Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Lion Rising
SERIES: The Prophecy of the Valda-Cree
AUTHOR: Diana DeRicci
PUBLISHER: Purple Sword
LENGTH: 355 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2022
BLURB:
Jayce Morrow is like any other college student: part academic, part nerd, part dreamer. Adopted by the only family he’s ever known he has no idea of his true identity. Or what his unknown history means.
Saving the world wasn’t part of his college application, after all.
When a gorgeous mage appears out of thin air in his apartment, he’s positive he’s dreaming, convinced one of his friends has jumped the shark looking for players by hiring LARPers for their D&D dungeon.
Except there is no dungeon to strategize through. Mages and magic are real. And he’s about to learn his role in saving their world.
Note from the Author: This story is a slow burn MM romance with some really stubborn characters, a few comments about an elf’s amazing hair, and challenges that can mold the man regardless of plans.
REVIEW:
So let me start by saying that I’ve read this author for years – at least a decade. I have always enjoyed her contemporary romances. I was also fan of her contemporary shifter fantasy series. But this is something entirely new and I was kind of blown away. The blurb made me think maybe this was going to be a kind of fun and amusing little fantasy. Well no. It’s not. It’s a full-blown fantasy with alternate worlds, a whole lotta magic and of course a quest. And this is only book one!
Jayce Morrow thinks he’s average. Average looks, average brain, average guy. But he could not be more wrong. When he’s out with friends, he feels like he’s being watched. When he gets home, he’s sure he’s being followed. Next thing he knows, he’s got an elf (well he’s doesn’t know then Rune is an elf) standing in his living room telling him he is part of a prophecy and they need to leave. When his friend and neighbor starts trying to break down his door with a magically looking ax, well then he gets it. They leave.
But where they end up is nothing that Jayce is prepared for. It’s like going back hundreds of years in time and he’s in an alternate “plane” that he knows nothing about. Rune swears that he is there to guide and guard him based on the visions that he’s been having for years. Jayce the is the key to restoring their lands.
Evil has taken the power in the lands and Jayce has no idea how he is supposed to do anything about that. He’s an ordinary guy. Rune keeps telling him that he isn’t ordinary and that he needs to get him to his master in order to keep him safe and reveal more of the future and the prophecy. Of course that trip is not without danger. And underneath it all, there is a simmering heat between them.
After arriving at the temple where Rune has trained, Jayce meets Master Theil and they start his own training. Jayce is very very surprised by what he discovers. He also is delighted to find out that Rune is indeed attracted to him and they get even closer 😉 But Jayce is only beginning to come into his own. He realizes that this is his destiny and he and Rune will need to continue his training and figure out a way to work together to figure out the next steps they will need to take to reveal Jayce’s and all the land’s future.
This book really amazed me. I wasn’t really expecting all the world building and the magic and the gauntlet and Jayce and Rune have to travel here. Beneath it all, Jayce and Rune are also building their relationship. Jayce has trusted Rune and he’s also not been happy with him when things surprise him that he’s not expecting. But ultimately Jayce realizes that Rune is his friend, his lover and so much more. Theirs is a very slow building romance. But it’s worth the wait. There are lots of surprises – including some really great surprising characters at the end of this book. I cannot wait to see what happens next in this series and how this little band will rise to the occasion to save the world 😀 Highly recommended for fans of fantasy and slow burn.
RATING: 
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