Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Mastering the Flames

SERIES: The Beacon Hill Sorcerer #4

AUTHOR: SJ Himes

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 394 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2019

BLURB:

Guilt-ridden after the massacre of his family, Isaac Salvatore turned to binge drinking to escape the pain. Now twenty-four years old, Isaac is a recovering alcoholic woefully out of practice in the magical arts, leaving his fire affinity hanging on the edge of disaster. After a month of rehab, he returns to Beacon Hill and his family, determined to remain sober, learn to control his magic, and figure out a plan for his life that doesn’t involve drinking.

Constantine Batiste is the oldest, most powerful vampire in the city. Born in ancient Gaul, the bastard son of a Celtic king, his long life has been shrouded in tragedy and horrors. Recent mistakes have left him wary and determined to guard his clan from all foes. When two of his clan members fall victim to an ancient evil, he summons the Necromancer of Boston for aid. Accompanying his older brother to the Tower is the handsome young fire mage once wounded by Constantine’s arrogance, and their encounter reignites an attraction that burns within both Constantine and Isaac.

The answer to who is targeting the vampires of Boston is buried in the dark, early days of Constantine’s transition to an immortal life. Isaac finds himself saddled with a painful insight into the evil cutting a swath through the supernatural population of Boston. While his brother, Angel, takes over the hunt to find and stop the threat to the city, Isaac struggles to find a balance between helping his brother and finding his own purpose and place in the world, free from his brother’s shadow.

Falling in love wasn’t part of his plan, but mastering the flames that burn between him and Constantine soon becomes the most important thing in his life, even as an ancient evil seeks to destroy them.

Mastering the Flames is the fourth book in The Beacon Hill Sorcerer series and is not a standalone. The series should be read in order for maximum enjoyment and understanding of the plot and characters.

REVIEW:

These stories you all are whipping out are leaving me in amazement. This has quickly become one of my favorite series and knowing who the next book is about, leaves me filled with great joy. But this one made me happy, too. Sad as well as to what all had happened and what transpired to get to the point it did, but it’s an amazing story of love, hope and redemption. Mixed in, of course, with psychos trying to be greedy with power and murdering people. But I was happy this is Isaac’s story. 

Isaac has been through hell and back. The only person he felt he could rely on was his brother, since his brother had raised him after their family was slaughtered. But even Isaac knew he had been putting Angel through the wringer with all his drunken antics. And no one knew how bad his drinking really even was except him. But it was time to stop. This last battle from the last book, being kidnapped and everything else has held him captive for so long and he needs control. In rehab, he goes through hell on Earth during detox, and after 30 days, he’s better but scared as hell to re-enter the real world. But he knows he has to. It’s time to find out who he really is, who he was meant to be and take over his magic the way he was always supposed to. Angel, of course, has no problem with helping him and is relieved to see Isaac taking that step. But even Angel goes overboard with the parenting. Especially when it comes to the sexy Master of the City, Constantine, vamp extraordinaire. Since that one magical kiss, Isaac hasn’t been able to get Constans out of his head and the pull now that he’s sober is even stronger and scares the shit out of him. But Constans has learned his lesson from before and is so patient with Isaac. Knowing Isaac needs time. And Constans knows something Isaac doesn’t but he will never pressure Isaac. Isaac has to find out on his own. With all that happening though, some of it is placed on the back burner as they have to find this blood mage who is trying to kill Isaac and Constans both. With tainted, poisoned blood, golems with tentacles popping out of nowhere and Isaac trying to find his magic again, it’s become a huge mess that has everyone afraid for their lives. Hopefully, they can find this psycho before he kills Constans and his clan and Isaac and his family as well. 

Isaac, just wow. I have never been more proud. He feels like one of my kids, you know? I just want to hug him and show him how proud he should be of himself for taking back control of his life. He’s stopped drinking, he’s relearning magic, and he’s finally letting himself go enough to trust a relationship or something with Constans. And after all that he’s been through, that’s huge. But what made me even more happy, is no matter how hard Angel kept whipping his ass in the practice magic room, Isaac didn’t give up. Not only did he not give up, but he was determined he was going to be useful. He was a sorcerer damnit, and he could hold his own. He may not be the strongest sorcerer like his brother, but he could still be useful to everyone and help keep the clans safe. And he did. Like a pro. 

Constans made it even better. No matter what they were going through with this blood mage, he was so patient with Isaac. He helped center him, ground him, show him he was worthy and cared for. He pushed his strength into Isaac so he know someone else was in his corner no matter what. And because of Constans and even his 2nd after Simeon, Isaac knew he had people in his corner. And he even finally had friends he could call his own, besides Angel and Daniel. What helped is that Isaac went out of his way to make sure every single person in that clan, human or vamp, knew they were valued. He asked their names and spoke to them with respect. He really was a changed man. And growing up. And with his magic, he was becoming stronger than even he knew.

It’s another amazing story in this series and I’m so damn glad I’ve gotten to read it. If you haven’t been, it’s another one you are seriously missing out on.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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