Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Casual Magic

AUTHOR: Dan Ackerman

PUBLISHER: Supposed Crimes

LENGTH: 195 Pages

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2020

BLURB:

Wesley “West” Archer made a deal with the Devil for a failed high school crush. Now he answers questions for demons–a seedy job his family can never know about.
Kit is the seediest, sexiest demon who has ever come to West for help, smelling of cigarettes, covered in tattoos, with ripped jeans and tousled hair. Despite every instinct telling him to get Kit out of his life, West agrees to help the other man look into the murder of which he’s been falsely accused. He also agrees to a date or two along the way.
Helping Kit makes West reevaluate his prejudices and whether or not he should come clean to his family about the company he’s kept. Maybe a deal with the Devil doesn’t have to ruin his life.

REVIEW:

I’ve come to expect a lot from Dan Ackerman’s books, and Casual Magic certainly didn’t disappoint. As usual the plot is interestingly absurd, as West is obliged to honor a bargain he made with the Devil at the misguided age of thirteen. And yeah, maybe West was lucky that the Devil asked for magical favors rather than his soul, but having demons turn up at his sister’s house looking for him was never going to end well. Witches and demons do not mix. Neither do werewolves and demons. Nor fairies and demons. Okay, so really, no one wants to hang with a demon because they don’t exactly have the best reputations. Even the earth dwelling demons that are half human have bad reputations.

However, it’s not just the plots of Dan Ackerman’s books that I find so entertaining. What I always love most are the characters that this author creates. This story offers us a rather unmotivated pansexual witch, who is not really fat, not really femme, and maybe not really Asian. I absolutely adored West’s unparalleled non-enthusiasm for his magical abilities. Normally if an author has some sort of magical character in a book the magic defines the character’s life. But while West does use his ability to pay his dues to the Devil, he’s rather unexcited about the whole magic schtick. If West came with a tag line, it would be something like – I’m magic, what evs. Our other main character is Kit, tattooed murder suspect, who is part demon. But not like half demon, or a quarter. Or even a sixteenth. Maybe a sixty fourth. But maybe not. And, he’s a single father to his son Riley. Demon or not, Kit is kinda hesitant and insecure and so darn sweet when he’s with Riley – unless you think that the fact Riley has autism means there’s something wrong with the kid – then Kit will fuck your shit up.

Dan Ackerman is one of those authors that I think needs more exposure. Their books are always so well written and different from most other m/m stories out there. Every year one of their books finds its way onto my ‘best of’ list, and this year will be no different. I highly recommend that everyone picks up one of this author’s stories, if not Casual Magic, then check out one of the others. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

RATING:

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