The Magician’s Heart Tales from the Tarot
Paranormal, Gay Romance
Independent
Aug 19th, 2024
Kindle
185
Amazon
Patrick leads a nice quiet life with his dog companion Argus, and his pet raven Kaos. The quiet and calm of this lakeside cabin is the perfect place to be the area’s most powerful water witch and the local representative Magician on the Mage’s Council. Other than the odd task assigned by the Council, his only other responsibility is to answer the call from the local police when they come across a situation that might be magical. It’s a serene life, mostly, if not a little lonely. Could he have fallen into a bit of a rut? Is Patrick fulfilling his witchy duties and being the Magician he really could be?
Allan’s life is a mess. His friends regularly lead him into bad situations, and life never seems to go his way, until one night when his buddies drag him and his abusive ex along on an ill-fated camping trip. After a night of drinking, and another nasty encounter with his ex, Allan discovers he’s not exactly human. Once his witchy side takes hold, there’s no turning back. But in order to get a grip on his newfound abilities, he's going to need some expert guidance, not to mention making things right with the local Fae population who he’s managed to anger.
Patrick doesn’t want a student. Allan has no need for a mentor. But when the two of them come together, a new kind of magic blossoms that just might save them both.
The Magician's Heart is a standalone MM paranormal romance novel as part of the multi-author collaboration Tales from the Tarot. This book is based on the major arcana card The Magician.
Review By Ulysses
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This the first of the books I’ve read from the mixed-author series Tales from the Tarot. I’ve read J.P. Jackson’s books before and it was fun to experience his work in the context of a group-think premise. Tarot cards are nothing unusual in the world of paranormal romance—after all, the Carnival of Mysteries includes the tarot-wielding Madame Persephone.
I was immediately caught up in this story, which starts with an innocuous, if tension-filled, impromptu camping trip by four friends on an isolated lake in Canada. I say four friends, but two of the friends, Allan and Brent, are ex-friends, and not in any sort of a good way.
The shocking outcome of this ill-fated camping trip was not at all what I expected. It leaves Allan, a feckless twenty-something who makes ends meet as a bartender when he’s not partying, in the care of a middle-aged loner who lives in a rather nice log cabin in the woods. The local sheriff decides that Patrick is the one to handle this particular mess, because it involves magic. Yes, Patrick is a magician, which seems to be an honorific for a particularly strong elemental witch.
The story is essentially a romance (and a hot one, for those who look for this) between these two men with their age gap. Patrick must become the Henry Higgins to Allan’s Eliza Doolittle (if you don’t know who they are, for shame!). Allan is a difficult student, but gradually realizes both the importance and the benefits of going along with the older man’s efforts. The author makes the chemistry between the two men palpable; but he also emphasizes the differences—age, disposition—between Allan and Patrick, which keeps the dynamic interesting.
The denouement of the story is another surprise, although the reader and Patrick have known what was coming all along. It might feel abrupt, but, given what we learn along the way, it not only seems logical, but seems to open the way for future adventure. Is this the start of its own series from Jackson’s pen? I rather hope so. Meanwhile I’ll explore other volumes in the Tales of the Tarot series.
I’ll note that I thought Jackson’s generally appealing writing was rougher than I’ve seen before, and the editing was spotty.