Bloodmagic: Blood Destiny, Book 2

OMG! So much rambling in this book. This internal monologuing is freaking nuts

I'm glad I discovered this four book series.Its a very relaxing read, with a good storyline. Its not Tolkien's LOTR or Butcher's Dresden Files but it can certainly carry away my approval.Although the same theme (vamps, weres and fae) comes back in this series, HARPER decided to give her heroine a little more bite and a nice one at that.I find Harper to be a very smooth relaxing writer who doesn't force things on, she just makes her peaceful time writing the story she has in her head, and I feel it shows.. What I kept thinking throughout the series was that HARPER wrote until she had the required pages, finished up the little bundle with a nice end, but in her head just continued and figured oh well if it isn't here.. there will just be a fifth installment or a sixth. reading her books I feel like reading actual chapters of a life story that develops in its own pace and rhythm that is neither too slow or too fast. Also I hope she keeps doing it, because that just means we'll have the sequels faster.**** SPOILER*****The story is about a young fiery woman that grows up with werewolves in a small village in England. Its a peaceful quiet pack that hardly ever has anything go wrong. When one day John, Macks "foster parent', the packs alpha dies, she swears she will revenge his death.Special about Mack is that she is not a were, but thinks herself to be human. Soon and fast as things develop, she notices that her bloodfire as she calls is, has more to it than just bad tempers. She is equally fast, strong and often stronger than any were she has encountered.To assist in the murder of the pack alpha , the brethren, call them were royalty and police descend down upon the calm village. Mack does what she can to stay away from the brethren and their fearsome leader so they won't find out she is only human. She namely believes that if the Lord Alpha finds out that the pack has been harboring a human for the past decade, all of her pack will be destroyed and killed, as it is against the law to inform any human of the existence of the Otherworld.During her quest for the truth Mack finds out who and what she really is and also makes some new friends along the way.When finally Mack finds the enemy who killed John, she has dropped enough hints to the brethren Lord that she in not really a were nor a human. She is forced to leave the pack for certain reasons and she decides to go to Iverness Scotland, where she can hide away from the Lord Alpha so he need never know the truth about her and still decide to execute the pack.Once in Iverness, Mack finds a job with a sweet old lady and in a cute little bookstore. Meanwhile she is still having problems and even more than before to keep her nasty temper under control.During her stay in scotland, things end up in shambles. Despite the help of a "new friend" a fae lord named Solus, she still finds herself in front of the Ministry of Mages and at the mercy of the Lord Alpha of the weres. As if her new found "parlor tricks" weren't enough, she tries to fight harder and harder against Corrigan, who for some reason can't stay away from her.Having come to an agreement with the archmage of the ministry of mages, Mack attends "magic school" in hopes of learning how to control her bloodfire and new found talents. When Alex, her mage friend finds himself in a bind she decides to help him out and finds herself squaring off against AUBRY vampire lord of London as well as another big bady. What happens then will change her life forever and finally both she and her entourage find out what the bloodfire really means...**************end of spoilers**********************I am currently reading the last one published and I'm still as interested as I was when reading the first page.I sometimes got annoyed with our mid-twenties heroine for being ridiculously grumpy, bordering childish, but the end of the third book makes clear why. It's really a feature that needs to go with the character.What I enjoyed beyond everything were the funny parts. HARPER has a real talent for dry humour and I found myself chuckling multiple times and at two or three occasions right out laughing.I will never be able to chuck the idea of a certain SLIM in flowery yellow...For those who love romance, the author, knows how to keep the pace going, yet she is very determined to make us readers EARN the happy end between our heroine and her "main squeeze"Over all a pretty good series and can't wait for what may follow.

The second book in the Blood Destiny series, Bloodmagic continues the story of Mackenzie Smith on her journey to learning about who she really is. Summary: Mackenzie "Mack" Smith has escaped detection by the shifter leaders, and the Lord Alpha himself. Unfortunately, she's forced to set off on her own when all she's ever known is Pack. To ensure the safety of her adoptive family, Mack must get as far from the Pack as possible. She does her best to settle into a quiet life in Inverness, Scotland, but trouble seems to find her anyway. She's lucky enough to land a job at an old bookstore, but the shop owner knows more than she should. If that isn't worrisome, then having a Fae track her down when she thought she was well hidden, is. Soon, Mack finds herself caught between the Brethren, Ministry of Mages, and the Fae. Each come with their own dangers and complications. And they each have their sites on Mack. Should she stay hidden? Mack will have to make the choice. Can she face the music and still keep her secrets from getting out?*************************I was really looking forward to this book and seeing how Mack reacted to so many drastic life changes. I have mixed feelings on how well it hit the mark. I still really like Mack. She's incredibly loyal, strong, and selfless. Oftentimes, she's the last to her own detriment. She has a strong survival instinct, but it's been seen and hinted at, that she would sacrifice herself for those she deems hers. This is not a bad thing. I only wish that she would not allow her panic or fear for others distract her from helping herself. A lot of revelations were revealed at the end of book one, and for the most part, Mack is doing her best to live with them. I did feel that she didn't try very hard to learn more, though. The first part of the book she put most of her energy into staying hidden, and the second half of the book she spent trying to save everybody. That said, I was still completely entertained by the book. There was some magic and fight scenes that made it interesting. The appearance of her green fire was exciting, too, but that's all it was. There was no enlightenment on her true nature. Her existence is still a mystery, and she has no idea of her capabilities. The magical development just produced more questions with zero answers. We got to see a bit of interaction between Mack and Corrigan, but most of it was clouded with Mack's fear of being discovered. I think there is no doubt that they both harbor feelings about the other, though. I'm eager to see where their sizzling chemistry will take them. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't see a lot of the supporting cast from book one, but I did enjoy this new cast. Solus is intriguing and I hope we'll see more of him in future. Especially after his revelation in regards to Mack. I also really liked Mrs. Alcoon, as she's quirky and fun. I'm more than looking forward to the next book in the series, and whether Mack will continue to be able to keep her secret. I'm also hoping to see some headway on knowledge of just what having Draco-Wyr blood means. ♡

I am really enjoying this series. The characters are interesting and have depth so that the reader is constantly surprised.

I am going to review all 5 books in this series together as I read through them all so fast I am not sure anymore where one began and another ended. I am very glad I come across these after the author had finished the series as I would have found it an excruciating wait! To say that these books were addictive is an understatement. I literally put my life on hold for a week to read them, and what an enjoyable week it was. I discovered Helen Harper about 2 months ago and am slowly working my way through everything of hers and loved all that I have read.This series of 5 books contains everything I look for, quality writing, interesting plot, great world building and a main character to fall for (with of course an even hotter alpha male thrown in for good measure). Mack was likeable from the very first moment we met her, she took on a huge journey to discover her heritage and go from were pack member to being an outcast, then to one of the most important members of the supernatural society. I loved that we took the scenic route around the UK, from the wilds of Cornwall via Scotland to London, stopping a few places in-between. The supernatural world had everything, including the political interplay between the main groups of Fae, Were and Mages. Some things that stood out were the Were themselves, not just wolves but a whole array of animals. The vampires deserve special mention, these vampires certainly did not sparkle and to be honest were similar to what I think they would end up being if they were indeed real! I loved the friends that mack made along the way, with special mentions to Alex, Solus and Aubrey. This was indeed a roller coaster of a journey and I laughed (there was fantastic humour throughout) and cried. The ending was kind of bittersweet and possibly a little abrupt but still satisfying although I would love a peek into the future sometime. Thank you Helen Harper for a fantastic read.

I found the first third of the first book a little hard going, then the writing suddenly warmed up. Humour crept in. So did sarcasm, a healthy use of the F word and a great line in self depreciation.All the elements of UF were there, refreshingly and interestingly mixed into a very entertaining format.The writing was clear and well punctuated (how rare!) and never distracted me from the story.I loved the way all the characters were allowed to change and develop as events affected them. I grinned with delight when Mack's sneaking around caused clothing rips and chewing gum getting stuck in her hair. I delighted in the heartless power grabbing of the vampires (no teen heart throbbing here). I liked the fact that it took 3 books before the heart-mate relationship solidified, and we got to know him first, warts and all. I appreciated how small scenes built into rounded character portraits (Aubrey and Solus (sp?), complete with compassion, humour and impatience. Oh, and I want to know more about the Fae (which is a first).Was it perfect? No. The first book took a while to settle in, and the second felt like a novella intended to fill in time between 1 and 3. But those are tiny niggles. The overall series was excellent.Can't wait to find our where Harper goes with the next series!

I really enjoyed book one in this series, so immediately bought and read book two. While still highly readable, book 2 isn't really satisfying. My main issue is that the heroine and her love interest spend almost the entire book nowhere near each other. That's a problem in a paranormal romance - I kept wanting to shout "cut to the chase!" This is also a quite short book, which is slightly annoying as well (is this really a 5 book series, or is it a 3 or 4 book series that's been spread out to make more money?). TBH, I'm not certain that I'm going to bother buying book 3, cause I feel a little like I'm just being strung along.

I wanted more romance.I didn't enjoy this quite as much as the first one. I wanted more Mack and Corrigan time but it was still pretty good. I wanted more tension, more flirting, more...romance. Nevertheless, I will be buying book 3 as soon as this review is posted to continue this series and I'm really hoping that the training won't be taking five years because that's a loooong time.

Having read or started several that have been thinly plotted of with flat characters I wasn't expecting much from this - but what a shaock - a real solid story with great plots and sub plots and characters that felt real. I've already bought the next (10 o'clock last night, soon as i finshed this) If you like Ilona Andrews. Patricia Briggs, etc then this has the same solid feel to it - good story that bears a re read.