Joseph “Joey, stumbles upon his childhood friend and her two children, just as she’s morphing from a mountain lion into a dying woman. Wow! Talk about a mind melter! With her dying breath she asks Joey to take the kids and find her brother (his other childhood friend Dominick “Nicky”) because the kids are in danger.Though he is thoroughly freaked out, he does as told with the help of his friend Vicky.When Nicky hears about his sister’s death he’s torn up but he’s also a bit relieved because now he can share with his friend all the secrets he’d been hiding. It was those secrets that drove him away from Joey all those years ago. The secrets and his feelings for Joey.Together, Nicky and Joey must figure out how to track the killer of Nicky’s sister, raise the “cubs” without a pack, keep the whole shifter thing a secret while both of them are at work and manage to confront the simmering feelings between the two of them.Nicky manages to stumble on to Gray and Simon’s pack through a work related investigation and that leads him to the answers to several of his problems. He and Joey also manage to figure things out between the two of them and we are left with a very HEA.**I just loved the Triad series. I loved watching Gray and Simon’s slowly developing relationship, the intense world building, the climactic finish… all of it.I’m not sure what happened here.Joey and Nicky’s story as a couple felt like barely a footnote. It isn’t until 85% in that they even get together physically. Most of the book is about Nicky the boys and their need for a pack. That aspect was very interesting and I loved the tie-in to Gray’s pack and the involvement of Riley, but the story (for a m/m romance) felt really lopsided. My need for Joey and Nicky to work on their relationship, to develop their relationship, to have a relationship was essentially given one chapter of 15 and could be described as anemic at best.Watching Nicky find a place in the world again was fulfilling and I was so happy everyone found a home in the end, but I was disappointed by how little Joey impacted the ending.Overall, I wouldn’t say this added much to the series and as a stand-alone was not very satisfying at all.I give the book a 2.5 of 5 heartsAudio:I found Robert G Davis’ narration to be of equal quality as his previous work. He still does a great job with dialog but has a tendency to lilt upward on his sentences in a way that can sometimes be distracting.The sound quality and editing were good and I enjoyed listening to the book more than reading it as he does add to the experience with his voice changes and modulations.(I still really love his kid voices!)I give the narration a 4 of 5 hearts.Overall, I give it a 3 of 5 hearts 3.4 stars. Compared to the previous three instalments, 'Wild Magic' came across as rather underdeveloped in all its dimensions - plot, characterisations, romance. This might be due to the significantly shorter length, but I was still a bit disappointed... It covered to some extent plot aspects regarding the mountain lions' pack and their survivors. The protagonists were interesting individuals, yet their relationship unravelled too quickly and did not feel solid enough especially with the past issues. Overall, a pleasant read which only somewhat measured up to its very engaging prequels.
What do You think about Wild Magic (2013)?
Meh. Amber Kell writes these same books, with more extravagant cray-cray.
—shantal
Loved this series and this is a nice addition.
—hamed
