Genre: Fantasy, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Rari
Universal Buy Link | Amazon
About The Book
Blood is Stronger Than Magic
Ander Forrest renounced blood magic to become a nurse-healer in his rural hometown, far from the drama of wizardry and espionage his sister Kate craved. When Kate goes missing in action, Ander finds himself the legal guardian of her gifted twins and receives a cryptic warning from Kate’s husband to protect them before he, too, disappears.
Six months later, his former lover crash lands in the kids’ bedroom via a spell only Ander’s sister could have cast. Druid Cai Piper doesn’t remember how he got there, but he knows he never stopped loving Ander, and that he was sent to protect him and the twins. Cai is strangely drawn to Forrest House and the land it stands upon.
With the secrets of a clandestine wizards’ order hanging between them, Cai and Ander must remember how to trust each other as sinister forces move against the Forrest family—magical terrorists who want to exploit their rare sorcery and bring the world to its knees.
The Review
Let me preface this review by saying I love this author’s books. I’ve read their Sci Fi books before and was curious about how their fantasy books would be.
Just as good if not better!
Ander is a nurse, living in rural US with his niblings who were sent to him by his sister Kate, who has gone missing. Ander comes from a line of mages but his magic is healing and he has never been able to learn the ways of magic that everyone else in his family could do. His magic is instinctual rather than learned but training by his abusive grandmother has him fear his blood magic gifts which he refuses to use.
Kate, her husband, and his brother, Cai were all part of a secret organisation, which Ander tried to join, but since they were only interested in using his blood magic as a weapon and not his healing skills, he rejected them. At his request, his gifts were kept a secret and everyone believed Ander failed the test.
The mandatory secrecy shrouding the organisation’s work causes Ander to be estranged from Cai, who was his boyfriend. He left Wales and returned to the US, to Forrest House where he lives alone and working as a nurse in the ER of a nearby hospital. Till Kate sends her twins to him in mysterious circumstances.
When Cai lands in the twins’ bedroom by the same spell that sent the twins to him, covered in blood, and missing memories of the time immediately prior to his arrival, Ander realises that to protect his family, he may have to embrace the heritage he has tried so hard to forget.
This is at one level a romance about second chances and redemption, but at another level, it’s about trauma, the consequences of abuse, grief, healing, and the strength of family bonds. The double meaning of the Forrest family motto where blood is said to be stronger than magic refers both to the ties of blood and to the gift of blood magic that is stronger than any other kind.
The characterisation of Ander, Cai, Kate, her husband, Remy, Raven and all the assorted allies were top notch. The villains, on the other hand, come across as rather cartoonish and one dimensionally evil, but for people who don’t balk at genocide, there can be no other portrayal.
While the story is set in the real world, it’s a world where magic is accepted and known, and the rural setting and Cai’s druidic powers give it an otherworldly feel.
Queer fantasy with realistic characters, personal stakes, beautiful prose, and a plot that keeps you glued to the page. You need to read this book.
The Reviewer
Rari is an author and editor writing under the name of Niranjan K. She is an avid reader of all things fantasy, and loves to discourse at length about her favourite books as well as shows. This blog is the space where she will be sharing her views and insights of the books, shows and movies that she likes.