Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: The Blacksmith Prince

AUTHOR: Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 290 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  July 14, 2017

BLURB:

17th century Perigord is a county of sun-drenched villages and dark forests, languid rivers and moonlit lakes. It is a corner of France teeming with spirits, dryads and nymphs, and like everywhere else, witches are burned at the stake.
Born with the second sight, young fisherman Jehan wants nothing but to keep his head down, work hard, and stay out of trouble. Which works well enough until a suspicious string of bad luck befalls the village smith and his wife. Their adoptive son Giraud is everybody’s dashing darling, who behind his sooty smile and swashbuckling manners has buried a painful connection to the supernatural himself. Fearing that some evil is afoot, Giraud turns to the only other man in town who knows about the hidden world around them – Jehan.
Before long, they are embroiled in a quest involving brigands, witches and noble fey, while their friendship and attraction gradually shifts into something deeper. If they manage to survive ancient feuds and everyday prejudice, they might even have a chance to forge a Happily Ever After all of their own…

REVIEW:

Welcome to the land of Perigord, France, where the air smells sweet and hidden in every crack and crevice is a magical creature of some sort. Nymphs, witches, fae and more roam among the humans, yet remain unseen by human eyes. It’s a magical journey of loss and betrayal but of hope and love and the renewal of all things lost.

Jehan, to most, is an oddly quirky but sweet fisherman. He just wants to live his life quietly and in peace. But Jehan has a gift that is special to him. He can see magical creatures like fae. He mostly tries to ignore being a witch, unless it’s to talk to his special creatures. Despite his grandmother trying to teach him. He knows she’s not long for this Earth but just can’t seem to get into all that his grandmother is trying to pass down to him. Mostly because he’s not a girl. And her profession could cause him problems with him being male. But a matter comes to his attention from a man he can’t keep his eyes off of, Giraud. He needs Jehan’s help to figure out who and why his adoptive parents have been cursed. And of course Jehan can not refuse. In search of answers, Jehan learns he cannot ignore his gift of being a witch. As he digs for the truth, he also finds out secrets which Giraud has been hiding. And those secrets are causing nothing but trouble. But Jehan made a promise to get to the bottom of things and they begin the journey into solving the puzzle and getting rid of this curse.

I love the characters in this book. Even when they are haughty, selfish and just downright hateful, they are written with such passion and detail. Jehan is probably my favorite though. All he wants in this life is just peace and quiet. How many can relate to that? Lol. He loves his little world with his grandmother and magical creatures but really doesn’t feel the urge to take over her business of ‘looking out for’ the village. Being a guy tends to make some things rather uncomfortable. But what makes it humorous is as much as he fights it, he is such a nurturing and caring person. He wants to help and to make things better. Even if helping Giraud is for selfish reasons. He is amazing in how he cares for the fae and magical creatures as well. He is so in tune to the world around him. It makes him such an in depth character. He’s slow to anger, patient and kind. And you can’t help but just want to be around him. You want to spend time with him and see what makes him tick. And knowing that he’s about to enter into a world of trouble with Giraud and solving this curse, he still does it. Knowing he needs to help. (Plus he’s hoping for more kisses). Giraud has secrets, and when Jehan figures out what his secrets are and how they relate to this curse, he’s not very happy. He knows that the secrets are going to cause more trouble and he’s right. It leads to loads of anger, betrayal, and lots of hurt feelings. But being on this journey has also brought him closer to Giraud and hopefully a future of them together.

I really enjoyed the way this book was written. I love reading about magical creatures and enjoying the fantasy that it is. And the tale this book takes you on is full of intrigue. It’s also comical in some spots. Imagine seeing a whole world of fae and dryads and all sorts of other creatures that no other human can see. And then talking to them in plain sight. Lol. People think you’re nuts. But even still, being able to talk to creatures and feel the magic all around would put me in awe. And in this book, you get that. You get to immerse yourself in this world and just enjoy the ride.

RATING: 

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