Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Seducing the Sorcerer
AUTHOR: Lee Welch
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 12 hours and 51 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2022
BLURB:
Homeless and jobless, Fenn Todd has nearly run out of hope. All he has left are his longing for horses and the strength of his own two hands. But when he’s cheated into accepting a very ugly sackcloth horse, he’s catapulted into a world of magic, politics, and desire.
Fenn’s invited to stay at the black tower, home of the most terrifying man in the realm: Morgrim, the court sorcerer. Morgrim has a reputation as a scheming villain, but he seems surprisingly charming—and sexy—and Fenn falls hard for him.
However, nothing is as it seems, and everyone at the tower is lying about something. Beset by evil hexes, violent political intrigue, and a horse that eats eiderdowns, Fenn must make the hardest choices of his life.
Can a plain man like Fenn ever find true love with a scheming sorcerer?
REVIEW:
Fenn Todd is a middle aged man who is down on his luck. This isn’t a new thing for him, but he really might be at the end of his rope. When he makes a bargain for some work for a meal and a horse, he has no idea what he’s just gotten himself into. His life is about to change in ways he never could have imagined. Because this sackcloth hours is not what it appears. It is his way into a whole new world that he’s never dreamed he’d be part of.
Morgrim is the court sorcerer and when Fenn lands at this tower and then he’s allowed to stay with the strange horse he’s been given, well let’s just say it’s not what he expected. He’s totally intimidated by the man who has quite the reputation. Also Fenn is a plain spoken man who really just wants to care for horses. He has no idea why the sorcerer would allow him to stay or what he wants with him. But his magical horse seems to have much to do with it. The sackcloth horse, who eats cloth and rags, seems to be the key to much that is going on. Too bad Fenn has no idea what that really is.
It turns out there is much more to Morgrim than meets the eye and Fenn is intrigued and attracted. He can’t tell if Morgrim is interested or not and there is a bit of parrying between them. Then there is the matter of the coronation and the queen to be who is friends with Morgrim. What is her part in this world? She seems to hint to Fenn that Morgrim might be interested in him and encourages their friendship.
Things go along pretty well – until they don’t. No spoilers, but let’s just say that everything we think we know? Turns out to be maybe not so much the case. Fenn is shocked by what he learns. He’s hurt and angry and he’s really disappointed that what he thought was happening maybe was not the case and that he’s more forlorn than he realizes. But when the chips are down, he can’t just walk away from what very well may be his destiny.
So I really really struggled with the first third of the book. I just kept waiting for something interesting to happen. The world building was just OK for me, but I did really love Fenn and wanted to see him happy. It was definitely a long and bumpy road to get to there. This is one book where I honestly could have done without the sex scenes. Particularly towards the end, it just didn’t flow or feel authentic to me. I did appreciate Morgrim trying to do his best after the pressure he was under. I loved the queen – she was a badass and was trying to do the right thing. Fenn was just a joy to read though and on the strength of his character alone, I was glad I found the remainder of the book to be a much better pace and I was hanging on every word. If you’re a fantasy fan, I think you’ll like this but you’ll need to perservere through the rather slow start to this tale.
The performance of this story was just perfection. Joel Leslie has a real flare for these kinds of fantasy stories. His accents lend just the right mystery with a touch of the familiar to keep things lively and interesting. Fenn is definitely a plain spoken man who views himself a particular way – especially at the beginning of the story. When he meets Morgrim, he’s completely out of his element. Their familiarity begins to change some of his views. He becomes more confident and that’s evident in the narration here. Then things go a bit awry and Fenn swings between anger and desire and disbelief and sadness and resignation. All of these moods were portrayed so realistically that throughout the story my empathy for Fenn increased. Morgrim is a man with many secrets. It’s clear in this performance that there is much beneath the surface of this man and as his layers are slowly peeled back, the man beneath the robes (so to speak 😉 ) is revealed and his vulnerability is clear to see. I absolutely loved the way these characters changed and grew together in this story. This is really a great compliment to this narrator as it kept me going when I was struggling to get into the story during the first third. I can always count on Joel Leslie to elevate literally any story of any genre and he did not disappoint here.
RATING: 
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