Review: Enchanter's Echo

"The keep-out spell awoke at her approach. The enchanted mesh of vines and branches that blocked the entrance to Rallis Territory's forbidden forest vibrated in welcome as its creator returned..."

Welcome to Book Two in the Mayflower Mages series. (See my review of Syphon's Song: Mayflower Mages Book One.)

Picking up shortly after the events in book one left off. Our heroine is an enchanter mage (one of several new breeds of mages that author Anise Rae introduces us to) living on her own terms on the wrong side of the Republic tracks (known as the Drainpipe).

When we meet Aurora Firenze, she's on the backside of a long-term vow to one of the founding families (the Noble family) and she's not in a rush to find herself avowed to the service of another family, no matter how deep her bond with Edmund Rallis is. (Remember him from Syphon's Song?)

Much like her previous book, Rae is writing a romance with so much more. We've got a case of sabotage on the Rallis family (and their entire territory) and an entire cast of suspects to choose from. And while they're trying to save Rallis (and Edmund himself), our hero and heroine are on a crash course to falling in love.

I want to take a second here and commend the author. In both of her books now, she's featured a love story that, while complicated, isn't tortured. I really love that and found it so much easier to root for our couple--they were in love and even if one (or both) thought sacrifice was necessary, there was no question (or potential love triangle) to muddy the waters. It was pure and emotional and came across the pages. I dug that!

There's a gentleness to Aurora (compared to the timidity and fear our poor Bronte carried in Syphon's Song) that's sweet and sort of made me want to hug her--or at least invite her over for hot chocolate and Jane Austen movies.

I mentioned in my previous review how much I admired Rae's world building. It was all still here in book two, but in this entry in the series, I was fascinated by the way the vibes (magical auras) ratcheted up the sensuality and tension in the story...almost like a separate character in itself. It made the bonds between Edmund and Aurora that much more layered and was fascinating to imagine.

As if I needed more reasons to love this series, I happened to reach out to the author via social media with a question about review timing. I'm happy to report she's just as lovely as her series and it makes me root for an author and their work even more when they're genuinely nice people.

Rumor has it (okay, she told me) that's she's hard at work on book three, and if you happen to read the acknowledgements, she mentions book three will be Gregor's story (you'll remember him from Syphon's Song.)

Hooray, ya'll!!

Enchanter's Echo was incredibly unique, well written and full of complex characters that you can't help but to root for. The magic was fantastic and really draws you in.

DETAILS

Title: Enchanter's Echo

Series: Mayflower Mages, Book Two

Author: Anise Rae

Publisher: Kensington 

Price: $3.99 (released in February 2015)

Author Website: AniseRae.com

Author Twitter: @aniserae

(I was incredibly lucky to get an advanced review copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.)

Goodreads review available here.