of characters come streaming over the horizon, raiding trains, pour out over airships, massive explosive battles., capturing castles. Thousands die by magical blasts , bodies flying through the air. Add in poison, in every form, and revenants. Aka The walking dead.
This book has wonderful ideas about world building. Massive amounts of information about the kingdoms, countries, and even the planet Maricol. All as told to.
The rating is for all the imaginative details and world building.
What I’m missing is what I love about her other novels. That’s her characters , the depth of personality, their relationship and growing dynamics with other characters. Main characters. People who counted. I miss caring about anyone. I miss the great dialogue. .
Here , the Gods who pulls all the narrative strings, so to speak, have no emotions, their eternal lifespan having removed that pesky thing.
So people start dying immediately. Children, adults. I’d say don’t get attached but the reader doesn’t spend enough time with anyone to generate enough emotion to become invested in the lives here.
There’s a staggering amount of POVs, over 14 I believe. That’s not counting all the tons of characters that get mentioned or have dialogue. The size of the cast here is mind boggling. And you get them all immediately, well, a lot of them.
With an ever increasingly dense and expanding universe that the author adds layer upon layer of complicated mythology and political world building as the story moves forward, it’s a wonder that any reader can maintain a idea of what’s happening within the storylines let alone have any meaningful connection to it.
You basically need a Epic Steampunk Fantasy version of a murder board to keep track of everything and everyone’s relationships. That includes the “Star Gods” , who have their own warped dynamics going on. Then all the various kingdoms, their politics, all the wars, the history such as it is. The planet’s history, which is minimal, and needs more detail.
The story swings from POV to POV, changing drama to a different perspective and potential disaster , that you’ve barely settled on one then you’ve sailed onto the next.
If you’re looking for romance, there’s little of that here. At least for now. But you can have fantastic characters with remarkable personalities, and deep emotional connections without a romantic factor. None of that is really present here. It’s more about all the things, the themes, plotting, world building, details. Something had to give.
And at the end. There’s a cliffhanger.
I honestly didn’t care . But for those that have a issue with cliffhangers, be warned.
I’m trying to weigh if the great universe makes it worth proceeding for me. I don’t think so because for me it’s about the characters and relationships, as well as giving them a great foundation.
You need a heart to power the story, not just a reality fabulous structure.
And I think Hailey Turner has lost the heart here no matter what that opening sentence says.
THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol’s borders. He isn’t meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can’t keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.
THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa’Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses’ murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he’ll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he’s at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.
THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it’s who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.
THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn’t ready for.
From the author who brought you the Soulbound series comes a queer steampunk-inspired epic fantasy.
Well, it’s over. And what an outstanding unexpected and absolutely wild epic fantasy journey that ended up being!
That finale and the arc revelations were everything! When the author shows her total stunning ability to have kept the series masterful raison d’être hidden in plain sight? Even through all seven stories while delivering imaginative slights of hand to coverup the real intent? It left me gobsmacked and hugely content with everything Turner created here. Except my inability to see it coming.
Honestly. I smacked myself with several wet pasta sheets. Because well it’s just so aligned with everything once you look backwards and then really think about what you know of the cast. Brilliant!
A Veiled & Hallowed Eve was a tremendous story that allowed the author to have a series of white knuckle, heart stopping finale battles with all the supernatural beings and gods involved, the entire city of New York as the field of engagement, including the subway system.
Turner also wrote into this tale so many painful , emotional elements of loss and terror still to continue for both Patrick and Jono before the end arrives so we never forgot what was at stake for them as well for Patrick’s soul debt. Every aspect was just so well crafted and written that I stayed thoroughly buried in this book until the end. And then some.
That epilogue also left me extra satisfied with the relationship status of Patrick and Jono. As well as the members of the NYC godpack like Wade that I’d come to love so dearly.
A tour de force finale in every way!
As I said I’m still thinking about so many of the elements here, those gods, that ending!
I’m highly recommending this series to all lovers of fantasy! Read them in the order they were written for character and story development. That’s a must as is putting this on your TBR list!
SOA Special Agent Patrick Collins has lived a life full of lies, and it has finally caught up with him. There’s no denying his past any longer, not after giving up the truth to save himself from a murder charge. But truth alone can’t set Patrick free, and time is running out to stop the Dominion Sect from turning his father into a god.
Jonothon de Vere knows survival isn’t a guarantee, but he’s desperate to keep Patrick safe, even as hope slips through his fingers. With the future unknown, Jono will follow Patrick wherever he goes, even to Salem, where a family reunion reveals a bitter secret that was never going to stay buried.
With New York City under control of their god pack, Patrick and Jono must fall back on every alliance they’ve brokered to fill the front lines of a war coming directly to the city streets. The veil is always thinnest on Samhain, and what awaits them on the other side is the stuff of nightmares. For when it tears, all hell will break loose, and the gods will be summoned to face a reckoning the world isn’t ready for.
The stakes have never been higher, failure has never been so deadly, and the Fates have never been kind to heroes. Patrick knows that better than anyone—because everything has a price, every debt always comes due, and it’s finally time for Patrick to pay his.
An Echo in the Sorrow, the penultimate book in Turner’s epic Soulbound fantasy series, naturally pushes our small group of characters towards a cataclysmic war by asking even more personal sacrifices of them than ever.
Here we find even more levels of gods, various cultures and mythologies, and demons aligning themselves to fight a war not even the Fates seem able to foresee the outcome of.
And Patrick is a pivotal piece both to launching it and ending it.
The deep pain and price he pays repeatedly for his soul debt is never more plain then what we go through with him during the events here.
Trauma thy name is Patrick.
In this story, the final fight for the title of the sole Godpack of NYC between Jono and Patrick’s pack and Estelle’s is fought with all the expected high losses and ramifications. A mighty battle for the city of New York that sets the atmosphere and type of warfare we can anticipate from the upcoming all encompassing war with Ethan.
Along with the almost unbearable pain and cruelty thrust onto our characters, there’s some tiny relief at the end. A brief respite amidst all the dead bodies, betrayals, and fears for the future.
Here the author tossed in another revelation and new divine “player” in the overall whatever hidden plots the gods have been driving everyone towards. What was incredible was the amazing twists in unseen or unpredictable sides to certain characters or elements we have “known” for six books and now only here have they been revealed.
Imaginative and perfection in the scenes. Had it been a movie, I’d been screaming in the theatre Love it so much even as I was hurting for the characters..
Turner has crafted a stunning epic fantasy series and now it’s headed towards its closure.
I’m on the edge of my seat here because I have no idea what more can be asked of Patrick and Jono but I know whatever is coming for them, it’s going to ask for something agonizing and the cost is going to be more than just a brutal event.
I only hope we all survive with just a few boxes of Tissues demolished, and not my favorite characters.
This is such a stunning, incredible epic journey. I highly recommend it to all lovers of this genre. Make sure you read the books in the order they are written.
Forgiveness is a hollow prayer you only hear in your dreams.
Patrick Collins has spent years handling cases as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency, even as his secret standing in the preternatural world has changed. He should have confessed to his role as co-leader of the New York City god pack when he and Jonothon de Vere took up the mantle months ago, but he didn’t. Now that split loyalty will cost him at a time when he can least afford it.
Outmaneuvered, framed for murder, and targeted by the Dominion Sect, Patrick has to face a past full of lies to regain his freedom. Revealing the truth means he’ll need to give up the life that has defined him. Everything he’s fought to build with his pack is at stake, and losing them isn’t a price Patrick is willing to pay, but some choices aren’t his to make.
Jono knows they can’t cede any more territory if they want to win the god pack civil war spilling into the streets of New York City. But the souls of werecreatures are free for the taking when demons come to town and angels sing a warning no one can ignore. When Jono’s worst fear comes to life, and he loses the one person he can’t live without, the only option left is to fight.
Facing down the demons of their past and the ones in their present, Patrick and Jono will learn the hard way that some sins never wash away clean.
On the Wings of War brings us to the fifth installment of Hailey Turner’s Soulbound series and an ever enlarging canvas of mythology, gods, countries and their treasured heritage sites. As the author’s scope of her arc and
individual story storylines expand exponentially, the events are characters are involved in become more clouded with politics, both human and godly, and therefore, more cruel, costly, and painful.
Here the pack must travel to Europe in search of Morrigan’s staff. It’s not merely an artifact of extreme power but a potential element of imbalance. With its owner looking to reclaim it as well.
This story brought more unexpected surprises and shockers then any of the others yet. That’s as it should be as we’re getting closer to the ending. But these surprises range from the humorous to the emotionally devastating and shocking. What a grand ending!
While the London section was terrific and added to Jono’s history as well as moved their entire pack forward as a unit, it’s the Paris journey that’s such an incredible aspect of this book in every way. From the descriptions of the city and citizens to all the actions that follow…literally a tour de force.
Turner’s murky tapestry of supernatural beings, gods of every pantheon and religious affiliation, demons, witches, power mad humans , and hidden agendas continues to captivate even as the author ramps up the anxiety and fear for all we’ve come to care about.
New gods get added each book and possibly to each Alliance too. I’m keeping a sheet , are you?
What a superb series and book! What a absolutely brilliant journey we are on!
This is one more example of why this is one of the best series I’ve read lately in this genre. Read them in the order they are written. A must read!
The coveted Morrígan’s staff is up for sale on the black market to the highest bidder, and SOA Special Agent Patrick Collins will do whatever it takes to ensure the Dominion Sect doesn’t get their hands on it. Returning the weapon to its rightful owner is another step on the long road toward clearing Patrick’s soul debt, but he won’t walk it alone. Jonothon de Vere won’t let him.
Obeying the gods means Patrick must travel to London. For Jono, it means facing a past he thought he’d left behind forever. His return to England isn’t welcome, and neither is their pack, but Jono and Patrick will face the antagonism together. Politics aside, their priority must be the mission, but the bone-chilling secret they uncover in the London god pack will have far-reaching repercussions no one can ignore.
A race against time takes Patrick and Jono from the streets of London to the bright lights of Paris, where hospitality is thin on the ground, the air is filled with whispered prayers for the missing, and the Morrígan’s staff will end up in the one place it should never have gone—a graveyard.
For beneath Paris lie the long-forgotten dead, and when they rise to walk again, the living can only hope to die.
A Vigil in the Mourning, fourth in the Soulbound series, sees Patrick pursuing a case and artifact to Chicago as the divide between factions widens to enormous impact.
It’s a division on every level. From gods of various Pantheons choosing sides to the impending godpack were wars of NYC that Jono and Patrick’s pack will have to fight.
But first, Patrick must go to Chicago, on orders from both the gods and his bosses to find Morrigan’s Staff.
Each installment in this series brings us a new group of gods/immortals to become familiar with and in Chicago we find the Norse court,with one remarkable addition.
Odin, Thor, Frigg, the Valkyries and more are fleshed out , and powerful., weaving their mythological god threads substantially through this section of the arc with great consequence.
The city of Chicago is a perfect setting for both this story and the Norse court . Chicago figures heavily throughout the novel as the sites, restaurants, neighborhoods and politicians play an important role in every aspect of this tale.
Jono and Patrick’s relationship is a constant struggle of trust and balance. Between the new small packs coming to Jono and their pack for protection and new alliances needed to be made, the couple deals daily with trying to maintain the needs of their growing pack responsibilities with that of Patrick’s job as well as the overwhelming demands of the gods with claims on their souls.
All that while coming to grips with their own Soulbound, still new relationship, and Patrick’s traumatic history, which is always a part of everything that occurs.
Turner’s characters, no matter whether they be gods, were, mage, or , human, are complex , believable beings, capable of being right for all the wrong reasons as well as the opposite. In other words everything is grey, nothing can be relied upon to be as it seems. A very stressful existence for all.
Turner does include humor, usually in the being of dragon fledging Wade, a favorite of mine. It’s also within the intimate dialogue between the characters who have deep friendships with each other. I’m thinking of the amazing Nadine here. It’s needed when things go south quickly. As they do often.
The fight scenes are over the top incredible, exciting, and heart stopping. Full of nonstop battles , white knuckle worthy and fantastic! Even as all the combatants lay waste to everything around them, well known locations and objects included.
All this makes for a turbulent , fabulously complicated book full of relationships always teetering on the edge of both hope and absolute disaster. It’s definitely a 5 star ride all the way.
None of these stories can be taken out of sequence. They must be read in the order they were written, especially as the group’s path is taking them towards multiple wars.
I’m onto the next, trying not to run through this fantastic series because I know I’ll be bereft at ending it.
I’m highly recommending this book and series. It’s just an incredible journey I’m on with these characters. I can’t wait to see where the author takes us next.
Synopsis:Special Agent Patrick Collins is dispatched to Chicago, chasing a lead on the Morrígan’s staff for the joint task force. Needing a cover for his presence in the Windy City, Patrick is ordered to investigate a politician running for mayor. In the lead up to election day, not everything is what it seems in a city where playing to win means appeasing the gods first and the electorate second.
But Chicago brings its own set of problems outside the case: a stand-offish local god pack, a missing immortal, and Patrick’s twin sister. Fighting Hannah and the Dominion Sect provides Patrick with a sinister reminder that some blood ties can never be cut.
Left behind in New York City, Jonothon de Vere finds himself targeted by hunters who will go through anyone to kill him—including the packs under his protection. With a bounty on his head, Jono is forced to make a choice that Patrick would never approve of. Doing so risks breaking the trust he’s built with the man he loves, but not acting will give the rival New York City god pack leverage Jono can’t afford to give up.
When Patrick and Jono reunite in Chicago, Patrick must confront the fraying of a relationship he’s come to rely on for his own sanity. But fixing their personal problems will have to wait—because Niflheim is clawing at the shores of Lake Michigan and the dead are hungry.
With A Crown of Iron & Silver, author Hailey Turner continues our journey into the old gods and nigh forgotten pantheons around the world.
It’s an extremely fascinating and often terrifying ride, as these gods are, depending on who they are, turn out to be rage filled, scheming, desperate to hold onto their power and followers. And it’s a weird meshing of countries and Gods that I find I’m absolutely increasingly focused on. Aztec god brothers to ancient Celtic Gods to the more familiar ones of the Greek and Egyptian pantheons to those of Norse and Mexican origin. It’s just incredible the way each is brought vividly to life. And I’m only halfway through.
There’s also werecreatures, vampires, succubus, mages, witches, and of course the Fae.
The last figures largely here as the case that pulls Patrick and therefore Jono away from a quiet Christmas at home is that of a stolen human child and a changeling. The human child that was stolen belongs to a high ranking witch family and that means Patrick is involved.
There is no way to even begin to explain the complicated and many storylines that follow. One plot after another, layering over and through each other until it starts to resemble a painting where the artist has used so much paint that you’re not sure whether to stand back or move closer because you can’t see a subject anymore.
The relationship between Jono and Patrick is moving forward, gaining strength from the very traumatizing events of the last story. Jono’s status a alpha and godhead of his pack is spreading. As is Patrick’s role as co Leader.
As the gods raise their demands on Patrick’s soul and the Dominion Sect as well as Ethan, Patrick’s father continues their drive for godlike power, loyalty, love, and truth seems to be tested at every turn.
Turner does give us humor, usually via Wade, our teenage dragon fledgling. Ever eating, still recovering from the trauma of his abduction and brutal abuse at the hands of a now dead vampire, the safer he feels the younger he feels safer to be. He’s funny, adorable, and for a huge flaming being, very poignant at times. You just want to hug him then turn him loose in a grocery store….on someone else’s credit card of course.
What else surprised me? The great take on the Fae from the Court of the Queen of Air and Darkness. So very imaginative and yes, scary. Love it. I adore it when an author can see the Fae, brings that have been described so many ways in so many media, in a new aspect. Great job.
This story is full of great, relatable characters that you will care about! They have wonderful relationships and storylines within the main book and arc that it’s impossible not to be invested in them and their future.
At the end, we are set up for the next book and job the gods, different ones this time, want Patrick to set out on. That it runs along side one that he’s already pursuing? An occurrence that doesn’t surprise him or Jono.
Everything and everyone is moving closer to a collision.
This series just gets better and more addicting. I recommend them highly. Start at the beginning and work your way through.
Synopsis:
New York City is decked out for the holidays, and Special Agent Patrick Collins is looking forward to a reunion with his old team when he gets assigned a new case. A human child is missing, and the changeling left in her place causes a prominent witch family to demand justice from the fae.
Meanwhile, continued harassment from the New York City god pack forces Jonothon de Vere to formally establish his own with Patrick. Doing so will mean a civil war within the werecreature community—a war they risk losing from the start without alliances. Making bargains with the fae is never wise, but Patrick and Jono have nothing to lose when a fae lord comes asking for their help.
The Summer Lady has been kidnapped from the Seelie Court, and if they can find her, Patrick and Jono will cement an alliance with the fae. But the clues to her disappearance are found in Tír na nÓg, and the Otherworld has never been kind to mortals.
Venturing past the veil, Patrick and Jono risk losing territory, time, and their very lives while searching for answers. Because the Queen of Air and Darkness knows they are coming—and the ruler of the Unseelie Court has an offer for them they can’t possibly refuse.
I absolutely love it when I stumble across a book by a new author and become a fan of the writer as well as a reader highly invested in a series and characters after only finishing book one.
That’s what occurred after Hailey Turner’s A Ferry of Bones & Gold got it’s narrative hooks into me. Once I found myself absolutely engaged with the lives of Patrick Collins, Jono, and all the rest of the beings fighting against the Dominion Sect , I was full on part of that universe and fight as well.
Turner has a terrific way with dialogue and descriptions that makes these people. beings, crackle with life, energy, vibrancy or in the case of the vampire s, chilling magnetic power, that flies off the pages.
And the sense of urgency, and suspense is incredible when it comes to the battles and chases. Whether it’s mundane or magical. From great fight scenes to the devastation left behind, the author brings a sense of authenticity to her writing that makes us believe!
The plots here are many and varied. Also as convoluted as the famous Labyrinth of Crete, which is perfect because on top of werecreatures, vampires, elves, dragons and such, the story’s man elements include the gods of various mythologies. Albeit vary much alive.
The first book deals primarily with Greek although the Egyptian Ra and Norse gods are mentioned.
Here they are quite the meddling group, and the layers (as well as god pantheon politics) flow through the story.
That’s a lot to pack into a story and this book holds that weight easily. Along side a beginning relationship with Patrick with a were, and a small group of beings as he starts to find himself a unofficial “team” and circle of friends.
However, the author also allows a continual thread of loss, death, isolation, to run faintly through. It’s in Patrick’s history, and the reader is aware is most likely in the fighting still to come.
A sobering awareness that never leaves, giving this story a severity and somber note you hear over the laughter.
I appreciate that and wonder how this extremely complicated relationship and many layered arc storylines will play out.
I can’t wait to read on and find out.
What an amazing start.
Highly recommend this story and author.
Soulbound series:
✓ A Ferry of Bones & Gold #1
◦ All Souls Near & Nigh #2
◦ A Crown of Iron & Silver #3
◦ A Vigil in the Mourning #4
◦ On the Wings of War #5
◦ An Echo in the Sorrow #6
◦ A Veiled & Hallowed Eve #7
Synopsis:
When the gods come calling, you don’t get to say no.
Patrick Collins is three years into a career as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency when the gods come calling to collect a soul debt he owes them. An immortal has gone missing in New York City and bodies are showing up in the wake of demon-led ritual killings that Patrick recognizes all too easily from his nightmares.
Unable to walk away, Patrick finds himself once again facing off against mercenary magic users belonging to the Dominion Sect. Standing his ground alone has never been a winning option in Patrick’s experience, but it’s been years since he’s had a partner he could trust.
Looking for allies in all the wrong places, Patrick discovers the Dominion Sect’s next target is the same werewolf the Fates themselves have thrown into his path. Patrick has been inexplicably attracted to the man from their first meeting, but desire has no place in war. That doesn’t stop Patrick from wanting what he shouldn’t have. Jonothon de Vere is gorgeous, dangerous, and nothing but trouble—to the case, to the fight against every hell, and ultimately, to Patrick’s heart and soul.
In the end, all debts must be paid, and Patrick can only do what he does best—cheat death.
A Ferry of Bones & Gold is a 115k word m/m urban fantasy with a gay romantic subplot and a HFN ending
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 