Mael Nguyen doesn’t believe in fate, but he does believe in magic. His entire life revolves around the study of the arcane—spells and rituals, potions and illusions. As far as Mael is concerned, all he needs is a book in one hand and magic in the other. Anything outside of his bookshop, hidden away in the streets of New Orleans, isn’t worth his attention. But when a strange human stumbles into his life and hires him for a job, bringing along his blinding smile and curious magic, Mael finds that Fate is just as dangerous as Magic.
Leo Greyson refuses to believe in fate, but he desperately wishes to believe in magic. As a small time rockstar, full time radio host, Leo has never been one to shy away from experience and adventure. He’s always lived his life on the edge—always moving, never standing still. But when his twin sister is murdered, and he gains custody of her strangely magical daughter, that constant motion comes to a screeching halt. Instead, he is launched into an entirely new world hidden right beneath his nose, and Leo finds himself wondering if Fate really does exist, and if she’s led him right where he needs to be.
“He kissed like a hurricane.”
Mawce Hanlin's Under the Dragon Moon is a sweet romantasy with great character work and a mysterious background plot that promises to take center stage in the next installments of the series. In this first book the focus is on a magical mystery and on the establishment of the main characters’ relationship, motivations, past, and their relationship with friends and family, other than laying the foundation of a pretty complex worldbuilding, with sidhe, Courts, pacts, dragons, and a magic that builds on magical patrons. The politics and lore of this scintillating debut of an urban fantasy are pretty layered, and the prose is fantastic: lyrical at times, at times funny, always very respectful of the many triggering aspects, and littered with references to pop culture. There are quite a few explicit sex scenes.
✨ 4 stars
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