Genre: Fantasy, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: MM Gay
Reviewer: Tony
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About The Book
Theodore Knight has a curious nature. Ever since he was a child, he’s loved books that are full of danger and adventure. In real life, he’s a simple bookstore owner. But in his imagination, he’s a hero who goes on great quests to save the princess, or in his case, the prince, from evil dragons.
Until one day, real life starts to look a lot like his imaginary world. . . and the fate of an entire kingdom rests on his shoulders. The world is more magical than he ever thought, and he will have to learn to accept the impossible as possible, if he and Samuel are to succeed.
Samuel Day had never journeyed to the human realm, and he sure didn’t mean to get stuck there. That said, he’s found it all incredibly fascinating. Especially Theodore, the adorable human who holds a piece of the puzzle necessary to stop an evil immortal and save the magic realm known as Evorea. His loyalty is to his king, but it doesn’t take long for Theodore to become equally important.
They come from different realms and are as different as night and day, but together they have everything they need to save Evorea from ruin. They just have to find their way back there.
Knight and Day is part of the Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains a magic realm, a handsome guardian, one clueless human, and a guaranteed HEA.
The Review
This is one the novellas in this multi-author series The Magic Emporium.
There are two main characters, Theodore and Samuel, and the point of view alternates between the two throughout the story.
Theodore is the manager of a book store who comes across a magic shop where one shouldn’t be. This is Marden’s Magic Emporium. When he enters the store, he is given a small cloth bag containing a gnarled bit of wood. Meanwhile Samuel, a guardian from the realm of Evorea encounters the Magic Emporium and is given a dagger. The two are fated to meet, fall in love and go on a quest to save the king of Evorea and all of its peoples.
All well and good, one might think. It sort of delivers and there are some good things going on, but too many plot developments are telegraphed well in advance of their fulfillment. There are a couple of opportunities for some quite dark happenings, but these do not materialise.
It is a sweet story with some powerful dragons taking on a band of sorcerers for added fun. The main characters are likeable and their relationship does develop nicely from their unusual introduction. There is also the interesting treatment of how magical creatures coexist with us in the human realm.
It’s a bit ‘Men in Black,’ but none the worse for that. Read it and enjoy it as it is a fun read.
The Reviewer
Tony is an Englishman living amongst the Welsh and the Other Folk in the mountains of Wales. He lives with his partner of thirty-six years, four dogs, two ponies, various birds, and his bees. He is a retired lecturer and a writer of no renown but that doesn’t stop him enjoying what he used to think of as ‘sensible’ fantasy and sf. He’s surprised to find that if the story is well written and has likeable characters undergoing the trails of life, i.e. falling in love, falling out of love, having a bit of nooky (but not all the time), fending off foes, aliens and monsters, etc., he’ll be happy as a sandperson who has just offloaded a wagon of sand at the going market price. As long as there’s a story, he’s in. He aims to write fair and honest reviews. If he finds he is not the target reader he’ll move on.