Reviewed by Chris

TITLE:  Hexmaker

SERIES:  Hexworld #2

AUTHOR:  Jordan L. Hawk

PUBLISHER:  Widdershins Press

LENGTH:  186 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 14, 2016

BLURB:  

A straight-laced policeman. A lighthearted thief.
A murdered millionaire.

Fox shifter Malachi steals for one of the biggest crime rings in New York City. But when he witnesses the murder of a millionaire, the only person who can keep him safe is Dr. Owen Yates, forensic hexman for the Metropolitan Witch Police—and Malachi’s witch.

Owen is horrified to discover his familiar is an uneducated thief. Even worse, Malachi threatens to unleash Owen’s deepest desires…desires Owen can’t act upon, as he’s destined for an arranged marriage to secure the Yates family fortune.

Their agreement: Malachi will be Owen’s lover as well as his partner, until the day of the wedding. But as their hunt for the murderer carries them from teeming slums to Fifth Avenue mansions, Owens begins to realize Malachi commands his heart as well as his body.

With dark forces drawing ever closer around them, Owen must decide whether to bow to the demands of duty, or to risk everything for the man he loves.

Hexmaker is the second book in Jordan L. Hawk’s Hexworld series, following the adventures of witch policemen and the familiars they bond with. Download today to enter a world of magic, romance, and intrigue.

REVIEW:  

With one week left to go before he leaves the job that he loves, in order to get married to the woman he doesn’t, Dr. Owen Yates is drawn into a mystery that will need all his skills as a forensic hexman. With a murdered millionaire setting the rich men and women of New York in a tizzy, Owen is tasked with using his skills to piece together (literally) the reason that the rich man ended up dead. Unfortunately for him the machine, whatever it was, is in about a hundred pieces and there doesn’t seem to be an instructional manual just lying around for the ancient machine etched with old and unknown hexes.

But it isn’t just the dead man who needs Owen to work quickly. Malachi, the thief and familiar found running from the room with the dead body in it, had only just been saved by Owen’s intervention from a quick and probably fatal incarceration for a murder he most definitely didn’t commit. But even if the Metropolitan Police can’t charge him for the crime, that doesn’t mean the real murderer is gonna let a witness just walk around free as a bird…or, well, fox in Mal’s case.

With a murderer stalking Mal, and wedding bells stalking Owen, time is quickly running out for both of them. Not the least because Mal is Owen’s familiar…and when the clock runs out, there is a good chance no one is getting what they want.

I would love to say that this book is my favorite of the series, but that’d be like saying chocolate is better than coffee–I love them both deeply and equally, and I could never choose between them. Same with the books of Jordan L. Hawk’s Hexworld series. Magic and mystery and shape-shifting familiars. I couldn’t ask for more.

But that doesn’t mean we won’t get that more anyways, because hot damn was this a ball of fun. Kinky, kinky fun. Owen and Mal light this book up with not a little bit of chemistry, and plenty of heat to go around. I really wasn’t expecting this when I picked up this book, but I can’t claim to be sorry. The whole domination/submission thing really worked for these two characters, and made the connection between them seem all the more electric. But even when the sex part of their relationship wasn’t at the forefront, these guys really clicked. There was just something about the mild-mannered Owen, and the wild and crafty Mal, that fit almost immediately. 

And, as always, Jordan crafts a wonderful mystery to go along with the romance. With twists and turns, betrayal and secrets coming to light, we are pulled from page to page as the plot unfolds. You never quite know where the story is going, but you can sure bet it will be one hell of a ride.

There is just something about these characters and this world that has me enthralled with each new story. And as the days turn colder up here I can’t think of a better way to spend a lazy afternoon than curling up with a cup of coffee (with a dash of chocolate) and letting this witch and his foxy familiar ensnare me once more.

RATING:  

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