Posted on  27/05/2021 13:07:03

My rating: 5 grumbling stars

Why grumbling you ask?
Let me tell you first about why FIVE, and then I'll get to the grumbling part.

I've been eagerly waiting to get my hands on this book from the time I finished the second in series Held in Contempt. So much that I actually downloaded and started reading it at midnight on release day and kept turning pages into the wee hours of the night, because I simply couldn't set it down.

It was fabulous! Even more darker and full of feeling than the previous instalments and the characters I already grew to love sank their claws even deeper into my heart.



The amount of pressure on Melody is only increasing. The Apex want to mate with her, her new coven wants her to choose a suitable husband from within their ranks and the new Provost wants her out of there - to graduate as soon as possible.
Everyone wants something from Melody, including her mad aunt and Coven Bestia.

And everything seems to be slowly going to hell in a handbasket. But this time around Melody is determined to stand her ground and fight with all she's got. And this time around, for the first time ever, people are gathering on her side and there is hope.
Of course part of her keeps waiting 'for the other shoe to drop. For the kick to come, for the pain to return. Yet, there was also a newer part, one still emerging from the darkness, that urged her to seize every opportunity that came her way. It was a quietly desperate emotion, the need to experience as much as she could before it was ripped away. Because when it all went to hell again, she'd need those happy memories to sustain her.'
Until then she'll follow Dean's advice:
"Pull on your big girl panties and let's go fix some shit,"

This time around we get a much more deeper glimpse into the mind and heart of Melody's shifters and I loved every single bit about that. All those males are downright sigh-worthy and I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite.
Feeling and emotion leap from the page and the characters themselves make you live their story with them. The smut is way hotter than ever before while the love and longing are enough to melt a heart.

"Mel, you're my fated mate. You're my sun, my moon, my stars. You are my first waking thought, and you haunt my dreams at night. I would do anything for you, be anything. I'd die for you."
(*cue dreamy sigh*)


But why the grumbling?!
Because of the mother of all cliffhangers at the end. This book is way too short and ends way too fast. And it feels unfinished. It left me with that feeling of frustration that any reader gets when they turn the last page and can't believe it's THE END.

Yep. I kind of got angry at that.

And yet, it cannot be contested that Of Magic and Contempt is an absolutely unique and unforgettable tale that will appeal to all dark fantasy fans out there. It has a solid and absolutely intriguing edge of the seat plot, great characters, as well as all the feels! It's a very slow burn romance with no insta love and lots of steamy hot scenes, jampacked with exquisitely rendered emotion and feeling!

I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it to any and all readers out there in search for a gripping and addictive read.
But ware that steep cliff at the end.

Happy reading everyone
and
'listen to your heart'

Check out this book and more of Jade Thorn over at https://jadethorn.blogspot.com