TITLE: ⟫ Candy Magic (All Hallows Harem)
AUTHOR: ⟫ M.C. Roth
RATING: ⟫ 2/5
BLURB: ⟫
An All Hallows’ Harem story
Sweeter than candy—hotter than magic.
Crean is trying to leave it all behind—the closet, his overbearing family and, of course, his magic. In a world where vampires and shifters are hidden among humans, Crean is the odd one out. Born as a human to a family of shifters, he’s been hiding his orientation and his magic for his entire life.
In search of a new start, he sets out on a journey to a different province. The only condition is he has to live with his brother and his three roommates.
Living with a vampire, a werewolf and a faerie is bound to be a disaster, and Crean does his best to avoid the strangers. But everything he’s been told about others is wrong, and his life is about to change forever.
REVIEW: ⟫ This book had such an interesting blurb that I went into it with high hopes. Unfortunately, for me, this book simply didn’t follow through.
There were so many titbits thrown at us – from Crean’s magic and what happened when he used it; Tristan and his wings; Nate and his general dislike of humans – and yet none of them went anywhere. They felt thrown into the air and just left there. Not such a big deal until you realise that the whole thing about Crean and his magic is part of why he left home, but we are never told just what happened.
The relationships between all of the characters were murky and shallow – these guys were meant to be Crean’s brother’s best friends and yet not one of them seriously considered how their friend might feel about their four-some relationship with Crean. Hardly loyalty.
We don’t really learn anything about how the supernatural came to be known – or why – and there seems to be no lingering issues with prejudice or fear. Crean being desperate to escape from his smothering family yet we don’t witness one single instance of them being that way or hindering him. The whole story was incredibly shallow and we were told so much was happening and yet didn’t witness any of it.
The sex scenes were perfunctory and felt passionless, and even though the idea of asexuality was sort of thrown out there with regard to Tristan, it wasn’t explored at all. I guess what I’m saying is that if this was meant to be a sex-fest harem read, it failed in that perspective; as an examination of prejudice between species, it failed; to be completely honest, the whole book just failed for me.
I can’t see me reaching for any other books by this author, which is a shame as a quick flick through it looks like they really have some interesting ideas.
