Review: Wedding Bells, Magic Spells by Lisa Shearin

Wedding Bells, Magic Spells

Author: Lisa Shearin

Release Date: February 16, 2016

Publisher: NLA Digital LLC

Raine Benares Book #7

ISBN:   1620512114

ISBN13: 9781620512111

Genre: Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

Name: Raine Benares
Race: Elf
Job: Seeker, bride, peace talks referee
Problem: Back-stabbing diplomats, bride-hating mother-in-law

You would think that after having successfully destroyed the Saghred (aka, a legendary soul-sucking rock) and sending an evil goblin demigod to the Lower Hells that I would get some time off to plan my wedding to my sexy paladin fiancé Mychael Eiliesor, right? Wrong. Not only do I have to brace for meeting Mychael’s parents and cope with my burgeoning new powers, but it seems there may be another calamity brewing.

After the recent change in goblin leadership, the new—thankfully non-psychotic—king is willing to participate in an elf/goblin/human peace treaty. The Isle of Mid is the site of these delicate negotiations, meaning all hands on deck for Mychael and his Conclave Guardians. When the head of elven intelligence (and my wedding guest) Duke Markus Sevelien is nearly assassinated upon his arrival, I suspect my mother-in-law will be the least of my concerns. Sabotaging these talks may be only the first salvo in a treacherous and deadly new apocalyptic plot!

It was really fun to reconnect with Raine, Mychael and the rest of our favorite secondary characters in WEDDING BELLS, MAGIC SPELLS. Raine is getting ready to marry the love of her life, but complications arrive when people start getting attacked while traveling through the mirrors. Wedding plans are still on, but Raine and her friends need to find out who is behind the attacks and put a stop to it.

I always liked Raine's character. She has a great way with words and I always love following her inner dialogue. There was a lot of lead-up to her meeting Mychael's parents and I was pleased with how that all unfolded. I missed Tam. He had always been a pretty big part of past stories, but he only had a small part in WEDDING BELLS, MAGIC SPELLS.

I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get back into the story since it has been a few years, but Shearin did a great job—although there was a lot of it and there probably could have been less—recapping the previous events in the series. There wasn't a whole lot of action in WEDDING BELLS, MAGIC SPELLS and the action we did get was a bit short, but the 'feel' of the Raine Benares series was still very present in every part of the story.

As I said, it was great to get another Raine story and it's even better that the ending of WEDDING BELLS, MAGIC SPELLS doesn't end the conflict introduced in the book so there has to be more right? Very exciting.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.