Review: Salt Magic, Skin Magic

Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch and Joel Leslie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lord Thornby has been trapped on his father’s isolated Yorkshire estate for a year. There are no bars or chains; he simply can’t leave. His sanity is starting to fray. When industrial magician John Blake arrives to investigate a case of witchcraft, he finds the peculiar, arrogant Thornby as alarming as he is attractive. John soon finds himself caught up in a dark fairytale, where all the rules of magic—and love—are changed.

 
I listened with interest and was invested in finding out what was going on. The story stands up to a reread, too. I seldom choose paranormal stories and I enjoyed this world with hidden magic and creatures, where magic is not able to solve all problems.
The romance was underdeveloped. We are told they like each other and then they start having sex.
The narration was good. There should have been more characters with spoken text because I know JL can do so many voices he would have truly shined. I think he made this story more compelling with his performance.
 

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Review: Spring of the Wolf

Spring of the Wolf by Iris Foxglove and Kris Antham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the cold spring air of Lukos, a man wraps a cloak of fur around his shoulders and transforms into a sleek white wolf, racing across the countryside...

Zephyr has always been cursed. The same fur that gives him the ability to shift between wolf and man allows others the power to control his will. Doomed to follow any order given by one who holds his cloak, Zephyr steals it from his tyrannical foster-father and takes off into the wilderness.
Dragan Wolf-Breaker has spent his life leading the people of Lukos and raising his daughter, Elena, as a single father. When the injured white wolf who collapsed on his door turns out to be a man mistreated by those who were supposed to protect him, Dragan slowly begins to earn Zephyr’s trust by showing him that his submission is a gift, not a curse. 

A compelling story and well-narrated. As in the first audiobook, a few things niggle at me when listening. Like, a hare digging a burrow. Or a tub big enough for a grown man to float in, that is ready in half an hour, while all the water has to be made warm with a kettle above a fire.
But what counts most is: the society and characters are lovely. The narration was beautiful.

I loved this novel and would have rushed to the next, but those are MMF.

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