Magic Forged

Hall of Blood and Mercy, Book 1

De: K. M. Shea

Narrado por: Natalie Duke, Alister Austin

I'm one scrappy wizard.

As someone with barely a flicker of magic, I've spent my life being mocked and surviving fights with bullies. But when my parents die in an accident, and I find myself responsible for our whole wizard house and family, I know my usual tactics aren't going to cut it.

The situation veers from bad to catastrophic when my backstabbing cousin stages a coup and takes my family hostage.

I barely manage to flee, but the only supernatural willing to help me is Killian Drake - the most feared vampire in the region, and a far more deadly villain than the jerk threatening my family.

Is Killian sexy and charismatic? Heck yeah.

He's also so powerful that my flight or fight instincts kick in every time our eyes meet. And he's definitely using me as his personal magic detector in his feud against the local fae.

But Killian is also the first person to believe I might have more than just a scrap of magic. And if I can convince him to train me, I might get strong enough to free my family and get my house back.

I'm not sure what happens when a scrappy wizard is taught how to fight by a hall of deadly vampires, but I'm about to find out.

Magic Forged is the first book in the completed Hall of Blood and Mercy trilogy. It takes place in the Magiford Supernatural City universe and features vampires, wizards, fae, and werewolves! This trilogy is packed with humor, adventure, and a sweet, slow burn romance between a vertically challenged wizard and the most lethal vampire in town.

©2020 K. M. Shea (P)2021 K. M. Shea

Really Enjoyed

Writing is well done. character development and world building are strong. The plot was only a little lacking in the murder mystery/clues department. Overall, I fell in love with the male protagonist and watching his gradule change as the female protagonist had an impact on him. There is a romance element, but it's very subdued and I wish we could have seen a little more realization and reaction from the characters in that department. Narration was good. Overall, an excellent, clean read. I will be reading other books from this author.

Sooooooo good!

Such a fun story! Clean, well written- just all around fun! The characters are enjoyable, the lack of r-rated things are enjoyable— highly recommend

Do it!! Listen to this book! You won’t regret!

I’ve had issues getting into any book for ages and have found myself not finishing books or series for almost two years, maybe longer. Finally, I found a book that was amazing! It wasn’t too sappy, obvious, predictable and the characters are awesome. There’s no obnoxious love triangle or whining. Great story. Interesting new world. Keeps you on the edge of your seat and yes, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning listening to it even though I know I’ll pay for the lack of sleep. I don’t even regret it! Totally worth it! I haven’t done this in ages either! This book has brought out my inner child again! I can’t wait to start the next one.

Magic Forged

Narrator: Natalie Duke & Alister Austin

My Reading Speed: 1.5x

Have I Read The Book Before Listening to the Audio? Yes

Overall Audio Impression:

Just a heads up for new readers of this series, there is only one chapter from Killian’s point of view in this particular book. So you only hear Alister Austin narrating the one chapter.

I loved this so much! I love rereading K. M. Shea’s Magiford books (or really any of her books) so it was a treat to get to listen to it in audio! I loved so much in this book (as evidenced below) that if I stay here too long I’d likely spoil it. 😂 But suffice to say that if you like romantic comedies and fantasy (or want to dip your toes into fantasy) this is a wonderful way to do it since it’s magic & magical beings in our world!

Favorite Scenes:

Hazel getting on Killian’s radar after becoming a servant

Killian & the Paragon

Meeting Josh

Unconventional weapon

Killian’s sarcasm

The ending!

Reader’s Notes:

-this is the first of a trilogy & needs to be read in order

– there is some fantasy violence & death (vague characters are being murdered – the deaths/bodies are not graphic, only quickly touched upon when Hazel comes upon them)

-there is one use of a curse word in the way to say someone is kick-butt (the word being kick-[curse word])

I bought extra credits to finish the series!

I fell in love with the characters and the world she created with her words. I so enjoyed all of the emotions without the spice. For me, this was a new take on wizards and vampires and the world of Magiford. Honestly, I can't say enough good things about the humor and the range of emotions I felt. This story was so worth the credit plus more for me. I have found one more favorite author and absolutely look forward to hearing more for the narrators.

Thrilled KM Shea has gotten into audiobooks

I absolutely loved the duel narrators (even though there is only a small portion from the male MC at the end of the first book)
I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the series.
I would also just like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to Kitty for getting into audiobooks. I know they are time consuming and more expensive to produce, so thank you for making these!

Enjoying this series so far

I came across this series as a result of listening to another book narrated by Natalie Duke and I was right to follow her to another author.

K.m. Shea has introduced me to a new world of supernaturals that I quite enjoy. Looking forward to the rest of the series to see how it pans out.

One of the Best!

This series is FUN -- honestly, one of KM Shea's best. It has it all: memorable characters, fast pacing, original storyline, outstanding banter, and KM Shea's trademark humor. What could be better? Oh, I don't know ... how about throwing in a PERFECT narration as well? Both Natalie Duke and Alister Austin are a pleasure to listen to, and they made a wonderful story even better. Most of the first book, Magic Forged, comes from Hazel's point of view, so Natalie carries almost all of the narration this time around (if you're familiar with the story, you'll remember the character headers at the top of each chapter. The narrations follow that guide, with Alister reading the chapters that are in Killian's point of view, and Natalie gets the rest.). Both differentiate the voices nicely, and I had no trouble keeping track of the fairly large cast of characters. I particularly liked Natalie's voice for Hazel -- it's just how I envisioned the character. Snappy, sassy, bold, and the tiniest bit shrill when shifting from Virtuous Idiot to Yapping Puppy mode. ❤ Super fitting!

Cannot wait for the release of Magic Redeemed and Magic Unleashed.

Series Content:
Violence: Present, but non-descriptive and not gratuitous
Language: A handful of extremely mild swears
Relationships: Squeaky clean
Rating: Would likely fall somewhere in the upper PG range to very low PG-13

Love the story

I first read the book a couple years ago and wanted to reread it again because I really enjoyed the story. With limited time to sit and read I instead bought the audible book so I could listen while I did chores. I have found that a narrator can ruin a good story so I was worried about it. I was delighted to discover that the narrator did a great job and I found the story just as enjoyable as the first time I read it! I recommend this if you are looking for a slow burn romance that has more to the relationship than Insta lust and is clean and fun. There is also a well developed plot with people being murdered and questions on who is doing it.

Short & sweet

I love this world and the romance is very funny and playful. I like how the book is relaxed with enough problems to solve to keep you busy but not enough to stress you out a ton