Not to long ago I was given the opportunity to listen to a book called ‘Badlands’ by Morgan Brice a new to me author…or so I thought. So I checked it out and it sounded intriguing and of course I said ‘yes please’ and I enjoyed it a lot, so much that as soon as I was done I scrambled back to audible.com to get ‘Lucky Town’ the next book in the ‘Badlands’ series. Needless to say, when I was asked if I’d like to review the audio book for ‘Witchbane’ I was so all over that one and when I saw that I could treat myself to ‘Burn’ the next book in the series well I was all over that one as well and when ‘Dark Rivers’ the next book in the ‘Witchbane’ series is released…well, damn straight I’ll be all over that one too.

When Seth Tanner and his brother Jesse decide to debunk a local urban legend the last thing that either man expects is that one of them would be dead by morning. But when morning comes Seth finds himself alone. Seth’s struggle to find justice for his brother leads him to a world that he never knew existed as he discovers that the ‘person’ who murdered his brother has been dead for a hundred years and that every 12 years his disciples have committed ritual murder to feed their need and their masters needs for power. When Seth discovers that the 12 year cycle has once again come around and Jackson Malone is to be the next victim, he becomes determined not only to break the cycle but to keep Jackson alive.

When Seth stops at a bar in Richmond where a tip has led him in his search for Jackson Malone, he meets a very sexy and interesting bartender named ‘Sonny’ and since he’s going to be in town for a few days what could be the harm in spending a bit of time with such an attractive and interesting man. Luckily for Seth it put him right where he needed to be as he learns that Jackson and Sonny are one and the same person.

As Seth fights to keep Jackson/Sonny alive both men are torn between fighting the attraction they feel towards each other and giving in to it. Seth is confident about his fighting skills and solid in his determination to protect Sonny, he’s also very insecure when it comes to his personal relationships and as much as he wants to see where things could go with Sonny, he is his own worst enemy, frequently letting his actions sabotage things between them. Since he’s sure that Sonny’s going to come to his senses and leave at any time.

Meanwhile even though Sonny wants to trust Seth, he’s got a lot of reasons not to and those reasons are as much about his lack of faith in his own judgement as they are about Seth. Sonny’s taste in men is to say the least questionable at times. He’s had a stalker and maybe a couple of overly possessive, possibly abusive boyfriends…so in Sonny’s mind it’s very possible that Seth is just another mistake waiting to happen. Even though his heart is telling him to trust him, his history with men is saying…maybe not.

The one thing that these men both agree on is the sex…they’re totally combustible together and I honestly have to admit that at times for me the sex was close to being too much…hence the 4.5 star rating and not 5 stars, but this was saved for me by the fact that at times even Seth and Sonny knew that they needed to put their libidos on the back burner it they were going to survive and one or both of them would put the breaks on things so that they focused on what was truly important…staying alive.

While Seth and Sonny may have won the battle, they still have a war to fight as they continue to battle paranormal creatures and fight to destroy the disciples of the dark warlock who killed Seth’s brother.

It was actually in the author’s series ‘Badlands’ that we first meet Seth…sort of…kind of…well almost…Seth has a phone conversation with Simon Kincade, one of the MCs from the ‘Badlands’ series, however, while these series are connected at this point they are not dependent on each other and reading one of them doesn’t require reading them both. The fact that these stories were written by one of my long time absolute favorite fantasy authors totally cemented my decision to be all over these books and being able to enjoy the stories in audio format made the experience even more enjoyable.

Kale Williams is the narrator and while I’m not as familiar with his audio books as I am with a few other narrators, this is still by no means my first audio book narrated by Mr. Williams and as with previous experiences this narrator has made an enjoyable story even better bringing the characters to life by adding depth, emotion and personality to them through their voices.

So if you’re a fan of shows such as ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ or ‘Supernatural’ I strongly recommend checking out ‘Witchbane’ it’s got more than a few demons and a couple of hot demon hunters…not to mention that not everything that goes bump in the night is of the supernatural variety.

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A copy of ‘Witchbane’ was graciously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

@debbiereadsbook, @gaybookpromo @MorganBriceBook, #UrbanFantasy, #MM #Paranormal #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)

A psychic medium and a skeptical cop solve supernatural murders in Myrtle Beach

Medium and clairvoyant Simon Kincaide owns a Myrtle Beach boardwalk shop where he runs ghost tours, holds séances, and offers private psychic readings, making a fresh start after his abilities cost him his lover and his job as a folklore professor. Jaded cop Vic D’Amato saw something supernatural he couldn’t explain during a shootout several years ago in Pittsburgh and relocated to Myrtle Beach to leave the past behind, still skeptical about the paranormal. But when the search for a serial killer hits a dead end, Vic battles his skepticism to ask Simon for help. As the body count rises, Simon’s involvement makes him a target, and a suspect. But Simon can’t say no, even if it costs him his life and heart.

'Burn' is the second story or more accurately it's story #1.5 in Morgan Brice's 'Witchbane' series and essentially picks up where 'Witchbane' leaves off. Sonny and Seth have survived the events of Halloween and defeated the dark forces that had been determined to see Sonny sacrificed to the dark wizard and his disciples in their quest for power and eternal life. 

As Seth and Sonny begin to work at settling into a life together both men find that they are continuing to repeat their mistakes...mistakes based on experiences from their past. This combined with fighting a paranormal creature or two or maybe even twelve leads to a breakdown in communication between them and it's only through sheer determination on Sonny's part that things finally get resolved when he confronts Seth. It's not a perfect fix but more like the beginning of one and I'm sure there are going to be some rough times ahead but Sonny's persistent efforts are beginning to pay off and it feels like Seth is beginning to accept that Sonny is right where he wants to be.

While this story wasn't quite as enjoyable for me as the first one there were definite elements that I not only liked but hope to see more of in future stories...things like Seth and Sonny's interaction with some of the other hunters' in their network and I admit I'm hoping for even more relationship development between these two...maybe a bit more banter. I liked hearing Sonny step up and be a bit more assertive when Seth was hurt, not that he's by any means a shrinking violet but it was sweet to hear him get a bit protective about his man when one of the hunters asked them to go out on a mission before Seth had fully healed from the last one he'd been on.

Kale Williams is once again the narrator for the audio book, he continues to make the story all the more enjoyable with his rich narrative and character voices and I'm looking forward to joining Seth and Sonny for 'Dark Rivers' where they journey to Pittsburgh in a battle against an ancient evil that will cost them more than their lives if they lose.

It's been years since an encounter of the supernatural kind sent police officer Vic D'Amato away from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach looking for a fresh start. So the last thing he's looking for is an attraction to someone like Simon Kincaide...someone who runs a shop that caters to the those interested in the paranormal with ghost tours, seances and private psychic readings...someone with psychic powers of their own.

But that's exactly what happens when the search for a serial killer pushes Vic to take desperate measures when every lead that the police have in the case comes up as dead as the killer's victims. 

Vic's more than a little resistant to both the idea of accepting help from Simon and being attracted to him...after all magics not real...is it? and Simon's been burned before by someone he should have been able to depend on...someone who was suppose to love him, but when the going got tough...that person got going and Simone found himself alone during one of the worst times of his life.

Vic and Simon have a love to hate you/hate to love you relationship but the one thing that they can both agree upon is that there's a killer that needs to be stopped.  These two were a prime example of we don't always get to pick the people we love. Despite all the reasons that they wouldn't work as a couple neither man is immune to the attraction that they share.

The relationship between these two was not only a slow start, it also held a definite one step forward, two steps back dance to it and I felt like that was very much due to the past relationship history that each of these men had...both of them were coming out of a relationship that for their own reasons ended badly and left them both a bit gun shy. So the shaky start they they got on their romance for me felt kind of natural if not inevitable.

However, on the professional side of things the main thing that bothered me was the fact that Simon was very adamant that if he called the police they wouldn't help...so why call them? And for me it seemed like Simon was in a damned if I do and damned if I don't situation which I think if we'd been given a stronger sense of any failed efforts in Simon's past to obtain police assistance would have helped to validate his reluctance to contact the police in the current situation giving Simon's point of view validity.

This is the 4th book narrated by Kale Williams that I've listened to and he's definitely a narrator that I've come to enjoy listening to and I'm looking forward to enjoying 'Lucky Town' which is the next story in this series also narrated by Kale Williams and I'm looking forward to enjoying it soon.

Overall I enjoyed this first story in Morgan Brice's 'Badland's' series and I'm looking forward to seeing what paranormal hijinx these two get up to next in Myrtle Beach and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for these two men now that they're together as partners both personally and professionally...sort of.

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An audio book of 'Badlands' was graciously provided by 'Gay Book Promotions' in exchange for an honest review.