Monday, March 9, 2020

#Review - Blood of the Mage by D.D. Chance #Fantasy #Romance

Series: Twyst Academy # 2
Format: Kindle
Release Date: March 9, 2020
Publisher: D.D. Chance
Source: D.D. Chance
Genre: Fantasy / Romance

At the academy, everyone's playing a little dirty...

Up until a few weeks ago, the only dirt I dished at the Twyst Academy of Magecraft came from scrubbing its floors. Now I’ve learned that deep within these hallowed halls, sinister secrets hide everywhere.

I try to focus on my new job as janitor-turned-war mage, helping my team of four super-hot college wizards win an insanely intense magic competition, but it isn’t easy.

Especially since I’ve barely come to terms with falling for Connor, the most carefree mage in our group…only to develop a mind-blowing crush on Luke, the biggest, scariest mage I’ve ever met. Which, um, is complicated.

And when Luke is nearly killed to keep the explosive truth about his past hidden, something fierce and deadly rages to life inside me. Because I’ve got secrets, too… 




Blood of the Mage is the second installment in author D.D. Chance's Twyst Academy series. After 6 years of working at Twyst Academy of Magecraft as a custodian and solving unsolvable equations for fun, 23-year old Maddigan Pierce's whole world has been expanded thanks to a chance encounter with Connor Warin and his friends. Maddie has since learned that she's something that isn't supposed to exist, a War Mage. Maddie joined with the Mage Runners team which includes Connor, Rafe Twyst, Marcus Winter and Luke Broadham.

Maddie's Mage Runners are participating in this year’s Mage Trials where the winners will be given a huge boost in magical abilities, while the losers will be sent to other college and universities. Winners in the past have gone on to become captains of industry and powerful players in their fields. But, readers of the first book learned that something is not right with this year’s game and it might be because a team has never came out of the game, and might be causing problems for those teams who enter the game.

The story focuses on Maddie and Luke's relationship throughout the story. Luke is a giant teddy bear who would do anything to protect his team, especially Maddie who never seems to seek help from anyone. He's also a healer like Marcus. Having two healers on a team means that the challenges are even more dangerous than other teams. It also puts a target on their back because of Maddie being on the team. Luke and Maddie are working together in order to prepare Maddie to learn how to be a strategic player and not just someone who has remarkable powers, when Luke decides to ask Maddie to help him.  

A year ago, Luke received a pair of Virtual Reality goggles from an unknown uncle but can't seem to get them to work. With Maddie along for the ride, they enter a realm called the Borderlands where readers will learn some interesting twists about Luke. Maddie and Luke must play the part of prince and consort, but the two end of growing really close. Up to this point, we've learned that there's more to Maddie than meets the eye, but the same can be said about Luke. Luke was left with "parents" who watched over him before sending him off to Twyst at 14. He became fast friends with Connor, Marcus and Rafe. Luke's origins are touched on and there's a whole lot to talk about. Not here. Read the book!

Meanwhile, Maddie's background is being revealed piece by piece, including the fact that she's been seeing some nightmare creatures but hasn't told anyone. Unlike her fellow Mage Runner's, Maddie didn't grow up with parents or a family to guide her. She only had one person, Dan Morrow, her parole officer, who seems to care about what happened to her. The fact that he keeps an eye out for her even today, is even more impressive to me. Maddie has met some interesting people along the way including Hilda Dubois who knows more than she’s able to say.

This book includes a new group called The Twelve. The Twelve are a group of mages who won the Mage Trials 40 years ago together which has never been done before. They went on to become richer than God, and now decide to show up for this year’s Mage Trials. There are so many questions about this group, especially one man, William Gallagher, who seems to home in on Maddie. I have complete confidence that readers will learn more by the time we get to Maddie and Rafe's book which will be the fourth in this series. 

On top of investigating the Borderlands, Maddie and her team still have to deal with the Mage Trials, the Advisory group, The Twelve, and the Red Team who I have so many questions about and think I have an idea of what's to come. It's fair to say, without spoilers, that Luke and Maddie's story is awesome. Probably better than the first book if I'm going to be honest. This book is filled with action, adventure, twists, and of course, romance. The author has chosen to write a series hinting at the fact that it is okay to fall in love with more than one person at a time. 

As of this writing, there's no title for the third installment. I do know, however, that Marcus will be up next, and the series will conclude with Rafe's story. Should be a fun ride.




https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51292014-blood-of-the-mage



1 comment:

  1. great review. i do enjoy books like this and meeting a new to me author
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