Genre: Fantasy, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
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
I have this thing I do as a reader. I tend to alternate between science fiction and fantasy, each one a pallete cleanser for the other. I was ready for something on the fantasy side, and picked up Forrest House, the new MM urban fantasy by E.M. Hamill.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve read some of Hamill’s other books and really enjoyed them, especially Whiskey and Warfare, Hamill’s “Golden Girls in space” that she published last year. I was curious to see how she handled fantasy.
This is a damn good book. I don’t know if I would classify it as purely romance – the plot is much more advanced than the love story between the two main characters. And yet, a relationship between Cai and Ander is foundational to this plot, and there’s definitely a beautiful love story here.
It starts out at Forrest House, Ander’s ancestral family home, where he is caring for his twin niece and nephew, Raven and Remy. It’s all very nice and domestic, until we learn that the twins’ mother was recently killed – she sent them to her brother by magical means just before her death.
Ander’s cousin Zenna helps take care of the twins on a regular basis, and reminds Ander to set the wards to protect the estate. It did annoy me a little bit how forgetful he was about this task, given how important it was, and how many times he was reminded… but that’s a minor quibble.
And it turns out to be a fortunate thing that he doesn’t, because suddenly his ex Cai appears, injured, and brings news that his sister is not dead but held captive. And from that moment on, the plot shifts into high gear as Ander and Cai try to figure out how to rescue Ander’s sister, Kate.
In some ways, this feels like a grown-up version of that “magical school” series whose title and author I won’t mention. But I mean that in the best possible way. The plot is complex, but really well put together an easy to follow, the characters are well drawn and likable, and the world building is fantastic. Not a surprise, given the author and her consummate writing skills.
It was a pleasure to see her letting loose in a fantasy world that’s much like ours, with its their echoes back to Arthurian times, a pleasing addition to the story.
The stakes are high, the villains powerful and evil, and it’s against this challenging backdrop that Ander and Cai try to repair their broken relationship while trying to save the world.
Ander, in particular, is a complex character whose childhood trauma has shaped him in ways that he doesn’t yet fully understand. Possessed with a potentially deadly magic, he has harnessed it instead for healing, and struggles when he has to turn it to the darker side to save his family. And Cai is delightful – strong and supportive, with secrets of his own that might derail this second chance romance.
An extremely well written urban fantasy with a touching love story at its heart. Highly recommended.
The Reviewer
Scott is the founder of Queer Sci Fi, Liminal Fiction, and QueeRomance Ink, and a fantasy and sci fi writer in his own right, with more than 30 published short stories, novellas and novels to his credit, including two trilogies.