Magic and Mayhem:
There's No Place Like
Wicked
(Kindle Worlds
Novella)
(Wicked Hearts Book
3)
by Cherie Marks
Published: June 19,
2017
Publisher: Kindle
Worlds
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Magic
Blurb:
Nothing pleases Toricellia "Celia" Henderson more
than hanging out with her friends, giving brilliant snark, and hiding her true identity.
She's a bobcat shifter who hasn't shifted in years due to the whole
nobody-can-know-who-she-is situation, but she can't deny her best friend's
request to locate a treasured stone while in her bobcat form. Unfortunately,
now people know where she is, and a wild prince named Ethan is chasing her
through the forest and looking too hot to handle--and he knows exactly who she
is--his mate.
Even stranger, a powerful someone is steering them toward the kingdom of Wicked where an ambitious, warlock cockalorum is trying to take over. They'll have to work together to save the ones they love and to set things right. Magic and mayhem ensue as these two learn there's nothing like having a partner in crime and There's No Place Like Wicked.
Even stranger, a powerful someone is steering them toward the kingdom of Wicked where an ambitious, warlock cockalorum is trying to take over. They'll have to work together to save the ones they love and to set things right. Magic and mayhem ensue as these two learn there's nothing like having a partner in crime and There's No Place Like Wicked.
Buy Link: Amazon
Excerpt:
Back straight as a pole, I asked, “Isn’t that a bit
dramatic?”
He glanced up into the branches of the trees, releasing a
deep breath. “You left, and I thought it best to let you go. I watched you
float away and never thought anything of it. I knew, eventually, your parents
would bring you home, and everything would be set right.”
“My parents never came. Nana Johanna said I should wait
for the okay from them before I even attempted returning. So many times, I took
a chance and called them with a burner phone, and I even sent a friend to their
house a few times, but in all that time, they had never been home. I never knew
what happened to them. At times, it was all I could think about.”
“They weren’t home because they were in a dungeon.”
Red-hot anger took over and filled my brain. I stood up
and marched closer to him. “How could you? What did you do with them?” I stood
with my hands on my hips. “I mean, how was I even supposed to know they needed
me?”
He stood up in front of me and crossed his arms over his
chest. “I did nothing to your parents.”
I closed the distance between us. “You just said they
were in a dungeon. Did they put themselves there, asshole?”
“Maybe I should officially introduce myself, so you can
stop calling me by such colorful nicknames. My name’s Ethan, and I didn’t put
your parents into the dungeon, same as I didn’t put my own parents or myself
there.”
I stared at him dumbfounded, unsure of what he was
telling me. I glanced down at the ground, trying to unravel what he was saying.
Had they been punished because of me? But who had decreed their imprisonment? Confusion filled my mind.
My gaze lifted to meet his, and I saw the heavy pain
there. What had I done?
“You…you were in prison because…of me?”
He shook his head back and forth quickly. “No. It wasn’t
your fault in that way, Celia. We weren’t put there because you ran away. We
were put there until you were found.”
“But, I’ve been in Assjacket the whole time.”
He stepped away from me, turned around until I couldn’t
see his face, and scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Turns out, it was
the best place you could hide. Someone was strong enough magically to keep you
hidden all these years.”
“What about when I trekked off to college or took trips?”
“All I know is that someone protected you. I don’t know
why, and I don’t know how, but that protection was pulled when you shifted
earlier today. You were completely helpless, and as soon as I sensed that was
true, I escaped, and then, I came for you.”
His words sent electric energy coursing throughout my
entire body, and exploded as starbursts in my lower abdomen. “You came because
I was unprotected?”
He turned his head until our gazes met once more. “I came
because I finally knew where you were.”
“And you’ve come to take me back?” My spirits fell. Would I be thrown into the
dungeon with my parents?
“I don’t have a choice. It’s the only way to free our
parents.”
One thing continued to bother me, and I hoped he could
put the last piece of the puzzle into place for me. It seemed to matter the
most.
“Ethan, who is holding our parents? Who kept you
prisoner?”
His face fell, and he stared at the ground. His nostrils
flared as he explained, “Someone used the royal guard to capture and imprison
us, but the identity of who it is remains a mystery.”
“How is that possible? How can you not know who is
leading the rebellion?”
His nostrils flared again. “I have an idea, but until I
get back and confirm my suspicions, it’s only conjecture.”
“And who do you suspect?”
“It’s clear to me who it is. My father’s brother is the
only one who benefits from our disappearance. I’m almost positive my uncle is
to blame.”
“So, what’s our plan?”
He looked up at me again. “Our plan? You’re mistaken if
you think this is a two-man operation. You’ll stay out of the way. I’ll find
him and confront him. And if I’m right…I’ll kill him.”
“And I’m just supposed to sit around, twiddling my
thumbs, while you get to have all the fun. I don’t think so.” I stepped closer
to him. “I’m tougher than I look, and I’m all you’ve got. Might as well give me
a shot. Besides, my parents obviously need me. I haven’t been there for them
when they were in trouble. I want to be there for them this time.”
Rather than pull away, he stepped closer still, until
there were less than five inches between us. He wrapped his arms around me as
if to reassure me, and I didn’t hate it.
“I’m not saving your life just to turn around and risk it
on nothing but a gamble.”
My breathing picked up and my heart pounded as he tipped
my chin up and his gaze dropped to my lips. He dropped his hand and brushed the
back of mine now resting between us on his chest. I licked my tongue along the
inside of my teeth to keep my nerves in check, but I couldn’t seem to look away
from him.
Something like electricity fired between us, and I was sure he wanted
to kiss me. I wasn’t so sure I’d say no to that, which confused the hell out of
me.
Voice barely above a whisper, I said, “Maybe it’s not
your decision.”
He leaned closer, his mouth next to my ear, sending a
shiver down my back.
His lips tickled the fine hairs on my skin as he asked,
“What help could you possibly be? You can’t even shift.”
I reacted by using my hands on his chest to push him as
far back as I could. Unfortunately, he didn’t go that far, but when he pulled
back so I could see his face, his mouth split into a wide grin. Though I was
irritated with the way my body was reacting to his closeness, I couldn’t help
but admire his smartassery. I respected a fellow smartass, so he got mad props
from me on this one, whether I wanted to admit it or not.
He ran his hand over his mouth before asking, “Too much?”
I couldn’t speak at first. He’d surprised me, but I
wasn’t angry. Quite the opposite. My attraction to this man seemed to grow and
grow, and that scared me more than anything. He was a stranger to me, even as
he felt so familiar.
Despite the chemistry, I couldn’t let down my guard,
though. “Bring it on, Ethan. Throw whatever you got at me. I can handle it.”
His smile broadened as he shook his head and strode away.
For just a moment, I wasn’t his captive and he wasn’t my captor. For an “nth”
of a second, we connected in an unexpected way, and, surprisingly, I wanted
more.
My Review:
Toricellia "Celia" Henderson a bobcat shifter who
just so happens has not shifted in ten years or so. Why? Well because then the
one person she has been hiding from all these years will know where she is and
she can’t have that. Celia is in hiding because she is supposed to marry a
prince and live in a castle and have people waiting on her not only that she
will be under the control of a man. Celia doesn’t want to be forced into
marriage no she wants to be teacher. So when she is asked to shift by her
dearest and best friend she can’t say no, no matter what the cost to her.
So needless to say after she shifts her location is
discovered and she is left being chased through the woods by none other than
the prince himself. The prince says Celia belongs to him and he is taking her
back to Wicked with him. But Celia soon learns that her parents are being held
against their will in a dungeon in Wicked and she must go there to rescue them.
So now the prince Ethan and Celia have decided to team up to rescue their
parents.
I just love reading about the girls and their guys in the
Wicked Hearts books. I have enjoyed reading Celia and Ethan’s story and
watching them fall in love the first time they looked into each other’s eyes.
Celia is one smarta** girl with some really witty comebacks. I don’t really
enjoy many romantic comedies or hardly any comedies as far as that goes but I
do have to say that I do love reading Cherie Marks’ comedy she will have you
rolling on the floor laughing. If you are ever down and out and in the need for
a little pick me up then give the Wicked Hearts series a try they will have you
laughing your butt off.
Other Books in the Wicked Hearts Series:
Buy
Link:
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
It all started with an old fashioned typewriter. When my
family brought it home, I knew what I wanted to do. All those stories rolling
around in my head could finally get out. The press and click of the keys were
satisfying in their own right, but when I pulled out a finished page, I knew
this was for me. Since then, I’ve graduated to a laptop, but the stories still
find a way out.
I’m a breast cancer survivor, a teacher, a wife, a mother,
and from the very beginning—a storyteller. Always a hint humorous and honest to
a fault, I love to make people laugh, smile, and have “a-ha” moments. My goal
in life is to achieve tact and stop procrastinating. The battle wages on.
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