Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Elixir of Strife

SERIES:  Stolen Hearts

AUTHOR:  Nazri Noor

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  187 pages

RELEASE DATE:  July 28, 2023

BLURB:

Water, water, everywhere.

Leon Alcantara and Maximilian Drake have barely caught their breath after saving the city from an untimely fate. Now the Jade Spider has a new assignment. A local magical plant shop has requested a strange elixir, the liquid essence of purest water.

In pursuit of the ocean potion, Max stumbles upon a tormentor from his past. Leon faces the challenge of hosting a second dragon, a legend much closer to home. And the mysterious Masques are more watchful than ever, shadowing the boys at every turn.

But strangest of all is a fresh spate of elemental anomalies in Dos Lunas. Life or death, sink or swim, Leon and Max must rise to the challenge — or drown under a tide of wicked magic.

REVIEW:

Note:  This is the second in a series and builds on the previous book.  It does not work as a standalone.

This book begins where book 1 ends.  Leon and Max are psuedo-parnters in crime?  They are lovers and spend lots of time together.  They would like to form a profitable duo.  Max’s friends and Dos Lunas locals have embraced Leon and consider him one of their own.  The Jade Spider has a new job for them  They need to find the Acqueous Elixir.

New characters appear here with some super fabulous names – Dan D. Lyon, purveyor of Succulence.  Elder Wise is a demon gardener.  Everyone is after this Evil Olive.  The fun and games ensue!

Hmmmmmm.  This is an interesting second book in the series.  Now that Leon knows exactly who Maximilian Drake is and had acknowledged their chemistry/attraction, they continue to “partner” together.  The Jade Spider keeps them busy.  Max’s family butts into his life also and their fingerprints are all over things.  I still enjoyed the alternating POVs of Leon and Max.  Max was little more grating on me this time though.  Leon’s reaction to a second sea dragon, Bakunawa wanting to “bond” with him was interesting.  The ties to different mythologies that I personally was unaware of added another dimension to the Witch boy and his openness to these dragons approaching him despite the past with Tiamat.  Another fascinating adventure for these two with plenty of action and opportunity for forging alliances and betrayals and loads of surprises 😉  This was a fun ride to be honest and I’m very interested to see what happens in the next book because these adventures aren’t over.  If you enjoyed the first book, you’ll like this one.  I really want to see how things turn out for these guys.  Highly recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon