Lis’ Review of Wild Magic by Poppy Dennison

Poppy Dennison

Wild Magic (Triad, #4)

Dreamspinner Press, September 25, 2013 | 108 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Joseph Anderson was heartbroken when his childhood best friend Dominick Levent moved away. Years later, Joseph is a successful real estate broker with good friends, an easy smile, and a stunning house. When he finds a dying mountain lion who miraculously shifts into Dominick’s sister, Joseph must find Dominick and reunite him with the two young sons she left behind.

When mountain lion shifter Dominick gets a call telling him his sister is dead, he rushes home to protect his nephews and avenge his sister. Seeing Joseph brings back the feelings Dominick tried to bury and he dares to hope Joseph’s newfound knowledge of shifters means they can finally be together.

Genre & Keywords: M/M Romance, Paranormal, Magic, Triad, Shapeshifters, Were-Animals, Magic, Mages, Mates, Pack, Kids

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 3 out of 3 flames
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Reviewed by Lis/Larissa:

Everyone knows I love a good Poppy Dennison book and so far this author has not disappointed me. While I didn’t think Wild Magic had the ‘oompf” that the previous three Triad books had, it certainly didn’t disappoint. Wild Magic can, sort of, be read as a stand-alone, but it’s highly recommended to read the previous installments.

The book is not overly long, but a lot happens in a short period of time and I thought it was well handled as the story carries the somewhat heavier theme of kids dealing with the loss of their parents. It wasn’t glossed over in favor of the romance between Dominick and Joseph, which is admittedly both hot and very frustrating. There were a few times when I wanted to stick the two in a closet and lock the door so they had no other option but talk to each other. Or have them actually shout at each other!

In a way, this book deals with the aftermath of the previous books, as Riley’s storyline is very much tied in with that of Avery and Blake and it was fun to see the kids together and interacting with grown-ups.

As always, the characterization in the story was well done. Every character is their own person and not a stereotype. It was nice to see Dominick not automatically become the perfect parent. In fact, while he is a highly likeable character he is most certainly not perfect. He makes mistakes, in the past with Joseph and in the present. While practical, he does panic easily. Joseph, on the other hand, is much calmer and levelheaded. He thinks things through. It was sweet to see them work together.

So why did the story not have the ‘oompf’ of the previous stories? It might be the lack of action, though that didn’t quite bother me much. The previous books - while not action-packed - did contain scenes with fighting or magic or conflict. Wild Magic has little of that. The lack of action is not so much worrisome, but the lack of conflict did bother me a little as the problems never really become problems and the conflict never really becomes a conflict. Everything is easily and calmly resolved and the story ends on a happy note.

It certainly makes a nice change from the more dramatic stories with dark themes, but at the same time Wild Magic misses a little kick.

Overall, Wild Magic is a recommendable installment of the Triad series and I hope there will be more of our favorite pack!
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Reviews of previous books:
#1 Mind Magic
#2 Body Magic
#3 Soul Magic