Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Burn
SERIES: Witchbane #1.5
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 3 hrs and 2 min
RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2019
BLURB:
One hundred years ago, a sheriff’s posse killed dark warlock Rhyfel Gremory, but his witch-disciples escaped, and their magic made them nearly immortal. To keep their power, each year one of the witch-disciples kills a descendant of one of the men in the posse, a 12-year cycle that has cost dozens of lives, including that of Seth Tanner’s brother, Jesse.
Seth uncovers a cycle of ritual murders that feed the witch-disciples’ power, and he saves Evan Malone, one of the warlock’s potential victims. Neither Seth nor Evan expected to fall in love, but when the dust settles, they find themselves on the run and on the road together, heading toward Pittsburgh, on the trail of the next killer.
Seth wonders whether Evan will come to regret his choice to stay together, now that he’s living the reality of Seth’s nomadic life and the risks that come with it. He wants Evan to stay, but he’s afraid that Evan would be better off without him, living a normal life. Evan’s whole world has been upended, but there’s one thing he’s sure of, his love for Seth. Evan worries that he’s a liability, not yet able to hold his own in Seth’s rough-and-tumble world, but determined to do whatever necessary to have Seth’s back. On the way to face the next warlock, supernatural threats abound, forcing them to learn to fight as a team.
REVIEW:
Note: This novella takes place directly after the events of Witchbane. It isn’t recommended that this be read as a standalone as it contains major spoilers for the first book in the series.
Seth and Evan have escaped the horrific death that the witch-follower had planned for him. Evan is beyond grateful to Seth and he’s still adjusting to his new reality. He had no idea about this shadow world of ghosts and witches and zombies and other scary monsters that go bump in the night. Seth has tried not to overwhelm him, but honestly he needs him to very careful and watchful because they could be attacked at any time. Evan is no slouch – he’s studied martial arts for years. But as he discovered, he is no match for supernatural enemies right now. Seth vows to keep him safe, but Evan sees it as Seth not trusting him and not seeing him as an equal. Given his past with this ex, this is extremely difficult for him and his first reaction is always to go on the defensive.
Seth is terrified that a) Evan will figure out he can do MUCH better than Seth, a loner monster hunter and b) Evan will get tired of the constant danger and the nomadic existence Seth leads and c) Seth will not be able to protect Evan and Evan will get hurt or worse. Evan needs to be seen as an equal and he wants to help Seth. He wants to contribute and he wants Seth to take him seriously and not try to keep him away from the danger – especially because Evan is worried that without him Seth will take unnecessary risks when together, they could be so much stronger.
This novella focuses on the building relationship between Evan and Seth. They have a difficult time communicating their needs and more importantly, their fears to each other. The only time they seem to be on the same page is during sex – and boy – there is quite a lot of it in this short novella! I honestly could have done with a little less sex and a little more talking in this one. They need to figure out a way to be more honest with each other, since not doing that could get them killed. Again, Kale Williams does a great job with the voices and the emotional levels in this novella. I’m looking forward to the next story in this series.
RATING: 
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