Magic & Mayhem (Blue Ridge Magic Book 1) MA Innes
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Shaw Montomery and their alter-ego MA Innes. What I am not such a huge fan of is shifter romances – absolutely no shade to those who do love the sub-genre, it’s just not generally my thing. There are a few notable exceptions, namely Amy Bellows’ penguins, polar bears, foxes, and of course her fabulous Expensive, not to mention Drea Roman’s The Selkie’s Coat. I am now adding The Blue Ridge Magic duet to this list (full disclosure: only Book 1 is currently available). So, let’s talk about Magic and Mayhem.
Talon is the newly employed Deputy of a sleep little town in the Blue Ridge Mountains and is at his wits end when we meet him in Chapter One. There is something unusual about the inhabitants of this new town and he can’t for the life of him pinpoint what it is. While he thinks he knows, he just doesn’t know how to deal with this knowledge or how to have it confirmed. It’s not like he can walk up to the Sherriff and ask him if he’s an alien, right? The opening of the book takes us along with Talon as he muses over this, getting increasingly exasperated by both not knowing for sure and having to deal with the unusual antics the townspeople get up to.
Enter Kenzie.
Kenzie is, we discover quite quickly, a Little – well more a Middle than a Little but let’s not get distracted. He is adorable – I cannot over emphasise this. Kenzie is so sweet you will need to visit a dentist after reading. He is also a – and I promise I’m not spoiling this – a dragon shifter. And he plans to keep the new Deputy as part of his hoard.
Magic and Mayhem is an Instalove, Daddy/Little, Shifter mishmash that shouldn’t work but does. It should be read in one sitting with either a favorite beverage of any variety on hand and a box of chocolates wouldn’t hurt either. This is a story to lose yourself in for an afternoon and to just … enjoy. Often, for me at least, books that don’t require you to think hard are dull for that very reason. In losing the demand for you to think, they too often lose the need for imagination or emotion. Not so Magic and Mayhem. The world building, while subtle (my one complaint would be I would have liked to have learned more about where the shifters came from), is perfect and gives the story a little more substance than you would expect from this type of laid back book. It is the characters though that give Magic and Mayhem its charm. One of the greatest strengths Montgomery/Innes has, is the ability to create characters that it’s impossible to not feel something about. I have never found a Montgomery/Innes main character I haven’t liked, though I have found characters that frustrated me – none more so than Eli from the Leashes and Lace series – and I have never found any I could ignore. Kenzie and Talon now top this list and I really can’t wait for Book 2, Secrets & Kisses, due on December 8.
Buy your copy of Magic and Mayhem here.
